Week 8

Cadence on Saturday was really cool talking about what you would really do in real life situations and having active faith. GRSing (welcoming) has become very much repetitive and easy now, so it’s a good chance to chat and hangout in the breaks. Unfortunately it was raining during this period so everyone was out in their ponchos. Saturday night Mark, Jon, Pete and myself went into walmart to grab some supplies including a new hard drive to house all my movies and photos I have taken. We got a bit lost on the way back, nearly hit some deer, but had some great chats in the car.

Sunday morning, I got to have a quick skype before breakfast and starting off skills for the week. I turned out to be on wake split in the morning, with Mr Incredibe Mark which is great, its his last week. In the afternoon I am in a ski boat with Taylor – expert skier!!! Both boats are really great. Our morning boat has four boys who are all really cool. The afternoon started off with 4 girls, one guy but the next day dropped back to two girls, one guy which is great. Taylor and I also had Julie Rains come along with us in the boat to spot and provide entertainment. We shared many a good laugh. At lunch we got our weekly game of tennis in…fun as always.

Sunday night we had our final hopper time which was an awesome time. Then bible studies where we had baked beans and root beer to provide for some gas – the reason – blue angels. If you don’t know what they are, you probably don’t want to know. But many laughs ensued throughout bible studies that night.

On short short Monday lunchtime, I got to participate in a really great game of volleyball with Mark, Brendan, Josh, Kelly and Finney…not that those names mean anything to those back home.

Monday night the ski staff got to finally visit the epicness of Woods lake. The private lake owned by Muskoka Woods. It is always calm, they have a jetski there with a bunch of rails and kickers for wakeboarding. Only wake x use this equipment but our staff party was there so we got to have a turn. It was so much fun! Really really different to riding on the water and jumping off the wake so I was pretty terrible but it was still very fun. We had a campfire and barbeque, played some guitar. A really great night!

Tuesday morning we got up bright and early for a morning ski. I was in a boat with Ben, Jon and Mum. Since it was raley Tuesday, I wanted to perfect my raley’s. Frustratingly, I seemed to regress in my ability to do this trick and can no longer do them…grr. Another bad thing is that I seemed to pull a muscle deep in my shoulder.

Tuesday was stayover, but this week I was in a senior high cabin so I didn’t have to look after the kids during lunch, which was good chance to relax. The boys seem pretty nice and friendly. I got my package from Martin and Sarah at lunchtime which was definitely the highlight of my week. They gave me a bunch of goodies from Australia, Thailand, and Europe, my favourite probably being the latest hillsong cd which is now on constant repeat. LOVE IT!

Tuesday night, the game was fire and ice, where each person had a cup and had to try and go to the other teams fire and put it out with water in the cup without the other team stopping/catching you. It was really good fun. Then there was bedtime with the senior highs! I was fiddling around on my computer until about 1am. Some of the boys were planning to sneak out at one but since I was awake they regrettingly fell asleep and were very annoyed in the morning that they didn’t get to sneak out and hook up with the girl cabins.

Wednesday morning we got to sleep in which was great. Our morning boat was great with Mark! The water was soo smooth all week long which was fantastic for riding. Our afternoon boat was awesome we went to windermere and I got to play the piano there which was definitely a highlight of my week. I also bought a beer mug brownie which was very rich and tasty – not quite as good as Shelley’s chocolate pudding. I was stuffed by the end of it! We also went bird hunting in the boat – even with a skier on the back. The afternoon boat was heaps of fun. The kids were dancing to the music whilst on the ski’s and we played many games of ichi – ni.

Wednesday night I went out for another ski session with the ski team which was good fun but I injured myself. Then we went with all the other staff instructors to plant a tree and ‘leave a legacy’ – my legacy was a YES legacy. I played at impact that night – the metric song again. Stayed in the boat that night because all my gear was still down the bottom. It was a surprisingly comfortable sleep! Woken up early for another wakeboard session with a chase boat to get some cool footage.

Thursday – another great day! Port carling at lunchtime where I had a fantastic nap. In the afternoon boat, no one skied at all and we just relaxed and chatted for the whole 3 hour period. Thursday night I was going to go visit woods lake again but that fell through and I went to the staff party at the beach. They had fire, food, swimming, games and blobbing. It was really fun! After the party we had cabin cleanup which took us a good hour to clean up the pig sty that was Gwitmoc trailer 4.

Friday morning got up for a skype back home before my birthday on Saturday. My family had gotten together with the tills for my ‘birthday’ dinner. It made me miss home seeing them all. Unfortunately the connection was bad so the chat was short. I got to have my vegemite and avocado on Canadian bagels for breakfast. Perhaps the first time that combination has ever been put together. Let me tell you right now it worked!

Friday night after cleaning up the boathouse, I left for Liz’ cottage with Jess, Jacqueline, Blair, Adam and Louise. We had a wonderful homecooked dinner with some beautiful homemade pecan pie for dessert. We had a campfire, swim and some good chats. Liz’ father was massive into hunting and there were taxodermied animals all on the wall throughout the house. Pretty crazy.

So Saturday was my birthday. No longer a teenager so now I guess I have to start acting mature which is a little bit sad. I opened my present which has been in my bag since I left from Tim and Mali which was sooo nice, made my day. The crew here gave me a cupcake with a candle and sang me happy birthday which was very nice. Then we headed back to camp to start off the week they call CLASSIC!

Week 7

So Saturday night was raining, and the fusion – ropes was cancelled unfortunately so I didn’t get the chance to do the giant swing or zip line. A bunch of us practiced gymnastics in the hall, doing flips and tumbles and fun stuff of the like.

Sunday morning I got up bright and early for a skype back home. I found that my schedule for the week would involve kids on the water in the morning. A bit of a bummer I would have preferred to have a split boat but that’s ok I shouldn’t have to do it again. My class contained three girls and two guys. A really different bunch of people who would never normally be in a group together, but its cool getting to know them.

In my afternoon group, I was put on split in the super air 210 again with Krystyn Coombs. We have a great group of 5 kids, one of which I had in my boat in the first week which was good to see her again.

Sunday night we had hopper time which, as always, was a great bonding time and shared many a laughs. Bible studies were great as usual with the boys. After that we went with a bunch of us across the road to check out the dump and hopefully spot some bears. Unfortunately it was to no avail. A storm was brewing so we went to the lookout to check it out over the lake. It was one of the most amazing storms I have ever seen! We got some great photos as well!

Monday went well through activities. Got the chance to skype Jordan Hale at lunch which was cool to catch up on his camp stories. On Monday night, we went for a visit to Jack’s cottage. It was incredible!!! Four boat slips in the boathouse, two diving boards into the lake. Amazing!! Most of us ski staff were there and had an awesome time diving and doing flips. I tried a double front and absolutely smashed my back haha…it burned! I missed out on going on the jet ski unfortunately because Jacks parents got a bit angry at Steve for driving too fast close to the docks haha….so that was the end of the jet skis!

On Tuesday morning, Jon, Mark, Ben and myself got up early for a great wakeboard. We had two lines and one person filming with a helmet camera. So some good footage would have been taken. I was having a terrible run and not landing anything…and then on my last ride, I landed my first scarecrow! So stoked about that! Messy landing, but hey, I cant complain.

Tuesday was stay over, so I got to meet my kids at lunchtime. They were all pretty cool kids, well behaved. I had to deal with homesickness from one guy, which added a bit of spice to my night. The activity was four corners which as always was fun. As the punishment for being caught however, everyone was covered in whipped cream and chocolate sauce…yuck! Before bed we also had another open forum where all the kids could ask any questions about God and the Bible. I was on the panel that gave answers and there were a few interesting questions such as what was Jesus’ favourite colour?

Bedtime and the boys were being raucous so I put on an audio book which shut them up very well…I now have a new successful put to bed technique.

Wednesday was Jon’s birthday. So as the tradition goes we attempted to throw him in the lake numerous times. He put up quite a fight! For kids on the water we went cruising into Rosseau and got some icecream after practicing some docking. One of the boys took off quickly when I wasn’t ready and made me fall head over heels and cut my bum. Haha you always need to be on your toes for Kids on the water. I found another one of Canada’s delicacies in the form of the cookie sandwich icecream. Its basically two cookies covering regular icecream - but it is a revelation!

In the afternoon I went out with mark and a couple of girls for staff ski. Then Mark, Jon, Blake and myself went out for a ski of our own. It was at this time that I landed my first tantrum!!! Woohoo! I was soo stoked, since I had completed all my wakeboarding goals for the summer.

Impact was great that night. Spicoli, a kiwi, shared his story of how he got kidnapped which was amazing! It was cool to sit back and watch impact without being involved in it.

Later that night, myself and a few of the boys from GWITMOC decided to celebrate Jon’s birthday by going for an illegal swim at the swim beach. It was a good laugh trying to be quiet and wandering through the dark bush.

Thursday morning early morning ski and I landed back to back new tricks which I was very stoked about. The sunrise was amazing!!! Thursday after period 1 was a rainy day so we went to the hangar to play games with the J2 kids.

Afternoon was back on and our split boat had lunch at Port Carling. I got to have a great nap while the kids got icecream. Thursday afternoon, I took a boat out for staff ski with three other staff members and taught them to wakeboard which was good fun. After that we had our last crack at trying to get the ski pyramid, since the ski show was cancelled we still wanted to try and get the pyramid. Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to get it. I pretty much got hypothermia sitting in the water for at least an hour trying to do it. Went to staff bounce at the trampolines after that. Played some card games at the staff lounge before heading to bed.

Friday morning ski staff woke up early again to head out to a buffet breakfast at the red leaves resort down the lake. We all dressed up formally just for a bit of fun. So all day we were walking around in collared shirts and pants. The buffet breakfast was incredible, possibly the best buffet I have ever had!!

At lunch on Friday, I went with Pete and Jess to the golf driving range and we had a hit for the first time this summer. It was really fun to release some tension into those poor defenceless balls.

Friday night after dinner a bunch of us headed to Barncats cottage for some chillout and wakeboarding. he has the best shower i have ever been in in my life!

All in all an awesome week!!! It sucks that some people are starting to leave, camp is starting to come to an end. Still 2 weeks to go so I need to make the most of them. Haven’t had very much sleep at all!

Week 6

Hi everyone! So Saturday was a fantastic day. For fusion on Saturday night, we had staff skate up at the professional B3 skate park. I went against my natural instincts and conscience and decided to do some skateboarding, despite my previous bad experiences. I obviously started very very small being a beginner but by the end of the night I could drop into a mini ramp and cruise around pretty well. It was actually really fun!!! After fusion we had guitar songs around the campfire at the boys trailers.

Sunday was a very nice day! Started off with some gym and skype back home to the family. I found out that I was on Split in the 210 super air nautique in the mornings with the ski dock’s comic – Jack! We shared many a laugh! Had a group of 3 senior high boys, one senior girl from france who is quite a laugh, and a 10 year old girl we nicknamed puffin. The first day she didn’t say a word to us. Its as though we did something to get on her bad side. It was quite funny. At one point she was sitting in the water for a minute nodding for us to go. But we wouldn’t go until we heard her shout out ‘okay’ just to hear her voice.

In the afternoons I am on GP at the docks, which is good to get back to after a few weeks off. It’s more chilled out. Sunday was unfortunately a very rainy afternoon but they decided to keep the program and not call a wet weather. So we (wet)suited up and got to work. Sunday night we had hopper time, and then small group which went for 2 hours!! We were just having such good chats, had some good chats about the Sabbath. After that went straight to Soul House to top off the triple play! As usual soul house was good and thought provoking but I left my camera there and didn’t find it until Wednesday so missed many great photo opportunities.

Monday cruised by very nicely. On Monday night a bunch of us went to check out the ski show put on by SWS a professional company down the road. The ski show was very amazing! Since most of us there were ski staff we were inspired to put on our own ski show, so we are working towards that for next week. After the ski show, we went to Red Leaves resort overlooking the water which was such a beautiful view. We just sat on the deck and had some great conversations before returning to camp before curfew.

Tuesday morning – early morning ski! Even though it was raley Tuesday I decided that I needed to finally get this tantrum so worked on that for my whole set. Unfortunately I didn’t land any despite getting close numerous times. Tuesday also means stayover. So I met my boys who were very friendly and welcoming at lunch. At night we played phobia again which the boys were not very interested in. After the game we had an open forum where the kids could ask a panel of 6 staff any questions about God and such and I was privileged enough to be part of this panel. It was a great experience being able to share some of my stories with the kids.

I was amazed at how much my boys are into the girls. I literally had to pull them away!!! They go deaf when they are around girls. They nicknamed me neon as im sure many of you can deduce why…I do enjoy a bit of colour in my outfits and the boys seemed to pick up on this. It took the boys about an hour to quieten down but eventually went to bed.

Wednesday sleep in was great as usual. Skills went swimmingly through the day. After skills I went to staff swim where we got to use the blob and inflatable slide. It was really fun being blobbed, even when it wasn’t high, it was so sudden and felt high that it was still fun! After that, got together with the ski team and started preparing for our ski show next Wednesday, working on the pyramid and other tricks. Impact was on after that, and it was the first week that I didn’t play which was cool to actually sit up the back and watch it all.

Thursday morning early wakeboard was good fun. Mr Incredible pushed me to attempt a scarecrow which I came very close to landing and hopefully will get one landed by the end of the summer. Had a nice nap in the boathouse at lunchtime on Thursday after laughing continuously in the morning boat with Jack. Thursday night was also dedicated to preparing for the ski show, we practiced our pyramid unsuccessfully in the water and then practiced in the gym and got it off. It looked really cool!

Friday morning had a great skype with home before last day of skills. Port Carling at lunch with the boat. Then GP in the afternoon cruised by well…I even got to have a slalom. Friday night we headed to the supermarket to grab some supplies for the night before hitting up Kelly’s cottage. There was myself, Mark, Jon, Dave, Burgers, Zac, Craig, Jenna, Kelly and Coombs. We shared a nice homecooked meal around the dinner table, and then stayed up to 230 in the morning having awesome conversations.

Slept in until 11 on Saturday and then after a yummy pancake breakfast went back to the Woods for week 7 of 9…..ahhh its nearing the end!

Week 5

Firstly I would like to apologise for the lengthiness of my last entry. I guess it was just an action packed week!

So week 5 and the second half of summer camp (I cant believe it is pretty much half done!!!) began with super Saturday. Since we were short staffed, I had to do the GRSing without a partner which made it much more busy.

Saturday night and fusion this week was a kaffee haus (coffee house) which was just a chilled out café on top of the boat house, where it was an open mic/guitar where anyone could get up and perform a number. It was very entertaining with some of the acts, which included everything from Johnny Cash to Bob Marley.

Sunday went very well. The day started off with a skype to sister Talyse to do some mathematics homework. I found out that my schedule for the week couldn’t be any better! All week, morning and afternoon, split boat in the blue 210 super air nautique, which is housed in the boat house (no tarping required). Mornings with Slow Motion Steve Burns, and afternoons with Mark ‘Mr Incredible’ Harrison.

In the mornings my group only had 3 senior high kids, all of which were really cool and we shared some great conversations with. My afternoons are with quite a range of kids, but we share some great times!

On Monday morning I fought against my desire to sleep and got up to go for a run into Rosseau (about 4km) with Craig and Zac, both of whom are sooo fit. I struggled to keep up with the pace these guys were setting!

Monday lunch hit up some more tennis with the same boys as last time, good fun playing doubles. Neily poos and Derrick joined us as well so we played round robin.

Monday night was night off so Dylan, Liz, Jaqueline, Jess and myself drove into Bracebridge to Walmart. I stocked up on snacks for the rest of the summer. I also got an outfit for the staff dance on Thursday night. After that we went to McDonalds (Cinnamon Melts!!!) and Tim Hortons. Some of the others got some sushi dared me to eat half a spoonful of wasabi. To be honest I didn’t know what it was. Quite a burning and teary sensation though! I said Yes! Haha.

Raley Tuesdays arrived again. Early morning wakeboard with the boys. My abdominals had finally recovered from last weeks Raley Tuesday. After a couple of tries, I landed 4 raleys in a row. Even though they were pretty messy ones I was extremely stoked.

I got to ride with my morning group as well, but this time I couldn’t land anything, and I ripped myself up into a bag of bones with many successive painful stacks.

Met my stayover boys at lunch. They were great and included me and respected me. We shared some good games of bump (two ball – knockouts). At night we had a murder mystery cluedo type game. My boys gave up after about half an hour and so we played some more bump haha. After activity there was a gymnastics demonstration again. Never get sick of seeing Matt the gymnastics dude do his flipping stuff… he is nuts!

Bedtime –took about an hour for the boys to quiet down which wasn’t too bad.

Wednesday went by very quickly. Had my one on one with Douglas Earl Hunt the third at lunchtime. After the afternoon session, I took two staff; Taylor and Merideth out for staff ski and they had a wakeboard. Night time was eaten up by impact practice and impact. I played in the same songs as a few weeks ago. They have the same themes on a three week rotation. Purpose, identity, and relationships.

Thursday morning was staff ski morning. My set was terrible for some strange reason. I couldn’t even land the normal jumps. In my morning boat I taught Steve and the three other kids the game ‘ichi-ni’. Steve lost both times and it was hilarious to see his reactions to getting flicked. He also does a hilarious Aussie imitation. He loves singing ‘give me a home amongst the gum trees’ as well.

I didn’t have a lunch break because of the port carling trip. After bumming around for a while, gymming and internetting, all the instructors had Hot Jams dance at 9pm. The theme for the night was ‘who’s who at the zoo’. I got talked into wearing a baby’s piglet shirt with some pink tights, in association with Dylan as poo bear and jess as tigger. It was really cool because everyone dressed up for it. The dance was alright, a bit of fun jumping around and being stupid.

On Friday morning I woke up bright and early at 5am, trekked down in the dark from GWITMOC on the lookout for bears to the boathouse. I was so excited to watch this broncos game like you wouldn’t believe. But when I got down there I found out there was no internet on. So I couldn’t even skype. I luckily had my hard drive and watched the movie bran nue dae which was pretty good but could never match up to a broncos game.

Friday was another port carling trip. In the morning split, I got to have a decent wakeboard run. This time was much better than the run the day before. I was landing and improving a lot, which was great fun. In the afternoon session with Mark we had a kid who loved surface 180’s so much on the wakeskate that he did 196 in a row! It was hilarious to see him constantly doing them for around half an hour straight.

On Friday night, I had no plans so Neil, Jess and myself decided to go on an adventure. We went into Huntsville, jumped off the bridge over the river which was exciting. Then went into Rosseau for a swim. It was great getting to know them better. After that Neil and I headed into the boathouse for a sleepover with some internet and a movie. The sleep was great but we were woken up early by two of the big boss area heads who came in…..awkward. We promptly left with not much said from the two but they certainly weren’t impressed. Haha. Probably will get a warning from them for being where we shouldn’t have been.

The rest of Saturday morning was spent on the internet, writing this to you my faithful blog readers, and chatting to dad on skype. The weeks are flying by! Only four to go unfortunately. …. I guess it wont be an endless summer!