Carey started camps in 1967 after they were granted a lease of land by the Barton-Crees family. The Barton-Crees family owned the Banksia Peninsula and used it for sheep and goat farming. Given the Peninsula was covered with bracken, Banksia trees and Coastal Manna Gum, it wasn’t ideal for this purpose.

The Barton-Crees family decided to subdivide the land into blocks for any organisation of Christian belief to apply for a lease to operate camps for youth to enjoy the environment of the Gippsland Lakes.

In the summer of 1978 a bushfire burnt the Banksia Peninsula and a staff member, Ken Lyall (Junior School Headmaster), was onsite. He protected the dining hall, which is now called “Lyall Hall”.

The school owns an old Gippsland Lakes fishing boat converted into a recreational vessel for students to transported across the lakes. It was built in 1925 by Robert Reynolds of Raymond Island. It has become a ‘rite of passage’ for many Carey students as they head out or back from their Year 7 expedition across Lake Victoria.

Camp Toonallook is visited by year 5, 6, 7 and some year 10 students. Students participate in activities such as canoeing, kayaking, sailing, swimming, sea kayaking and boating. It is a place where many students and staff have great memories of learning about each other, the environment, cultural history but most importantly themselves.