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.

Last Child in the Woods

Following advice from Andrew McGuckian I started reading Richard Louv's Last Child in the Woods on the flight from Melbourne to Brisbane this morning. I have to say it is an enthralling read so far.

I have very fond memories of my childhood in Warrnambool riding my bike around with my mates, climbing trees and time spent waist deep in water at the swamp catching frogs and tadpoles. These are things I have sadly discouraged my children from doing to my eternal shame. Maybe my efforts to protect my children from harm will have long term consequences that I haven' t factored in until now?

Perhaps we are focusing too much on the immediate threats to our children's well being - bumps, bruises & bad men - and not enough on the long term impacts of "bubble wrapping" our children - obesity, mental illness and a lack of resilience to deal with the undoubtedly turbulent times ahead.

"A kid today can likely tell you about the Amazon rain forest - but not about the last time he or she explored the woods in solitude, or lay in a field listening to the wind and watching the clouds move". (Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods 2005 pp1-2)

Louv also talks about the "criminalisation of natural play" whereby we move to protect the natural environment by restricting access, when the best way to do this might instead be to encourage interaction - if our children's only experience of the natural environment is via the Discovery Channel, then how can we expect them to value and protect it?

"Countless communities have virtually outlawed unstructured outdoor nature play, often because of the threat of lawsuits, but also because of a growing obsession with order". (Louv p28)

"The cumulative impact of overdevelopment, multiplying park rules, well meaning (and usually necessary) environmental regulations, building regulations, community covenants, and fear of litigation sends a chilling message to our children that their free-range play is unwelcome, that organized sports on manicured playing fields is the only officially sanctioned form of outdoor recreation". (Louv p31)

I have a clear memory of a careers counsellor addressing my Year 11 or 12 class in 1977-8 and advising us that we should all consider a career in the leisure and recreation industry because, with modern technology, we would all be working 3 or 4 day weeks by the turn of the century (2000). Therefore people would have 3 or 4 day weekends - the possibilities for leisure would be endless! Well it hasn't quite panned out that way has it.

And finally "Based on previous studies, we can definitely say that the best predictor of preschool children's physical activity is simply being outdoors...and that an indoor, sedentary childhood is linked to mental-health problems" (James Sallis, Active Living Research Program in Louv p32).

I will keep you up to date as I work my way through this book - so far I am finding it thought provoking.

Adventure and Nature Based Tourism Forum

Last week I went to the Victorian Adventure and Nature Based Tourism Forum. It was held at Latrobe at Beechworth, who are ACA members. Great venue. It used to be the May Day Hills Psychiatric Institution and has a long and tragic history. Thankfully most of these institutions are now closed.

Latrobe at Beechworth is now providing accommodation and a conference venue. More about the conference in a later blog (I left my notes at the office!).

The images above are of the front entrance of the venue and (a little blurrier) the old hospital at night. The night image is at the start of the ghost tour that started up 4 months ago. It was a very entertaining tour for about 90 minutes and although I didn't see any ghosts we heard a lot about the history of the place and the way the patients were treated (mostly badly).

The other amazing bit of information we learned was that since the tours began 4 months ago they have had about 4,000 people join the tour.

Many of those coming for the tour are also staying and dining at Latrobe at Beechworth and so this has been a great success for both the tour operator and the venue. It is great to hear what can be achieved by following your passion. Congratulations to all involved.