In her own words: Charlotte Killeen

We started off day two of our camp at Lake Dewar Lodge near Ballarat with a short walk and playing some ‘getting to know you’ games.

Although by this point we struggled to share new things about ourselves as we had already become so close.

After breakfast we took part in the camp’s ‘Amazing Race’, where we tried activities like archery, brain teases, building camp fires and using a GPS/compass to orienteer.

The highlight of the race would be the ‘tunneling’ activity.

Issued a team challenge, we were ordered to get multiple buckets of water through a number of tunnels and obstacles, ranging from ball-pits to climbing walls, with only a few torches to guide the way!

We succeeded and we all found the challenge quite easy, which was surprising when our group leader told us that it’s not common for groups to even finish the challenge.

I suppose that’s a positive reflection on our tight squad, which we all thought was fantastic.

We set out to complete our final activity for the day, the giant flying fox, where some girls overcame their nerves to speed through the air multiple times.

Needless to say, it was a great way to finish at the camp with plenty of screams and smiles.

The trip was a big couple of days for everybody, but was worthwhile and without a doubt a lot of fun.

The new girls in the squad definitely felt welcomed into the team, as well as girls who didn’t know each other well having a great opportunity to feel comfortable around each other before the carnival in January.

Everyone now seems pumped and excited for the tournament and hopefully our energy allows us to grab be crowned national champions!

Staged from January 16 to 22, 2013, the Under-18 National Championships will be held Ballarat with Victoria hoping to exceed its runners-up placing from last season.

Image sourced from the Melbourne Weekly.