Our Grade 10s set off on their annual ๐ข๐๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ฌ on Saturday, 3 October.
Thereโs something quite remarkable about watching these kids head off into the Karoo with everything they need for the next few days strapped to their backs. ๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด – tent, sleeping bag, sleeping mat, clothes, food and rationsโฆ all while covering kilometres on foot each day.
๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐น๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐น๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐. At the end of a long day, thereโs no room service waiting!
Backpacks come off, tents go up, supper needs to be made and camp has to be sorted before anyone can finally crawl into a sleeping bag for the night.
๐ข๐ฑ๐๐๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ – and, at certain points, weโre fairly sure โfunโ might not be the first word that comes to mind either! But thereโs something about a little โshared sufferingโ that makes for the very best memories.
The sore feet, the heavy packs, the rain, the meals that donโt quite go according to plan and those moments when the next kilometre feels suspiciously longer than the lastโฆ those are often the bits that become the best stories.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บโ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ, ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ข๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ง๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ด ๐ข๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ด – when the backpacks somehow become heavier, the hills steeper and the rain harder with every retelling!
Over the next few days, theyโll make their way from Nieu-Bethesda back towards Graaff-Reinet, carrying what they need and discovering, along the way, just how much they are capable of.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐น๐ผ๐ป๐ด ๐ธ๐ถ๐น๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐, tired legs and undoubtedly a few testing moments, but also plenty of laughter, friendship, spectacular Karoo scenery and memories that will stay with them long after the backpacks have been unpacked.
๐ง๐ผ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ณ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ: travel safely, look after one another and make the most of every step.
๐๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ.
