QCCC Expeditions

QCCC wins major Outdoor Education Award

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WINNER 2013 Award Logo
Queensland Conference and Camping Centres is the winner of the Queensland Outdoor Recreation Award for Excellence in Outdoor Instruction and Education.

In a major coup for the Sunshine Coast Hinterland a local Outdoor Education Centre has received the 2013 Queensland Outdoor Recreation Award for Excellence in Outdoor Instruction and Education. Queensland Conference and Camping Centres (QCCC) are this year’s recipients of the prestigious industry award recognising excellence in Outdoor Education programs.

QCCC’s largest Outdoor Education facility has been a vital part of the Mapleton community for more than thirty years. QCCC Mapleton is one of the busiest school camping venues in Queensland entertaining 30,000 guests annually. More than 20,000 of these are school students attending camps with more than 200 individual school groups. QCCC Mapleton is one of Mapleton’s largest employers with 50 staff and a significant attraction to the local area.

QCCC Director Andrew Grant believes a large part of QCCC’s success comes from locating its largest site in the natural beauty of the Blackall Range. “There’s no doubt we enjoy a natural advantage by bringing city kids into the mountains where they’re immersed in the stunning beauty of the Range. We must have one of the most stunning classrooms in Queensland”.

Throughout 2012 QCCC Mapleton created and built eight new activities specifically designed around the Australian Curriculum. This was a staff-driven effort with the initial “draft activities” significantly altered and enhanced through the participation of staff members primarily responsible for their delivery.

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Who we are

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2011 is shaping up as an exciting one for Queensland Conference and Camping.  The year is off to a flying start with record guest numbers through February.  Some of the new initiatives we’ve been working on for several years are being launched and are quickly growing. 

 And we’ve started this year serving our new vision and mission statements.

 

Vision statement: 

 As a ministry of Queensland Baptists, QCCC exists to create life-changing experiences through excellence in hospitality, service and teaching.   

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Duke of Edinburgh Award Expedition details

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QCCC intends to conduct several Duke of Edinburgh Award Expeditions throughout 2011.  Details of proposed dates appear below, however please note the proposed trips will only proceed if minimum participant numbers are reached.  For more details please contact QCCC Mapleton.

Sea kayak Queensland Duke of Edinburgh Award
Camping on a sea-kayak trip

Canoeing:
Bronze:
Training Day- 8th July 2011

Training Exped- 18th-19th July 2011
Assessment Exped- 1st & 2nd August 2011
  
Silver:
Training Day- 19th September 2011
Training Exped- 11th-13th October 2011
Assessment Exped- 6th-8th December 2011
 
Gold:
Training Day- 10th October 2011
Training Exped- 17th-20th October 2011
Assessment Exped- 5th-8th December 2011
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QCCC’s R1202 pilot

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QCCC is piloting now a new concept we hope will become the backbone theme of our programs from 2012 onwards, across our three camp sites at Mapleton, Tamborine and Brookfield (Brisbane). The working title for the concept is “R1202“, a reference to the biblical Romans 12:02:

“Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within.”

Also known as “The Hand” we believe the R1202 theme will enable us to partner with visiting groups to reflect on the key attributes and values required for a successful life.

As it is developed we will make it a flexible tool that can fit the objectives and outcomes of each group who visits us. We will also develop resources so that the lessons learned from R1202 on camp can last long after it concludes.

R1202 will become the major tool used by QCCC in our teaching and service to clients.  Our staff have identified approximately 70 object lessons that can be drawn from R1202 using colours, fingers and other concepts.

Adventerous Fathering

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The first Fathering Adventure in South East Queensland

This last weekend (21-23 January 2011) QCCC Tamborine was the venue for a pilot program of the first Fathering Adventures weekend in South East Queensland.

‘Fathering Adventures’, founded by Darren Lewis in July 2008, is an adventure-based initiative devoted to turning the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers.

The Fathering Adventure Weekend is for boys aged between 7 and 13 years, and their Dad, or significant male other.  The first South East Queensland Fathering Adventure event was fully booked, attended by twelve fathers and their sons drawn from the Sunshine Coast, Brisbane, Dalby and Sydney.

Throughout the weekend, Dads were given coaching on what it means to be an “intentional” Dad, finishing the weekend armed with a quiver of tools designed to ensure their son would know that he is a “beloved son”. Encouraged to “have fun” throughout the program, the adventure weekend was specifically geared around crating a memorable experience for fathers and sons, empowering them to spend time with each other, one on one, to put into practice the things being taught.

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Things that matter to us: Hospitality

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A series on the guiding principles of QCCC’s camping philosophy.

Fully catered camping in Queensland
Excellence in food is an important part of the QCCC service

Food is the basic staple of human survival but it’s so much more than that.  According to history, medieval priests “ministered” to travelers by providing shelter from the cold and nourishment in the form of hot soup.  Eventually this soup became known as ‘Minestrone’, from the Latin word for service, because this kindness was offered in Christ’s name as a service or ministry to needy travelers. 

“Ministry” has traditionally been (a) any service to people (b) done in Christ’s name (c) at a sacrifice – the soup was free to travelers. (J. Gibson – Ministry and Worship).

QCCC exists to serve – to “minister” to individuals & groups – through hospitality & service.  When used in the Bible this implies responsibilities well beyond the provision of food and lodging; i.e. courtesy, care and attention to other needs.

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2010: A good year!

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As the curtain closes on 2010 it’s a good time to reflect on a record year of camping and conferencing for QCCC.

QCCC Expeditions are hotting up, driven by our provision of the Duke of Edinburgh Award.

Here’s a little of what our great team has managed to achieve this year:

  • Hosted over 500 individual groups across our three sites, that’s an average of 10 groups each week using our facilities.
  • Provided a quality accommodation experience to more than 35,000 people, an average of 700 people each week staying with us.
  • Served more than 200,000 meals. We’re convinced quality hospitality is a vital part of any successful camping and conferencing program.
  • Facilitated more than ten outdoor education instructors as they provided programs for more than 200 schools through the year.
  • Made great strides in building partnerships with like-minded organisations, the fruits of which will start to be seen in 2011 as we roll out new services and programs.
  • Developed a pilot theme for all of our Centres that will add significant value to the programs and outcomes of groups using our facilities (watch this space).
  • Further developed our Expeditions program and taken several groups through their Duke of Edinburgh Award.
  • Kicked off our training program for future staff – providing a Certificate III in Outdoor Education.
  • Had an awful lot of fun in the process!

Cruising the Obi

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The toughest part of the trip - shooting a farm causeway.

It’s been a huge year across QCCC.  Mapleton alone has hosted nearly 300 different groups of guests through the course of the year.  Brookfield has had its busiest year ever and Tamborine has also hosted hundreds of groups and played a part in some major events on Tamborine Mountain.

As the schools head into their Summer holidays the whole of QCCC gets just a few weeks of hiatus.  Australia’s camping industry is the opposite to the American model, where the prime-time for their camping programs is over the northern hemisphere summer.  In Australia the summer period leading into Christmas is the quietest time of year.  On Boxing Day Mapleton kicks off its Summer Holiday Family Program and shortly after QCCC Tamborine’s accommodation gets used for the Tamborine Summer Convention.  Brookfield has several church, youth group and craft camps in January. 

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Geocaching – Orienteering on a grand scale

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Travelbug-GPSr
Image via Wikipedia

Recently quite a few of the QCCC Outdoor Education staff team has become hooked on Geocaching. 

Geocachers are an underground network of people living in your community and every other community in Australia, a network of people from all walks of life who are connected through a common interest.  They often behave suspiciously and you may even have seen some and wondered, but they are essentially safe and you need not fear them. 

This hidden network of people are engaging in what can best be described as a giant, worldwide game of hide and seek.  Here’s a Wiki explanation:

Geocaching is an outdoor sporting activity in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called “geocaches” or “caches”, anywhere in the world. A typical cache is a small waterproof container containing a logbook.

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