A hike from Richardson’s Beach to Wine Glass Bay

The Outdoor Education program in the Senior School is carefully structured to allow students to build upon their skills year-on-year to tackle expeditions across some of the most beautiful landscapes in Australia.

Midway through an eight-day Outdoor Education expedition in Freycinet National Park, Tasmania, we mic’d up Christian, Year 10, and asked him about some of his experiences in the program.

00:55:06 – 01:19:04

So, we just started a hike to Wine Glass Bay, and the time I think is around 11.00am.

We’ve actually started quite late. Later than I would have expected, but I think the hike today is quite short. Only about eight kilometers in total.

02:05:09 – 02:35:16

The prep for this expedition started about a week before, where we set out all of our gear and checked the quality and if we had enough of what we needed.

It was important that we were prepared for all the conditions that we could possibly face on the hike.

03:08:22 – 03:44:20

The Year 10 Outdoor Education program has three options. The Larapinta trail in Northern Territory includes a week-long hike, and it’s probably, in my opinion, the hardest one. There’s the Murray River option as well, which is all canoeing.

The final option, which is what I’m doing now, is the Freycinet option, which is in Tasmania, about two hours away from Hobart.

06:09:09 – 06:44:05

In the Year 7 Outdoor Education program, we learned many essential skills that were important not only to that expedition, but for later expeditions like this one.

Teamwork and individuality were really focused on.

07:50:16 – 08:24:17

I have some very good memories, actually, of the peer mentorship program. I was struggling quite a bit in the Year 8 hike, but the peer mentors helped me a lot to just push through it and gave me a lot of advice, as well as helping the team overall.

They’re very supportive. They’re very involved as well.

07:22:21 – 07:50:14

The Year 8 program was in Gippsland. It was more focused on water activities, such as sailing and kayaking, but there also was a day hike where we walked across the beach.

We had to be more involved as a team, especially because the hike was a lot more difficult.

09:02:04 – 09:50:19

The Year 9 program involved a much longer hike again.

It was two or three days, meaning there was a bigger emphasis on taking initiative and being active and ready to help the people that needed it.

11:14:06 – 11:49:13

When I think of going outdoors, I initially feel like I’m going to miss my devices, but in reality, I barely ever think about my phone or my computer.

I think that just shows how fulfilling and how fun really the Outdoor Education program is.

12:19:01 – 12:49:15

You find that you build stronger friendships by going on these trips.
It kind of exposes another side to your peers that you wouldn’t usually see at school or on the field.

It brings out the kind of more, soft side, because teamwork and being empathetic are part of the skills that are required.