A WELcome Week of Fun

Our Stories

Monday morning blues don’t exist at Cottage by the Sea, in fact every day feels like the weekend with the staff, the activities and not to mention the glorious food that we get to munch down for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert all the time! But what really makes our days so worthwhile is the awe of amazement that’s placed upon the children’s faces when they enter through our gates at the start of their first day on camp.

This week did not disappoint those expectations as eight girls and two boys stared out of the windows of our quirky buses, scanning their eyes over our big and colourful playground, our old and historic building and staring at the beautiful and scenic ocean on the horizon. It was like all their dreams had come true at once!

Once they had shuffled off the bus and collected their belongings it was time for these kids to settle in to our cosy Riptide Cottage with some welcoming knitted goodies on their beds and some delicious burgers awaiting them on the tables.

The ten children and their two lovely teachers (who are both known as Miss Jenny) joined us from the Western English Language School in St Albans. All of the kids had only been living in Australia for the recent past few months. They came from places all over the world including Syria, Iran, Vietnam, China, Samoa and even Romania and we were lucky enough to spend four days with them hearing all their stories and learning about their many different cultures.

Most of the week we enjoyed relaxing on the beach in the warm sunshine and kicking around the waves on some boogey boards! We also ventured out to Popes Eye and Chinaman’s Hat on board the Cottage boat and tried our luck jigging for some squid in the bay! Although we didn’t get any bites on our lines, we were not disappointed in the slightest as we were having way too much fun!

This camp was all about trying new things for these kids and helping them adapt to the different lifestyle changes that they may face whilst living in a new and foreign country. It was safe to say that at the end of the week they had all achieved this goal and they all voted that their favourite meals were in fact Marco’s traditional Pizza and Mel’s home-made chocolate sprinkle ice-cream cones! Simple yet satisfying foods that many of them have never tried before or heard about.

We would like to give a shout-out to these ten incredible children for sharing their beliefs and values with us and showing us that there is all different kinds of ways to have fun! 

We would also like to wish Miss Jenny all the best for her retirement! Cottage won’t be the same without you coming down to join in on all the camp action and fun! Thanks for all your wonderful support and kindness over these many years of sharing a partnership with you and the WELS schools.