Arriving at the Brock University campus early in the morning of the first day of your trip, you will be greeted by BaseCamp staff and your trip leaders who are current students or recent graduates from Brock University. We generally move pretty quickly that morning to get you on your way. Your leaders will double check that you have all the right clothing and gear and you will get into the vans and start your journey. If you choose to store your residence move in items (all the bags, boxes, mini fridge, etc.,) that you plan to move into residence with, we will help you store them in our storage facility before you leave. All items will be safely locked away while you are on the trip. You will have access to them the night you return from the trip. You’ll arrive at your start location in Algonquin Provincial Park around noon on that first day. After a few group games and lessons on canoeing and safety, you will head off on your BaseCamp adventure!

Trip days are very different than “at home days” – Your trip schedule will have you travelling to different campsites every day. You will likely be getting up early so that you have time to take down tents while enjoying a cup of hot chocolate as the mist rises off the lake. Breakfast time is usually filled with conversation and stories of the previous night and prospects for the day ahead. After breakfast, your trip leaders will encourage you to have your bag packed so that the group can get into the canoes and on the water.

You’ll spend your days paddling and portaging (carrying canoes, packs and gear between lakes) through Algonquin’s pristine wilderness – Remember to bring your camera! You will be surprised how quickly you and your trip mates become friends and how fast five days can fly-by. Stopping for a swim to cool off, paddling through a swamp to see a mother moose and her calf, exploring a historic logging ruin, or simply catching some rays are memorable parts of any BaseCamp trip.

Dinnertime is a very special time of the day. As your trip leaders prepare dinner, you have the opportunity to practice your outdoor skills, help cook, hang out with your new group of friends, read a book, or simply get lost in the beauty of nature. Typically, some of the time after dinner is spent on our orientation curriculum where your trip leaders cover many pertinent topics that will help you, as an incoming student, transition into your first year at Brock University. Our trip leaders are current upper year students or alumni from Brock University who can answer questions, offer advice and share some of the tricks they’ve learned to be successful at university! Around the campfire, daylight slips into darkness with a roasted marshmallow and a star-filled sky.

One of the most common questions we get is, “what will the food be like on my trip?” We are continually working towards refining our menu to serve the best camping food you will ever have, guaranteed! Below is a typical five-day menu for our BaseCamp trips. The menu does change according to the dietary restrictions of our participants, but this should give you a general idea of what to expect.

Additional items

Juice mix, various snack Items, hot chocolate, tea, instant coffee.

*These items will be replaced with a substitute if a participant has a known allergy.

BaseCamp is able to provide you with all the necessary group camping equipment you will need for your trip at no additional cost. Generally we say that all you need to bring is your personal clothing, footwear, water bottles, hygiene items, and a sense of adventure. We’ll send you a detailed canoeing packing list to see what you will need to bring.

Once you are back on campus, you have the opportunity to use our locker room facilities to have a shower and put on a clean change of clothes. After everyone gets organized and situated, we participate in a fun banquet dinner that often includes pizza, snacks, and all sorts of other goodies, the perfect after trip meal! Following dinner, the evening is filled with fun games, an award ceremony, and logistics about moving into residence the following morning. The night before residence move in day we camp as a group on the Brock campus. Over the years, we have had a lot of fun watching the stars, reflecting on the trip, and looking forward to moving into residence the next morning. It is an incredible night at a place you will soon call home.

The morning of residence move in day we are up early. We provide breakfast and load people’s baggage and residence move-in items into vans. Once the items are loaded, we deliver you to your residence, help you register, move your items into your room, and send you into the caring hands of Brock’s residence team! Here is a little secret… as a BaseCamp student, you get to do this before anyone else is on campus. You miss the move-in rush and have lots of time to get yourself organized. Your parents are welcome to come and help. We get a lot of international students and students who live far away from campus who find this move-in option great. Lots of local students also love it!

At this point, your BaseCamp program is done. Don’t worry, the fun isn’t totally over. Remember, because you just spent five days on trip with an awesome group of Brock students, you have a peer group already created before you move into residence. They are a great group of people to rely on and the help you explore your new home. Also, we often connect as BaseCamp Alumni many times throughout your tenure at Brock.