MUIR is an outdoor education program provided by ASC and is available to students when they select it as an elective. MUIR focuses on orienteering, archery, and snorkeling, and includes an overnight camp on Rottnest island.
Snorkeling:
The snorkeling unit of MUIR was all about helping us get to a place where we were comfortable in the water and diving down in order to explore. This would make it easier for us to maximize our experience at Rottnest island.
We started off in the swimming pool at ASC just learning some basic skills and getting comfortable with the snorkel. The main thing we learned beforehand was the acronym ‘SAFE SNORKEL’. This stands for safety, accidents, first aid, emergency, sun, nourishment, ocean, reef, keep together, environment, and leave no trace. After going in the pool for a few sessions we moved to the Coogee Shipwreck.
To start off with the weather was really bad and I was quite apprehensive about swimming in the ocean (because of the sharks and how cold it was) But once we got into the water it was really nice, we made sure to follow SAFE SNORKEL, and we got to see the shipwreck, the cannon, and even swam through an underwater passage. In the end, I was proud of myself for facing a fear of mine and thought this was a good display of resilience as seen on the ASC capabilities wheel;
Orienteering:
The first part of MUIR was the orienteering section, we did this in term 3. To start off with we had in-class sessions and learned practical skills like how to use a compass, how to orientate your map, and use a scale to figure out real-life distances. After we had the basics down, we headed to piney lakes so we could put them into practice, each time we went there, the course that we did increased in difficulty. At the end of the course, there was a day-long competition/excursion, but I was not able to attend. Overall I enjoyed this unit and learning how to effectively use a map and compass.
Rottnest camp:
The Rottnest camp was definitely the highlight of this program for me. We started off by walking too little parakeet bay, and each group rotated snorkeling in the water, the water was quite cold, but I felt prepared because of all the practice we had done. whilst in the water, we saw many fishes and different types of coral, and we found a really cool swim-through, which I did go through although I was apprehensive at first. I also felt as though my snorkeling buddy and I worked really well together and were always there to help each other, having effective communication made it really easy for us to be safe in the water. Later in the day we got our camps set up, went on an amazing race around the town, and had dinner. Just before we went to bed, we had a debrief with our class about what things went well that day, what we wanted to do more of, and what we wanted to improve. I found this reflection time really helpful and I noticed the next day some improvements in my snorkeling.
On the second day, it was very similar to the first, we packed up and then headed to the basin. Everyone completed one snorkel and the second was optional. I went on the second one and I’m so glad that I did because there was another swim-through, and it made me feel like I had gotten the most out of the camp.
Something I realised over the course of the two days is how important collaboration is, especially when you’re on an outdoor ed trip, because it’s so common that people forget things, and it makes it so much easier to know that you can rely on the people around you to help you out.
Overall being a part of this class was a really positive experience and would jump at the opportunity to do it again. I learned so much in regard to, direction, and snorkel safety. I really enjoyed challenging myself.