WA Youth Camp 2021

The Australian Alpaca Associa�on WA Region held its first WA-based youth camp from 15-17 January 2021 at Goldleaf Alpacas in the Great Southern Region, WA. We had 12 youth a�endees (from ages 8-20) and an enthusias�c group of suppor�ng adults.

Day one started as a road trip day for those travelling from Perth or Manjimup and ended with building tent city, an introduc�on to alpacas and plenty of games.

Day two was a big day. We covered mustering and catching, ma�ngs, basics of fleece, alpaca care (including the highlight of the day - taking faecal samples!), handling and paraders, cuddling cria, a last minute birth, and an enthusias�c talk from Petra about being a Zookeeper. Our evenings were the �me to bond as a group with the power of hide and seek, guinea pigs and drama games (do you know why Fuzzy Wuzzy likes llamas but not alpacas).

We rounded off camp with some judging prac�ce for a couple of our more experienced students and a young farmers challenge where team Huacya narrowly beat team Suri in the team quiz (by half a point!). Andrew had the fastest �me in the Paraders challenge, Emm was the faster Junior, Kira the fastest Intermediate and Jamie the fastest Senior and we were ALL subjected to running the wheelbarrow relay race. Thank you to those that helped, those that a�ended, and those that sponsored. We wouldn’t have had such a great camp without you.

To the other regions, we’d love to learn more about the camps held in your states or to help you start one up. It takes a leap of faith but if our small youth membership in WA can hold one then any region can!

Watch out for our next camp in 2022!