Jungle Island Excursion
by Gabriel, 8, NSW
We got on the school bus at 6:00am to go to the ferry which was waiting for us to sail to Jungle Island. On the bus I could see lush green grass and golden kangaroos.
After the first hour on the school bus the teacher gave us one pack of cookies each. I munched on the cookies while I looked at the scenery.
After three hours we stopped and walked aboard the ferry. The ferry had three floors. The second floor was where the driver sat and snacks were kept. Mr. James our teacher pointed out that on the horizon you could just see the island. I spotted two leather-back sea turtles, five green sea turtles and one school of dolphins.
After two hours, we set foot on ground again. We unloaded our bags from the ferry.
Jack (my partner) and I set up our tent. After everyone had finished setting their tent, all of us went trekking in the jungle. We each had to pick up a fruit that looked interesting, then study it. We saw many birds, monkeys, water-dragons and salt-water crocodiles. After an hour trekking in the jungle it was lunch, so we went back. We had a tropical and seafood smorgasbord. There were mangoes, pineapples, squid, octopus, prawns, kiwi, bananas, salmon and hundreds of other types of food.
Next, was the break so I waded in the water. The water was cool. I also saw some hermit crabs.
After that we went snorkelling, where there were many different colours of coral. I also saw angel fish and one baby humpback whale very far away. Jack and I swam with some dolphins that were friendly, then we pretended to be some other animals like octopus and crabs. After an hour we came out of the water.
Next, we went kayaking. Jack and I were on a kayak together, where I was at the back. We were told not to go close to the coral because coral takes hundreds of years to grow. The water was so clear that I could see the sea bed! There were fish all shapes, sizes and colours. Many small fish swam in the shade of all our kayaks.
We kayaked under four caves. There were many huge rocks in the middle of the river. It would already take a lot of effort to go against the current but even more to turn the kayak. We kayaked for two hours which really made me tired.
Later, we had dinner, which was a barbecue. There was grilled fish and grilled squid. After dinner, I snuggled up in my sleeping bag and fell asleep. I was one of the last to wake up. Jack wasn’t in the tent so I asked Bill.
Bill said Jack had already gone to get breakfast so I met Jack there, where we had scrambled eggs and bacon. It was scrumptious.
Later, we went fishing. Jack caught a huge fish and it was one metre long! I caught a small fish and I used it as bait then caught a huge fish. It was a tiny bit smaller than Jack’s fish. After that, instead of using fish, I used earthworms. I caught a fish much bigger than Jack’s. The teacher helped us cook my second fish. Jack and I tried it and it was delicious.
Then, all of us had one hour of swimming to practice. I brought a diving camera and took pictures of fish and coral. I took zoomed in pictures of a sperm whale far away. Most pictures were zoomed in on little fish.
When we got out of the water, it was break time. I quickly used iMovie and made a video of the fish and coral. Then I drew some pictures of fish.
We could have two hours doing anything we wanted but we had to keep close. I wrote a report about Jungle Island and also went diving with Jack.
This is the best camp I have ever been to! I liked kayaking the best! I wish you were here!
Gabriel is a regular contributer to Alphabet Soup. You can read some of his earlier work here. If YOU would like to send us a story, drawing, poem, or book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy writing!
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