Dwellingup Day Trip

I have learned and developed various skills throughout the semester during our Lock periods. The three main skills that I have learned and developed are:

• Collaboration
• Problem Solving
• Responsibility

During Lock, we had the opportunity to complete a range of activities that helped me use these skills and develop them, these activities were bush cooking, kayaking, and treetop climbing.

Treetop Adventures is Australia’s premier treetop adventure ropes experience. It had numerous courses designed for climbers at all levels. It had 8 Tree Rope Courses and a dedicated zipline course. This was a new experience from the zipline and obstacle courses that I had done previously. I enjoyed this experience because it challenged me to do things that I was uncomfortable with. During one of the courses, Mitchell got stuck on one of the obstacles, he was forced to remain in an uncomfortable position, standing on a singular log being held by a string, many meters above the ground. I had to use my problem-solving skills to rescue Mitchell, I used my zipline attachment to zipline across to where Mitchell was stuck, unlocked him from his jammed carabiner, and then had to untangle him from the log In between his legs. It was a stressful experience but one to look back on as a fun memory.

Bush cooking was one of the three main activities that we did during the day trip. It was by far the most fun one as I love working as a team, especially with my friends, Lockie and Mitchell, and I love cooking delicious food on an open fire. As fun as it sounds, it wouldn’t be as successful If our group hadn’t used collaboration to work effectively to construct the fire, maintain the fire, and carefully prepare and cook the food. Our group showed many signs of effective collaboration, with our communication as to which group member is in charge of doing what and overall producing a delicious meal, hotdogs with caramelized onions and jalapeno. Bringing these ingredients included wrapping and packaging which leads to the concept of ‘Leave No Trace’. Leave no trace involves many ideas, some of which include planning ahead & preparing, disposing of waste correctly, and minimizing campfire impacts. Each of our group members planned what we were going to bring in terms of food supplies and made sure the packaging was removed prior so we brought our food in reusable containers. During the course of bush cooking and other activities, any rubbish that was found on the ground or our cooking area was disposed of properly as proper disposal of human waste is important to the wildlife, this is because native birds could mistake the rubbish for food which in turn makes them sick. The last aspect of ‘Leave No Trace’ that our group practised was lessening impacts when campfires are used, this means that our firewood was fully burnt to a crisp so it had no chance of lighting without control and also using only reasonable amounts of wood.

Last but not least, Kayaking was the unit that involved the most responsibility skills. This included packing my swimming clothes, towel, spare change and water shoes the night before kayaking. If I were not organised, it would result in me not being able to participate in kayaking, therefore missing crucial lessons to help my kayaking skills and overall improve the safety and confidence of myself and others. I also enjoyed a variety of kayaking activities, these include seal launches from the Rossmoyne foreshore jetty, exploring around the river, performing self saving rescues and my personal favourite, canoe water polo. Canoe water polo involved a range of skills including moving swiftly around other kayaks, change of directions and stops and playing through a tough environment.

To wrap this course up, the activities that we did have shown proof to improve our capabilities, not only that but doing this course was extremely fun and I am so very thankful to be part of a supportive class with a helpful and encouraging teacher.

Elliot Sarmidi