We just arrived back from our trip to Horne Lake at 6pm tonight. We made all our connections and everyone travelled well and safely. I was very proud to be the teacher leader for the group and would like to extend a great big THANK-YOU to my amazing parent chaperones who were most supportive, helpful and very 'handy' not to mention BRAVE . Thanks to Denis Harney, Leanne Embree and Sandra Fiestadt- we couldn't have gone without them. I was very proud of how our students represented themselves, our school and how they worked as a team for each other on this camp trip. It was my pleasure to organize it and after all the sleepless nights of crossing the t's and dotting the i's, everything went smoothly and everyone returned tired, safe and smelly but all in one piece.
Horne Lake is an amazing place but I don't think any of our group was prepared for the remoteness of the site and the coldness of the evenings. We were told but I don't think we really believed it!! We had sunny days but if you are not wearing loads of layers or your sleeping bag is a little on the thin side, you will get cold and believe me we were cold the first night and bundled up for the second night which was much more 'comfortable'. There were no showers and there was no source of hot water! Just a water pump which was kind of a walk. We used porta-potties (4) which dispensed hand sanitizer which again were a short walk from our outdoor cafeteria at our camp site. The raised tent platforms were approx. a foot off the ground and the tent doors were secured only by a horizontal pole. Critters like squirrels could get in quite easily (and did)!
Horne Lake is in Courtenay, remote- a one and a half hour drive from Nanaimo- 8km off the beaten path of the highway. Deer pranced all through the forest as our bus kicked up dry dust all the way into the site. The day before we arrived a bear had been spotted at the group camp site where we were located in the teepee tents so when they say NO FOOD in the tents it is not a joke. We had to take all our junk food (ALL food sources anything with a scent) and store it up a tree in a bear proof bag which we had to lower and raise with a climbing rope!!
No bears were spotted but many students are sure they heard one. We did spot deer, beaver, racoons and squirrels (camp cats) as well as twittering dawn birds that start each morning at 4:45am with their dawn chorus.
Our food was excellent and catered by a restaurant called "Plates". We all looked forward to the arrival of the food truck. As mentioned we had an outdoor cafeteria of picnic tables and tents. We asked if they would bring us marshmallopws for our campfire and they brought two humungous bags courtesy of the restaurant (we were willing to pay but...) We ate often and lots. Dinner was rather early at 4pm but we had lots of activities and places to go so no one really minded but we were grateful for our 'bear bag' later on at campfire which was made rip roaring both evenings by Denis Harney - fire chief extraordinaire.
We did rock and rappelling off a steep cliff, we played canoe soccer on Horne Lake (one of the groups played a version which included lots of canoe flipping and body flopping!!! and , yes, Mrs. J. want in too by accident), we did a low ropes challenge course which focussed on team work and communication, we went spelunking to Horne Lake Caves and some students climbed a 30 foot underground waterfall, we swam until we were numb in the lake, we completed a wilderness survival course which included lighting a 'one' match fire and finally after some games in the forest we gathered around the camp fire roasting pretzels (thanks Quinn) and marshmallows. We were too tired for a full on chior but some brave voices sang and the harmonica was a nice touch too. Quiet time (!!!???) was 10pm and lights out was between 11pm and midnight.
We all found the first night very cold as we were not really acclimatized to the cold night air. You better believe we bundled up more for the second night and we were so exhausted that after some stories and star gazing (amazing sky and a sliver of a moon) we all slept soundly and more cozily. We had fun planning pranks but no one really was awake when the time came to play them!!
Everyone was in good hands. We were lucky to have Leanne Embree take care of our group camp first aid - she had everything from antihistamine to bandaids - and excellent first aid service from the camp itself. We met the Camp medic, Leah, who came back on Thursday night with her truck and she cranked the tunes for a dance party in the flat bed of the truck and showed everyone her gnarly moves. The camp director, Richard, came personally to check that evrything was good for us and personally worked with some lucky students.
A good time was had by all who attended. Now we all need to get a laundry on, have a bath or a long shower and a good night's sleep. We will 'unpack' it all on Monday. Until then, thank-you to all the parents who entrusted me with their children. I hope they have lots of happy stories to tell and that you are satsfied with your son's or daughter's experience. Don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
It is June on Monday!!!! How do we follow our camping experience?
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