Off to camp

Going from having two kids to around 70 is quite a leap. That’s what’s on the cards for me for the coming days.

Later today I’ll become dad to a camp full of primary school aged children. Over the next few days I’ll be spending a fair bit of time just south of Perth at the Serpentine Camping Centre. I’m still working this week so I’m commuting to camp each day.

I was very involved with the camps at Serpentine many years back but it had been around 20 years since I’d been to one before we decided to go to last year’s camp. We must have enjoyed the experience because we’re heading back for more.

I’ve done everything at the camps in the past from being a dorm leader to cook to director to pot washer and lots more. I guess it’s all come full circle now as I take on the role of camp dad.

I’m sure I’m going to be very tired before it’s all over but it’s so good to be able to build into the lives of young people and have a great time while doing it.



Do you think some of your friends would enjoy reading Off to camp? Please use the buttons below to share the post. Thanks.

Home again

Serpentine Camping CentreIt’s good to be back home after a week with a very big family.

Pauline and I were ‘camp mum and dad’ at a youth camp at Serpentine over the last week; which means that including Emily and James, we had around 70 children for the week. We got to camp on Monday evening. The campers arrived the next morning and we all headed home on Saturday.

Going from having two kids to 70 is quite a leap. Thankfully there was a fantastic group of leaders that took most of the responsibility for looking after the campers.

It was almost like a home coming for me. I was very involved with the camps at Serpentine many years back but it had been around 20 years since I’d been to one before last week.

I’ve done everything in the past from being a dorm leader to cook to director to pot washer and lots more. It was good to be there in a very different capacity to what I’d been in the past and I certainly wouldn’t rule out getting involved again.

It’s so good to be able to build into the lives of young people and have a great time while doing it.



Do you think some of your friends would enjoy reading Home again? Please use the buttons below to share the post. Thanks.

Be Back Soon

In my younger years I spent large chunks of my summer and various other parts of the year at Baptist Youth Camps in Serpentine, just south of Perth.

Starting as a camper, I then went on to become everything from dorm leader to cook to director to cook to pot washer and all sorts of things in between. I’ve got a lot of great memories from those early days but I haven’t been to one of those camps for around twenty years.

A couple of decades later and I’m off to camp today.

This will be the first time at camp for Emily and James. They’re both really looking forward to the coming week.

Pauline and I will take on one of the only duties I never quite managed in my earlier, single days. We’ll be ‘Camp Parents’ for a week. Our task will be to provide support for both the campers and the wonderful bunch of leaders.

I’m unlikely to have any access to the internet until we return on Saturday. Thanks to WordPress I’ve been able to publish a few posts that will appear over the next few days but I won’t be able to approve new comments, so you may find that your comments sit in the moderation queue a little longer than normal. Please don’t let that stop you from commenting.

I’ll catch you in a few days.



Do you think some of your friends would enjoy reading Be Back Soon? Please use the buttons below to share the post. Thanks.