Outward Bound Camp Reflection

By Carol Lam (6H)

Camp at Outward Bound was very different to the other camps I had been to. For a start, we didn't see our teachers that often. Instead, we were with our instructors and our teachers popped up every now and then, sometimes at surprisingly early hours.

Another thing that was different was that we were more reliant on ourselves. For example, after our camping trip, we had to wash our tents and water bottles etc. by ourselves. This helped me become more independent.

Also, this camp was very demanding and challenging, both mentally and physically. The activities were sometimes hard to do, such as the four and a half hour hike, which was hard to do because we had to walk in mud and carry very heavy backpacks. Many of the activities were also mentally demanding. I had to push myself to carry on, such as on the night hike.

The sections below further detail my experiences and feelings on camp.

Day 1: 4^th December 

The first day of camp had an unsurprising undercurrent of excitement and everyone was talking about camp.

The road to camp was slightly rocky and bumpy so that transporting our suitcases was hard. At the entrance of Outward Bound there was a cattle gate, which meant we had to go through a small door to get to camp.

At camp, we first went to the main hall where an instructor called Tom told us about the spirit of Outward Bound. We then took a group photo with the Outward Bound logo.

                       Our team, Mandela, with one of our instructors, Marcus.

After the group photo, we all had lunch. We then collected a pillowcase and two bedsheets for our beds. We had to make our own beds. I think this helped to train our independence and teamwork because while some people completed their beds quickly, others required help but in the end, everyone completed this successfully.

After our successful making-of-beds, we walked down to a rope course. We were extremely excited. Before we did the rope course, we had to complete a challenge . Marcus had a rope and we all had to jump rope at the same time. This didn't work and I think the reason it didn't work was because we weren't helping each other.

Our rope activity was swinging on a rope from one platform to another. But first, we needed to get the rope. To get the rope, we first tried to throw things at it. That was not successful so I thought of using a shoe tied to a jacket and after a few tries it worked. We managed to get the rope because we reflected on what didn't work before and then we thought of another solution.

The swinging part was exciting. We put one foot in a loop at the bottom of the rope and our hands were grabbing the rope. We all wanted to go again but there wasn't enough time. I thought I was a risk taker when I did this because I had never done it before and I tried it even though I was scared.

Around 5:30 pm, we assembled on a raised platform called the Black Top. We had to do a mini-olympics. This consisted of a few events such as hopping with a (clean) slipper between your knees to cross the Black Top and running to an oar, spinning around with your head on it 6 times and then running back to your team. I was a communicator because I talked to and cheered on the people in my group. I was also caring because I encouraged the people in my group.

The penultimate thing we did on this day was packing the things we would need for our hike the next day. An example of the things we packed were sleeping bags, utensils and backpacks.

Our last activity before we returned to our dorms was to make and decorate an envelope, and to write a reflection of our day.

Day 2 : 5^th December

The first thing we did was plan our hike to the campsite where we would spend the night. We worked out a route, which ended at Tai Tam Campsite. Next, we packed a group barrel with all the things we would need while camping out and our own backpacks with the few things we would need on the hike.

We took a number 94 bus to the starting place of our hike.

         The instructors and the members of our group waiting for bus number 94.

We started the hike at 11 am and arrived at Tai Tam campsite at around 3:30pm. At the campsite we had to reflect on what we learned on the hike.

We had to put up the tents in mixed groups. I had to be a thinker because I had to think about how to build the tent really well.

After dinner, we went for a night hike. One by one we had to walk up a hill even though we couldn't see anything. We only stopped when we heard Marcus say "We're here," I thought I had to be a risk-taker because this was a scary experience and I had to overcome my fears to do it.

Day 3 : 5^th December

We took a bus back to Outward Bound. When we got back, we had to wash the dishes, scrub the water bottles, tents and backpacks and polish the burners. That taught me to be more independent because normally I don't wash things at home but at camp I had to.

                                              Cleaning our supplies

The next activity I did was rock climbing. At first I felt nervous because I was scared I was going to fall. After I completed the activity, I knew that my friends could help me when I was doing activities that required strategy and teamwork. From this activity, I found out that my fear of falling off a climbing wall had been overcome.

After that, we designed a raft out of 4 hollow barrels, 4 big bamboo stems and 4 little bamboo stems. This made me think about safety and engineering. When we had designed our raft, we built it out of our materials. I learned how to tie two new knots and I think that part of our success in building the raft was that we all worked cooperatively without any arguments.

Day 4 : 6^th December

On the last day we packed our bags and cleaned up our dorms. This trained my independence too because normally at home I don't sweep and mop the floor.

Our last challenge was to navigate a maze that Marcus and Shashe had designed. We had to be thinkers and use elimination to work out the path. We also had to be communicators because the ones who had already navigated the maze told theirs friends the route so everyone got across. Our reward was ice cream! That was totally unexpected because we didn't even know that Outward Bound had ice cream.

The last thing we did on camp was share our experiences and receive our certificates. Everyone agreed that this camp was both exciting and demanding.

I had a wonderful experience at camp. I learned new things, overcame fears and now I feel like I can do even really hard things if I try hard. Camp was great and I am grateful for the chance to experience this.