Pindaris: The Pindari made a lot of progress with busting coals and working on their sets. Hikes were exciting for the group and they got to see many interesting things along the way such as obsidian, busting materials, and some of the desert wildlife. Despite some surprising cold and snowy weather on one of the hikes, the group woke up the next morning with their humorous attitudes ready to take on a new day. The group is very creative when it comes to cooking delicious recipes with their food drops, and they encourage each other to progress further in the program. The Pindari also made time for ceremonies and they honored one of the students with both the peace walker and the giver tokens. They also awarded one of the guides with the truth speaker token. Overall, it was a wonderful week out in the west desert for the Pindari.
Lorikeets: The Lorikeets had a fun and supportive week with each other. The group took intentional time to honor each other with at least one token for each group member. These included winged heart, true speaker, solid ground, peacewalker, brightness, strong cord, giver, making amends, and maker. The group held ceremonies during hikes and at the camp site. The group was very dedicated to setting up camp shelters and worked cohesively as a team. The group overcame some difficult weather. They endured snow, hail, rain, wind, and gropel (little balls of snow). They showed resilience and determination during tough and strenuous hikes. The group was able to be patient with one another during hikes and be supportive each other. This week the group worked hard on busting and encouraged each other to work independent with each other. The group enjoyed gatherings about their experiences and shared how they related to certain readings during gathering. The group was able to make a lot of things this week such as pillows, storykeepers and they worked on their possibles bags. The Lorikeets ended the week with a beautiful sunny day.
Goannas: The beginning of the week presented some fun challenges in the form of weather, and the Goannas had a week filled with opportunity and adventure. The group hiked very well, crossing mountains on each hike. On the final hike, the group hit the climax of the week by reaching the highest peak in the area. On that hike, the Goannas conducted a ceremony to honor one student and one staff with trail names, Savage Polar Bear and Brave Monkey. The whole group very intentionally focused on busting this week. By the end of the week every student in the group had a complete set ready to begin intentionally practicing busting over the coming weeks. At the end of the week, the Goannas again held a ceremony honoring two students and two staff with Goanna tokens. These tokens represent the pinnacle of growth and development as a member of the Goannas group.
Ulurus: The Uluru started their week out on a positive note and were in high spirits; they tackled their first hike and set up camp quickly. The second hike day ended up being tougher, with surprising snow falling down. Even though the group didn’t end up hiking that day, they kept up their high spirits by working on busting. The group crushed their last two hikes and kept the spirits high— even when there was tension between others. They were able to reconcile through playing games like Can-Jam and Jackpot. On therapy day, there was a ceremony where three students were honored; Funky Monkey was given the maker token, Majestic Salmon was given solid ground, and a third student received the giver token. The group ended the week by coming together and creating a Mega (Giant) busting set!
Brumbies: The Brumbies had a week of huge growth and exciting adventure. The group found their groove and grew in a number of crucial categories, namely hiking, bow drilling and fire making, as well as play and adventure. Individually and as a whole, the Brumbies committed to improving on hiking and their fire making and were determined to complete the challenges for the week in those categories. They also found the time to honor some special Brumbies with tokens and one Brumbie with their trail name (Vibrant Polar Bear)! The group also made an effort to emphasize something very important to the overall energy and well-being of the group: fun and adventure. This week, the Brumbies went on a few hikes to explore the surrounding geography. One of these was to the peak of Erickson Knoll, where they were able to read inspiring messages from past students and leave their own! Per usual, the students got into a bunch of fun games like Dogs and Camouflage. Overall, a fantastic week of growth and good energy was had among the Brumbies.
Check Out What’s Happening in 1st Camp @ outBACK
First camp had many exciting adventures this week and made a great deal of progress in their journeys at outBACK. They learned to make spoons, fire, and packs. The students made several trips to a nearby creek, and they also played many games with the hacky sack. At one point when the hacky sack was thrown to a staff, a hawk swooped in and tried to snatch it out of the air! The group got an early start on learning shelter set-up and take down as well, when we moved first camp location later in the week. Overall, first campers had an engaging, adventure filled week.
