After by far the longest trip of my life, my exchange, Thijs, and I landed In Adelaide Airport on Friday, March 10, and were immediately greeted by his family and two of his friends who had left school early to come pick us up. Despite our jetlag, Thijs and I didn’t have much time to relax, as we had to pack for a two-week outdoor education trip called Westventure. We were leaving in less than two days! When we arrived at Westminster School early Sunday morning ready to get on the bus, I was so nervous. I was about to spend the next two weeks in the Australian countryside with Thijs and 30 strangers.
When we arrived, we were immediately thrown into sailing and kayaking sessions. After a few days, which included three sailing lessons, three kayaking lessons, an overnight hike and three 5km runs, we were already exhausted. However, the constant physical activities and team-building challenges didn’t give us time to be tired. On the fourth day, we embarked on our unassisted sail to a small town called Milang. In Milang, we spent some of the money we brought to Westventure in the downtown area. We wandered around the town, eating real food and throwing a Frisbee around in a park. We finally had some time to relax. The next day, we woke up bright and early to pack up and kayak back to camp. It was a rough awakening back to reality, because the following morning, we had to run 17km in a group of eight. We had to stay together the whole time and cross the finish line as a group. It turned out to be more of a teamwork exercise than a physical one. Our next challenge was paddling to a small strip of Aboriginal land called the Coorong. We arrived, and set up our campsite. We were right on the Coorong Channel, but if you walked 1.5km away from the water, you would reach the Southern Ocean. While we were there, we went on a guided environmental walk. Our guides were Aboriginal elders, and they knew everything about the Coorong. I learned a lot about which plants you should and shouldn’t eat in South Australia. We also went over to the ocean beach, played beach games and just let loose and had fun. We then sailed back to the campsite and woke up early for the individual 17km run. This was the last challenge on Westventure, and the following day we went back to Adelaide.
The day we got back, it was day 1 of Sports Day, their equivalent of Shourawe. Apparently, I had been signed up for 800m and 1500m races, because no one else wanted to do them. My 1500m was that day, and my 800m was the following day. I was a bit sore, but still did pretty well. Luckily, so did the rest of my house, because we won Sports Day.
All in all, Westventure was one of the greatest experiences of my life, and I will never forget it. I made countless memories, learned many new things, developed great friendships, and even discovered a lot about myself. I look forward to the rest of my stay, including meeting everyone who wasn’t in my camp, going to school, and all the memories yet to be made. – William Hamilton ’19, Exchange Student at Westminster School
