S3 Camp: Our Experience
Melody Zhang S3M and Venice Ng S3M
The S3’s started their morning at 8am, meeting at central ferry pier. We traveled to and from camp by ferry with a great landscape of Central. The boat was very breezy but a calming journey with the anticipation of arrival upon us all.
The camp location: Cheung Chau, a small island with beaches, temples and impressive scenery. The peaceful island is where we can connect with nature, away from city life. Through urbanization, parts of Cheung Chau are modernized (food stalls and 7-11s), yet still preserved rich history and culture. The accommodation in the campsite is relatively clean; this camp instead of tents, we have beds and a bathroom in every dorm.
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner: Well rounded meals, simple nutritious choices that we can make at home. Breakfast > scrambled eggs, bread, ovaltine, sausages, ham, trail mix. Lunch > picnic, wrap, local restaurant delicious; highlight of dinner > barbeque…mmmm.
Evening activities: The night scavenger hunt was a competition to find hidden letters around the campsite through a map. This develops our navigation skills to work as a team, at the same time, it lets us familiarise with the campsite and trains our observation. It was a very high spirited activity which we enjoyed. Alongside the scavenger hunt, a lot of people would relax during free time and enjoy volleyball or basketball games. Plus a great time to socialise and reflect on our day!
Day activities and highlights of the camp
Urban farming and ecology: We designed an urban farm after being introduced to microgreens. This concept can be widely used in the future as the staple of farming to provide fresh food. Along the hiking trail has various types of leaves which we learnt to identify from its characteristics.
Cheung Chau History and Future: There is much more to Cheung Chau than the Bun Festival. The tour guide explains how Cheung Chau reveals their culture from preserving many historical sites like temples, shrines, and even rocks. An iconic place in Cheung Chau is the Pak Tai Temple. A fun and interesting part to the temple was asking a question mentally to Pak Tai, you throw the two pieces of wood like a die, and Pak Tai will give you an answer of yes, no or maybe.
Sampan: A boat ride around Cheung Chau and a climb through the famous Cheung Po Tsai Cave. The dark cave, unlike what I initially anticipated, was very narrow and short, relatively difficult terrain. We discovered the unique geological features and the way of life in fishing culture.
Rock climbing: One of the most enjoyable activities overall and gave me a very memorable experience. Unlike other cliffs in my past experiences, this was very steep and smooth thus did not have any places where you can place your foot. It challenges our muscular strength and mental focus to climb up and abseil down. Many conquered their fears of acrophobia; but did make rock climbing significantly more intimidating. Many others are also afraid of abseiling down because you have to lean back and put all your weight on the harness. The fear of heights certainly decreased through this and a sense of accomplishment is left behind when you complete the climb.
Overall the S3 camp journey was an eye-opening experience which we acquired new skills while having fun.
