Ed Support Students visit Rottnest
After a somewhat uncomfortable ferry ride for some (there were several students quite seasick!) we arrived safely on the island for morning tea. We then took our Eco Tour boat ride that took us at high speed with music pumping to look for whales and seals. Some of our students loved the thrill of the high speed, others not so much. Everyone enjoyed seeing lots of whales and seals. Most of the students who had been seasick, decided to stay ashore and visit the museum with some of the staff. After the boat ride we all regrouped in the settlement for lunch. We then collected the hire bikes and rode to Kingstown to settle into camp. A few students caught the bus. We had afternoon tea in the dining hall, made beds and had some reflection time. After dinner we were fortunate to have a Rottnest volunteer guide lead us in a stargazing activity. Then it was time for bed.
Day Two was an early start to breakfast, and a quick bus ride to Mass. Mass, hosted by Father Leon, was lovely. He engaged all our students, including involving some of the students in readings. He invited the students and staff to gather around the alter for communion, where he explained each section of the service. Following Mass we had morning tea in the settlement. We then walked to the train ready for our Oliver Hill train tour. At Oliver Hill we split into two groups and did the guns tour with a tour guide. All the students were very interested and engaged in learning the history of the guns. The train took us back to Kingstown where we had lunch. After lunch we did a Curious Quokkas activity, here we observed quokkas around Kingstown – most were sleeping which reinforced what we had learnt about them being nocturnal. Our next activity was a beach clean-up and swim. The students thoroughly enjoyed swimming in the beautiful blue waters. After the beach the students showered and we had dinner in the dining hall. After dinner each house played a DVD for movie night. Students then settled for bed following a tiring day.
Our last day involved getting ourselves packed up before breakfast. After breakfast we rode our bikes to the lighthouse. We then returned bikes and all walked to the settlement for morning tea and souvenir shopping. The ferry ride home was quite rough but fortunately there was no sickness!
Our Corpus Christi students should be congratulated on their attitude, kindness to each other, willingness to participate in activities outside their comfort zone, manners, bike riding skills and organisation. I thank them all for being such great students to work with.
I also thank Mr Messer, Mr Roberts, Mrs Harding, Ms O’Leary, Miss Civiello and Mrs Larsen for all their hard work and support during camp.
Kind regards,
Brooke Bleakley
