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Jun

Maddie's Canoeing Blog Print E-mail
Written by Maddie, Snowy Student, Term 2 2011   
Canoeing

Today I was ready to go canoeing; I had my day bag packed and my lunch made! I headed towards the bus, but instead ended up in Mr Adams car alongside Keegan and Connor.

It was a good drive up there and we spotted a kitten and a wallaby on the side of the road (not together), we arrived at our destination and unpacked the trailer.

Mr Adams and Miss Van Dijk taught us the safety of canoeing and also how to adjust your PFD, helmets and how to hold your paddle.

We soon headed out onto the river. I was partnered with Ricki-Lee and we rowed pretty well, especially Ricki. I liked splashing other people! We formed a canoe raft a few times so Mr Adams and Miss Van Dijk could teach us the different stroke techniques, which we tried out ourselves and we all did really well! We tried out paddling and just travelled a little bit downstream, where we spotted two king-fisher birds, they were so pretty and it was awesome!

 

After lunch everyone switched partners, I was now with Mr Adams, we went on a journey down to the mouth of the river. I liked being with Mr Adams because he rowed quickly and fast so all I had to do was look like I was rowing. We travelled down to the beach and pulled our canoes onto the sand. We went for a walk and Jesse found a sea-horse on the beach so he put it in the canoe to bring back. The beach was really pretty and the waves were really calm, we could see “Beware Reef” in the distance! We soon hopped back into our canoes and travelled back downstream to where we put the canoes in, I was getting nervous because I know we had to capsize the canoes soon! It was time, everyone was in their canoes just sitting in the middle of the water watching everyone else capsize, the water was freezing and I did not want to get in.

Watching everyone capsize into the water was hilarious, their teeth were chattering and they looked so cold, it then came time for Ricki and I to capsize. We rowed away from the other canoes and on the count of three slipped off the edge and flipped the boat with us. As soon as I hit the water my body felt like pins were jabbing into me, I had to scream, but after a while my body just went numb. After Ricki and I had flipped the canoe for the second time, it was time to get changed and leave to travel back to campus!

Maddie

 

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School For Student Leadership

School for Student Leadership is a Victorian Department of Education and Training (DET) initiative offering a unique residential education experience for year nine students. The curriculum focuses on personal development and team learning projects sourced from students' home regions. There are four campuses in iconic locations across Victoria. The Alpine School Campus is located at Dinner Plain in the Victorian Alps. Snowy River Campus is near the mouth of the Snowy River at Marlo in east Gippsland. The third site is adjacent to Mount Noorat near Camperdown in Victoria’s Western District, and is called Gnurad-Gundidj. After consultation with the local aboriginal community, this name represents both the indigenous name of the local area and an interpretation of the statement "belonging to this place". Our fourth and newest campus, currently known as the Don Valley Campus is located at Don Valley, Yarra Ranges.
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Our school community acknowledges the Gunaikurnai and Monero-Ngarigo people as the traditional custodians of the land upon which our school campus is built. We pay our respects to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, their Elders past and present, and especially whose children attend our school.