Countries visited include Vietnam, Cambodia, Nepal and Malaysia. A lot of camps are in Malaysia due to its accessibility. There used to be a trip to Thailand but after Bangkok airport being closed and leaving them stranded one year and being caught up in the political unrest in Bangkok the next the school decided to give it a miss for a while.
This year we both travelled to Tioman Island in Malaysia with the Year 6s.
At 5:30am on a Monday morning we met the students at school. Each teacher had 8 - 10 students they were responsible for. Not only did we have to worry about looking after our own passports, we were responsible for 10 student passports. Each small group of students also had a Biologist from an eco tour company to look after them and share their expertise on the Tioman Island environment. This was a definite bonus for the students as the Biologists really new their stuff, and also a bonus for the teachers are we really just had to tag along.
Once we checked off our group of students and boarded the buses we headed off towards the Singapore - Malaysia border, about 30 minutes drive from the school. As we arrived at the Singapore side of the border the students all got off the buses and assembled with their teachers to collect their passports. The immigration building was large and sterile. There were around 20 counters each with a queue cordoned off with metal barriers. We lined up in one of these lines with our small group of students. The process was quick and efficient. It seemed a little too easy to take 100 children out of the country.
We got back on the buses and headed across the bridge joining Singapore to Malaysia. As we drove across the bridge we could see long lines of Malay men on motorbikes travelling into Singapore for the day to work. They enter Singapore in the early hours of the morning to work mainly manual labour jobs before returning to Malaysia at night.
On the other side of the bridge we entered Malaysian immigration and customs. Again we got off the bus, assembled our small group of students, handed out the passports and lined up in the immigration queues. However this time things were a little different. The building was small with dusty floors and no, or inefficient, air-conditioning. There were about 8 counters and each already had quite a few people lined up in front of them. We queued up to wait our turn. The immigration officer stamped each of our passports and we walked through to where a sign indicated 'Customs'. There were two x-ray machines and various signs about what is prohibited, but no customs officers, no one x-raying bags, no forms to fill out. We just walked straight through and got back on the bus.
The bus ride was about 4 hours. We decided on a blanket rule banning iPods so most of us stared out the widow at the palm plantations. After what felt like FOREVER we arrived in Mersing where we were to take a ferry across to the island. We had been told that we would be lucky if the ferry was there waiting for us as Malaysia runs on its own time. In past years they have waited hours for the ferry to collect them. Luckily for us it was waiting.
All our luggage was piled under a tarpaulin on the front deck of the boat, I'm not sure how it doesn't fall off but it seems to work OK. The ferry was just big enough to fit our group of 100 students inside. The crossing time is one to two hours depending on how rough it is. Apparently our crossing was relatively smooth although 20 students still vomited. Luckily I was asleep so I only heard about it later.
Arriving on Tioman Island we could see white sandy beaches lined with palm trees. Behind the beach mountains rose up in thick rainforest. It looked like a postcard. We had to walk from the jetty to our accommodation through a small village. There were small colourful houses and shops. There were no cars or roads. We walked along a path between the beach and the rainforest taking in the beautiful surroundings.
Our accommodation was a basic resort, right on the beach. It consisted of simple cabins with en suite bathrooms. The tree swing became an instant hit with the kids. We had lunch before going on a short rainforest walk. The views of the beach and the sea from the rainforest were spectacular and I was looking forward to our longer walk the following day.
Unfortunately the day our groups ventured into the rainforest for a more intense 8 hour trek was the day the monsoon rains decided to pay us a visit. The rain started 10 minutes into the walk. 11 minutes in we were all soaked to the skin, even those of us with rain coats. It was like standing fully clothed in the shower. We pressed on through the rainforest and reached a small village where we stopped under the shelter of a drinks store for a rest. I saw a Malay man walking through the rain under the shelter of a huge 'Streets' ('Walls' in Singapore) ice cream store umbrella. Clearly he had the right idea. After resting for about 30 minutes it was clear the rain wasn't going to let up so we pressed on. The walk took us up a mountain where we sheltered under a large rock for lunch before walking back down. All the animals we were looking out for were obviously smarter than us and were not out there for us to see. 8 hours after the rain began we arrived back at the resort, wet and exhausted and with one dead iPhone.
The next day we went snorkeling. 3 groups went together early in the morning, each group had their own wooden fishing boat with a Malay captain. We snorkeled at 3 different spots and saw some huge fish. One group was lucky enough to spot a sea turtle. For lunch we swam to a tiny island with a pristine beach. We had chicken and rice that had been packed in individual servings by the resort. We also had a fresh watermelon that one of the Biologists carved up for us. It was beautiful weather and we spent some time sunbathing while the kids swam in the shallow water. Unfortunately this lead to terrible tan lines from wearing dive shoes...
Our last day was a relaxing back day of beach exploration. We walked around the rock pools while the tide was out and found lots of mud crabs and even a small octopus (one of many reasons for wearing dive shoes). The kids (and teachers) learnt about sea turtles and their eggs. They were shown preserved baby turtles who hadn't survived and were clearly traumatised as they kept asking "Did you kill them?!" The kids then presented what they had learnt on the camp to the group.
After dinner on the final night we had a bonfire. The kids had heard from previous years that this involved toasting marshmallows. Unfortunately no one remembered to bring any, the kids were very disappointed when it was announced that they could toast pineapple instead.
On the final day we headed back the way we came. The kids were exhausted and slept some of the way home, so did the teachers. It had been a long and tiring week but they had all really enjoyed themselves. Even trekking through the rainforest in the monsoon rain wasn't so bad in retrospect. Arriving back at school at around 6:30pm we farewelled our students and our first international camp and arrived home just in time to catch the second quarter of Geelong vs St Kilda.
