What a great way to start the Year 4-5 Camp on Wednesday 18th February. There was beautiful sunshine as we get ready to go on the Butterfly Creek tramp of about 1½ hours there and the same on the way back along a tree covered track up the ridge and down the other side.
The terrain was rough but we managed to make it through and by the time we were there everyone was panting and sweating. After a quick lunch at Butterfly Creek, like a time bomb everyone found the energy and rushed out and rummaged through the woods and played with sticks to form houses it was amazing!
Next it was heading back up the ridge to be greeted with the most spectacular view from the top; Somes island in the middle of Wellington Harbour, people ( or shall I call them dots? ) were walking their dogs on the beach “I`ve never seen anything like it.” I sighed.
We could even see the Eastbourne Pool, to where we were headed - if only we had a ‘zipline’ to head straight down as the water looked so cool and inviting. When we finished the tramp I had butterflies in my stomach and it was nice and refreshing to finish the tramp and have a rest and a drink.
Then we went to the Eastbourne Swimming pool for an hour. The noise was tremendous the amount of splashing and chatting! But before long, it was back to school for dinner with our families.
After saying ‘Good-Bye’ we headed to the hall for our Team Building Challenge. We were given a set time and only a certain amount of materials, from which we had to construct a Pikau (which is Maori for backpack). The different designs from each group were amazing and the competition was tough - but Mr Parker could only choose one winning group!
Finally, after an exhausting day, it was ‘lights out’ - “time to go to sleep!” The teachers shouted. I wonder if everyone got as much sleep as they should have?
The next day experienced the first five of our rotations, these were made up of the following activities: kayaking, golfing, orienteering, camp art, camp cooking, paddle boarding and fishing.
After such a long day, we were pretty hungry and tired - but a big dinner of Fish and Chips, followed by an ‘Eskimo’ pie, recharged us for some night activities. Firstly we headed down to the beach to create a positive sculpture/message that could be seen from the sky. Next it was back up to school for the highly anticipated game of ‘Spotlight’. It was pretty freaky running around in the dark with torches, but lots of fun too.
Sadly Friday was the last day. “Time to pack up” the teachers grunted, obviously just as disappointed that camp was over as the students were! The big camp clean-up, including pulling down the tents and sorting out the gear was quite a mission. But we finally finished and it was off for our last two rotations of camp activities. It had all gone by too quickly and before you know it, we were lining up for our last lunch, which was something to remember; ham sandwiches, chocolate cake and apples.
Camp is a good way to bring others together and know each other better. Also it’s about getting outside doing things that you wouldn’t normally do at home.
What a great camp, with so many experiences and great memories. We would like to thank all the teachers and parents for helping and making it possible.
Don't forget to check out the camp photos.
Joshua and David.
