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Words: Tahj Hilzinger-Smith (Year 8)
Photos: Matthew Clucas
December 8th, 2011

MY GREAT SOUTHERN CHALLENGE

This article is about the Great Southern Football Carnival which was hosted by Great Southern Academy which the Gilmore Academy Year 7 to 10 boys attended in Albany.

It was November 7, 2011 at 10.30 am when we got on the bus. Everyone was excited and ready to go so we all got onto the bus and set off.

Tahj in action

We drove for about three and a half hours before we stopped for lunch. Matty Clucas had pre-ordered lunch at a service station, chicken and salad rolls with lemonade. It was yum.

After lunch, we hit the road again. The bus drive seemed to take forever but we finally arrived late afternoon/early evening.

When we got out we were shown to our cabin then went into the dining area. We had an introduction to the camp and told the rules. Then we had free time to see around the camp and kick the footy around.

Bit of free time playing with the camp dogs

After free time, we had dinner of fish and chips with salad. It was very nice and filling. Dessert was ice cream with chocolate sauce and fruit – that was delicious.

After dinner we had some more free time before starting to have showers. After everyone had had showers, we spent some time in the games room before going to bed at about 9.30am.

The next day, was the day of the carnival. We had breakfast of toast, cereal and juice before heading off to town to the oval where the carnival was to be played. When we arrived and hopped off the bus, everyone talked about we were all freezing. We all sat down with the other teams as we were addressed about the carnival and told about the three ovals that games would be played on. Then we set off for the first of our six games.

Unfortunately, Gilmore only won one game against the Goldfields Academy but it was all fun and that’s what matters. The whole time we played it was raining, hailing or both. We finished our games after our lunch of burgers with water.

We were all told that the combined team of Yule Brook and Northam Academies were the winners. All of the awards were handed out and we then set off back to the camp.

Recipients of the jumpers for the All-Stars Team

We got back and had free time before we had showers, got dressed and went back into town. We went to a flash restaurant for dinner and we had steak, chips and cool drink. Dinner was really filling and after we left the restaurant we stopped at the local IGA and all got ice creams before heading back to camp.

We were up pretty late, running around the games room, outside and in our cabin. We were all starting to get tired and went to bed about 11pm. It was to be lying in my bed, I was sore from the games but a lot of the boys were.

The next day we got up, had showers, packed everything up and had it all put in the trailer before breakfast. We did this so we could get straight on the road after our breakfast of cereal, toast and fruit.

The journey home included a stop at the same service station from our trip to Albany for a lunch of chicken burgers and solo cans. Once lunch was finished, we all hopped back on the bus to finish our journey.

Arriving back at the Gilmore Academy rooms, we waited until the end of the school day before heading home for some well-earned rest. So, that is what happened at the Great Southern Carnival. We all enjoyed it and can’t wait for next year.