Year 12 Camp - Life at the Top (Part 1)

Ice Creams at Bryant Park

... continued from Year 12 Camp - Getting to the Top.

The horrendous Bus ride finished at about 9:30 am. we arrived at Sterling Resort. The girls were shown to their rooms and breakfast was available for those who wanted it. The girls could rest until 1:30 when we had lunch and boarded the bus for some sight seeing.

The weather was nice and cool - quite comfortable for us but the girls were quite cold so some put their 'one jumper' on. There was a lot of low cloud around and it was quite misty.

Our first stop was Coakers Walk. This is a short walk along a man-made path on the rim of the steep slopes. It affords magnificent views 'when the mist clears'. Unfortunately for us, the mist was as thick as a xxx yyy speech (Please substitute your favourite politician's name here). We took the ten minute walk looking down on a thick blanket of fog. It was quite disappointing when we reached the end where there was a large billboard displaying the magnificent views.

One of our drivers told us that it was always like this at this time of year as it was the wet season in Kerala (the coastal state to the west of us) and the prevaling winds drove the mist and rain over the mountain.

The highlight for us was the small stand at the end selling home-made chocolate. We invested wisely and thoroughly enjoyed our purchase.

Our next stop was Bryants Park and Lake. Our hostel girls love flowers so this was a highlight for them. The flowers were lovely although most of the garden beds were overgrown with weeds as well. This did not stop our girls from gasping at every turn. It was only the large 'Do not pluck the Flowers' sign that saved this place from being denuded in a matter of minutes.

We spent a considerable time roaming through the gardens and sitting on the grassed area talking. It was a great time as it let us meet a lot of Year 12 day scholars as well. For 20 rupees (70 Aust cents) you could buy small posies of dried flowers. This was a hit with all the girls and most availed themselves of this opportunity to have flowers that would last a long time for them.

As we were at the park the mist began to roll in which brought that eerie, mysterious feel to the place. All these sensations were new to the girls and fascinated them. Of course I offered a detailed scientific explanation as to why this occurred.

We returned to the hotel about 5:30 pm for a rest before the program resumed at 7:00 pm with what was listed as 'Campfire and Cultural Activities'. No one could offer much explanation except that some of the girls would dance. Being fore-thinking people IW and I immediately put our minds to some Australian Cultural activities we could share.

IW immediately discarded my suggestions of a selection of 'Bawdy Football Ballads' and 'National Beer Drinking songs'. After the pain of rejection subsided we made sure we knew the words of the National Anthem, Waltzing Matilda and that old favourite of mine from Rolf Harris 'Tie me kangaroo down sport'. We headed to the campfire for the evening entertainment.

We arrived at about 6:59 pm (Well actually it was not about that time but exactly 6:59 pm). IW did not want to arrive that early for an Indian 7:00 pm start but once again my judgment was right. Not that there was anyone there then but about five minutes later the Tour Organiser (I use that term very loosely) walked up and told us that the person organising the night got, not only the time mixed up, but also the date. He was coming tomorrow night.

We were politely asked if we could lead the night's entertainment. Why not - freezing weather with girls who had never experienced anything below 24 degrees, should be easy! We did have a bonfire, song books, guitar and years of experience in impromptu events. Organisation was easy, IW would sing around the fire then I would be unleashed on them to play mayhem with their minds by playing meaningless games with rules that changed every couple of minutes.

Would these tender almost naive Indian girls survive? Most did with minimal emotional scarring as we engaged in Animal noises, Maze making, People Tangles and finishing with some dancing to the amazing sound system with extra distortion from the resident Indian AV man. He got more indecipherable noise out of a sound system that anyone I know.

At 8:40 pm we finally overpowered the Indian AV man and pulled the plug on his system. We regather the girls, pray with them and send them off to an 'early' dinner at 8:50 pm.

It has been a long day that started at 7:30 pm the previous day, but a typical Indian day with minimal planning and a lot of changing schedules on the way but ending up with everyone very tired and happy. The perfect ending to a first day at school camp.

.... to be continued