Wake up and village gathering
Villagers are awoken with song each morning, just after 7am. Following breakfast at your camp, we’ll gather together at the Village Green at 8.30am.
Morning circle and games will be held at the Village Green. Villagers gather in their mixed age clans- groups of families, adults and crew, where we meet new folks, check in with each other, play games, do activities together and generally look out for one another.
Clans
This is your extended family for the week. There may be people that you know and some that you don’t in your clans, we try for a mix of ages in the clans. We ask us all to take up the opportunity of practising village and community repair here. Practice asking for help, welcoming new folk, supporting families with younger kids, elders, folks who need any extra support (all of us). We encourage you to check in and catch each other’s stories, ask for an extra blanket, etc…
Morning program
At around 9am, the village breaks into age groups – the kids and teens head off into the bush with mentors to explore, while the adults and Roo and Joeys start closer to camp.
Kids’ Program
Kids will head off with their own backpack packed with a drink bottle, wet weather clothing and snacks for a morning of wild adventures with their incredible mentors. After some games and snacks together, the kids are usually divided up into smaller, similarly-aged groups with 2-3 mentors. The kids program is as diverse as the kids and mentors themselves, and we can’t wait to see what they get up to this camp.
Mentors all have Working with Children Checks, and bring along their love of nature, diverse skills, passion for village culture and supporting young folks. You will get to meet them on Tuesday after you arrive and in the evening after dinner.
Roo & Joey Program
Depending on need, the Roo & Joey program is offered for parents and their younger children. The program is flexible to meet the needs of kids under four and their parents, offering a range of activities and processes to explore ways that parent and child can connect deeper with each other, themselves, earth and community.
Sometimes the Roo & Joey group will be close to home base and other times they will journey out into the wilds. We are sensitive to the fact that the practicalities of camping with a toddler or younger child likely mean that parents can’t participate fully in the adult program, as parents with older kids can. Sometimes the Village is able to support an integrated group. We support and honour these parents who come to camp and value their part to play in the village.
Teen Program
We respect and value our village teens, and endeavour to provide a teen program that celebrates our soon to be emerging adults. The teens are invited to co-create their program and bring along any passions that they would like to extend. This camp, we will be inviting the teens to participate in a two night hike adventure. The hike will be supported by experienced mentors, and will require some additional preparation in terms of gear. Further information will be shared via email.
Adult Program
The program is not all about the kids though. We offer an adults program each morning too. This may involve heading out of camp on wanders and explorations, staying closer to camp practising skills and crafts and getting close to the earth with deep nature connection practices.
The final morning of the program, will be open space for the adults – an opportunity to offer or enjoy pop-up workshops offering various skills and experiences. We invite you to bring any skills or activities that you wish to share for this open space.
Afternoons
At 12:30 kids return to the Village green with their mentors and are handed over to the care of their adults. We ask parents or carers to be there at this time so that a smooth handover to their adults and fresh story catching can happen. Families head back to their camps for lunch.
The afternoons are for unwinding, with unstructured time to connect with new friends, enjoy the beautiful forest or rest and replenish in the nurturing wellbeing space. Follow where your body is guiding you and let your afternoon unfold!
Some days throughout the week, generally in the early afternoon, your clan group will help with the smooth running of our village by doing village service together for an hour. A village service roster will be posted in the shared space and we will remind you of your clan’s responsibilities each morning. These clan jobs are divided into the elements Earth (chopping for dinner), Air (tidying and prettying camp), Fire (fire stick collection for the evening fires), Water (cleaning pots and pans), and Heart (fillings gaps as needed, tending to members of camp who need support).
Dinner and evening program
Pots will be bubbling away all afternoon and dinner will be served at 5:30. We generally eat our evening meal together under the Willum or on the Village green. Evenings are a special time for gathering around the fire to share our meal, songs and stories. We have many fine storytellers and musicians among us to make the evenings a lively and imaginative affair!
Some evenings, a night walk or extra challenge will be offered for older kids, teens and adults to join if they wish. Other evenings may evolve with a song circle, chatting around the fire or early to bed.
All of our program offerings and activities are optional. We welcome your participation and engagement, and we honour the wisdom of each villager to know what is right for them.
A few village offerings…
We will have an art space available where you can go to let your creativity to flow – spend some time there drawing, painting, crafting or maybe making a little bit of music!
You can expect music and songs to fill the air at various times, so please bring your instruments and singing voices to share some melodies and beats throughout the week.
Every camp, we have a wellbeing space, a kind of chillout space with cushions and blankets where you can get a cuppa (byo cup) and hang out. It is a soft space that can welcome you if you’re not feeling like participating in other ways or just want somewhere to relax by yourself or with company. Our wonderful volunteers will be supporting this space throughout the week.