The Good, the Bad, the Camp

During my life, there have been a lot of great and memorable times. Some are sad, most are happy and others were just confusing, but one moment in particular takes the cake for sure. It was both the happiest and most unfortunate moment of my life, this was the week that I went camping with my friend Jared and his family. This happened during the holidays before year 8 so this would be the last time I would see Jared before he changed schools. I say that this was unfortunate because quite a few bad events occurred, particularly to me.

After camping overnight near Harvey with Jared and his family, the first unfortunate event happened: the suspension on our trailer broke and we had to pull over. And just like that we were stuck on the side of the road near a train track and in 30 degree heat. After an hour of waiting, the mechanic arrived, but he had even more bad news. We had to go back with him to his garage and we would have to stay the night at their garage so that they could get in the suspension part needed. So after settling in to the spare room in the garage, we decided to go out for KFC. I just got chips and a Pepsi because I wasn’t that hungry and this is when my luck really ran dry. I spilt my Pepsi all over myself during dinner and, even though it was actually quite nice considering it was 30 degrees outside, it was still quite embarrassing walking around in wet pants, and thus, day two had concluded.

When we finally reached Walpole, Jared taught me how to fish. The signature and most common fish at Walpole is Black Brim and apparently is “to die for”. So at 9am in the morning we headed to the pier to start fishing. Unfortunately, I was very bad at fishing and all the fish I caught were under the size limit, whilst Jared and his family caught fish left, right and centre. So, after about an hour, I caught three fish and I then took a break and sat at the edge of the pier. After a couple of minutes, I decided to start fishing again but…I got up too fast and I slipped off the pier and  into the river (which was infested with sting rays), but luckily it wasn’t that deep and I simply walked back to shore. When I got back, Jared was on the floor laughing, but he helped me get back to the pier. I then told him to hold my hat and then I jumped back in; it was great!

It was day five and I was all dry again. I had Two Minute Noodles for breakfast (very nutritious) and Jared was getting the boat ready for paddling. An hour passed and Jared was out of breath, so I took over for him. After ten minutes I was out of breath as well, so Jared finally decided to get the electric pump out. So we then got our life jackets on and we started rowing. This was the day I learned that I was terrible at rowing and I just kept sending us in circles. After ten minutes, I finally got the hang of it and we decided to head to the abandoned ferry anchored in the river. We parked next to the ferry and Jared went in whilst I kept the boat parked. But at that time, a gust of wind came by and blew me away, all I could hear was Jared yelling “come back!” Fifteen minutes later, I finally got the boat back to the ferry and Jared said, “I can’t leave you alone for two minutes, can I?” We eventually made it to the edge of the ocean and we then decided to turn back because it was almost lunch time. On the way back, the river started to get rough and the waves started to push us off course; at one point we got really close to the ground where all the rocks were and it tore a hole in the boat. Soon, the boat was completely deflated, so we had to walk along the edge of the river to get back to the camp site. To this day Jared still blames me for breaking it.

Finally, it was day seven and, oh my god, it was the biggest day ever! At the end of the path near the campground, there was a small beach and we decided to skip rocks across the water. When we got back, Jared and his dad went to gut the fish they had caught, and trust me, it was the most disgusting thing I had ever seen. Anyway, after that they cooked the fish and we all had some for lunch (Jared was right, they were delicious) and that’s when we decided to pack our things and hit the road. It took a while, but after three hours of packing the trailer and the car we finally got going – at that point, all I wanted was to sleep in an actual bed. During the ride, I watched Ironman on their portable movie player and three hours in we stopped for lunch. We had wraps and they had some Black Brim in them that was left over from the lunch. So, another two hours later, we stopped again to pick up their dog that was left at a pet caring facility and then, ten minutes later, I am home at last. I said “hello” to my family and said a dear thank you to Jared and his family for taking me camping and then they left. I then went inside to hug all my pets and then I headed into my room, dropped my bags and slept on my nice comfy bed and I slept until the next morning - I was that tired! 

 By Ethan Nairn