07/06/2016
We need more organisations like this. :)
'I never would have said anything is better than my ipad, but this is.' Isaac, 8yo
It's Rewild o'clock! July 4-8 and July 11-15.
This school holidays is a great chance to join Bluegum Bushcraft's Rewild Your Child / Rewild Tribe programme. If you haven't yet experienced the magic of these life-changing family camps, book for this one soon as they fill up pretty quickly.
There is no internet, no phone reception, this is a chance to completely unplug from busy lives, from the relentless 'do' of modern life. A chance to spend real time with your family, and with other like-minded families who are also committed to being in real relationship, with the land, with each other, and with themselves.
Picture this... the sound of many voices singing an African travelling song to wake you to another gorgeous July day.
You poke your head out of your tent to see a gorgeous procession of kids and adults dancing through the field, winding their way through the camp and singing in the dawn.
You walk to the giant communal longhouse, where the breakfast fires are blazing merrily, and a billy is boiling for your morning cuppa. The smell of cooking bacon wakes your belly. Kids are toasting bread on sticks and a mob is already laughing on the mega swing.
The high cliffs of Byangee Walls light up with the morning sun, and the birds are singing. Platypii plop into the river as you wander down to skip stones.
At 830am, Rewild Your Child starts. The kids walk up the field with their mentors, to play games under the Meeting Tree, before heading up to their bush camp, which they have built and added to each camp. There is a monkey gym to play on, and shelters they built themselves (and sometimes sleep in). They spend four hours in the bush before coming back to spend the afternoons with you.
During the Rewild Your Child programme, the kids are guided using dingo mentoring by experienced mentors whose whole job is to help your kids be at home in the wild. We will never tell kids the way the world is, we ask questions to help find out what their world is and gently guide them through the learning process. We understand that frustration is part of the learning process, so we will sit with them until they figure things out for themselves.
Kids and teens will explore according to their own desires, whether it's making fire, shelter, bows and arrows, fish spears, baskets or other cool things. There will be games, stories, numerous rest breaks, learning bush tucker, toasting apples on the fire instead of marshmallows, playing stalking games, and camouflaging with ochre from the river.
Adults can do absolutely nothing while the kids are out bush (hallelujah) or perhaps go on bushwalks in the Budawangs, or fish for bass, or chop wood or even take part in an optional adults' Rewilding programme. There is often a yoga class in the morning.
At night there is a big communal meal for those who don't want to cook, and then we gather around the fires for Tribe Time, where each person, from the littlest to the biggest, has the opportunity to tell a story from their day. A two year old might declare that she saw a butterfly. A teenager might describe the awesome fish spear he made and the giant yabby he caught with it. A parent may recount the joy of an encounter with a deer, wombat or kangaroo.
If you've been watching these ads turn up on your Facebook feed for a while now and thinking that you want to come along, this camp is a great one, as the July camps are much smaller and more intimate than the rest of the year. You will have heaps of support in your camping journey from the mentors, and from Lee, Natasha and I, and we do everything we can to help you make this an experience you will always remember.
The weather is usually spectacular in July, with warm winter days sunbaking in the field and crisp cool nights snuggled up in sleeping bags. The fires burn all day and into the night, so there is always somewhere warm and dry if you need it.
The July camps run from July 4-8 and July 11-15. Bookings can be made through the website
http://www.bluegumbushcraft.com.au/sign-up.html
or check out the Rewild Your Child page for more information
http://www.bluegumbushcraft.com.au/kids---rewild-your-child…
Our Bluegum Bushcraft page has heaps of pics if you want to get an idea of what it's all about.
We take kids of all ages, from 2-18. Kids have activities in age groups, so the teenagers are all together doing more adventurous things, and the Gumnuts (2-4) stay close to camp with their mentors.
These camps are changing lives. We receive emails after every camp describing how previously ipad obsessed kids are taking time to go outside, to explore nature, listen to what the birds are saying; are telling their mums and dads 'I have wildness in my blood.'
'I never would have said anything is better than my ipad, but this is.'
One of the best things I heard last camp was from a boy who said 'I never would have said anything is better than my ipad, but this is.'
So if you hear the call of the wild, if you are frustrated by never having enough time to spend with your kids, if you wish to be nourished by a village, by singing and fireside stories and people asking how you are and meaning it, come along this July and join the Rewild Tribe.
You can call me on 0412 181943 with any questions, or email [email protected].
See you under the big sky
Gina Chick
PS... if you think other families would benefit from this camp, please tag friends and share this post to your networks, so we can reach more families desperately in need of Rewilding. Thank you
