CYM & Plast Geelong Grampians Weekend
Following on from very successful weekends over the last two years, thanks to the generous sponsorship of Dnister, a weekend of camping and activities was organised by CYM for Starshe Junatstvo of CYM and Plast in Geelong. At 8am on a very grey and cloudy Saturday morning 23rd September, three cars loaded with 13 junaky and junachky headed off to the Grampians. Around midday everyone was out stretching their legs at the Grampians visitors centre, looking around the scale model of the mountain range and trying to pin-point where the rock-climbing and abseiling organised for Sunday was going to be held - the cliffs looked big even in scale.

By the time we reached our campsite, the light drizzle we had encountered in the Grampians had subsided and everyone's priority was finding a flat piece of ground in a very busy campsite by Mt Stapylton. Mid-afternoon saw everyone enjoying an early BBQ dinner, followed by a walk down one of the bush tracks to the where the cliffs started. Some clambering up, down and around a few rocky outcrops filled in the hours to dark. After a snack and a few songs around the camp-fire everyone headed off to bed for an early night, knowing it was a 6.30am start the next day. During the night a heavy rain set in, not easing up until dawn. Looking ominously at the sky, everyone ate breakfast and then quickly packed as a few raindrops dripped down.

By 9am, we were at the designated meeting point at Hollow Mountain, where we were met by two adventure guides. With a few laughs everyone put on their harnesses, safety hats, listened to some basic instructions and headed off to the cliffs at Summerday Valley. A third of the group headed off to the aptly named Wall of Fools for the abseiling, whilst the rest started their instruction to tackle a near vertical wall for the rock-climbing. However mother nature had other plans. Within 20min and only 1 abseil completed wild winds and near horizontal rain and hail raced through. The rock-climbing group huddled under a tarp, whilst the abseilers tried to squash into a very small overhang to try and keep dry (unsuccessfully). After half an hour the sun poked out and it looked like all systems go with another 5 junatstvo having an abseil, but not for long. Soon another front of wind squalls and rain had everyone scrambling for cover. At this point, looking at a very dark horizon, it was decided to 'call it a day'.

There were some long faces from those who did not get a chance to climb or abseil, which soon lightened up, as discussion centred on when we would try again. Although the planned weekend program did not fully complete, the feedback from attendees confirmed another successful community building event for Ukrainian youth in Geelong.