Tired

I got home from the camp late last night, tired and struggling to stay awake/alive. I stopped several times for refreshers and safely arrived about 11:30.

I slept in a little this morning although my phone alarm woke me at 7:15 as I hadn't turned it off from the camp!

I've now just completed my first taxi shift in 3 months and am again totally knackered.
Hopefully I will get a really good sleep-in tomorrow.

Hopefully.

CSRC Day 2

Ah the joys and tribulations of the Cool School Race Camp!!!!
The groups have really struggled today, the phone puzzle stumped them for over 8 hours!!!!
Perhaps it was too hard, or perhaps they're too....! No, must have been too hard!
In the end 3 groups bought the answer for $20 and my group finally got it with a lot of coaching!!

They're working on the internet quiz now which is pretty tricky too but they're making progress.

You can try it yourself if you like.

Go to www.coolschoolracecamp.com and click on the netquiz. The password to get started is Graduate.

You'll need a couple of other passwords later on, leave me a comment and I'll let you know.

In a first for Holt Press, there will be a prize for the first person to complete the quiz!

Not a big prize, but certainly a prestigious honour!!

The kids have got 2 1/2 hours till they have to be at camp site 2, I'm not confident they're gonna make it!!

CSRC Progress report

Day one on the camp and things are going well, the weather is cool and damp, very different to normal.The group I'm with started slowly but have improved their performance as the day has gone on. They're looking for info on the internet now to help them with tomorrow's tasks.
A fruitless half hour walk to McDonalds for a photo that was just around the corner from where they were has got them thinking about getting better info!

Gotta go, the net cafe is closing.

D-Day

Now I'm ready!

I arrived in Perth about two hours ago and since then have been sorting out all the gear to go in the kid's showbags for the start of the camp: ID cards and lanyards, wrist bands, clues, puzzles, paper clips, photo books and task books. Then the extra bits for the staff, handbooks, extra clues, answers and this year for the first time, a ration pack of snack food to take with them in case they don't get a chance to stop, it sometimes happens when the kids are fired up and motivated to keep going. Mind you, that usually doesn't happen on the first day! It takes them a day to work out what they're doing and how to improve their performance before they hit their stride on the 2nd and 3rd days.

It's always a nervous night before the start of the camp, hoping I haven't forgotten anything crucial (I always forget something but usually not something crucial!)
Last year the third day was marred by the clues having been put in the wrong envelopes. I've been extra careful with them this year and am confident everything's in its rightful place.

I'm about to go to bed, ironically it's only 4 hours till the kids get on the bus to come up to Perth!
I wouldn't switch places for quids.

Let the fun begin!

CSRC D-Day minus 1

I'm nearly ready.

Seeing as the camp starts in 14 hours that's a good thing.

I worked a 17 hour day yesterday which broke the back of what remained and today I knocked off nearly everything else.

I need to download some pictures to Stu so he can put the finishing touches on the net quiz and we'll be ready.

I'm driving up to Perth tonight so I have more time in the morning. I'm staying with Bruce and Jacqui which is less than a KM from where the camp starts so I'll be able to sleep in a little. The kids leave Busselton on the bus at 6.00 in the morning!

A lot of work has gone into getting to this point, hopefully the next three days will make it all worthwhile.

See you on the other side.

Progress

I actually felt like I made progress in my camp preparations today. It's been a bit like swimming through treacle at times but today saw significant achievements in securing a camp site for night one, finalising the groups, briefing two lots of kids, at Newton Moore and Busselton, printing the task and score books, and recruiting the extra staff member I needed. I even managed to requisition most of the cheques we'll need to pay the accounts and allowances.

Needless to say there is still plenty to do but it felt like I got over the hump today and with 4 days to go should manage to be ready in time.

We have special guests at the Holt Press Hotel, Sally and Warren are here for the weekend, and Callum is with them to the delight of Sport Boy. We had a BBQ tea tonight and tomorrow hopefully we'll get to show them around a few of the sites.
Only the junk mail stands in the way of a pleasant weekend with old friends!

Cool School Race Camp 1

The Carine version of the Cool School Race Camp started today so I'm heading up to Perth with TH and FD to check how it's going, and to do the briefings for the two Perth schools who'll be joining our camp next week. We'll finish off the prep, drop off clues etc ahead of next week. I'm not ready yet but I'm making some progress.

I went to the Dr at Dunsborough today and he confirmed what I suspected, I have tennis elbow. Voltaren and a bandage are supposed to help. I had a blood test to check on my testosterone levels, and discussed starting some medication to help address a chemical imbalance and hopefully stabilise my emotional health. We'll see.

Dunsborough was full of school leavers and I felt decidedly over-dressed! Bikinis and towells and low slung shorts were the dominant attire! Hopefully they'll keep themselves out of trouble!

I had a YouthCare meeting tonight, followed bya catch-up over a drink with some of the other chaplains. We went to the Ship and sat in the bar where my paintings are hanging which was a nice feeling, the others liked them.