Week 6 was our Junior camp and Education Outside The Classroom week. The Year 9’s went to Finlay park in Maungatautari where they got to experience a range of different activities including rafting, paddle boarding, kayaking, water skiing, confidence course and glow worms, to name a few. They also had to Tramp to Out camp where they had to camp under a tarpaulin for the night. Their downtime activities included the hydroslide and a blob into the lake. Such a great experience for the year 9’s and they all really enjoyed it.
The Year 10’s had options for where they would be going this year, options included Coromandel, Rotorua-mountain biking, Auckland, Wellington, east coast and a fishing camp. For those that didn’t want to travel we held a cafe camp here at the school where students learnt new dishes everyday and picked up some great tips and tricks to wow their family and friends with their new cooking and baking skills. Each camp had a huge variety of activities, Auckland camp stayed at Epsom Auckland University Campus on their Marae Te Aka Matua o te Pou Hawaiki and visited museums, galleries, rainbows end, white water rafting park and the city. Fishing camp started their week in the Coromandel on the east coast for a fishing charter then they ventured to Kawhia on the west coast for another fishing Charter. They caught a great amount of fish and got to visit the different beaches and local walks in their down time. The mountain biking camp spent the week mountain biking the beautiful tracks in the Redwood forest in Rotorua they had a jam packed adventure filled week down there. Coromandel camp made their base at Whenuakite from there they explored some of the Coromandel Pennisular beaches, visiting Hot Water Beach, Hahei, Cooks Beach, Catherdral Cove and Tairua. A favourite activity of most of the group was the sea kayaking adventure. Departing Hahei Beach, and landed at Cathedral Cove for a hot chocolate on the beach then kayaking past the Cove and then return to Hahei. The kayaks were all doubles and the person in the back controlled the rudder, so the person in the front of the kayak had to trust their partner was taking them in the right direction! Students led most of the activities and were responsible for imparting some knowledge of the area. The Wellington Camp went to Parliament, Te Papa, Carter’s Observatory, the Wellington Zoo and Peter Jackson’s exhibition inside the War Memorial building. Lots of shopping, ice-cream and fun was had by all. The East Coast camp Sent the group to Heretaunga – Has-tings. Firstly, the weather was great. Staying at two marae, Mangaroa and Ruahapia. They learnt about the eponymous an-cestors Kahungunu, Rongomaiwahine, Mahinaarangi, Hinetera and the history of the area. They were fortunate to go to Kahotea, the Pa of the renowned ancestress Mahinaarangi who married Turongo of Tainui. This is the first time an outside group of Heretaunga has been there so we were very privi-leged. They were warmly welcomed by Te Aute College where Āpirana Ngata, Dr Pita Sharples, Mason Durie, Piri Weepu, Sir Howard Morrison and more attended. Following this they hit the beach at Mangakuri and stayed the night at a beach house. Splash Planet was next on the list and of course this was a day of awesome fun. Lastly, headed up Te Mata o Rongokako (Te Mata Peak) to hear the legend of the mountain and view the amazing landscape.
Below are a few snapshots of different camps. It looks and sounds like they all really enjoyed themselves and grew from the experience.What a great way to end the year.
