The DP orientation is a trip Taken by the DP 1’s every year as a welcome to DP and to help create connections between individuals. My experience was memorable to say the least and I have the scars to prove it. We started our journey on a Wednesday morning at school where we got in our busses and headed off to Kithulgala.
We stopped off by the side of the river where we had tea and some cake before a briefing about the river. We then proceeded to go and start with canyoning, which I had already done before in grade 9. I personally didn’t have the best shoes for canyoning and the wet slippery surfaces of the rock, which caused many problems. We were climbing up a rock to do a mini jump when I fell and slid down the rock on my knees and elbows. Later on, when we were doing a bigger jump I walked up to the edge, ready to jump but before I could my legs slipped from beneath me and I landed on my bum, with my legs dangling of the rock face. Luckily Jack and a Borderlands guide was at the edge to help so they helped me back up. The next part after lunch was rafting and we had to hike to the location of the rafts. That was when I had my very first leech encounter, when I found out one was stuck to me. At first I didn’t really panic but soon after I tried getting it off and it would not come off I started to worry a bit. Luckily there were people nearby who knew how to get a leech of and came to my rescue. Then after we made it to our rafting point, where we then rafted down the river through multiple rapids. I was also with the same guide I Had in 9th Grade and had a fun experience as he remembered me and had a nickname for me. The next day was the main event the abseil down the waterfall. We first hiked to some caves under a waterfall where we did a Tok activity and then we headed off to the waterfall. When we reached the water fall we split into 2 and I went to have lunch first after lunch the two groups switched and it was my turn to abseil. I was nervous and even contemplated not doing it but decided to pull through with it as it wasn’t something, I would get to do every day and the hike had been hard, so I didn’t want it to be for nothing. I started and they told me I had to lean back so I leaned too back and fell on my back at the edge of the waterfall. The guide helped me back up and I started my descent, halfway through I slipped and fell and swung around to my back. I was struggling to push myself back up and my foot kept slipping, bashing my knee against the waterfall continuously. I managed to do it and finished the waterfall and got back home with knees, so numb I could not feel any pain. The last day was the most chill day as we didn’t do much other than pack to leave and go out and ask some questions to the locals about current situation about the damn being built there and how it was going to affect them. We then ended our trip and came back to OSC.