Rhythm:

Shoalhaven Gorge lies to the south of Sydney. It is part of the river system that provides drinking water on the south coast. The gorge itself is narrow with steep golden cliffs on either side, making it hard to reach by foot!

As we travelled, we learnt the value of rhythm. Once we stopped spinning in circles or careening across the river, we found rhythm. In ourselves, breath, paddle stroke, breath, paddle…rhythm with our canoe partner, rhythm with the wind and the water. When it all came together, moving became smooth. Gliding along.

This experience of rhythm is a familiar one on camp. It usually starts after the third night. Everyone is in bed earlier, at a time most parents dream of, and waking early with the call for breakfast. We fall into the rhythm of light and dark, rest and action, sleep and wakefulness.

There is also the rhythm of the camp. How to set up and pack down with speed and grace. Tents down, a chain formed, bus packed, kitchen folded, trailer filled…with the rhythm of participation it becomes like paddling- a lot easier!

Harmony:

Spend more than three days with anyone on the road and you will notice relationship is key! Harmony is making sound and listening: voicing your needs, listening to others, checking in with one who might be a bit extra quiet. We have to moderate to find the sweet harmony: manage ourselves, tiredness, weird food, strange places, too much travel, excitement and joy, the inevitable homesickness. We learn to make a chorus of family with different strengths and challenges, making sure that everyone has a place.

When it works, there is harmony. Someone in the kitchen cooking AND washing up, someone to sit next to on the bus, a surprisingly vulnerable conversation that makes you feel at home, a new joke that belongs to everyone. We feel ourselves held in the tension of relationship, there is a place for each and each one is valued.

Symphony:

Each camp is a journey. Like a symphony it has its various movements and moments of mood and tension. The journey is personal, each of us feeling discomfort, excitement and awe in our own ways. It is collective, moving through Country, discovering places and people. But it is also a journey into the greater complexity of life on Earth.

On our way to the Great Barrier Reef, we passed through White Box and Koala forest threaten by mining, through kilometres of industrial agriculture, across the ocean to a tiny island surrounded by pristine underwater forests of coral, rainbows of fish, sharks, rays, turtles. In each place we asked, what do you see here? Feel here? What does this place tell you about climate change and the environment? What does this place seed in your soul?

Even tricky moments, like being treated as second class citizens, being abandoned on a remote island and rescued by pirates, taught us something. We learnt about fairness, inequality, resilience and a bit of pirate wisdom, like this from sailor Pete… “Many drops make an ocean. Be the change.”  It is the symphony of life!

Sarah Daniel High School Geography Teacher

Sarah has a B. Arts (UN) and a Master of Teaching (UNE). She works both as a teacher and as student support throughout the school.
“One of the most exciting things when working to support students, is when they find something that they are passionate about, that they really connect to. Finding ways to support their engagement and the depth of their learning is incredibly rewarding. As a teacher, it is a pleasure to be working in an environment where creativity, critical thinking and a real sense of love for the world is valued and imbues all you do”.