Task 1 by Toni Sharp

Reddam Camp: Mud Bath


Okay. Picture this. Getting up a 6AM! Early I know. My name is Antonia Sharp, Toni for short. I am in my third day at Reddam House High School. The first day was nothing. The second day was a swimming carnival. But the third day is the day we take off for CAMP.
We are currently sitting in a bus. Throwing mentos and gum at each other. But I bet none of you want to hear about that. It’s the usual, we ride, and we get out and are introduced to our leaders and get our cabins, yada yada. I will only tell you the exciting highlights of camp. Correction, our first YEAR SEVEN camp.
This activity has stuck in my brain for one reason, it was hot, and then it was cold. It was a boiling hot day and we had just completed Orienteering and morning tea. We were now walking to the course known as ‘Challenge Valley’. An army set for children and adults. The first one we had to overcome was going up a wooden ladder, then, this is the best bit, sliding down the middle, I said middle, of the tires. Then going round the muddy slush they called water, on our hands and knees, three times.
“Ewwwwwe! Get me out of here!” Hayley screamed. Everyone knows Hayley hates getting muddy. While we were all having fun, Miss Boulstridge and Emma stood by and watched us all get muddy and wet.
“Come on, get wet already!” Bella and ii kept saying to them. At that time Hayley came out of the sludge, looking as wet as ever, and thought she’d had enough.

Have you had enough? You haven’t? Well then I might just have to tell you this event. Just a heads up, an event happens at the end that you’ll be talking about for days after.

The next activity was bear pit. You had to race along skinny planks of wood until you reached the end, that’s when the instructor, Nick, handed us the rope, and we swung like Tarzan and Jane over yet another pot of sludge, and was dropped into it.
“Race you?” I challenged to Bella. She thought for a moment. A moment too long.
“Go!” Nick screamed. I ran up those planks as fast as I could, but Bella was faster. She reached Nick before I could. When I reached nick, he handed us the rope to swing. We looked at each other.
“1, 2, 3!” we screamed together. Then we swung.

Splash we land in water. Warm water. That was strange I thought.
When I hopped out of the water, I was shivering right down to my butt. My friends and I laughed. We all stood together, waiting, and waiting for everyone to finish. We stood there, Bella, Daniel, Roman, Dario, Emma (who is still not muddy enough) and I. we watched as the others finished.

The next activity, wasn’t really an activity, it was more of a dare.
“Before we can continue, everyone must sit in the mud pit,” Nick said. He said it mainly to Emma, who wanting to show us all up, went and sat in the pit. Not surprisingly, there was one person who was reluctant. This person hated being wet. Hayley, held us up. When she finally got in, Nick told us we were at the end of the activity. By this time, we were shivering in soaking wet shoes. My once white shoes and shirt, now a dark brown, but it was worth it. It all was.