Sadly, I didn't bring my camera with me so it'll just be a long detailed report-style recount :) Perhaps I'll add photos after scouting them from the group members' fb photos.
We've planned it around September last year and though things were sketchy back then, it materialised into a fine trip. The location was Rye, the people amounted to 14 of us and we had a very homey house to stay in.
Day 1 (Sunday) - Gathering at the designated houses, we left in groups with some of our courteous parents who were willing to drive us to Rye. Upon arriving, we chilled, checked out the place, checked out the shops nearby, ate Subway for lunch, shopped for groceries and had BBQ for dinner. Also, Judith introduced us to this very amusing and fun game called Bang!. Whilst some of us were drinking, me and a few others watched the movie Limitless to pass the time :)
Day 2 (Monday) - For some reason, PEOPLE WOKE UP AROUND FREAKIN 5-6AM D: and everyone kinda woke up due to the noise level in the living room. It was a good thing I suppose, since we got and early start. Went for a morning walk and Jess's iTouch became roadkill. The earphones died but we were surprised it survived with just a cracked screen. It was still functional :P Went to the beach which was literally 3 minutes away from the house and had fun :) since it was really hot and sunny, I bought a beach tent and we set that up :) the beach at Rye had shallow waters and the sand was really nice and fine, but the water was freezinggggg D: played board games like Taboo and Pictionary and some console games like Mario Kart and Brawl on Wii. Had Viet rice paper rolls that night for dinner, and it was absolutely fabulous :) kudos to Joey and her team :) Oh and we boiled the pipis that we caught earlier at the beach... which we later discovered on Thursday that it was illegal :/ ANYWAY, later that night we went to the beach and played with sparklers, where caf and co. presented us with a lovely sparkling show :) all I remember during that moment was the tall tower of light and Caf chanting "hum liki liki" in the background :P it never fails to put a smile on my face whenever I think of that. Back at the house, it was around this time when I noticed that Judith started making a little diary entry for the whole group :)
Day 3 (Tuesday) - We went to Sorrento and checked out the shops. There was a really cool antique shop that kept us amused for like 30 mins. Went to the beach and waded around the waters for a bit. It had the water temperature was perfect BUT the there were heaps of shells everywhere, the sand was courser and there were more seaweeds :/ Had several group shots there and we hung around the pier :) so Jess was educating me about how the vanilla slice originated from Sorrento and that we should drop by for a visit, but we were too late and the cafe was closed :( oh well, we decided to drop by the next time we were there anyway :) Back at the house, we had Japanese curry and miso soup for dinner. Kudos to Wilson and co. for cooking that ^^ went stargazing at the beach after dinner and people were singing and chatting loudly LOL. As an escape, I took a walk with Eddy along the beach and was amused with his camera :3
Day 4 (Wednesday) - As we feared that we'd end up doing nothing, since Monday, we planned to go to Portsea on the sunniest day :) and we did. We woke up earlier than usual to catch a bus there, and the place was lovely with nice sand but slightly deeper waters. IT WAS COLD as well D: by that day we kinda gave up on finding the perfect beach :P but oh well. It was good :) a few of us bought a bucket, made an awesome turtle with sand, and named it Battle Jo :P it was epic. Then Jess, Wilson and Caf buried me and made me look like some hindu god with 6 arms.. rofl. Had fish and chips for lunch and that wasn't enough lol. Some of us headed back to the house whilst the rest of us went to Sorrento for a second time :) whilst the others headed down to the beach, Jess took me to the vanilla slice place and it was pretty good :) we ordered one slice but we got another on the house :D I couldn't finish it though so we took it away with the full intention of sharing it with the others, but as we got the fish and chips for them as well, we kinda left it at the counter of the fish and chips store ==" oh well, at least we did a good deed by giving free food to the fish and chips shop :P we later joined the rest at the beach and swam around for a bit. Went back to the house and Joey's team prepared us some roast :) whilst the others played drinking games and stuff, I accompanied those of us who abstained.
Day 5 (Thursday) - It was a relatively chill day where some of us stayed at the house whilst the others went to Frankston to roam and play pool and stuff. For those of us who stayed back, we chilled at home watching shows and console gaming. Went to the beach with Jess, Judith, Heiman and Chooi-ee in the arvo and that's when some dude came up to us and lectured us about how collecting pipis were illegal ._. we returned to the house to prepare dinner - Mexican food :) we had nachos, burritos and potato salad :P it was a slight overkill and we made a little too much :3 The rest of us watched The Sound of Music and to our delight we had a wonderful male vocalist in our midst ;) you know who you are!! :P
Day 6 (Friday) - We went to Frankston to see this sand sculpture exhibit. It was pretty darn cool since the art was really fine and detailed. Travelling there by bus took us over an hour so it was pretty late when we got back. Wilson's group prepared pasta for us that night and we watched this epic tv series called Sherlock :) after that, some of us continue watching movies, having dnm sessions on the trampoline outside, whilst me, Jess, Joey and Heiman went stargazing at the beach. We kinda gave Joey and Heiman their space for obvious reasons haha and they also wanted to stay till sunrise :P so me and Jess ended up spotting shootings stars and we managed to see about 5-6 stars :) I never once believed that I'd ever come across one, yet alone 5-6 but heck it was amazing :) some dim ones lasted for half a second whilst a couple of them were really bright and lasted over a second.
Day 7 (Saturday) - It was the last full day we had and we decided to spend it at Rye :) some of us went to the $2 shop to get stuff whilst the rest of us went to the beach first. We spent time collecting seashells, playing around, skipping rocks, looking for warm spots in the sea and etc. Oh, I think Eddy and co. found a starfish which was cool but they returned it to the sea after :/ it was my group's turn to prepare dinner again so we made sushi :D it was a massive sushi tower and it was yum :) we also finished the remaining miso paste by making miso soup for supper. Some of us watched the 2 Broke Girls whilst me, Wyn, Sannie, Jess, Eddie and Damo went stargazing after we inspired them about how we saw shooting stars the day before :P sadly, it was cloudy and overcast so we didn't see any shooting stars. Damo and Ed went for a walk to the pier whilst the rest of us stayed behind waiting for the skies to clear up. The skies did slowly clear up and we managed to see some stars nevertheless :) upon going back, I hit the sack earlier than the rest only to be woken up by others (namely Selina and Ed) who crashed the room showing their creepy eyeliner make up, which was pretty cool upon closer inspection.
Day 8 (Sunday) - We woke up early to pack, clean and tidy the place up. Felt sad as we packed and left the place. As some of our parents were going to come pick us up a few of us stayed behind with some luggage, whilst the rest took public transport home i.e. me, Damo, Sannie, Joey, Hei, Ho, Jess, Chooi-ee and Selina. Jammed on the guitars on the way back in the train and my lovely friends were so generous when we busked :P managed to get just about 55 cents for a soft serve ice cream ^^ but the money was returned haha.
Well, apart from the mass text above, I must say the past 8 days have been amazing. I enjoyed every moment spent with everyone. Be it happy, sad, crazy or sentimental, I will thoroughly miss it. The schoolies trip was fun and also a rather educational one, where we got to learn more about each other through living together. It was amazing to watch how we could function as a large family for so many days, cleaning and cooking, organising activities to do to keep us busy and having daily family dinners every night. It was the most homey and warm experience I've ever felt :) you guys have made this whole trip a wonderful experience. For what seems like just an ordinary trip, to me it was the most apt closure to the high school life we all enjoyed over the years. Funny how we thought VCE was a big step but what lies ahead of us is bigger. Our uni life will be the next step that we will take and starting afresh, each of us will eventually go our own way. Though this happens, I hope and wish with all my heart - though it may seem silly of me to say this - that we will remain as close as ever as a family no matter how much time may pass. You guys are invaluable to me and the moments that we have shared and enjoyed together I shall forever remember. I love you all and I will deeply miss all of you and the fun and carefree moments that we used to have. Do keep in touch and I wish you all the best and God bless you all in the many years ahead of us :)
