Camp Canoa // Luke Hemmings

The One With The Best Leader

After retrieving our bags from the scramble of people attempting to reach their own, Nora and I walked across the sandy gravel ground to the long rectangle shaped stretch of dorms. There was a veranda lining the front of the building, shading the entrances to each dorm. The veranda had three steps up and we climbed it. We were in Dorm 3. Once we got there, we pushed open the door to reveal three single beds against the wall. There was a girl already in there unpacking. She had brown hair and freckles. She looked nice enough.

"Hi, you must be Danni." I said and she nodded, smiling. "I'm Grace and this is Nora." I said, gesturing towards my friend. They exchanged a quick hi and a smile as we dumped our bags on the floor. The dorm wasn't exactly impressive. It was only small, with three beds, a couple of chest of drawers and a room to the side that I assumed was the bathroom. There was a small table next to the door with three sets of keys lying on it. Along the wall next to the door there was a cabinet with a microwave perched on top and a small fridge on the floor next to it. I opened the door to the bathroom, preparing myself for the worst. I was pleasantly surprised to find it clean and tidy with only the bare necessities. A toilet, a shower and a sink along with a mirror above it and a measly bar of soap. There was a single shelf on one wall and a rack for towels. It would do. I walked back out to unpack and Nora, Danni and I got caught up in discussing our time here.

"Are you two friends from home then?" Danni asked, folding up her pyjamas and putting them on her pillow.

"Yeah we came here together." I smiled. I didn't really want to unpack my whole suitcase and my bag so I just put it at the end of my bed and left it open. I took my phone charger out of my backpack and looked for the nearest plug. To my relief, there was one over near the fridge, but the bad news was that there was only one. I plugged my phone in, watching it light up.

"Are you here for the whole 10 weeks?" She asked.

"Yeah we need to earn as much money as possible." Nora said.

"I know that feeling." Danni laughed. "I'm saving up for concerts."

"So are we!" I exclaim, sitting on my bed. "Who are you saving up for?"

"All Time Low are having a concert and Good Charlotte are supporting them." Danni explains.

"That's one of the concerts we're saving up for too." Nora smiled, unpacking her makeup onto the small table next to her bed. I had taken the bed against the wall underneath the window, Danni was on the other wall and Nora's bed was in the middle.

***

After we had finished unpacking, we had decided to take a look around the site. We walked around for half an hour, discovering where the canteen was and where the kid's dorms are. We also managed to stumble across the huge lake, with a small hut next to it, and then what looked like a wooden canopy, filled with canoes, paddles and life jackets. There were basketball and tennis courts and there was even a paddock full of horses extending out to the lush forest on the other side of the site. This made me very happy. We also discovered that there was a rack full of bikes lined up in front of reception that we had full access to, meaning that on free days we could cycle to the town nearby. The beach next to the site was huge, and there were driftwood steps leading down to the sandy surface, the steps lined with rocks and plants. The beach stretched out for a mile at least, creamy foam lapping up the shore. It was really beautiful here, even if it is really fucking hot. We checked the schedule and I have been paired with some guy called Calum and we were sharing the 10 year olds. We had to do an introductory activity in the morning to meet each other and get to know one another. Then the second hour in the morning was tennis and then in the afternoon we were taking them horse riding, ending the day with an hour of ultimate Frisbee. I felt bad for these kids.