CLASSIC!

So classic started off with a bang! We had a big banquet where everyone dressed up to the 9’s just because it was my birthday. Had some delicious eggplant parmigiana for lunch. After lunch we had a baptism down at the beach where 32 staff were baptised. It was very lovely. We said goodbye to Coombs and Mark who were leaving for school (listen to me adjusting to this Canadian culture – I mean university!) It was sad to say goodbye after developing such good friendships.

After GRSing the kids for the last time we headed up to the opening day show which Jon and I put our hands up for to help with. We painted ourselves completely orange and had to be statues that changed poses throughout a song. It was fun! Then we had to dance (yeah you heard it – I danced!) in the opening song which was quite awkward and funny.

The great thing about classic is that everyone is senior high, and everyone – instructors, hospitality, councillors all are involved in the night activity! So since everyone is there it is always epic! After skyping my family on my birthday and missing out on some of the activity, I headed over to the game that night – Kamati! It is such an epic game, I cannot wait to play it at home! It involves tackling so very much a boyish game. So courts were set up on the swim beach with grandstands around and music…then down the road was a massive carnival with games and food. It was incredible and very entertaining. Unfortunately I didn’t get the opportunity to play Kamati for myself. After cleaning up this game the boys hung out in our trailer being boys…which as you can imagine is always a good laugh.

Sunday – my assignments for the week – Split wake with Steve in the mornings and GP loop in the afternoon. Since we were low on staff the last week, I had to drive most periods in the GP loop which was pretty full on. Luckily I had Julie Rains there and we laughed the time away paying each other out constantly. Many a good memories made.

Our morning boat was really cool as well. A great bunch of boys that we got to ride with. Steve and I both got multiple chances to ride throughout the week as well. Unfortunately when I tried one trick I landed bad and pulled a deep muscle in my shoulder. So now I have two sore shoulders. The fall will be a good time for recovery.

The night games were the highlight of camp, with a different blockbuster game on each night:

On Sunday night the game organised was Lost! – My favourite television show. They started off with an opening show which involved a sea plane flying overhead very low and then a big explosion on the beach. All the characters looked so much like the real lost characters as well! For the game it was like a big station game where teams were a character and had to follow the journey of that character and fulfil different life tasks. I was at one of Charlies station and we were a karaoke band so had fun with that. For snack that night the girls had made especially wrapped Dharma initiative (Lost) drink bottles and chocolates.

Monday nights games were boys night/girls night. The girls did some boring stuff while the boys had a billy cart race…it was epic with pit lanes, a proper track, everyone dressed as hillbillies, commentators, lights…the whole kit and kaboozle! I was on track maintenance so we raced around in a golf ‘safety’ cart and cleaned up the track in between races.

Tuesday night was avatar! This was like a giant game of capture the flag where the staff were the humans and the kids were avatars against each other. It was fun dressing up and going against the kids. I nearly got knocked out when I got a shoulder to the jaw – myself and another staff member were both chasing a kid from different directions. Luckily no serious injury ensued, because one easily could have. Unfortunately one girl broke her tibia (shin) in that game and had to be taken to hospital. After the game they had a closing show which involved a manship, an avatar on a dragon, a zipline from high ropes, and some pyrotechnics which was pretty extravagant.

Wednesday night was Wet n Wild which involved painting up – completely, water balloon fights and challenges, a giant slip and slide with obstacles and projectiles, and a big foam party at the tennis courts. Unfortunately I missed out on most of it because I had sound check for impact which was on after Wet and Wild. I played piano in a Jonny Cash song and was also a merchant in the drama skit. The theme for impact was the prodigal son…they did it really well having it performed in three different ways.

Thursday night was the last night. After skills all the remaining staff took a boat and we drove them back to the mariner that we hired them from for the summer. It was definitely a highlight of the summer cruising in formation with all of the nautiques. We weaved amongst each other, and did the flying V. It was really cool.

The game that night was a post war paris game. We were all given a character – I was a soldier. And we basically all had different parts of the city to live in and different stories. The kids had to find us as we were missing persons from the war. It was pretty fun. After that, there was a massive dance party in the hangar which was pretty wild. Then there was the awards for the week. A big bonfire (I mean big) and fireworks was the finale to the night and the week. I didn’t go to sleep until 3 in the morning.

The next morning we woke up and took 2 hours to clean up our cabin. After that we did work projects down in the boathouse…finishing cleaning up. We then had all the sad goodbyes to all our camp friends. Everyone scooted off pretty quickly. The remainder of us decided to celebrate end of contract by heading to the pub for dinner and (of course) drinks at Windermere. It was interesting seeing how some of the people changed so quickly once off contract. We stayed there till about midnight. Since I was not drinking I got to drive amanda’s car home – a manual…it was thrilling! Took a bit to get used to driving with the gearstick on my right.

When we got back to camp, the remaining boys got up to some shenanigans before hitting the hay around 2. The next morning I woke up at 7 and drove with Amanda and Cindy (fellow Aussie) to Amanda’s house on a farm in Niagara for a weekend of relaxation.

A dozen random summer facts:

1. I have only watched one movie

2. I have only clipped my nails once

3. I never ate any pumpkin, black olives, or spinach

4. I have some seriously cracked heels from wearing shoes only 5 times in the whole summer

5. Wore 2 pairs of boardshorts 90% of the time, they were only washed once

6. Ate pork for the first time

7. Went in the water EVERY day this summer.

8. Regressed in my trampolining abilities but progressed in wakeboarding

9. Stopped to read a book once

10. Nearly died

11. Slept more than 8 hours only 5 nights this summer

12. Gained 93 facebook friends