CONDITIONS could not be described as idyllic at Tathra Beach on Wednesday morning but for the 12 students from the north western NSW town of Bourke it didn’t matter one bit.

The students, who ranged in age from six to 18 from the Koinonia Christian Academy, arrived in Tathra on Tuesday afternoon and spent three nights at the Wambiri Youth Camp.

Swimming at the beach was of course the first thing the students did once they had settled into camp.

Two of them had never been to a beach before while a number of others had, but were too young at the time to remember it.

Following a talk by Tony McCabe lifeguard and Coastlife Adventures leader, covering such subjects as blue bottles, rips, the different types of waves and sharks, the students had a go at flag racing and then with boogie boards in hand raced off to take on the rough surf.

The conditions and the water temperature did not faze them in the slightest, with one student excitedly telling his teacher “that’s what I call awesome”.

The students were accompanied by teacher Pat Amos and two teachers’ aides.

The excursion to the South Coast was funded by the Country Area Program and organised through Coastlife Adventures.

“The Country Area Program is wonderful and without it these kids would probably never have the opportunity to leave Bourke,” Mrs Amos said.

“The CAP takes the kids away from their isolation especially where we are as the closest major centre of about 20,000 is Dubbo and that is more than four hours’ drive away.”

Mrs Amos said Tathra was decided upon as the destination as none of the students had been to the South Coast before.

“We also wanted the kids to be exposed to beach activities and learn some beach safety skills.

“They only have the Darling River or public pool where we live, so they are just loving it here.

“The temperature is quite cool for us though as we are used to highs of 40 degrees or more.”

By the time the children board the bus back home today they will be well and truly exhausted having also enjoyed such activities as bushwalking, a beach discovery tour, archery, kayaking, raft building, a tour of the Bega Cheese factory and a trip to Eden which they hoped would include a whale watching cruise.

A highlight of their bushwalk to Wajurda Point, near Moon Bay, was the sighting of two whales swimming very close to the lookout where they were standing.

So the children will have plenty of memorable experiences to share with family and friends on their return to the outback.