I am home

Well I have arrived safely back in Australia (a couple of weeks ago) and I am at the stage now that when I wake up I don't wonder what city I am in - I am home.

I had a great trip to Canada - what a beautiful country - and then on to New England for a short visit - more beautiful countryside and Autumn colours. The hospitality we encountered was first class and I had the opportunity to meet and learn from lots of wise and knowledgeable colleagues while we were there.

I know look forward to opportunities to share what I learned to our colleagues in Australia and hopefully we can implement a number of the ideas we have picked up.

I even bought some cookies from a young woman working for the Obama campaign in New Haven and so I feel that I made a contribution to his election.

I also couldn't resist the chance to get myself involved in a debate between Republicans and a lone, but quite passionate, Democrat in New York. That is me on the left of the photo in my 'Mystic Journey' tee shirt.

The 'Mystic Journey' was a bit of a theme for me for the whole trip - I bought the tee shirt in Vancouver in Stanley Park at the start of the trip and used it to remind myself to try to stay 'in the moment' throughout - to fully listen to what I was being told and to learn as much as I could - hopefully I was able to do that at least most of the time.

Base de Plein Air Perce-Neige, Quebec

Our host at this camp was Yanik Villeneuve or Kuma (the Bear in Japanese). This camp was opened in 1977 and is owned and supported by the Canadian Tire Foundation (Canadian Tire is like Bunnings in Australia.)



This is part of the gang at left after our morning hike to the lookout.

They run a range of programs for people with a disability and disadvantaged groups, as well as school programs and Summer camp for 8-15yo.

The foundation is made up of the 94 stores in Quebec who each contribute a percentage of their profits to the foundation.

It would be great if we could get the level of involvement with the corporate sector that they have in Canada.

Kamp Kanawago, YMCA, Quebec

Our first camp visit in Quebec and thank you to Sean Day for delaying his reunion with his wife after a long Summer to show us around (our apologies to his wife for keeping him).

This was a camp on a beautiful setting. They have a significant focus on environmental sustainability. I was very excited to see the organic veggie garden at the entrance. Surely if they can have veggie gardens at camps in Canada with long frozen Winters, then we can have them in Australia where we can grow veggies all year round!

They also had a new toilet and shower block (above right) with composting toilets and the ability to recycle the waste water from the showers and basins via a natural filtering system (below right).

Their hot water is heated by timber from tree falls on their property and they have an extensive composting program.

Next year they plan to incorporate programs about this in their Summer Camp program - each camper will have at least 6 hours of environmental programs during a 12 day/11 night program.

I believe with an increasing focus on the environment and global warming this is the way for us to go - it would be fantastic if we good run programs which teach our campers about food miles and carbon footprints and healthy eating and where our food comes from.

We will continue to seek discussions with government in Australia about supporting these kinds of programs.

Camp Walden, Ontario

Our final camp for Ontario was Camp Walden - our hosts Sol, Jen and Talia Birenbaum.

The activity at right is called the Whale Watch Board (I think) and involves a group of campers trying to balance the board without speaking. It is about two metres by three metres and looks a lot of fun.

This is a big camp and accommodates 500 campers and 250 staff in Summer. Most campers stay for the whole seven week program - this is at the upper end as far as camps we have visited so far.

At the end of a fantastic meal (a continuing theme so far) we were entertained by Dave Borins (sorry about the red eye Dave). Camp Walden has a very strong music program and Dave is a product of that program - keep your eye out for him he is destined for big things I am sure - and remember you heard it here.

Tomorrow we are off to Ottawa and then on to Quebec. Thank you to all those camp staff who have made us so welcome in Ontario (and Alberta and British Columbia before that).

Camp Wenonah

Jeff Bradshaw was our host at Camp Wenonah and hats off to Jeff and his staff for our greeting. We were greeted by a table at the end of the floating dock (right) covered with fabulous food and beautiful Canadian wine and beer.

The lake that surrounded this spot was completely covered in trees in full Autumn colour and for us Australians the colours were more vibrant than any we had seen before.

This was the perfect way to start our last camp visit for the day and as you can see from the photo at right I was flat out working for our ACA members.

I believe I was drinking a Muskoka Dark Ale - and I can highly recommend it if you ever find yourself in this part of the world.

At the end of the camp tour Jeff showed us a slide show they had put together from their Summer camp. It was a very moving experience. The last part of the show highlighted the 'farewell circle' - an opportunity for all campers and staff to say goodbye at the end of Summer camp to all other campers and staff. Jeff described how emotional this was for campers and staff alike and the photos proved this - lots of tears and hugs - I was feeling emotional just watching.

Thank you Jeff for sharing this with us.

Camp Kandalore

On this day in Ontario I had decided to follow my own advice from early in the tour and put in an extra effort to stay in the moment - so that meant no furious note taking as we visited camps (I will rely on my very reliable travelling companions for information about the camps later). Instead I just tried to be present as we walked around camp and to really listen to what we were being told - thanks to Kate Strachan for her hospitality and for sharing her knowledge.

What came to me was that the best thing about the camps we were visiting was that they were committed to their mission/purpose for being in existence. They only offered activities that fitted with their mission and their main focus was on relationships - not adrenaline. There is obviously a place for adventure activities - but perhaps only if they contribute to the development of campers and build on the relationships between campers and between campers and staff - maybe only if they contribute to the mission of your camp.

They have the confidence not to provide the activities that they think campers and their parents want - but instead they provide activities that they believe are the right activities and then trust that they can convince their stakeholders that these are the activities that will lead to the best outcomes.

Maybe this is the approach we need to focus more on in Australia - and maybe the ACA can work together with members to promote this approach more - promote it to schools, to parents, to the broader community.

Camp Tawingo

Thanks to Jorgi for showing us around Camp Tawingo.

There was a lot to like - but one of my favorite places was their camp fire.

To hear Jorgi talk with passion about the purpose and focus of the camp fire sessions was inspirational and I would have loved an opportunity to attend one of their Summer camp fires. Maybe another time.

It was also great to hear about the way they have set up their programs to encourage campers to choose a range of experiences. Campers progress through a number of levels by demonstrating that they have met the requirements of that level across a wide range of activities and skill levels.

I got a clear understanding of how the programs operate but also that activities are only offered if they contribute to the mission of the camp.

It was certainly inspirational for me and I am sure the rest of the group - which you can see from the photo is growing as we travel across Canada - our group now includes people form Australia, Greece, Turkey and Manitoba in Canada.

We even managed to listen to the AFL Grand Final in Australia in the wee hours via the web - congratulations Hawks, bad luck Cats.

A special thanks to Jorgi for setting that up for us.

Tim Horton's Onondaga Farms, Ontario

First cab off the rank in Ontario was Tim Horton's Onondaga Farms. John Malcolmson was our very passionate and knowledgeable host.

He showed us around the very impressive camp and working farm, along with all of the conservation areas they have, via a hay ride towed by a tractor - a very pleasant way to travel.

The philosophy of the camp is to provide a free, once in a lifetime experience to disadvantaged children from families who could not otherwise afford it. Campers are flown into one of the Tim Horton Camps around Canada (5) or in Kentucky (1). If our experience of the camp is anything to go by then that is exactly what they get.

The telescope (at left) is a great addition to the camp. The roof opens up and on a clear night campers are able to study the stars and planets.

They also have a leadership program which focuses on developing community leaders who will go back and work in their local communities.

I am sure there are many, many campers who have been inspired by their time at this camp to work in and for their communities.

Badlands Science Camp, Alberta

Every kids dream this camp. It is set up around the Royal Tyrell Museum - which is dedicated to all things dinosaur.

The camp is setup in tee pees in the Badlands adjacent to the museum. The campers spend most of their time on a range of science projects at the museum and in the surrounding Badlands (I love saying that - Badlands).

Thanks to Morgan for telling us all about the camp and his son for an excellent and informative tour of the museum.

The camp had been taken down by the time we arrived but is was in amongst the hills in the photo at left - about a 20 minute walk from the museum. I wish they had this camp in Australia when I was a kid.

Camp Valaqua, Alberta

Thanks to John Olfert for hosting us at Camp Valaqua, Alberta.

Some of the gang can be seen left on our regular morning walk. The Autumn colours are starting to show and this has been a feature of our walks.

They have a great climbing wall as well. One section has yet to be conquered (seen left) - but as I hadn't had my morning coffee at that stage I gave it a miss - maybe next time!

Camp Chief Hector, Alberta

We have arrived in Alberta Province and our first camp was the YMCA Camp Chief Hector where Doug Saul was our host and guide. Very impressive camp with lots of activities. This is the biggest camp in Alberta hosting 495 campers in each Summer program.

In the category of 'it's a small world' at lunch on arrival I bumped into an Australian (that is not unusual as there are a lot of Australians working in camps in Canada - and they are well thought of as well). What was unusual was that I had met her previously in Australia where she was both a volunteer with People Outdoors and an admin worker for us at the Australian Camps Association.

Doug mentioned that in scheduling their programs they plan not to finish a day with an activity like the high ropes - instead they prefer to run a ground based activity that highlights the interactions between the campers.. I really liked this idea.

I also really liked an activity that Doug showed is called Atlatl or Woomerang (seen modelled beautifully at left by Liz - sorry Liz)

This is great fun and I think has some scope for being a substitute in camps in Australia for archery. Doug said it is much cheaper because

you don't lose or break the number of arrows that you do in archery. The arrow is like a large arrow and you launch it by throwing it. It generally can be thrown around 20-50 metres (apparently the current record in the sport is 200 metres). We were thinking about 'atlatl golf' or 'atlatl darts' - you could paint targets on the ground and work your way from target to target scoring at each 'hole' depending on which scoring circle you landed in.

It was great fun.

Camp Stillwood, Lindell Beach B.C.

We had the great pleasure of visiting Camp Stillwood at Lindell Beach, British Columbia, on 16 September. Our hosts were Harry and Gail Edwards and they were very welcoming of us. If I had a complaint it would be that they fed us way to well and have put a serious dint in my plan to lose a bit of weight while I am here.

I loved the tree house (left). It sleeps 10 and kids on camp get an opportunity to spend a night up there. How much fun would that be!

The camp had a great range of facilities and they obviously have a great group of supporters and benefactors who enable them to put all of this together for the young people of the region.

We had the good fortune to see a deer and her fawn (left) while we were walking around the camp - a very exotic experience for Australians.

Camp Stillwood has 550-600 beds so this makes it a big camp by any standard. They have 200 people staffing their Summer camps - most of them volunteers.

This was our last camp visit in British Columbia and the next day we were off to Alberta on the Rocky Mountaineer.

Bye for now

Camp Thunderbird, Vancouver Island

Yesterday we stayed at Camp Thunderbird, a YMCA camp on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. The beautiful jetty and lake on the left are a part of Camp Thunderbird. Our host was Luke 'Chinook' Ferris and his crew - and great hosts they were.

I loved the advice Luke gave us about bears and cougars during his safety briefing - if you encounter a bear (or cougar) you should huddle together to make yourself look bigger (apparently bears aren't too smart) wave your arms gently in the air and walk slowly backwards - never turning your back on the bear (clearly because bears like to munch on your back - see my blog of 11 Sept - and turning your back on a bear is like inviting it to a smorgasbord).

As you are slowly backing away you should sing Jingle Bells - yes that is right. This is either because bears hate it as much as we do when the Christmas decorations and songs come out in September or because hearing Jingle Bells alerts all the camp staff that there is a problem - I'm not sure which one it is?

Badger, Sasquatch, Stratus & the other one (sorry other one) put on a very entertaining camp fire for us, which was a great way to end the evening.

I did pick up a couple of other quirky bits of information compliments of the 'Island Buy Sell & Trade, Victoria, British Columbia.

An advert for "Life jacket for dog. Great if you are going boating (fair enough) or teaching your dog to swim" - now would that be butterfly or freestyle? And only $25 to boot!

Or for $160 you can have a "multilevel large 6' cat tree, sage green and beige, great condition, hardly used, has small cat house on top."

Then there was the "Multipoo Puppies, ready to go to a good home." - insert own punchline here...

Finally, in a study on brevity "Wanted: Barn cats, lots to eat." -sounds like a self catered arrangement.

More soon - bye for now.

Our first Canadian Camps

Well we have now started our tour of camps in Canada. First thing was the pick up - a big yellow school bus. The hardy (but still a little jet lagged) travellers are (from l-r) John Woods, Bill Oakley, Paul Colagiuri, me, Jenny Bowker, Liz Burman, Julie Chandler and Ian Chandler. Keep this photo handy because if one of us gets eaten by a bear this will become a very poignant photo!

Our intrepid driver, Grant Alexander, took the photo and is a bit shy about appearing in photos but I will endeavour to sneak a photo of him at some stage - he has done a great job getting us around so far.

Our first camp visit was to Camp Potlatch on Howe Sound. The only way into the camp is by water and so we took a water taxi for the 20 minute ride. Tracey and Andrew were our very friendly hosts for the visit and they showed us around their wonderful camp and were very patient answering all of our questions.

The photo on the right is of the view from their camp up to the distant snow capped mountain through the Douglas Fir trees - pretty spectacular.

The focus of Camp Potlatch is on activities that the campers wouldn't do in the city. So a strong wilderness and environmental focus.

They take 100 campers at a time aged from 7 to 16. A big part of the program is 'out tripping' (journey based) and even the youngest campers have an overnight trip close to the camp.

They get great philanthropic support from the corporate sector and this has enabled them to refurbish the camp and also allows them to offer 'camperships' to those campers who can't afford to pay the full fee.

Then it was off to Camp Summit in Squamish. Our hosts were Geoff Park and Shannon Wilson (and her dog Zoe). The amazing thing about Camp Summit is that it did not exist on this site 5 months before their first groups were due in this year! It was a bush block under 4 feet of snow when they took possession on November 7, 2007. They began construction in February 2008 and their first group came in July - that is a tremendous achievement.

The ropes course on the right belongs to them. They had it built with a focus on having as many campers involved as possible. So many of the elements involve some assistance from team mates below - for example one of the elements requires 4 teammates to hold beam as steady with ropes from below while the participant walks across. It was an impressive structure.

We then moved on to Vancouver Island and an overnight stay at Camp Thunderbird in Sooke. More about that tomorrow.

I spotted a couple more items that fall under the consumerism gone mad category - 'The advanced large-capacity feline drinking fountain' which filters the cat's water through charcoal. Granted, it is a bit more expensive than the old ice-cream container I use - but if you really love your cat!

Then there is 'The Pet's Observation Porthole'. To help alleviate boredom for your curious pooch you insert one of these portholes (well they actually recommend you put in 5 of them - of course they do) into your fence. From the dogs side it is concave and from the outside it is convex - so basically your dog can suddenly appear through this porthole teeth barred and snarling at innocent passersby. It should really come with a defibrillator.

More soon - bye for now

Kids living the dream

Thank you to Mike Vandeman PhD for his response to my blog 'Getting to Vancouver' (see below) in relation to Richard Louv's book - I urge you to read his comments (and if anyone knows how an inexperienced blogger can make those comments appear on the blog I would appreciate your advice).

My aspiration for this blog is for it to be a place for you to contribute your views. I don't pretend to bring any particular expertise to the table - but what I do have in my role as Executive Officer of the Australian Camps Association is access to, and time with, a significant number of people who have extensive experience in the camps sector. If I bring any skill to this task it is the ability to share their knowledge with you.

In essence I hope that you can contribute to my education by sharing your thoughts with me.

In response to Mike's comments - my view of Richard Louv's book (so far at least) is that he is not trying to suggest that if we expose young people to nature we will turn them into environmentalists. I think he is saying that if we expose our young people to nature then they will be healthier - both physically and mentally.

Yes, they might still go on to be property developers - but hopefully if they do they will be property developers with a better understanding and appreciation of the natural environment - and they will be better and healthier human beings for having had that experience in nature.

One of the things we have done in Australia recently was to get together with a number of similar organisations to commission a literature search into the benefits of camps and outdoor activities - one of the findings of that research was that just being in nature was not enough to build a better appreciation and understanding of nature - to do that requires programs that deliberately focus on building that understanding and appreciation.

But I think I saw what Richard Louv is talking about in his book today when I was walking around Stanley Park in Vancouver. I passed 3 young boys on the beach playing an imaginary game with some plastic toys. At first I walked right by them - but then I remembered my previous commitment on this blog to be 'in the moment' on this trip rather than simply being a passerby. So I went back to talk to their mum and to ask her permission to take their photo.

Her view, and that of her friend, was that kids today are so overprotected that they do not get opportunities to explore and play make believe games. The boys in this photo, however, were so intensely involved in their make believe game that they didn't even notice me taking their photo. I think this kind of play is what Richard would like to see more of - and on that issue I agree wholeheartedly.

Bears! and other distractions.

Having safely negotiated a good nights sleep I ventured out into the Vancouver sunshine, got hold of the Globe and Mail newspaper and settled in for a morning cup of coffee. Well, there at the bottom of the front page, one small paragraph under the heading "Bear mauls fisherman" - not the headline story or even a lead-in story - just a brief reference to a story buried in a later section of the newspaper? Obviously this got my attention. I really need to quote to you from the story for full effect - a witness who ran to help said "When I got there the victim was being thoroughly gripped by the bear with his paws and it was chewing on his back." It was what? (Message to self - check pockets for fish or raw meat before going outdoors in Canada).

There were 7 men trying to get the bear off, including one stabbing the bear with a 10cm knife and one hitting the bear on the head with a hammer repeatedly (this was clearly a determined bear) until one of them eventually managed to kill the bear with a 30cm knife!

The report goes on to say "the bear swam a short distance across an estuary where the marina is located and vaulted straight over the back of the boat at the man". As if Jaws wasn't enough reason to stay out of boats.

In a side story one expert placed the blame for the increasing number of bear attacks on a poor season for berries - berries! In Australia if we have a poor berry season we have to make our pies with apples or apricots - we don't think 'it hasn't been a great season for raspberries - I better be careful outside today in case a starving bear chews on my back!

On a lighter note I got a look at the 1st hole, a 165 m par 3, of what I think is planned to be an 18 hole championship golf course on the harbour at Vancouver.

The 2nd, a par 5, will be a tough hole because no matter how well you hit your drive, my experience is that it is hard to get a good solid stance for your second shot whilst standing in silt on the bottom of the harbour.

Well I should be joined tonight by the rest of the Australian contingent. We start with a welcome dinner and then tomorrow morning our 1st visit to a camp.

Getting to Vancouver, Canada

Well after a false start (3 hour delay at Melbourne airport) and 32 hours I arrived at Vancouver -a bit tired but also excited about the trip ahead.

With the long delay at Melbourne airport before I even got started I had a lot of time to think and to get bored. As I wandered around the shops looking at all the gadgets I found myself having some internal dialogues about how useful it would be to have the latest noise reducing headphones or a 160gig iPod to listen to music or to catch up with all those interesting radio shows I miss.

Then I was reading some more of Richard Louv's book (Last Child in the Woods) and came across a pertinent quote from Edward Reed, an Associate Professor of Psychology, "There is something wrong with a society that spends so much money, as well as countless hours of human effort - to make the least dregs of processed information available to everyone everywhere and yet does little or nothing to help us explore the world for ourselves." (p64)

So instead of buying an iPod (I don't even know 40,000 songs for goodness sake), I made a decision to spend this trip, and hopefully after the trip as well, being in the moment.

Instead of putting on headphones to take me to somewhere else, I want to fully experience my surroundings here and now.

In keeping with this theme it is interesting to note the different ways people respond to flight delays. Personally I want them to take as much time as they need to make sure my plane is ready to fly. Some laugh off the delay but others demand answers and free stuff as compensation.

I also had plenty of time on the flight to read and a magazine selling stuff online on behalf of the airline caught my attention. It is amazing the stuff you can buy! For example you can buy a thing called iWear (I don't think it is sold by Apple but I think the latest marketing tool is to put an i in front of everything - maybe to piggy back off the iPhone?). This iWear is a pair of sci-fi looking glasses with built in headphones and a built in TV screen which they claim is the equivalent of a 150cm HD screen. This gadget connects 'wirelessly' (I think I just made up a word) to your portable DVD player. I hope I see someone wearing a pair of these when I have my camera handy because the guy in the advert was desperately trying to look cool, but frankly he wasn't pulling it off.

There was also a thing called "The Indoor Dog Restroom" so your dog can pee indoors. It looks like one of those synthetic grass mats you practice golf on and apparently it holds 2 gallons (8 litres) of pee - nice.

I will keep my eye out for any other interesting and quirky things to buy and report on them here.

It is time to go and have a look at Vancouver. Talk to you soon.

Queensland & Northern NSW trip

Hello, it has been a hectic couple of days but very worthwhile. I have really enjoyed the opportunity to visit some members and prospective members. I have seen some great camps in brilliant locations and have also had the chance to get some feedback from a number of obviously passionate camp operators.

Got into Brisbane airport where our erstwhile President John Woods picked me up and we headed off to Camp Goodenough in Bilambil, NSW where Wayne and his partners showed us around their camp.

Then we headed off to Inter-Action Experiential Learning at Uki, NSW where Greg Smith gave us the run down on his camp and shared his ideas for issues the ACA should be pursuing.

Then it was on to Midginbil Hill Outdoor Education Centre in Midginbil, NSW where we were met by Tony Snellgrove and given a grand tour of his camp including wallabies, bush turkeys and his flock of chickens.

We talked about the need for the ACA to encourage consistency in the Adventure Activity Standards now being developed and implemented in a number of states.

Operators were also passionate about eco sustainability and are looking for the ACA to talk to government to provide advice and assistance to camps towards a zero carbon footprint. This would need financial assistance to implement things like water recycling and the installation of solar panels to generate power.

Camps would then be in a very strong position to demonstrate to school children practical sustainable practices.

A consistent approach to curriculum links to camp programs across the country was also an issue seen as important.

We were also urged to continue to facilitate the sharing of information between camps using things like the prices and occupancy survey (stay tuned it will be out soon for 2008).

Then John and I made the long drive up to Apex Camp Mudjimba in Mudjimba, Qld arriving about 10pm, to spend the night with Vince Boeske.

Early start Tuesday to have a look around Camp Mudjimba, Qld and then off to see Dave Lee at Luther Heights, Qld and then Noosa North Shore Resort, Qld to meet Kate Brown and finally a visit to Dave Rowlands (there are a lot of Dave's in our sector aren't there!) from Wildeco, Qld. We talked about the benefits of becoming a member of the ACA and I hope they will be joining us soon - at least in time for the new Guide to Camps coming out in February 2009.

There was enthusiasm for advocating for sustainable camps and also for promoting the benefits of the camp and outdoor experience.

We then headed home (for John) to Edmund Park in Thornton, Qld for a home cooked meal (thanks John) and some shut-eye.

This morning we headed of to Emu Gully Adventure Education Group in Toowoomba, Qld and a tour around their Anzac themed camp - including a couple of working WWII aircraft and a range of tanks. Thanks to Barry and Gwenyth Rodgers and Mark from their Board for showing us around.

Donna Little (brand new CEO of QORF) and I had a positive and encouraging meeting with Tim Condon and Rob Ashton from Sport & Recreation Qld. I am confident that we can all work together to promote and develop the camps and outdoor sector in Qld. Donna and I will write to them to follow up the meeting and to put some more concrete proposals forward. I am also hopeful that their remaining 7 camps might join the ACA and in a very real sense work with all of us to further our sector.

Visits to a couple more camps tomorrow and then onwards to the National Outdoor Summit on Friday and Saturday - for now it is time to hit the sack for me.