- Overall summary of the day? (what were some of the things you were asked to be mindful of)
My experience at Rottnest was a very fun and enjoyable day. We got to see many different sea animals, coral reefs, and quokkas. The weather was a warm sunny day and there wasn’t too much wind. the temperature got up into the 30’s which was really nice. Throughout the day we were mindful of the people from the public, we picked up our rubbish and we did not touch any of the coral as we were asked not to so we would protect the environment.
- What things did you see?
There were quite a lot of things I saw. When we were not in the water, on the land I saw a few quokkas and people from the public. While we were snorkelling in the water, I saw a lot more that what I saw on the land. There were little caves made of coral which some people swam through and under. There were a few jellyfish and stingers in the water but only a couple of people got stung. There were many different types of fish that we saw and there were a few schools of fish as well. One group saw a seal which was very lucky but then it swam away. One last thing I saw in the water was a lot of seaweed that came up very high to the surface.
- How were your snorkelling skills? (what did you find difficult/challenging? What did you find easy?)
I have improved on my snorkelling skills from when we first started to the rottenest trip. I improved on my duck dives and popping up and blowing out the water instead of taking the mouthpiece out of my mouth. I found it a bit challenging when the waves started to come in. It is harder to swim against the waves as it is pushing you back.
- How did you and your buddy work together?
My buddy was Jaide and we worked really well. We always checked in with each other and we used the “are you okay” hand signals under water and when one of us wanted to duck dive we pointed down and went down together.
- What things did you like most about the day?
My favourite thing about the day was just snorkelling and getting to see all of the coral and sea life. While we were snorkelling, I got the chance to take some videos and pictures with a camera which was really fun and I really enjoyed doing that.
- Any recommendations for next time?
For next time I would really like to be able to have bikes to ride to different snorkelling spots at rottenest. It would be really great to move around so we get to see different things instead of seeing the same things in the same little spot.
- Rate your experience
My experience was a 9/10 I really enjoyed the day it was super fun but I would like to move around more to other snorkeling spots so I can experience more and more with sea life and snorkeling
Capabilities-
Collaborative- In outdoor Ed, we are basically a team and we had to work together to stay safe and look after each other. For example, when we went snorkeling we had to stay with one or two people which we called our “buddies”. We stayed around 5m away from our buddies and always checked on each other to keep each other safe and happy to have a fun time together on our trip.
Effective Communication- Effective communication was very important to also keep each other safe. With our buddies as we were under the water, we are not able to speak so we used hand signals as an effective way to communicate with each other to check in with each other.
Organization- Organization is very important in Outdoor ED as you need to remember everything you need to go snorkeling. I think my organization was really good as I always remembered my bathers, snorkel, flipper, towel, and anything else that I needed to have a successful day with snorkeling.
Leave no trace-
Leave no trace was extremely important to us as we were going around to a public place and must have kept it clean so that we do not leave a trace. When we arrived at Rottenest it was clean, the air was fresh with no pollution and the land had no rubbish so we had to keep it like that. I certainly did well in leaving no trace as I put all of my rubbish in the correct rubbish bin or back into my lunch bag.