Take a read of Maeve’s insightful blog which delves into the intriguing world behind the scenes at Black Diamond Adventures. From car issues and forgotten equipment to unlikely animal encounters and laugh out loud moments…we’ve all had our fair share of mess-ups. But one thing is for sure – we always learn valuable lessons from our time here working at Black Diamond Adventures.

Working at Black Diamond Adventures is never dull. One of the best philosophies we have (in my opinion) is “learn from our experiences”.

Basically, own your mistakes and learn from them. So pretty much if you almost crash the truck then run the battery flat by accident in the first three months of the job, like I did, you probably won’t be fired. That being said, I don’t think I will set foot in that truck again. There are so many stories like this where we do dumb stuff or have a great time or learn something and, to be honest, I had no idea what I was in for when I said yes to a two-year traineeship. From putting unleaded in a diesel car to forgetting essential items on camp, you name it we have probably seen it. However, we still deliver an insane program and every single one of us owns our mistakes which is why we are a killer team. Yes, ee are amazing and cool, but I bet you’re going: please tell me stories about your work. I will admit they are pretty good, so here are some dramatic retellings for your entertainment.

I’ll start with my worst stuff-up because I am nothing if not humble. We have a truck here at BDA called Betty. It’s pretty safe to say that she is our prized possession, so I was surprised when one day pretty early on in the year Tyson, one my colleagues, asked me if I would like to have a driving lesson. I accepted thinking it’s just a big car. What could possibly go wrong? A lot. A lot went wrong. Anyway, I nervously did a lap around the industrial complex with Tyson riding shotgun. Smooth sailing. Then I had to reverse the truck back into the warehouse. Here’s where it gets bad. If you haven’t been to the BDA warehouse it’s a very large double height space with a mezzanine on the back wall where all the offices are. As I was reversing the truck, I accidentally pressed the accelerator (quite hard) instead of the break. I swear time slowed down and Connor, another one of our mangers, had this look of utter panic, running after the truck trying to stop me. For this reversing practice, Tyson was standing behind the truck directing me – and was almost run over. I did manage to hit the break, stopping the truck about a foot from crashing into the mezzanine. Now don’t worry, everyone was okay. Except my ego of course. We all leave work for the day and come in early the next morning to leave for a big school camp. Here’s where things get so much worse. The truck doesn’t start. What? That’s impossible! It was working yesterday! Yes, that’s true but in my rush to get out of the truck the day before I left the keys in the ignition. The truck battery was flat. Oh.My.God. So that’s the story pretty much. Everyone lived but it is safe to say I will never live it down, and, also, never drive the truck again.

Now the truck debacle definitely wasn’t the first of the car trouble we have had here at Black Diamond. The classic one is Connor putting unleaded petrol in a diesel bus in the middle of Outback Australia. Connor unfortunately has also had his car drown in an unforeseen flash flood (to no fault of his own of course). There are so many more car stories but that would get boring after a time, and you can already see the pattern forming.

Working at BDA you have to be prepared for anything and everything. From random climbing trips to Nowra to surfing to running for 6 km with an ultra-marathon runner who is passing through town. Rocking into work having no idea what you will be presented with is kind of thrilling. One day in the warehouse, Rob, our director sat us down (very randomly of course) and asked all of us “what do we (BDA) do?” After about fifteen minutes of sitting there not really getting anywhere Rob says, “We make kids bigger!” After the general chuckling was over, we realised that is exactly what we do. Kids and adults alike come out of our programs feeling more up for a challenge and more willing to push themselves. For me, being pushed ranged from something as small as catching a spider when I was terrified, to having to address groups of up to 100 kids, something that a year ago would have given me the shakes.

The best example of the positive outcomes of our programs is my favourite trip to date. This group of year nines and tens had never been hiking before and they were chucked out into the bush for a three day trip. You can imagine my thoughts going into this. Oh my god what are these kids doing out here? Whose idea was this?! It’s safe to say they struggled. Walking into camp in the dark after nine hours of walking was not easy. We had dinner and I was nervous about our debrief and about the next day. I think I have broken them. What have I done? To my surprise and relief, I had the best yarn I have ever had with my students. Every single person rated their day as nothing below an eight out of ten and they were so proud of themselves for doing something hard. The answer that stuck with me the most was “I’m so glad I decided to do this. I seriously didn’t think I could do it, but I can. I think we are capable of so much more than we think we are”. Rob (our director) always says “the more you push yourself outside your comfort zone, the more you will grow as a person”. This trip was the first time I really began to appreciate that.

There are so many more moments we have all had, including but definitely not limited to: Georgia actually believing the water around Bendeela Power Station is electrified. All of us driving away with the trailer door not done up properly and it flinging open on the highway. Me forgetting to bring life jackets to a canoeing trip. Sara having her staff pack attacked by a bush turkey. Rob farting right at the most silent moment in debrief. Georgia and I singing Wagon Wheel at the top of our lungs at Berowra Waters to keep our groups’ morale high. Sara getting rear-ended randomly one morning on our way to camp. And, of course, I swear before every camp someone gets a flat tyre (it seriously just happens, I think we are cursed). The year sure has been a rollercoaster but in the best kind of way. I truly have never laughed more in my entire life. I’ve learned so much and I have made life-long friendships. I can only imagine next year will be even better. Just hopefully less car troubles (for me at least).