Big Rock

A few days into staff training, we decided to go on an overnight. We usually do at least one overnight when the campers arrive, so I guess a good start would be for us to take one ourselves first! It took us a while to pack everything we needed into dry bags (food, clothes, supplies, tents, matresses etc) and get them into our kayaks and canoes. It was a good hour paddle to get to our destination called Big Rock. Most of us sung disney songs the whole way there and when we got there we were surprised that we knew an hours worth of disney songs! When we got there some of us spotted a bald eagle sitting up in the trees, which is apparently a rare find.


Me and Fairey

It was really awesome setting up our tents, chilling by the fire and cooking our quessidillas which watching the sunset. Some people even decided to sleep outside because it was hot in the tents. We bonded, ate food, hung out and shared stories and memories while the sun set down, then climbed into our tents to go to sleep. Just before we went to sleep a barge came through the lake (there is a barge channel through the lake), so Fairey and I stayed up to watch it pass.


The sunset over Big Rock

In the morning we cooked breakfast, (bagels and omelets) over the fire and then packed up to head back to camp. We did a bit of singing on the way back, but not too much as we got a little bit seperated! Overall the overnight went well, and I wore my sailing gloves to prevent me from getting blisters from my paddle. It was awesome getting to watch the sunset go down over the pretty bay.

I'm still having a lot of fun, and I know the my uploading at the moment is horribly slow! I will try to improve its just really hard to find the time to upload. Everyone at camp is really great and i'm having a blast!

Byeees
Fem (Bambi)
xx

Staff Training

Me and Shoony

Staff Training started on Tuesday at 2pm. Its's been pretty great so far. All the counsellors are now here, and in total there are 21 of us. Over the past few days we have been going over policies and procedures, health information and trying out some of the activities. Yesterday we went sailing in the aqua fins which was really fun! Fern and I rigged one up and took it out on the water. After we finish sailing we have to tie the boats to little moorings and swim back to shore. Its not to far though, and the water is really nice! I keep forgetting that we are in a fresh water lake, I am so used to be in the ocean back home where everything gets salty and sticky.

Today I tried windsurfing for the first time. It's a lot harder than it looks! We each got a little try and hopefully by the end of camp I'll be a bit better at it. Last night we all brought our sleeping gear up to the lodge and watched 'How to eat fried worms', however most of us fell asleep in the first 10 minutes as we were so tired! This morning we had to get up at 6 instead of 7 for a suprise. Turns out we went for a sunrise sail in the scot boats which hold 6-8 people. The wind here is no where near as strong as windy wellington, but hopefully it will pick up a bit more later so that we can get some good sailing in.

For lunch today we had 'shipwrecked lunch' which means all the cutlery and furniture are scattered everywhere. Eg. at my table the table was on its side, Skippy had to eat her food with a ladle, and some of us had knives, and bowls for cutlery. We had hot dogs which was really good! The other day I tried a corn dog which wasn't really my thing.

Tonight we are having a cook out where we cook our food outside over the fire. Should be lots of fun!

Anyway have to go now. Break is over.

Byee!
Fem
xx

Welcome to Bear Creek Aquatic Camp

I finally made it to Nashville! I had to wait 20 hours for the next flight, so instead of sitting in a terminal, I went to a hotel. It wasn't great, but at least I had two double beds so I could really spread out! I got to the hotel at around 1am and went straight to sleep. I then got up at 9, had breakfast and a shower, and went back to sleep! I caught the shuttle back to the airport at 12.30 to catch my 2.50 flight, however my flight didnt leave until 3.30pm. We had to board it from the ground, which is quite different cause usually you board them through those tunnels. It was a cruisy flight to Nashville, I lost track of time and all of a sudden we were there. I just have to say that it reminded me of Miley Cyrus! (her home town).


Boarding from NY to Nashville

Skippy picked me up, and had a cute little sign to welcome me. We then drove 2 hours back to camp, but stopped of at McDonalds for some dinner. I then met some of the other counsellors at Belews Dairy Bar, which sells shakes, ice cream, sundaes, cheap hamburgers etc... It was really nice. The next day was a day of helping clean up some stuff on camp as there was a bit of flooding a few weeks ago. Shoony, Kaya, Dory, Clover, Skippy and I went and cleaned out the boat barns (paddle beach and big boating), then we went and set up the campers beds at a unit called lions den. Later on some of the counsellors from Pennyroyal (our sister camp) showed up and there was another girl from New Zealand! Her camp name was Haka, and she was from Ohope. After they got a tour around camp we all went back to Belews for some dinner.


Camp

At the moment we get to stay in the lodge, which has air conditioning and hot water in the showers. Once training starts we have to move into the units outside which have no air conditioning, but hey its all part of the experience right! The next day we did pretty much the same things (washed the sailing boats), except we took a trip to Walmart! There was a subway in walmart, that had foot long subs for $6! We ate some subway, then I went and bought sandals, a phone, a watch and sunglasses. They were all so cheap! My sunglasses were $5 and the watch was only $7. I definately wish that New Zealand had a Walmart. It's quite hot here, about 30 degrees at least, and a bit humid. They have intense lighting and thunder here which I find amazing; the whole sky lights up and flashes. The camp is really beautiful, set just next to Kentucky lake, and has beautiful fauna (except for poison ivy!). And I know some of you (aka mum and brittany) will be please to hear that Kaya set up a worm farm so we can compost our food scraps!


Turtle I saw

Tonight we went to a restaurant called Patties which was really delicious! I had a big chicken breast with a salad and these chips called steak fries which looked more like giant wedges to me. We got up and sang a camp song for the waitress, and then another group eating wanted us to perform to them to! (I've started to catch onto the camp songs). Some of the camp songs have a real southern american accent to them, and when I try the americans just crack up laughing.



Anyway sorry for my bad grammar, its late and i'm really tired! Tomorrow camp training starts, and we have to start getting up at 7am and training ends at 10pm. Should be fun!



Until next time!

Fem

xxx

Stuck in New York

Just a quick post. Currently stranded in NY. Missed my flight to Nashville. It was the airlines fault. NY is such a busy airport that after we landed, we had to wait a good 30mins until we could actually get off the plane. Then my luggage was last to come out (another good 30-45mins), then I had no idea where to go, and realised I had to catch some kind of monorail, and then by the time I got to check in, my flight had already started boarding and the lady wouldn't let me through.

Don't panic! Currently, in touch with mum and dad back at home trying to find new flights asap. Next one is in 24 hours though, trying to find an earlier one. I will let you all know when I have finally arrived at my destination! Until then, who knows how long I have to wait here...

Love you all
Fem
xxx

Bon Voyage

The last 6 months have been a whirlwind of excitement, nerves, plans, Australia, work, friends and family. I still remember sitting at my interview in Starbucks in October, ignoring the butterflies in my stomach. I’ve wanted to do Camp America since I was 14. Who wouldn’t? I love travel, and the sound of making life long friends, having an amazing experience and travelling all at the same time sounded awesome to me. After seeing Ross off to Missouri on Friday last week, i’ve had a few days to prepare myself for my adventure.

I had a leaving barbecue on Saturday, which was a great success (thank you too all who came!). I cooked a bit too much food, but compliments were that the food was delicious. On Sunday my family and I and Kristen went up to Otaki to visit the outlet shops and buy some nice icebreakers and other camping needs. Monday was a day of gathering things I wanted to pack, and moving them upstairs so I could spread it out and look over everything I wanted to take with me, as well as dinner at the Stewarts. Yesterday I went to Victoria University, to what was suppose to be my first management lecture with Brittany, however public transport was hopeless, and I turned up late, meaning Brittany was late, and then 10 minutes into our lecture the fire alarm went off. So really, it was a sneak peak. Then I went to Steve and Suzanne's (Ross's parents) house for dinner. I hung out with my friends in the library where they decorated a scrap book to give me for my travels (thanks girls =] ).


Trying on Icebreakers at the store in Otaki

It’s the night before I leave. Today has pretty much been a day of packing and getting last minute things sorted. Mum and I sat down upstairs and squashed everything into my two bags. I was nervous about the weight, but they were both under 15kg which was good! I’m just a little nervous as I am only allowed to bring a total of 20kgs from London to Dublin. Therefore I’m gonna have to chuck a lot of stuff out, but I can imagine things like my shoes will be really worn out by the end of camp anyway. Mum and I went out to Porirua this morning and bought a new phone as the phone I currently have will not work in the states. I will get an American Sim card when I get there, so If you would like to know my number so you can send me a txt (which I think I will have to pay the bill for), let me know and I will email it to you as soon as I have.


The scrapbook my friends made for me

So many little things I have had to think about, such as batteries that need to be charged before I leave, iPod charged, do I have enough US cash in my wallet for McDonalds at LA (tradition!), and things that I have had to pack which I never really thought about packing. Everyday things that you use for granted such as tissues and hair ties. I’m excited for my flights, I love flying and can’t wait to see what movies they have on the plane - I need something to look forward to! My stop overs are really short. I have 2 1/2 hours in LA, and 2 hours in New York, and land in Nashville Tennessee at 10pm on Friday (10pm Nashville time, not NZ). I’m a bit nervous about the camp I am going to, as there is no electricity in my tent and apparently the raccoons and mice sneak around at night! I also have a long drop, unless I want to walk for 15 minutes to the main hall for a proper toilet, however walking for 15 minutes in the dark where wild grizzly bears walk around does not sound nice to me!

Thank you to everybody who has offered me their support in the past 6 months, and wished me bon voyage. I will update my blog as often as I can while at camp, although there will be limited internet access. I am back to NZ on the 12th of January 2011 so see you all then!

I look forward to your comments, emails and phone calls over the next 8 months.

Fem

Mount Kuzko!

Spider we saw! ARGH!

After Canberra we headed to Mount Kusciouszko National Park. On the way to the park we were suppose to be crossing a big lake. We kept looking at the map and then looking out the window, trying to spot this vast fresh water lake. We then realised that we were already passing the lake, it was just all dried up. It was sad to see that all the water and wild life that had lived in the water had all vanished due to the intense heat.


Esmee started feeling sick on this drive...

We drove into a small town outside the park called Jyndabine, and stocked up on some groceries because of course there is no supermarket in the bush. Mount Kusciouszko is the highest mountain in Australia, therefore the national park is one of the only places in the whole country where you can ski in the winter. We had to pay an entry fee when we entered, and spotted a baby deer in the bushes. We kept driving up hill into the mountains, which to me just looked like hills. We kept driving and passed heaps of ski fields and a couple of ski villages until we reached a short walk to a look out of Mount Kusciouszko. It was an easy short board walk up a few stairs to the look out. It was hard to spot the mountain as there was a lot of haze. Along the walk they had gum trees that were hundreds of years old. It was getting cold, and I had to start wearing a jumper.


Lookout

We drove back and camped at a campground in the park. Out of all of the campgrounds we had been at, this was the first campground that had a proper stove and oven! Amazing for a campground in the bush where there isn’t much supplies. Dad and I cooked dinner while Camiel and Esmee played cards and waited for the pool table to become free. Mum set up camp, and then joined us for dinner. As the sky turned dark, Camiel, Esmee, Dad and I played a game of pool in teams. Camiel and I won - just. Mum soon came running in and said ‘Oh my gosh you won’t believe this!’ and showed us some photos she had just taken on her camera. She was sitting in one of our cheap Bunnings camp chairs in the pitch dark when she felt something at her feet. She shined the torch to find a possum greeting her. The possum then jumped into the boot of the car and started rummaging through all of our stuff!



An abandoned house

Later on when Esmee and I went to the toilet, we came across another friendly possum, who tried to nibble our fingers. It was a cold night as we were high up in the mountains, but we managed. Mum warned us about the 6 hour walk she wanted to do the next day. Noooo......

Haha
Fem
xox

Canberra - The Nations Capital

After we said goodbye to everyone and Esmee had a swim in the river with Poppy the dog, we headed as far south as we could go. We spent the whole day driving, and ended up in Wollongong at about 7.30. We sneaked into a caravan park because the office was closed and we had run out of options. The cool thing about driving to Wollongong was stopping at a look out over the ocean and watching the hang gliders jump off the cliff. I would rather sky dive than hang glide I think. The fact that they just run and jump off a cliff to me is terrifying. We also went along a bridge than hugged the cliff edge to the sea. In Wollongong we went to see a historic blowhole. It was a bunch of rocks where the waves would roll underneath (kind of into a cave), and there was a hole at the top where the water would be pushed out like a whales blowhole. People have been killed in there, because you get thrashed and pushed around a cave that is filled with water. I don’t see why you would go in there to be honest, you gotta be stupid. They had a pool that was built into the rock pools. The pool was salt water, and Esmee being as keen as a bean jumped in for a swim.



Esmee and I

After Wollongong we headed straight for Canberra. On our way to Canberra we stopped at yet another waterfall! I didn’t know that Canberra was actually in its own small state called Australian Capital Territory. Kind of bizarre really. On our way to Canberra we passed a lake that had completely dried up. Once we arrived in Canberra we set up camp in a caravan park and Esmee, Camiel and I had a dip in the pool. It was hot and the pool was cold which was nice and refreshing. Afterwards we headed up to see the Government Grounds. Everything in Canberra looks very new. The mall, the government house was new and modern, the museums, the hotels, everything looked like it was built just yesterday. The government house was nice - form the outside. We then drove down to the International Flag display and spotted New Zealand. Then we hunted round for ages looking for a pizza place - we simply could not find one! We drove through the whole city and saw nothing. Eventually we asked some locals who directed us and we finally found a pizza hut!



Government House


International Flag Display

The next day we went to the National Science Museum. It was a hands on museum where you could play and interact with the displays. It was fun. They had an earthquake house, a roller coaster stimulator, and even a small free fall. We spent a few hours there and I learned a lot. We then went to a park and had lunch in the shade out of the heat. The art gallery had an exhibition on that included some of Van Goughs art work from Paris. Mum wanted to see it, but it was expensive so we flagged it and jumped in the car to go south.


At the National Science Museum

There are two main ways to get to Melbourne. You can either go around the coastline, or through the middle winding through the national parks. We took the inland way and headed for Kusciouszko National Park.

Home in a week!
Fem
xox