Fantastic Fun in Gopeng!

Fantastic Fun in Gopeng! Caving, rafting, and zip lining were just some of the most amazing challenges that the Year 6’s overcame last week on their visit to the Malaysian jungle. But nothing could have prepared them for the most challenging feat of them all…. no AC!!

Last week, Year 6 went on a wonderful trip of a lifetime to Gopeng, Malaysia. We arrived early in the morning at school and left for the airport. Everyone was so excited to go to Gopeng, that we even forgot about missing our parents!! 

When we arrived at the airport, we checked in, went through security and finally got on to the plane and were off to Kuala Lumpur. The plane ride was great because we had TV’s in our seats. There were lots of movies, TV shows, games and songs…. but we all knew – this would be the last time that we would see TV for a whole week!!!

After arriving in KL, we then had a 3-hour trip on the bus to GOPENG! When we got there, we went on a ‘limousine’ and had a wonderful dinner with Milo and cookies for dessert. Yum!  The first night in our new home was super sweaty, we slept peacefully and woke up for a day of adventure.

On Tuesday morning, we had breakfast at about 7:30 and left to go to Gua Tempurung – an ENORMOUS cave. We had to walk so far before we could go down and crawl through the river (in the dark!) Completely soaked, we got out and went back to camp. Because everyone had gotten so wet, we ALL had to shower. On Tuesday afternoon, we went trekking around camp and had a wonderful time.

The next morning was Wednesday, and we had to separate into two groups: one group went rafting and the other went to Mountain School. We had lots of fun at Mountain School. Everyone was trained before doing the ‘extreme stuff’!  We had to do a course on low-ground then had to race on ‘moving wood’. We went through the silent cave full of mud and bats, YUCK! -  After lunch, we had rock climbing (which was harder for some people than others), then we split into three small groups. One group did the giant swing and the others either did the Zip Line or the Leap of Faith – which was TERRIFYING!!  After such a long day, everyone was ready for an early night. Unfortunately, this was the night where there was a HORRIFIC storm. There was a huge clap of thunder and all of the electric went off. Everyone screamed! It was ok though: after a bit of screaming (mostly from the boys) and chatting, because we were so tired, most people fell asleep and forgot about the thunder and lightning.

On Thursday the activities were switched and our group did the rafting. We loved it when we got to float down the river, it was very relaxing getting to hear the currant crashing against each other. The funniest part of group 1’s rafting day was definitely when Johnny tried to rescue the giant rock instead of his teammate, Bonny – who went floating downstream!

On Friday it was time to come home. We felt excited that we could go on to our computers and play some games as soon as we get home. When we arrived at the airport, we had some food. (We were definitely in the best group because Ms. Kirstine took us to Burger King!) Everyone had a FANTASTIC time. When we finally got back to Saigon, everyone rushed towards their parents. David was sobbing in tears because he finally got to see his parents again! As soon as we got home, I’m sure everybody was absolutely ready for a SHOWER!

Benz Pham and Nina Bui, Year 6 Students