Bush Rangers Explore South West’s Wonders
The final Bush Rangers outing for 2019 saw the Cadets travel to the cooler region of Busselton and the South West. Following the drive south and a quick stop at camp to unload the bus, the cadets embarked on their first activity at Xcape at Dunsborough. This was a mostly relaxing few hours, with the cadets showing great teamwork when 2019 Head Bush Ranger Ashley managed to get stuck in a climbing structure. The day wrapped up back at camp with various beach games.
Day two commenced early with a pancake breakfast before heading off to the Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse for a guided tour and presentation looking at the history of the area and the people who lived there as light house keepers.
After this the Bush Rangers proceeded to Ngilgi Cave for what was going to be a challenging afternoon. They knew they were in for a special occasion when they were given hard hats with head lamps and a pair of gloves followed by a very detailed safety briefing. The first part of the tour was a pretty standard cave tour with nice stairs, board walks and lights, though many had to duck their heads. The Bush Rangers saw sparkling crystals, hollow glass-like straws, shawls of varying sizes and shades, lava-like flowstone, and pillars and columns of creamy coloured, sparkling calcite crystal. It was at this point the guide stopped the group and directed them to put on their gloves before asking all to climb over the fence off the board wall. What followed was a legendary adventure through the cave system where the Bush Rangers were climbing up and down over rock formations, sliding down rocks and bending in all directions in order to squeeze through tiny passageways. It was hard work but the cadets showed that they were willing to take on the challenge. The Bush Rangers crawled through a gap from the cavern into a smaller area that was the deepest they could venture into the cave. The passage started out easy enough for the first few metres before the roof quickly lowered and they were all commando crawling through a space less than half a metre high. When they reached the end of the path they found themselves in an opening about a metre high and a couple of metres round. It was then that the guide asked all to turn off their head lamps and they were plunged into complete darkness. The guide explained that they were about 45m below the surface (about 12 floors!) before sharing a story from the local aboriginal people. After the story they crawled back out of the hole and headed off to tour the rest of the cave.
After this the Bush Rangers returned to camp for a relaxing evening above ground consisting of beach volleyball, dinner and a movie night watching The Princess Bride.
After a hearty breakfast of eggs, bacon, beans and toast, the cadets ventured out on day three to see what else Busselton and surrounds could offer. First stop was the Busselton Jetty where they rode the electric train to the underwater observatory to get a glimpse of the sea life living under the jetty. They spent the afternoon at Simmos Ice Creamery where they partook in a round of mini golf and some amazing ice cream. The day concluded with another fabulous meal prepared by the cadets and a presentation where Certificates of Excellence were presented to the students on camp. It was then time to say a good bye to the Year 12s and younger students who were leaving the College. The Bush Rangers hope that they had a bit of fun, learnt something about the environment, maybe learnt something about themselves and made some good memories. They will all be missed.
The final day saw the cadets make the return journey back to Perth. Arriving back at campus around lunchtime, the cadets had enough time to unpack and clean the bus, eat lunch and share their experiences and feedback with the group. They each spoke from their hearts encouraging the cadets to be awesome, to look out for each other, to try new things, to challenge themselves, to seek help when they need it, to offer support where they can, to enjoy life, to make good memories, to be nice to their families, and to be true to who they are despite what others might think. They were very honest and you could see that they meant what they said.
Thank you to all of the Bush Ranger cadets for being the inspiring people that you are. Thank you to the parents and guardians for entrusting your children to the Bush Rangers Program and for all of the support you have provided. Thank you to all of the past cadets that have been a major support group this year, to Yvonne and Keira who were unable to make it to this camp but have been invaluable members of the group, to Tim and John whose assistance throughout the year but especially during this camp was immeasurable, and to any other past Cadet that has stopped by to lend a hand.
Thank you to the staff who volunteer their time to assist with organising activities, paperwork, menus, shopping, cooking and helping with every little thing that needs to happen to ensure that the Bush Ranger Program can succeed. This program could not happen without them. And thank you to the College, the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, the Department of Communities, Cadets WA and everyone else that has been involved in the program.
