Polaris II: Week One
We are so happy to see you all here for our first overnight camp session since 2019. The first couple of days have absolutely flown by over here! After we boarded the bus, we headed up towards the lake. It was great to spend some time on the bus catching up with friends and even meeting a few new friendly faces.
When we got to camp we had a snack and community meeting where we discussed some of the rules we have at camp to help make sure that all of us are nice and safe. Some of the rules that we have are:
We show respect to each other, ourselves, the environment, and the property that we are on.
We cruise in twos with our shoes! This means that if we go anywhere, we let our counsellors know, and we bring a buddy with us. Our counsellors just want to know where we are.
No technology!
Our group got together for some get to know you games before going to our cabins and settling down before starting our group contract. After writing our group contract, we had dinner where we had meatloaf and salad. We learned that meatloaf can actually be super delicious and gets a bit of a bad wrap. Afterwards, we had a campfire and steps in the right direction before getting ready for bed. Steps in the right direction is a really special part of our day for us because we get to celebrate all of the amazing things our campers do in their day.
On Monday morning, some of us woke up for polar bear dip and got ready for breakfast. A lot of campers have been doing a fantastic job of helping us get ready for dinner by setting out plates, cutlery, napkins, and cups for water and juice. For breakfast, we had eggs, tater tots, and fruit before heading out to wilderness survival skills where we learned all about how to use tarps, what clothing is best to be warn when out camping, how to set up and take down tents, and making a fire. While learning about wilderness skills, we also discussed how important it is to take care of the environment when we are out in the wildness. A big part of this is cleaning up after ourselves, and making sure that what we pack in, we pack out.
After lunch, we working on our teamwork through an activity of low ropes before free time and then dinner. After dinner, we built a fire and had some time to chat with each other and have steps before heading to bed.
On Tuesday, we prepared for our overnight trip and went over what we needed as well as how to set up and take down our camps. In the morning we also went canoeing where we worked on our communication skills.
On Wednesday, we went for a short hike and then discussed water filtration and how it’s important when we are in the backcountry and do not have access to clean water. On Wednesday night, we hiked out to our overnight camp location, made an awesome grilled cheese dinner.
On Thursday we took some time to clean up our overnight camping supplies, make breakfast, and walk back to camp. We went on the motor boat in the afternoon and had an absolute blast tubing.
Overall, we have had a super fun week and while it has been hard at times being away from our family, we have persevered and shown some excellent resilience.
That’s all for now, if there’s anything we’ve missed, ask your camper to fill you in!