Saturday, 29 August 2009

Horse Riding

Today everyone was introduced to their horses. We all spent one hour with our horses, learning how to saddle, groom and ride them.

We were divided into three groups. While one group was with the horses, the other two were either baking, woodchopping or picking up grass.

Everything here is going well.

Sana, Maddie and Brendan

Day 3

Wednesday, 26 August

Today both the boys and girls hiked back from our group's campout. The boys lost to the girls on the hike back to the camp. Once the boys pitched their tents, Matt, Rory and Jadon found a present in their tent - a dead rat!

Tim was named 'the texas chainsaw' due to his loud snores at night.

At the girls' campsite Bri experimented with mixing two minute noodles, continental rice and everyone's left over vegies in a billy - it actually didn't turn out bad! There were a number of pranks pulled including shaking one another's tents, spooky stories and funny remarks and conversations.

After we unpacked, we had an introduction to the horses. We will be having our first riding lesson tomorrow. We are all looking forward to it.

Write to you soon,

Bri, Erika and Rory

Monday August 24 - We started Binga with a Bang!

Today our trip to Mt Binga started with a BANG!!!!

We were all excited to finally hit the road to Mt Binga, but the bus broke down just after we left Wivenhoe Dam and our delicious morning tea.

We spent a while waiting for the bus to be fixed.

Finally, we set off for the last 45 minutes of the trip.

We got to Mt Binga, had lunch and began to unpack our bags.

The boys struggled with making their beds while the girls found it easy!!!!!

We finished unpacking and everyone set out to begin their first Mt Binga job!!

By for now

Alex

Jackie

Adam

Addendum.

To all my English friends, especially Tom.

Congratulations on the Ashes win.

Tom, for all your dedicated, if not almost fanatical, but good humoured loyalty you probably deserve this one.

Bring on the Down Under Tour.

Regards

Steve Grieger

Monday August 24 - The Way We Start, 9B Camp 2

On 24 August 2009, it was the hottest winter day in the history in Brisbane and Southeast Queensland.

It was the beginning of our adventure.

After the special time where students were all hugging and kissing good bye with their parents, we departed to the Mount Binga.

It was a nice smooth driving at the beginning.

We have reached Wivenhoe Dam for the morning tea without any troubles.

Everyone of 9B enjoyed the “last supper” (can of drink, potato chips and chocolate) and the moment to kick a ball to each other and play on the playground there.

We left Wivenhoe Dam, and started heading toward Mount Binga.

But... !?

The bus started slowing down... and stopped...

Yes, our bus got broken down in the middle of nowhere!!!!

There was no mobile phone signal either.

Some of us were cheering, some of us were a little concerned, some of the girls started to say, “Sir, can you take us home...”

The bus driver managed to drive the bus to a small town, and pulled off at the service station and a garage.

The problem was, the bus had a worn out hose around the radiator, so our bus was keep losing some water on the way.

While we were waiting for fixing our bus up, some of us were happily playing in the garage shed, some of us were tired.

Then a cattle truck pulled over inside the shed.

Now, we had a choice between, staying in the shed to be cool but survive from the smell, go outside of the shed but survive from the dust or go back to the bus but survive from the heat.

After spending for 30 minutes in this small town, finally we moved on and reached Mount Binga.

Now it was time to settle down, unpacking the bags and eating lunch.

Most of the students were simply happy to be there and looking forward to their adventure for the next four weeks.

But, for me, it was the time to say good bye and leave them behind for now.

......On the way back to the bus, one of the students said “I hope the bus won’t brake down again.”

But guess what!

We had a major broken down bus on the way back to Brisbane.

We had to stop for 1 hour to do a major repairing.

Luckily, it was after we dropped off 9B.

It was a long and hot day for both of us.

However, the main thing is “We Got THERE!”.

I wish all 9B'ers all the best in this once in a lifetime experience.

Sensei

Thursday August 20 - Mt Binga Challenge

Second last day....Mt Binga Challenge.

The events are for you guys to find out, but let's just say that the war cries were great!

Greasley's was a variation of the school in a Binga context, Parker's was a terrorist routine and Schultz's was just plain awesome!!

We all had fun at the the Mt Binga Challenge and it was awesome.

We all played the best games.

It was challenging for some but it was awesome.

The next camps will have heaps of fun.

See you all soon.

9A

Wednesday August 19 - Just Chillin'

Today we went to Cooma Falls for some swimming and abseiling.

The water was freezing.

Only a few people went in while others abseiled off an 18 metre rock. Others sat down on the grass and watched.

We stayed there for a couple of hours then came back to camp and started our new jobs.

It had been a fun day and everyone had a laugh.

Holly

.

Had a fun day today.

I am waiting for tomorrow as we have te Binga Challenge and I am really looking forward to it. We have to pull the Troopie and play many different games.

I am hoping that after we have left Mt Binga, we have learnt something from it.

Hayden

.

Today the boys got back from Solo which was fun.

Later on we all went to Cooma Falls which was really fun.

Some of us did abseiling and went for a swim.

Although the water was freezing we still hopped in and swam to the other side to warm up!

We all enjoyed today a lot as it was a chance for us to relax.

The highlights of the day would have been the cold water.

Jo

Monday August 17 - So proud of ourselves

Hello to all back at home!

Today, the girls came back from their solo/duo campouts.

This experience was amazing!!

The feeling of actually overcoming our fears and completing the campout made all of the girls feel so proud of ourselves.

Tonight is the boys turn and all of us wish them well and hope that they enjoy it as much as we did.

Throughout the day today the girls did horse riding. We all had the option of going for another trail ride or having a lesson in trotting.

As eager as us girls are for trying new things, we all chose trotting.

Amazingly, we all got up to the expected level and all achieved well by having a go at trotting.

4 days until we are back home!

Sofia

Brook

Christie

Sunday August 16 - Survived on teamwork and honey!

We recently got back from Survival.

Drama, Drama, Drama!!!

On the Schultz camp, the well made but suprisingly un-wind resistent shelter was decimated by the rain, wind, hail and lightning.

So after it collapsed on us, we spent some time shivering by our tiny fire and gazing up at the stars.

To top it off, our stuff was soaked and worst of all, one of our hats got smashed!!

But, you know what?

It was great.

We survived on teamwork, effort and a ridiculous amount of honey and oats.

Matt

Luke

Brendan

Saturday August 15 - A lazy day

We enjoyed a lazy day around camp today.

We did our washing, played footy, ate, read books and really did whatever we felt like. It was a day of relaxation today and we think that we needed it after survival.

It was good, mainly for the rest, but for some people, their cabins needed a lot of cleaning!!

We can feel that the end of our time at Mt Binga is near and we are sure that no one wants to leave.

We have a few things planned for this week like; horse riding, solo and swimming.

Everone is looking forward to the week and especially the Binga Challenge!!!

Joe

Daniel S

Daniel H

Friday August 14 - All in Camp again

Hello everyone,

Camp is really fun. The girls did trail riding while the boys finished our survival and went to the Palms National Park to see lots of palm trees and go for a scenic walk. It was fun and a change from the usual routine.

Everybody says Hi.

Jack

We went on survival for three days and we had fun.

We came back and unpacked all of our wet stuff from the storm that happened while we were camping out.

We all came back and went out working with Mr Grieger.

Adam

Hey everyone,

Binga is great.

Today, the girls did a trail ride through the bush and also some jobs around the place.

It was pretty fun.

Yesterday, the girls set off to abseil and we all had a go at it and had a good day together.

Rebecca

Thursday August 13 - Quiet without the boys!

18 days into our Mt Binga experience.....

A big hello to everyone back at home.

Today the girls had a lot of fun rock climbing and abseiling off an 8 metre high rock wall.

We all really enjoyed the experience.

The boys have been gone for one night of their survival and still have one more night to go.

Camp is extremely quiet without them here!!

On the first night of the boys camp, there just happened to be a storm....it even hailed...but they were all ok.

Mt Binga really needed and deserved the 7.5mm of rain we got last night.

That is it from us here at Mt Binga.

Sheydin

Holly

Christie

Wednesday August 12 - Back from Survival

Hello everyone back home.

Over the past two days the girls have been out in the bush on 'Survival'.

Everyone survived comfortably and made it back to camp.

On survival we had to start from scratch. We received our food supplies such as flour, water oats and other items. Then we got our tarps, ropes and other things to make our camp.

We had the pleasure of choosing and creating every meal we ate.

In the beginning, we were all a bit anxious and excited to see how things would go and about how we would amuse ourselves for two days because we couldn't bring books or even a pack of cards.

We found that we had some twine left over from making our tent creations so we made a skipping rope and also experimented with rolled oat biscuits!

All up, it was a very good time and created memories that will stay with us forever.

Now the boys are on their two day survival.

Best wishes to you all.

Sofia

Nichola

Brook

Monday August 10 - Today was great!

The boys learnt to abseil and rock climb while the girls went out on their three day 'Survival' camp. before we could abseil, we had to go through a training procedure so that we knew what to do.

Overall it was a fun day and we all enjoyed it.

Luke

Daniel H

Tom

Sunday August 9 - Family Day

Miss Jones visits her 9A Family...

After two weeks of missing 9A, I got the opportunity to visit them and to share their Binga experience on Family Day!

The extraordinarily long drive proved to be worthwhile when I pulled up to the campsite and was greeted by my class running to meet me! It was excellent to see how well everyone was working together. After devotion, looking at the issue of “Trust” and how 9A have learnt to trust themselves and each other, we had the opportunity to look around Binga and see the things that the kids have been up to.

I was enchanted to meet Mandy, a little brown and white calf, who decided that my fingers were fairly tasty and decided to eat my hand. I also got the opportunity to speak with each of my students and to find out how they are travelling on their personal journey. I also received food from many families (!) including Brendan’s Coke, Joe’s Krispy Kream donuts and Sofia’s Persian meatballs!
With only 2 weeks to go until 9A return, the students are enjoying the letters that we have been sending and encourage us to send more!!

Elizabeth Jones, 9A PCG teacher

Saturday August 8 - Family Day....Bring it on!

Hello all back at home.

Today was full of excitement and enthusiasm.

We all cleaned and prepared for Family Day on Sunday while learning how to mow the lawn, weed the garden, wash clothes, sweep, mop and tidy the camp.

Overall, it was a pretty relaxed day with a lot of laughs and fun times while we wait patiently for Sunday.

Christie

Brendan

Nichola

Friday August 7 - Cold, Foggy and French Toast

It started off with a cold and foggy morning, but with cooks making French Toast for breakfast, it made our day. We all gathered to start preparing for Family Day, which went quite well.

After that , different leaders took groups of us to do different jobs that they had planned for us.

Blake was assigned with the job of wood cutting, which meant that we could stack the fourth row of wood to help light our afternoon fire.

Adam went with Ryan and Mr Grieger in the troopie to go wood cutting. They had fun and looked dressed for the job in their fluro yellow jackets and hats.

With the last job we did, you would not want to wear white shoes as they would go green!

We went to the orchards to pick up and rake grass. Mr Hayward then drove us to the cows. We all hopped out of the car, when suddenly a herd of cows came running for the grass! We quickly threw the grass out for them to eat!

After a long day, it was fun and we all enjoyed it.

Holly

Adam

Blake

Friday, 7 August 2009 - Two Day Hike

Hello everyone,

Tuesday morning we all got ready for our two day hike. The girls left first and were at their campsite in 4 hours and the boys in 3!

The girls slept in a large gully and were all very excited to be camping out after a day of hard work. With our gas stoves cooking two minute noodles as fast as they could, we were all happy.

The boys stayed on grass plains. They all had a cold night after a day of hiking and the discovery of animal skeletons.

Bruce, Nichola and Brook

Friday, 7 August 2009 - Hello Everyone

Hello everyone back at home!

Today was really fun and easy going. We didn't have to get up until 7am which is still really difficult for some of us.

We spent most of our time playing footy and soccer, reading and sitting around near the wagon watching the horses.

It was fun patting Mindy (the cow) and watching her try to eat the electricity pole - well lick it anyway. We can't wait for the awesome bonfire tonight! Goodbye for now.

Jack, Blake and Tom

Friday, 7 August 2009 - Another Day Gone

Another day gone, fifteen more to go!

Today we cut wood and did a few other things but mostly rested. It was quiet today as most people were resting from the hike yesterday.

Today's highlight was horse riding and I think we are almost ready for our trail ride. We can't wait to do more horse riding throughout the camp.

Ryan, Joe and Rebecca

Wednesday, 5 August 2009 - Beautiful Binga!

Hey folks,

Binga is absolutely beautiful.

Tomorrow we leave for our two day hike. Most of us are really excited. We can't wait to get going.

The best part of Binga are the nights. We all sit around the fire and talk and relax.

In the past week we have all learnt so much about one another and have become more of a family.

With family day coming, excitement is building. Letters are being sent out to family and friends every chance we get.

Sheydin, Sofia and Hayden

Sunday, 2 August 2009 - Day Off!

Today was our first day off. It was a big challenge for everyone to get out of bed even though we got an extra hour of sleep.

During our first day off we enjoyed a good day of relaxation. Although we still had to do washing! Other than that we did our jobs and then chilled out.

Hayden, Luke and Daniel

Monday, 3 August 2009 - New Challenges

Today we scaled the wall, the ropes and the perfect English accent. We brushed up on our balancing skills as we managed to manoeuvre the low ropes.



For Brendan the highlight was doing a barrel roll which meant rolling on a barrel! For Adrian, it was the wall, a daunting vertical 3 metre wall, designed to keep down the most persistent jumpers and wallrunners. To defeat it you need to use teamwork, boosting each other up while climbing.



Just another successful day.



Matt, Brendan, Christie