It was a fun-filled weekend for 24 people we support in Gippsland, along with nine Scope staff members, when they went away recently to Coonawarra Camp near Bairnsdale.

There was something for everyone to enjoy, with kayaking, cricket (complete with traditional wheelie bin stumps), swimming, a flying fox, and a giant swing for the daring. The action kicked on into the evening with a disco dance on Saturday night.

When asked what his favorite part of the camp was, Nathan Gaston summed it up saying “That’s a tricky question, as the whole camp was Pretty Flipping Awesome!”

It was a team effort to operate the giant swing, with everybody having a part to play to get it up and away. A couple of people were nervous before their turn, but with lots of encouragement and the assurance they were in safe hands they braved the heights and loved it.

Not everyone was wary though, as Paul Van Dord says, “The flying fox was fun, but the big swing was the best as I went to the very top, I wasn’t scared.”

A highlight for staff member Paul Hunt was “Joel mucking around with the canoes and the water at the lake like any other kid.” Any worries he had when he arrived at the camp fell away as he was “immersed totally in having and causing as much fun as possible.” Glen Hardwick enjoyed the scene by the water too. “I loved putting on my life jacket and paddling in the canoes” he said.

Photo: David Baker flying high on the giant swing.