Fabulous Friday

It's our last day of camp activities and we are all looking forward to our return to Brunei.

Today was yet again action packed. We climbed a wall and then climbed a gum tree. Everyone rose to the challenges of today and achieved a personal best effort. We were very proud of all the children.

Our final activity was packing and cleaning which has proved to be a tiresome activity. We are still working on the packing and hope to have all our own clothes and new purchases in our bag by tomorrow morning. Please be aware that when you open the bag there will be what we call a 'camp smell.' The rain and damp have played havoc with our natural aromas.

Tonight we will be having a campfire to finish our time at Camp Warrawee - all are very excited and have been asking about it all week. "It the camp fire tonight?" has been ringing in my ears.


This will be our last post so we look forward to seeing you tomorrow at 4:15pm at Brunei International Airport. We will ensure all children have the correct luggage before coming out with their hugs and kisses for you.

Tremendous Thursday

Another day of sunshine!

What a great day we have had today. Thursday started for some with a giant swing. The giant swing is suspended from ropes in a tree and rope is attached to the swing the children have to work as a team to pull their friends into the air as high as their friends want them to.

A lot of encouragement from the children could be heard in this activity.

We all had a session in the pool which is very refreshing compared to the water in Brunei!
Our final camp activity for the day was rafting. For this activity the children worked in their tutor groups. They had to make a raft with poles and containers to float two children across the Pine river. (All children were wearing personal floating devices.) The children worked as a team to create their raft. Once they were ready they took them to the water and............ I will let the children tell you how it all turned out. Whose raft floated the best? Who was able to get the leave from the other side of the river back to Lauren dry?

Next was shopping! It seems that telling children they are going shopping is the easiest way to get them out of the water. They ran to get changed, showered and on the bus. We have not seen them move as fast as they did yesterday afternoon.
Westfield North Lakes Shopping Centre was brilliant. Fiona Hanson the Assistant Marketing Director has gone out of her way to make us feel welcomed. We were hoping for an area sectioned off in the food court but we got a lot more than that. We met Santa Claus and had our photo taken. Then we went to the Myers Shop where we met Ros Crichton the Assistant Store Manager who gave us all gift bags. A perfect evening was spent in Big W, Target and many other smaller shops which the children will tell you about.

All in all another great day. Some still have money left as they have budgeted so well.

Only 1 more sleep. We are all looking forward to seeing our families.

Wonderful Wednesday

Sunshine all day!

Wednesday started for some with the swinging fox. The swinging fox is a variation on the flying fox. Instead of climbing to a great heights to slide down, one child is harnessed in and the other children pull that child up as high as they wish. This evoked a lot of team work from the children and consideration in regards to the height a person would be pulled up to. Swinging fox was a favourite with even Mrs Briffa giving it a go!

Low ropes were another activity. The children learnt to trust each other and help each other on the low ropes course. The course was fulled with smiles from our children when they couldn't do something or a smile of pride when they could. A lot of laughter could be heard from all.

Other events on this day were continuous kick cricket and banner making. Continuous kick cricket always bring out those competitive sportsmen and women.

We are making house banners to display outside our classrooms on our return. A lot of sequins and glitter have been used to represent the house colours.

Our night ended with a disco, games and circle time. All children have received awards in circle time for their behaviour. They have been and still are a pleasure to have on the trip.

Only 2 sleeps to go...........

Terrific Tuesday

Tuesday was another excellent day!

We started prussicking up a wall. One of the hardest activities on camp - children have to push themselves up a wall using ropes. They all rose to the challenge.


Our afternoon was spent with Terry Salah an Aboriginal artist who works at Old Petrie Town. Terry and his assistants Elaine and Nathan demonstrated how to do Aboriginal dance, play the didgeridoo (yadaku) paint a boomerang and throw a boomerang.

The children all fully participated in these activities.

Terry showed the children some of their art work to finish the day. They bought some items such as didgeridoos and boomerangs which children commented on by saying they were reasonably priced.

We ended the evening with a movie and popcorn.

Only 3 sleeps until we return!

Marvellous Monday

Monday 17 November sees in the first activities at Camp Warrawee.

Today we did archery, canoeing and orienteering.



Canoeing was on Pine River and there was some beautiful scenery and wildlife to be seen.
Orienteering and archery were both on site.


All activities were thoroughly enjoyed by the children.

The weather is rainy and forecast for more rain but the children spirits are high.

Our evening ended with singing, banner making and circle time.

Sensational Sunday

We all headed back into Brisbane city early Sunday morning after another hearty breakfast. Some of the children were very excited about going to visit another museum.














This time we went to the Queenland Museum. First stop was the Sciencentre, where there were three exhibition halls filled with hands-on science activities especially aimed at children. The most popular ones were the spinning chair, head on a plate and test your running speed.














After free time exploring the activities we all headed to a science presentation based around balloons. The children were eager to volunteer to help with the experiments and showed a lot of scientific knowledge when answering her questions. The children were once again polite and staff in the Sciencentre commented on their good behavior and politeness.














After lunch at the Musem Cafe we split into two groups and visited the Enquiry Centre for a talk about insects and the Courage of Ordinary Men exhibit.














The children had a run around in the gardens by the museum followed by a ride on the Brisbane Wheel. On finishing the ride we could see the storm on the horizon and luckily made it to the coach before the downpour.














It seems that luck was on our side yesterday as we missed the worst parts of the storm on our journey home. The biggest challenge that we had to face was a night without electricty. However, dinner was ready on our arrival back at camp and the children enjoyed playing circle games in the dining hall before heading off to their beds for a good night's sleep. Yet again, all were asleep within minutes.

Super Saturday

The day started like any other normal day on camp. With breakfast completed our journey began off to the Modern Art Gallery in Southbank, Brisbane.













The students were exposed to the art of several artists and then were able to recreate certain pieces within interactive environments. The gallery offered the children a chance to be entertained, challenged and thoughtful while being exposed to various forms of art. It is quite amazing the amount of activities at this gallery and the time spent was thoroughly enjoyed. Children were greatly impressed by the size of the pieces of work and comments such as 'Awesome' were uttered as they saw them. Children were impressed with the variety of ways that artists expressed themselves other that just the old fashioned paint on paper. All hands were raised when the children where asked if they enjoyed their time at the Gallery. The time flew!

A walk across the bridge to the centre of town saw us arrive at the Queen Street Mall, where a local band were playing for our enjoyment. Lunch was in the Myer Foodcourt and many a discussion was heard about the cost of food; how much money they had to spend and if they felt they could afford an item. Students are really starting to think about their budgets and worthwhile purchases.















Next we headed to Borders Bookstore where we browsed books by the hundreds and Mrs Briffa was able to negotiate a very popular 20% discount on purchases.














Another quick walk had us at the Brisbane Botanical Gardens opposite the Royal Park Hotel where we saw a Brunei flag proudly displayed.
In the gardens we relaxed, some choosing to read, others climbed a tree, some rolled and ran about on the soft grass in lovely warm weather.












All After our rest it was time to walk across the Goodwill Bridge to Mado Restaurant. The food was great - the meat was especially liked by all!

Our journey then took us to the Currumbin Sanctuary. This is a superb place to visit day or night. The children were given the opportunity to hold a snake, crocodile and koala. They could see nocturnal Australian marsupials. Some of the experiences were an active Tasmanian devil - they are always sleeping when I have ever visited a zoo, kangaroos - not a couple but at least fifty feeding together - it was an incredible experience to be surrounded by so many kangaroos. The tour finished with a dance and song by an Aboriginal dance troupe which impressed us all - Sassa! (The children will tell you about sassa on their return.)

Finally back to bed - they were asleep in minutes!

Historial Village Visit.

We started the day with some on camp activities.









Then after lunch we walked the trail to the Petrie Historical Town. At Petrie we visited a museum and found out all about the surrounding area. The museum was excellent as it also had a small school from olden days where we sat and the Museum guide told about going to school in those times. It was all very interesting!










Afternoon was spent walking around the historical town and sitting on the grass chatting or playing with friends. It was so nice to sit in the sun and not get scorched or be too hot.









Dinner came and was savoured before we headed to hall for some games, electricity was the favoured game - one that has to be explained and played to fully appreciate.

Students thens showered, headed to the dining hall for supper where Mrs Piddington whipped up a lovely tea cake and Mrs Walker made hot Milo while Mrs Briffa and Mr D washed up!

Today we have seen three Tawny Frog Mouth Owls, a Scrub Turkey, several Possums and a toad or three.

Circle time, a time for a positive reflection of the day's events, calmed us down and we headed off to bed knowing another big day awaits us tomorrow.

Friday 8:45am update

Yesterday we made it back from scouting out the bargains at North Lakes Shopping Centre; and the kids have found plenty of bargains! After another quick visit to the food court we headed on the bus back to base.

The students ran for the open spaces and kicked, bowled, threw, caught balls and hurled frisbees.

We were rostered on for an early dinner and wooshed down Chicken snitzel and vegetables followed by generous helpings of ice cream and fruit.

Night was quiet affair with a group reflection on the happenings of the first 24 hours and some basic rules for camp.

After several attempts at getting asleep, the lights went out for all and deep sleep followed.

At this time we have just finished breakfast (cereal, fruit, sausages, hash browns, spaghetti and toast). The weather is wonderful, cool nights at around 18 degrees with glorious active weather at 25 degrees.

The staff at Warawee have been very accomodating and the meals have been generous with plenty more for all.

More soon.

Message to base:

We have made it. 10:35am local time we landed safely - though bumpily in Brisbane. After a few hours sleep, several meals to nourish us and provide us with more energy we have the power to go on. We have dropped our luggage at Warrawee and headed straight off on the bus to North Lakes shopping centre - where I might add we are getting the grand tour and all the children are to receive special gift packs courtesy of the management.

At the time of this blog post students are tucking into healthy Australian food followed down with a sampling of treats.

There have been positive comments directed at the children from all those we have had contact with; RBA staff, Immigration and Custom Officials and the camp staff. What wonderful children we have.

Stay tuned.

Leaving on a jet plane . . .

Students have eagerly left their parents at the check in counter with a final goodbye. I am not too sure who wept tears of joy more, the parents who will live it up over the next week or the children who know what a wonderful week is before them.

Through immigration and into the gate lounge the students are so excited as they sit and chat about the week to come. As always the students are on their best behaviour and are eagerly waiting to board.

Many thanks to the SkyLounge for letting us post this blog. The author when in Brunei always prefers to travel RBA. How's that for an ad?

Chat to you tomorrow.

Planning and preparation

The countdown has officially started. With just over a week to go, students have been discussing many aspects of the camp and teachers have been busily preparing camp books, music and activities. Mrs Walker has been continually emailing Warawee asking questions, clarifying and smoothing the road ahead.

Students and teachers involved in this camp to Brisbane trust you enjoy our up to date account of our journey and can share in our adventure.