On Wednesday the 24th of November, at 6:30 am, all the DP1 students found themselves at school on a bus ready to start an adventure at Kitulgala. Throughout the 2-3 hour bus ride, we ate, slept, and played games, ready and excited to start the day off with some white water rafting. When we arrived, we straight away got off the bus and put on our life jackets and helmets. We all made our way down to the river with mixed emotions of anxiety and thrill. In order to refuel ourselves after a long trip, borderlands were kind enough to provide us with some tea and snacks. With even more energy, we were all equipped to jump right into the river. Before we could do that, one of the instructors, Wade, gave us some tips and lessons to mentally prepare us for the tsunami we were about to face. One thing he said that really stuck with me was the saying that, “The river doesn’t care who you are”. I instantly made a connection between that saying and life. When it really comes down to something, your status and/or power won’t save you, only you can save yourself. After being inspired, we were each assigned onto our boats and hopped on to go to the other side of the river. For the last and final step, we had to go through some important information about the raft and what we had to do in certain situations. Before facing the river in a raft, we had to encounter it, and it’s temperature by ourselves. As we slowly went down in the water, the coldness was creeping further and further up my spine. Too cold, I could barely hear everyone else screaming, being broken down into pieces by the frost. Next thing we know, we are all in our rafts, rafting towards a mountain of water.

(Photo by Wade)

After a great and action-packed experience, we had barely even started the day. We all walked and made our way to the canyon to jump off rocks as tall as buildings. We first took a break in the canyon to eat some delicious food and recuperate our energy. Not only that, but we all shared laughs while we were enjoying the company of each other. Set and electrified, we started our journey down the canyon. There were times when we had to slide down the canyon to go from point A to B. Feeling a gush of water slapping your face as you were sliding down the steep canyon. Being pocked in the back and bottom as you were going down the slide of death at 100 km per hour. That was just the easy part. The bit that gave me a few butterflies in my tummy was jumping off a cliff that was about 5 to 6 meters high. Even though it made me anxious, it pumped my body with adrenaline, which is why I loved every second of it. Jumping off and looking down only to see the water which seemed a thousand light-years away from you. Luckily, we all made it to the end successfully with a feeling of accomplishment.

(Photo by Wade)

Once we were done with canyoning, to finish off our day nice and relaxed, we went back into the river and floated back to camp without trying to go into hyperthermia. Borderlands were amazing and gave us some nice warm and delicious soup to warm ourselves the moment we got out of the river. Mr.Duncan that assigned each of us to our rooms and we took the rest of the night to shower and relax. Around 6 to 7 pm, the whole grade including the teachers were in the longhouse nice and comfortable on bean bags. We all socialized and recapped the crazy and amazing day that we had. Dinner we served, which was the best way to end the night. However, there was just one small event that put the cherry on top. Before going to bed, we all huddled around the campfire and reflected on our day as we felt the heat warming us. This was the insane and exhilarating DP orientation that we had.

(Photos by Mrs. Harrison)