This yearโs annual ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ข๐๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ฌ was impacted by weather warnings from the outset as the event was brought forward by a day due to impending inclement weather.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ 10๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ป๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ๐ด ๐ง๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ฑ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฅ๐ข๐บ, ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ช๐ฆ๐ถ-๐๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฅ๐ข ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด.
The first dayโs 20km hike was challenging. The Gats River was flowing well and many suffered with blisters due to walking in wet shoes after crossing the river. ๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟโ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ต๐ฒ๐ป๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฎ๐น. They worked together as a team from the get-go and encouraged one another when the going got tough. It was heartening to see stronger hikers assisting their friends with packs when their feet were literally covered in painful blisters. That evening they set up camp at Riverdene farm on a beautiful beach and as they sang and ate around the fire, life was good!
The hike to Schoonberg pools the next day was much shorter, which gave ample time to set up camp and enjoy the pristine pools. The route was changed slightly this year, so the group stayed at the pools for two nights, which gave everyone more time to get to know one another. ๐๐๐จ๐จ๐๐๐๐จ ๐๐๐ข๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐๐ง๐ค๐ข ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ค๐ช๐ฉ๐จ๐๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ค๐ง๐ก๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ง ๐ฌ๐๐จ ๐๐ก๐ค๐จ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ฃ, ๐จ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ค๐ง๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง๐จ ๐ฆ๐ช๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฉ ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐ก๐๐ฃ๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฅ๐ก๐๐๐. The following day began with an exercise in Solitude where everyone was woken before dawn and placed in isolation in the landscape. Here they read special letters and wrote to their future selves. That evening everyone was taught to cook a chicken on the open fire and to bake a loaf of camp bread by Mr and Mrs Langmead. A few drops of rain warned of what was to come, and everyone was given a safety talk regarding what to do if the river came down.
At midnight, the rain began! For those who have not been in the canyon, it is difficult to comprehend what an impact the weather can make and the dangers that it brings. One support vehicle was packed up at 2am to ensure that it got across the river with the possibility of flooding. The decision was made to evacuate early the following morning.
๐ผ๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ช๐ฃ ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ. This day required much grit, determination, endurance from the Grade 10s and support team. Wet tents were packed up and the journey back to Riverdene under inclement conditions began. Everyone was drenched. The tracks took on the consistency of peanut butter which stuck to the bottom of boots and rendered the roads a slippery mess. The backup vehicles used winches to get across the rivers which were now soaking sand and mud, another vehicle slid off the road and nearly rolled into the river. While some adults stayed to attempt to get the vehicle unstuck, others had to continue with the grade 10s as we feared the rivers coming down and being stuck on the wrong side. There is no reception in the canyon, so as we arrived at the farmhouse, messages were dispatched for rescue. Taking shelter in a garage, the freezing, wet group cheerfully got their stoves going and began to eat two minute noodles to keep warm from the inside! Spirits were never dampened!
In the meanwhile, unbeknown to the group, the buses had had an epic time trying to get to them! The district roads had also become treacherous. Eventually, as they spotted them driving down the mountain, they also saw the backup vehicles arriving from the canyon, which four adults had miraculously managed to retrieve by practically digging a new road!
The sense of relief was, however, short lived. Everyone piled into the buses and off they drove, only to be rendered helpless as they slid off the clay road 8kms from the tar. It was at this point that everyone had to really dig deep.
๐๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ฅ๐ช๐ณ๐ต๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ด๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ- ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ- ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ 10๐ด ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ข๐จ๐ฎ๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ. ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ญ๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐๐ฅ๐บ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ!
While the Grade 10s expressed extreme disappointment at not being able to complete the last day of Odyssey at the waterfall, they can take with them the fact that this was the most challenging Odyssey to date and that their perseverance, determination and grit, got them out the other side stronger and more united than ever.
๐ข๐ฑ๐๐๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ถ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ผ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐. Grateful thanks go to landowners Dale and Kelly Jackson, Peter Plumstead and Julian Murray. This yearโs support team was incredible through trying conditions and the school is grateful to Sean Jacobs, Jason Marais, Dolan Cochrane, Ross Hulleman, Jacques Ferreira, Jennifer Rubidge, Zakkiya Mahomed, Tess Neill and Dave Neill. Thank you to the bus drivers and secretaries who do so much to keep Odyssey going. We are grateful to Kevin and Lisa Watermeyer for their trailer and assistance. And lastly, eternal gratitude goes to Mr David Langmead for his indomitable hard-work, vision and love for the school, that makes this incredible journey what it is.
Odyssey photos are available to download at the following link: https://theunionschools.pixieset.com/odyssey2023/
