News & Articles
Stories From Camp Farmer Phil’s Farm
This week we focused on one of our E’s in REEF* – ‘Environment’. We participated in something a little different to what our REEFies are used to. We spent the afternoon with Farmer Phil on his farm in Freshwater Creek to learn how he lives using the environment. Phil drove us around his farm on […]
Stories From Camp Mullet Mayhem
This week on camp we welcomed children from a rural primary school just out of Bendigo. Along with the rural schools comes plenty of alternative hairstyles. The most popular this week being the infamous mullet. Mullets are well and truly back! Watching AFL, every team has at least four players with the mighty mullet. This […]
Stories From Camp It’s cold, but so much fun!
Cottage welcomed 21 students for a short, but busy 2-day camp. A quick tour and lunch, then it was time to tackle our afternoon activity. There were squeals of excitement as the children learned they’d be heading down to the beach for a swim and play. We popped on our wetsuits and ran down to […]
Stories From Camp Woo Hoo!
We welcomed 16 students and two staff from a small school on the east coast of Victoria. Students spoke of the love for their nearby coastal regions in East Gippsland, yet were mesmerised at the stunning coastline surrounding Cottage by the Sea. While grey clouds lurked above, the students braved the wintery conditions and enjoyed […]
Stories From Camp Stairway to triumph!
Arriving in Sydney with 22 Mentors, we were set to discover the sights and sounds of the city. First, there was stairs to climb out of the airport, stairs to climb out of the underground train line and stairs to the apartment buildings. It was all in preparation for the final adventure of a 3 […]
Stories From Camp Reef swim with a special find!
Each week the children gear up into wetsuits for a swim at our favourite beach, right out the back gate of Cottage. If we’re lucky we time the swim right on the low tide. When its low tide at our beach the small reef becomes exposed. The reef is a beautiful sight and we invite […]
Newsletters 2021 Winter Newsletter
Through most of the year, we take groups of children on fishing charters. The children rise early, before dawn and head down to Queenscliff Harbour in the Cottage bus. The generously donated hand knitted scarves, beanies and gloves areparticularly welcome in the cool mornings.
Stories From Camp Fun in any weather
After a warm and sunshine filled weekend, Monday morning held only a few hours of sunshine left before Winter was going to roll straight off the beach and into Cottage. So we made the most of it and had a large game of dye dodge ball before heading for a swim with some fun swell […]
Stories From Camp Overcoming fear
Attending school Principal Sue had given our camp team a briefing at the start of the camp on all of the children. In particular, she pointed out the youngest of the group “Deccy”. “Deccy struggles to focus on tasks and tends to break down in tears when he is out of his comfort zone”. Snorkelling […]
Stories From Camp First time in the sea
Newest camp team member Will had a beach-filled day on the middle day of this week’s camp. Will spent both the morning and afternoon with two different groups splashing around and swimming at our favourite beach. Will loves the ocean, he is always the first one in and last one out of the water and […]
Stories From Camp Revenge of the teachers!
Dye dodge ball – one of our Cottage favourite games. We fill up buckets full of water and coloured dye and then soak sponges to throw at each other. This week the teachers, who had accompanied the children on camp, was super keen and excited to play this game. We think they may have wanted […]
Stories From Camp Birthday Cheer!
Here at Cottage by the Sea we love celebrating birthdays on camp. We make the day as special as we can for the child who is away from home for their birthday. This week we had a young boy Prayas who celebrated his 10th birthday on the first day of camp. Marc whipped up one […]
Stories From Camp Riding High
This post was written by one of our Mentor participants. When we first arrived, we were all paired with a horse with a wide range of names. Each horse with their own personality that matched closely with that of their rider. We started our 4-hour horse ride to the campsite which involved many steep uphills […]
Stories From Camp Squid-ing Around
It was definitely worth the drive all the way from the Victorian High Country to be a part of the REEF Program for this young participant.
Stories From Camp Following the Great Ocean Road Trail
Winding roads, picturesque ocean views and iconic landmarks graced our Mentors as they explored the Great Ocean Road for a day journey. Maddie was overawed at the beautiful clear blue water and rocky cliff faces on the bus ride from Cottage to Aireys Inlet. The road took a turn inland along the river and amongst […]
Stories From Camp Developing young leaders
Camp Leaders Chook and Sean had set the REEFies a task of navigating their own way around the hiking trail, using the map and their leadership skills. With no technology, no phones, no watches and no access to the time, REEFies were in control of rest stops, lunch and water breaks. Sally was fast to […]
Stories From Camp A stinging good time!
The Weather was fantastic! The sun was booming and we were heading down to the Queenscliff Marina for the morning. We got our walking shoes and hats on, ate some fruit cups and were ready to go! As soon as we got off the cottage bus we saw the big 360Q tower and were amazed […]
Stories From Camp Boogey Boarders Dream
Sunny, 28 degrees and not a single breathe of wind. What a perfect day at the beach boogey boarding. We had both groups scheduled in for a boogey board session. The morning group lucked out on the best part of the day with nice clean waves rolling through all morning. It was hard to keep […]
