Camp Reflection

It was our group’s turn to go camping. There was a short road from the “Outward Bound Headquarters” to the camping site that I could probably have run in about 30 minutes, but to make it more of a challenge we had to hike there via a longer route. Most of us were way behind our instructors Shaun and Shi- Wa.

Going up the steep, muddy path was hard work- especially with a 10-kilo backpack, it was hard to walk, let alone climb! (Part of what made the backpacks so heavy was that we were each carrying 3-4 liters of water, we never actually ended up drinking any of it though, so obviously it was just another way to make the hike tougher!).

We clambered up the hill and then, finally, we got to the top (at least of that path). There was a Chinese Temple up here - with lions carved out of stone on either side of the red door, with golden studs on it. Oli and me thought it must be the “Holy Temple of Fitness” or something, but then somebody said that the Chinese people put it there so it was closer to the heavens and all of the Gods.

Since we were exhausted we were allowed to stop and eat on the steps of the temple. We had brought some the things needed to make a sandwich. We all happily sat down and had lunch. Then it was time to move on, but now we had to do something much worse! The next part didn’t have a path, it was just a jungle. At first there were some stones and a few odd branches that had fallen over but then it became dense mountain terrain. We were all wondering if there was a point to this and asked if we could take a break - but surprisingly, Shaun said “No”.

There was next to no sunlight and the trees were getting shorter and shorter, there were more fallen branches and low ones too making the journey more and more difficult.  Shaun claimed he had been on this walk a lot of times but we weren’t sure whether to believe him because there was not even a visible trail! Then we came to a really hard bit where the mud was slippery and there was a steep slope - and right at the top of the slope was a cluster of thorn bushes, and no trees to grab onto. I was first but I kept slipping and couldn’t do it, but eventually I found another way round.

When we finally got to the campsite, after five hours of hiking, I was surprised!  I’d thought it would be a proper campsite with some facilities, like toilets and showers – but it was just a patch of grass by a path! Anyway I was really glad to have arrived and so relieved to take off my pack.   I wasn’t relieved for long though because as soon as the truck came we had to lug all the supplies up the path and to where we were going to pitch the tents.

A couple of people were assigned to work with Shaun to make the dinner and the rest of us had to pitch the tents. It was six o’clock when we had finished that so we had dinner, which was really good considering that they’d cooked it out in the middle of now where! After dinner Shaun told us about the history of Outward Bound which was established in World War II to toughen people up for the army!!!!

It was nice to finally snuggle into my sleeping bag on this, my third and last night at Outward Bound. I thought about some of the things I’d done; crawling through a narrow drain, jumping into freezing cold water, hiking up that mountain with that stupid backpack, having my sleep disturbed by people snoring! Not all of these things were fun at the time, but they were useful experiences. I enjoyed challenging myself, generally being more independent, and having these four days away from school, with my friends!

The Campsite

By Kiran