So my staff training for camp starts tomorrow but I have had a little time off and done some interesting things while I have been waiting so I thought I would give you guys a little update on whats been happening. First of all, I had to head back to the airport to get picked up for camp. It’s always such an awkward moment as you are waiting not knowing who is picking you up and then not really knowing what to talk about. I remember sitting in the airport seeing 2 people walking in and from there matching outfits thinking they were picking us up but you never know maybe they just decided to dress the same that day. After a little debate I headed over to ask ‘Are you guys from Camp?’ and with a yes answer that was the start of the camp adventure. After getting everyone together we headed for the 2-hour drive to camp which was quite a quiet drive as people were wrecked after travelling.  When we arrived at camp it is always exciting seeing it for the first time, this place you are going to be working at for the next 3 months. It’s usually on the driveway that the excitement really starts to build and the driveway here is over 2km so long so it was certainly suspenseful. We arrived found our rooms and got settled in, I got a bottom bunk which was great. There were only a few of us there as we were doing Wilderness and Remote First Aid training, but on first meeting, they were all awesome.

Our first couple of days were spent learning about how to survive in the wilderness in a first aid situation.  The course was actually really fun as it was very practical and hands on. I was worried as me and anything medical are not really friends and I was preparing for the worst but it was all good. It was a very practical course with lots of scenarios about how to deal with certain situations. We even had a night time scenarios which had some of the guys as the victims which was interesting as it made it very much like a real-life situation. It was also a great way for us to get to know each other as we had to be up close and personal in many scenarios and work together so in a way it was also a little like team building. So now if I get in trouble in the Wilderness I know how to handle myself.

Once this was done I was pretty much free until our annual training started, lots of people headed back home for the time but that would be a little hard for me (Canada to Ireland and back again ain’t an easy trip) so I just stayed at camp. A few of the other guys were staying too and the leads started their training so they were also there. My days were spent chilling watching Netflix, playing Wordscapes (a word game that all the counselors will probably be playing by the end of training) and eating. On some days there were a few more of us off or someone had a car that we did some other activities. We headed into Halifax for the day, went for a bike ride, went to visit a sheep farm and then a lavender farm. We headed in Tatamagouche (the village beside camp) for lunch and snacks, we watched more Netflix movies marathons. Finally our last trip was heading to Peggy’s Cove to see the ligthouse and then into Halifax again to savour our last day off before training started. The sunsets have also been pretty amazing so far and if this continues the whole summer my instagram will just be full of sunsets.

It was has been a great 2 weeks just chilling at camp and also getting to know all the guys who have been here so far and we have become really close. I’m looking foward to training starting tomorrow and getting to know all the new people who I will be working with. That’s the update for now , I’ll try to update you soon but I can’t make any promises, you know camp life you are always on the go.

Emma

xx