Teen Trek

Chelsea Badger, WA

23 January 2012

Teen Trek was one of the most amazing and fun experiences that I have ever had. The memories created over those three days are enough to last forever. The friendships we created, the laughter we had together, the m&ms in the marshmallows and the fun we experienced as a group is everlasting.

We spent three days on the Bibbulmun Track with a group of girls and guys that were around the age of 12-18, although most of us were 13 or 14. The first couple of hours were kind of awkward with everyone not knowing if they should speak or make conversation. By the time we reached our first campsite things started to loosen up a lot more. My first memory of our group was when two of the year 9 boys were trying to cook 2 minute noodles and didn’t exactly know how to cook them. We laughed it over and realized that even though most of us were younger or older, when we were by ourselves in the bush we all felt the same age.

After that first evening, walking the track became heaps more enjoyable and amusing as we talked and talked about almost every topic in the world. Our guides had told us at the beginning that if we talked and chatted to each other the walk wouldn’t feel so long and it would feel like we walked a metre even though we walked a lot more than that!

We didn’t walk the track alone; we were supervised by two volunteer guides (Wendy and Charmaine) who were our leaders for the trek. They didn’t act like our mums and try to protect as from every single thing and tell us what to do. We cooked our own food, set up and packed up our own tents, packed our own packs and did all those little things ourselves. This gave us a feeling of independence. They were also perfectionists in keeping us happy while walking. They tested us with brain-teasing that took us most of the trek to work out and even gave us information about certain trees, flowers and even rocks! We never got bored once during the trail with these amazing ladies.

“Why on earth am I doing this?” was the first thing I thought when we started walking, but now as I look back, I realize that the amount of fun we had during those thee days and the friendships we made ; well, that was the reason.

Thank you to Charmaine and Wendy for their time volunteered to take the TeenTrek.

Chelsea Badger (13)

Ed – Teen Trek is just one of the guided events run by the Foundation.  We are very grateful to all our experienced volunteer guides who share their passion and knowledge.