ROONKA CAMP

At about 8.50 am we got to Kildare College loaded the luggage into the cars
and we left around 9.30 am. I travelled in the Tarago with the Inspector,
his wife Marie,Gary and Josh who sat in the back and Mark, Allan and I sat
in the middle. After about 1 hour we stopped on the side of the highway to
stretch our legs and wait for the other cars to catch up.

We talked to the others on the radio and listened to some tapes. We saw two speed
guns on the way up and warned the others.

We stopped at Truro and waited for every one to catch up. It took us around two
hours from Adelaide to get to Roonka. There was a long dirt track to get too Roonka
which slowed us down because the Tarago was towing the trailer with all the food,
tents and some of the luggage.

When we arrived at Roonka we unloaded the trailer and set up the tents in our teams.
Our group, Aaron, Katie, Mark and I put up the tent Lisa, Katie, Alison and myself
would sleep in for the next 3 nights. After we put up the tents, we had to take out
the front pegs and I had to crawl under the tent and sweep out the three-corner jacks.

After setting up the tents we all helped to pump up the air beds. We then unloaded
our luggage and worked out who sleeps in what tent. Katrina, Karin, Viv and Melissa
were in the other girls tent.

The boys had one tent and in their tent was Gary, Allan, Aaron, Derek, Michael,
Josh and Mark. In the forth tent was the Inspector, his wife, Pamela (Alison’s Mum)
and Mr Berry. The Inspector snored all night, so Pamela and Marie slept in the cars.

For lunch we had sandwiches and fruit. After lunch Derek took us out in two separate
groups to practice our canoeing skills. I went in the first group in a canoe with
Michael Berry. After we got back the second group went canoeing. Later that evening
the Gold group organised a barbecue tea.

After tea we set up my yabbie net and went fishing. We didn't catch any fish but
we did catch some yabbies and shrimp.

Saturday.

We all got up and had breakfast. Gary, Alison, Mark and I went over to the obstacle
course behind our camp. Gary and I crossed the hanging tyres, which were extremely
hard to get across. We also went through the water tank maze and Mark couldn't get
through because of his broad shoulders.

Going back to camp, Derek organised for people to go canoeing, I went with Josh and
we went through a section of the River where lots of trees had fallen down. Derek and
Mr Berry got stuck on one of the logs. It wasn't long until they broke free. The
scenery was great and we saw lots of birds and little spiders. Half way through the
journey we had to get out of the canoes and cross a small bank. The bank was only
about a 5 metre long mound.

When we arrived back at Roonka the silver group prepared lunch consisting of
sandwiches and fruit. After lunch about six of us went over to the obstacle
course to see if we could finish it.

Around 2 PM Derek and Viv got us to collect some paddles, wooden logs and four
gallon drums. We had to take them down to the Billabong and get into the teams
that we were in to put up the tents. Each team had to make one raft to get to
the other side. Team 1 got their raft in first and found it was not strong enough
to hold every one. Aaron had to wait on land and then got on for the second trip
with Mark.

Halfway up the Billabong, team 2 took over the lead. Team 3 just got their raft
into the water and had to make two trips like our team.

On our second trip our raft looked sick and we all thought Mark and Aaron were
going to break it apart. Some of us helped team 3 because they got stuck in the
yabbie nets. We used the little paddle boat to rescue them. Josh stayed on the
raft, while the others got into the little paddle boat. Team 2 won while team
team 1 came second and team 3 came last.

Mr Berry took lots of photos and the Inspector used his video camera. When all
the rafts were out of the water, we started the hard job of undoing the rafts.
The knots were really hard to undo and some of them needed to be cut off with
Mr Berry’s knife. By this stage every one was cold and wet so we decided to make
the bigger raft that every one would fit on tomorrow.

We packed up the rafts and went back to camp. Most of us had a shower and the
silver group soon began to prepare tea. While we were waiting for tea, some of us
went to check the yabbie net and then went over to the obstacle course. After
tea we had free time for a while. At about 8 PM we all went on a night hike for
about an hour. We walked up a road for a while and then turned into a paddock.
We soon met up with the River and jumped the paddock fence. We walked along the
River finding Kangaroos and lots of cow pads. Some of us worried that a Bull was
going to charge us because we saw some cows and thought there might be some bulls.
So we started to make our way back to camp.

After stopping for a rest Alison began feeling sick and she said she had a headache.
The walk was good, as it gave us something to do. When we got back to camp some of
us went to bed and some stayed up and talked until about 1.00 am in the morning.

Sunday.

After breakfast some people went canoeing, Katrina and I decided to go fishing.
Most of the boys decided to go canoeing. The girls came down to watch us fish
but they wouldn't put a shrimp on the end of my hook. So Katrina and I used
sweet corn instead. That morning Mr Berry’s wife and eldest son, Jason came
up to visit.

After 2 hours Katrina caught her first fish, she caught a carp. Then about 30
minutes later she caught another carp. After 3 hours of fishing we caught 3
fish between us. The silver group won the the fishing contest.

When the canoeing group got back, I asked Gary to put a shrimp on my hook.
Within 5 minutes of casting the shrimp into the river I caught a Redfin. I
couldn't believe it. Aaron bled it and gave it to the Inspector so he could
cook it for tea. I also had caught 3 yabbies the previous day and I didn't
know that the Inspector was also going to cook them. Viv and some of the
others already knew.

When we got back from fishing, we had lunch. Adam had finally arrived as he
could only get to Roonka on Sunday as his sister had just got married on the
Saturday. After lunch we all got changed into old clothes to build the big raft
for all of the unit. After working out how to construct the raft so it would
hold every one on it we put it into the water for the test. When Adam got on,
the raft began to sink.

As we got out in the middle of the lagoon, Mark pushed me in. I had my Rangers
hat on and I got soaked. I was pushed in several times again before we got back
to land. We all tried to get Alison in the water but I only managed to push Gary in.

After getting the raft out, we had to undo it and take all the equipment back up
to the Warden’s cottage. That day after the canoeing I went on the water slide.
We met a couple of other kids there and one of them pushed me into the River.

After we packed up, we all had showers and got into warm, dry clothes. While
waiting for tea Gary and I checked the yabbie net. We then headed for the
obstacle course when we got called back for dinner. The Inspector gave me the
fish and yabbies cooked. Every one tried the fish and I ate a Yabbies tail.
After tea we did our concerts. Team 1 did a send up of Romeo and Juliet
involving Aaron, Katie, Josh, Mark and me. The concert was held at the obstacle
course. We had lanterns for light so people could see what was happening.
It worked out really well. Team 2 did Star wars which was good too. Team 3
did a production about the unit. Here is a verse of the song. (It was a send
up of old Macdonald). Old Inspector had a unit, E, I, E, I, O. And in that
unit there was Mr Berry E, I, E, I, O. With a click, click here, and a click,
click there, here a click there a click, every where a click, click. Old
Inspector had a unit E, I, E, I, O.

After the concerts some of us went fishing. A bat hit my fishing line, but it
managed to fly off again. We didn't catch anything by the time we were called
back to camp. The people that went fishing stayed around the hot weber. We all
got to bed around 2.00 am.

Monday.

When everyone got up, we began the long task of sorting out and packing up our
luggage. It took us while to pull down the tents and pack the trailer.

After checking the area to see that nothing was left behind, and all the
luggage was loaded into the cars we then began to make our way home.

We stopped at Truro, to buy some petrol when Karin got there looking stressed.
Her car back tyre air pressure wouldn't go over 10 pounds. She was going to
leave her car at a friends house but she couldn't as she needed the car for
University the next day. She ended up just getting the car home.

We all got back around 4.00 PM. Every one was really tired. The camp at
Roonka was excellent and I am glad I went.

Written by First Class Ranger Kate. 06/04/97.

THINGS TO REMEMBER FOR THE NEXT CAMP. By Kate Brunner.

1. The Inspector’s tent and his noisy motorbike is to be moved 1 km away from the rest of the tents.

2. All radio’s are to be confiscated from Romeo 62. (Josh)

3. To make sure Alison gets into the water every day.

4. Katie is to eat all her meals, even if we have to force feed her.

5. Hide Mr Berry’s camera.

6. Purchase puncher proof air beds.