The Crossing Land – Truly Sustainable – A One Class Camp

The Crossing Land Education Centre is a unique and truly sustainable ‘one class camp’ . Our accomodation capacity is 28 students, plus beds for up to six adults across four rooms. We have a commercial-style kitchen in our community hall, a large adjacent undercover and semi-enclosed outdoor classroom, and a nearby outdoor campfire circle.

Most camp programs at The Crossing are for secondary or tertiary schools including international university and gap year groups. Outdoor activities such as hiking and canoeing are possible during our journey-based programs.

By coach, The Crossing is 4 hours from Canberra & Wollongong, 7 hours from Sydney and 10 hours from Melbourne.

How do I book in?

Please make contact with Josh by email with your enquiry. (josh@thecrossingland.org.au)

Do you arrange transportation to and from The Crossing?

That is usually for the school or university to organise. However, we do have 14 seats on our minibus and can pick up and drop you off from public transport (a less costly and environmentally friendly option). V-Line buses come from Melbourne and Premier Motor Services buses come from Sydney to Bermagui . A Murrays bus also comes from Canberra to Narooma (half an hour to our north) or to Bega (an hour to our south). You can also organise a coach or minibus to us.

How much does it cost?

The program cost varies depending on arrival and departure times, pick up point, number of days and whether you add mountain biking. One accompanying teacher is free of charge. Base rate is currently $130/per person per day fully catered with appropriate staffing ratios for outdoor activities including canoeing, hiking and our Landcare and permaculture design activities.

How many teachers need to accompany a group?

The Project Director for The Crossing is a qualified teacher and we can supply male and female staff to meet appropriate ratios with current Working with Children Checks and appropriate qualifications. Most schools send at least one teacher as a school representative to ensure appropriate student standards. The Crossing budgets for one teacher free of charge. If a school chooses to send more than one teacher we charge the standard student price for each extra teacher.

Is the teacher required to participate?

We do things as a community at The Crossing. We ask that teachers participate in the journey, Landcare and sustainable design tasks wherever possible. Journeys with The Crossing are a unique opportunity to get to know students outside of the classroom environment. We also ask that the teacher assist with upholding their school’s relevant standards of behaviour and code of conduct and especially to ensure that students also have sufficient sleep for their health on camp.

Are the The Crossing staff sufficiently trained and experienced?

Yes they are. We have a mixture of trained outdoor professionals and staff with experience in a myriad of different areas. The Crossing staff members meet relevant ratios with appropriate training and experience for the activities. Learn more about our staff team here.

How do I explain the camp to students?

You could start with:

‘it’s a sustainably designed camp, with a train carraige bunkhouse, on a river near the sea. The camp is surrounded by coastal National Parks and farmland. Many groups arrive with a bushwalk into camp and leave at the end by canoe. We get to harvest organic food grown in the camp gardens and make great meals. It’s a really practical and hands-on place with smart design. It teaches how to be sustainable and we get to help with Landcare and design projects.’

‘They also have follow-on programs if you want to go back again with a friend, including weekend programs and their biggest program is a 9 day journey from the Sea to the Snow.’

The Crossing’s website forms are available to download on the program forms page.

How is The Crossing prepared for bushfire and extreme or catastrophic days?

The Crossing Risk Management Plan covers a wide range of scenarios, including fire.

The Crossing has specific procedures to manage bushfire. These procedures have been developed sourcing reference information from the Department of Education and other outdoor education providers.

Extreme and catastrophic fire days are declared by 5 pm on the previous day by the Rural Fire Service (RFS). The school will be informed of movement of young people on or before extreme and catastrophic fire days and communication maintained.

On catastrophic days no students will be at The Crossing or on a journey – they will leave prior to the day and remain off the property for that day – in a safe zone in Bermagui. Young people on a journey will also be taken off that journey before extreme days and returned to the Crossing. Prior to catastrophic days young people would return to their school if it is safe to do so.

Severe days will be assessed and a coastal program may be implemented depending on wind directions and timings.

The Crossing has a large capacity fire trailer and rooftop sprinklers.

Skills gained by youth:

teamwork and leadership
natural environment restoration & monitoring
sustainable design and sustainable living
practical tool use
bushwalking, canoeing, and cycling
organic gardening and sustainable farming

The Crossing provides a hands-on learning experience with skills that link to syllabus educational outcomes:

Secondary Curriculum Links

Agriculture – climate challenge
Science – human impacts on ecosystems, conservation & resource protection
Biology – ecosystem study and threatened species survey
Geography – ecosystems at risk, survey and navigation, food production and food security
Earth and Environmental Science – water issues and sustainable design
Food Technology – organic food for health and group meals
PDHPE – outdoor recreation
Society and Culture – conserver/sustainer communities and sense of place
Tourism – events and guiding.

Tertiary Course Links

Students enrolled in the following areas of study could expect to gain valuable practical and design experience at The Crossing:

Certificate 2-4 Outdoor Recreation: Adventure Based learning, Interpretation, Flora, Fauna and Landscape Interpretation, Marine Environments Interpretation, Tour Guiding, Youth Service Delivery, Youth Orientation
Certificate 2-4 Tourism and Hospitality: Guiding, Tour Operations, Safe Food Handling, Meetings and Events, Customer Service, Sales and Marketing, General Administration, Hygiene, Health, Safety and Security.
Certificate 2-4 Land and Conservation Management: Natural Area Restoration, Erosion and sediment control, observing and reporting plants and animals, constructing access tracks, inspections of designated areas, habitat survey monitoring biodiversity, wildfire hazard reduction.
Certificate 2-4 Community Services: Promotion and Support, Recruiting and supporting volunteers, Safe food hygiene, Ethical understandings, group activies, positive learning, cooperative behaviour.
Certificate 2-4 Business Studies: Environmental Work Practices, Training and Assessment, OHS, advertising, communication and effective teamwork.
Certificate 2-4 Permaculture Design: Course unit owned by private provider Permaculture International
Bachelor Degrees in Outdoor Education, Eco Tourism, Social Ecology, Natural Resource Management, Environmental Management and Climate Change, Community Development, Environmental Law.

Email us, or give our Program Manager a call on (02) 6493 3400 (ask for Josh) with questions or to discuss dates.

Email is often best as our staff can be remote with youth groups at some times of the year in areas where we have only satellite reception rather than mobile phone reception.

For further ideas of what we can do here look also at our other menu selections

Download the medical and permission/application forms here for members of your group that will be doing an experience with us.

Download Forms

Group Bookings

School Journeys (Years 6-12)

Our sustainably designed camp provides students with a school adventure that walks it’s talk! We only take one class at a time and can cater for a maximum of 24 students (28 in 2022)

School Journeys to Sustainability

Vacancies: We book over a year ahead – please contact us
Start: Monday 12pm bushwalk to the Crossing or later depending on travel
End: Friday 12pm canoe arrival in Bermagui

School Journeys Course Description: School Journeys are generally three to six days. Journeys include Landcare and contribution to the sustainable design of The Crossing. Most programs include bushwalking and canoeing with some longer programs also involving mountain biking. The programs provide students with practical, hands-on ways to contribute to conservation as well as looking at design issues and what you use. As part of the journey, storytelling and nature art also assist students to learn at a deeper level.

University Projects

Course Description

The Crossing has been providing one to two-week University Projects for both international and domestic university students now for over 15 years including organisations such as International Student Volunteers, Pacific Discovery and Wollongong University. Crossing conservation projects include time for discovery, contribution, immersion, and inspiration. Active elements of the conservation project include permaculture, sustainable design, Landcare, koala habitat survey and nature art, as well as bush, bike and canoe journeys.

Vacancies: Please contact us for available times
Start: 12 pm bushwalk to the Crossing (or later depending on travel)
End: 12 pm canoe arrival in Bermagui

The Crossing is a unique sustainably designed camp. We only have one group at a time and can cater for a maximum of 28 students.

Price will vary with the needs of different groups but current base rate is $130/night/person for a fully staffed student program.

Another alternative is site rental for adult workshops at $225/day or $295/day on weekends or public holidays with a range of add-ons available for meals, activities and use of equipment. The Crossing is all about sustainable design and Landcare leadership and we welcome site hirers supportive of these aims.