Summer Camp Job

Adventure Centres are cool. You can do exciting things like canoeing, climbing, or rafting and often get soaking wet. I once saw this in the holiday section of the boatshow and thought it would be cool to go there for a week or so.

One summer a while back, my friends saw a job advert from an outdoor adventure centre in the coastal mountains. We phoned them to find out what it was all about and when the interviews were.

They asked us to come up the next Saturday. If we were fit for the job we could start right away. We were told to bring several changes of clothes and sportswear that can get wet and muddy. This sounded like it could be a lot of fun.

We each packed a big bag full of comfy sportswear and casual clothes, just in case there was some extra time to play around. Saturday morning we headed for the mountains and arrived at noon.

Guided Tour

Leslie, a blond Australian in a blue tracksuit, was our interviewer. She showed us their amazing adventure pool, with canoes and dinghies for safety training, and big canisters for raft building. It had a wider poolside area than most pools so they could use it also for land based activities.

A net of robust ropes could be moved across the middle of the pool to practice open water crossings. Different kinds of rope bridges could be build across the pool and fixed to special anchors on both sides.

A climbing wall was leaning over deep end of the pool to practice free climbing in a safe manner. If you lose your grip, you just fall into the pool. I was looking forward to try that.

At the shallow end were chairs and tables, plus a few deck chairs. It looked like a holiday area. "This is our chill-out zone, for social activities and pool parties. Here we meet in between adventures or hang out in the evening." she explained.

Drying Room

Next to the pool hall Leslie showed us the drying room. It was really hot in there, using the excess heat of the pool heating system.

A group of college students was at the centre and it looked like they had a lot of wet fun already. Lots of racks and hangers were loaded with drying clothes, many still dripping onto the floor. Leslie said we could borrow any kit we might need from the public rails. Our own clothes could dry in the back on personal hangers.

Massive Downpour

"Oh, one more thing," she said as we walked back through the pool hall. "Step under the sun umbrellas." She turned a big valve on the wall and the sprinklers released a tropical downpour that reached every part off the hall, fed from the warm water of the pool. Then she turned on the wind machine, driving the rain around. Wow, that was totally rad!

Shower and Pool Rules

We asked when we could use the pool and what the dress code was.

She said we could wear anything as long as it is clean and we properly rinse it in the shower first, especially after outdoor activities when clothes might be dirty or muddy.

Everybody wanting to use the pool had to shower in all the clothes for the pool session, to keep the pool clean and not overload the filter systems.

Exceptions were when the clothes were fresh and clean, or taken from the drying room, provided we had a shower recently, like before the pool parties where the thrill was in staying dry for as long as possible.

The idea that pool rules require you to take a shower in all your clothes before entering the water was unreal. We were looking foward to check this out soon. Very soon.

Getting Ready

Next she asked us to get ready for the water test and show up in the pool hall, dressed in jeans, tee-shirt and pullover, socks and pool shoes.

Since this was what we were wearing anyway, we packed our phones and wallets away and put on clean tennis shoes.

Looking good in our casual clothes we were really excited as we waited in the pool hall for the Water Test.