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"we're almost there..." An hour later... "are we there yet?" "we're almost there..." The first event that woke me up was St. Margaret's School (SMS) annual trip to Strathcona Provincial Park located in the middle of Vancouver Island. The trip usually lasts for 1 week. We stayed in the Strathcona Park Lodge where various activities were arranged for us. about 2 weeks before the departure date, we had to choose our desired group: hiking, rock climbing, sailing, whitewater kayaking, whitewater canoeing, sea kayaking, lake canoeing, mountain biking, etc. I never knew that I loved nature until my first trip to Strathcona. Some girls thoght that the place was dirty because of the bugs and dirt... but like my ESL English Teacher Mrs. Beck said, "dirt and bugs are natural stuff. It's not dirty." Anyway, I found myself falling in love with the place. The first year I signed up for 'general hiking' group in which our leader, instructor from SPL (Strathcona Park Lodge), let us try some basic rope course, kayaking, canoeing, and rock climbing. The highlight of the trip was the overnight hiking-camping trip. It took us 6 hours to hike up to a mountain called "Crest Mountain" where a beautiful lake was located. We spent the night on the top of that mountain and hiked down the next day. Our conversation during the hike was like, "are we there yet?" "almost..." An hour later... "are we there yet?" "we're almost there..." The second year I was determined to try something "challenging." I signed up for "whitewater canoeing," which was among the highest level of the groups provided for us. It was so much fun. We spent the first day practicing maneuvering. The next day, the 12 of us went for a 3-day-2-night camping trip with 6 canoes and 12 others who were in the "whitewater kayaking" group. I totally loved it! though my boat flipped once... |