KIBC family camp

Last weekend we attended Church Family Camp with others from Kowloon International Baptist Church.

We boarded the bus at 8:30 on Saturday morning.

The camp was in an area called Yuen Long.

First there were a few games for everyone to participate in.

Then we were free to explore the campsite and do our own thing for the rest of the morning. Keegan and Craig chose to play soccer on a court that brought back memories of Petit Porteau in Africa.

Jemilla took the opportunity to jump on a trampoline, her first since house-sitting for the Eyres in July.

Tirzah was happy just jumping on the mats.

We then found a few playgrounds, including this long, bendy balance beam...

swings...

rope course...

and sand!

Then it was lunch time. This is the barbecue area where we were told to meet for lunch, given a bag of charcoal and matches, handed another bag of semi-defrosted meats, and left to fend for ourselves.

The sad fact is that neither Craig nor I would last very long on Survivor because we spent a great deal of time arguing over how to get the fire started and only managed to produce a few wisps of smoke.

First, this man tried to offer some suggestions.

Then, a bbq-savvy toddler also got in on the action.

But it wasn't until this couple took over that we finally saw some flames...ninety minutes and several grumpy Harveys later. What would I have given for an Aussie electric barbecue!

Anyway, we stood/sat over the sweltering charcoal fire holding our prongs of sausages, chicken wings and several unidentifiable meats over the flames. It's only by God's grace that we didn't get sick because we ate much of the food before it had been cooked through simply because we were so hungry at that point.

We avoided the sun for the rest of the afternoon by doing indoor activities. I was so proud of Jemilla who climbed this rock wall three times.

Keegan and I giggled our way through a game of badminton.

And Tirzah was very content to play on the equipment in the air conditioned playroom.

At the end of the day I felt disappointed that we did not really get to know any other church families. It seemed that everyone we encountered spoke only Chinese, and we were noticeably the only whites around. I was also keen to wash the barbecue smell out of my clothes and hair! The children, however, saw only the fun in it all...happy to have had an excursion as a family and explored somewhere new.

Tirzah did ask why it was called "camp" if we didn't get to sleep overnight in a tent like Peppa Pig's camping adventure. Maybe next time...