Year 9 Camp

I was finally able to upload photos from the year 9 camp to my laptop. I have some gorgeous shots from Mount Crawford. Although Adelaide scenery pales in comparison to Tassie, I have gained a lot of respect for the land here, and do love being in the Riverland especially. There are so many learning opportunities on the land. Opportunities that students will never get in the classroom. I guess that's why we do such intense camps at Pulteney. Despite having a very tough time this year, I am grateful that reflecting on the experience has made me want to embrace it all again next year. I just wish I could do this camp without 23 teenagers!!! :-)

We kayak along the Murray River for 2 days covering about 18 kms. I love the scenery, but am not so keen on kayaking all day.

Our camping spot at Ngaut Ngaut

Me and the boys - the intense riding group. Mountain biking is my personal highlight at camp.

Getting our bearings

A curious visitor

Taking a break

inJurEd

Stupid me thought it would be fun to join in the scratch match with my Year 8 Netball team. Course I ended up rolling my ankle - BAD. First day off work this year for a stupid sprained ankle. I need to remember that I'm getting too old to muck around with teenagers without getting hurt!
:-(

Free giveaway

I have a VERY talented friend who designs her own line of clothing - mostly children's clothing. She is currently having a giveaway for the above pattern. Please check out her blog for details. All you have to do is leave a comment on her blog!
Toni's blog
Good luck!

Gone camping

Hi all.

Tomorrow morning I head off to the Mount Crawford area with my Year 9 class. Each year Year 9 Home Group teachers go camping with their classes for 5 days. When I say camping, I mean REAL camping. It's 5 days expedition style, with kids packing and carrying everything in rucksacks, cooking food on a Trangia, and all that goes with it. Last year I was really apprehensive about camp but ended up having a fantastic time. 5 days is a long time to spend purely with 23 year 9's and 1 or 2 instructors (a company called Wilderness Escape run our camps for us) but the experience is pretty awesome. I fell in love with Mountain biking and loved all the down hill trails. I was right into it. We do 3 activities; Bushwalking, Mountain biking and Kayaking. We Kayak along the Murray, visit a very old Aboriginal sight called ngaut ngaut (pronounced naught naught) and end up in Mannum I think.
I've included a pretty awful photo. It's about 10pm here and Pete took this photo of me trying out my rucksack.
I'm praying the weather is good for us! Please spare me a thought when you wake up in the morning and have a lovely hot shower, and when you snuggle up in your beds at night!
xo