On Wednesday the 17th of March the 12GEO class went on camp to the University of Canterbury Cass Field Station.

Once we arrived at the field Station we dropped off the trailer and everyone got ready to head off to our first test site in the upper course of the Bealey River. To get to this site we had a 20 minute walk through the native bush. Then once we reached the river we had lunch before getting into measuring the width and depth of the river. The next thing we had to do was measure the velocity of the river, easier said than done as there were quite a few tests that were invalid due to the tennis ball getting stuck amongst rocks and in eddies. After we had finished the task, we headed back through the native bush, to where our vans were parked. We had a small snack and headed back to our lodge. 

Once everyone was settled into their rooms, we had a little bit of free time before dinner. We had nachos which were really good then afterwards, we all sat together in the hall, and began getting stuck into our graphs about our findings. We analysed our data and created 2 graphs, a multi-bar graph and a profile of the depth of the water. Once done, we had a biscuit and everyone headed up to get ready to go to bed, not knowing the night held a surprise.

At around 1am, some of the group were woken by a loud sound, a vibrating noise from the boiler acting up. They were all slightly frightened, then it had a loud bang, and went silent. Some lucky people slept through it!

On day 2 we headed back out to the river, this time the lower course. We repeated the same tests we did the day before (the water was freezing!) but this time in the lower course where the river channel is wider and deeper. It was more successful with no big rocks or eddies for the tennis ball to get stuck in. Then we headed back to the lodge, and once we were all warmed up, we settled at the table to do some more analysing and graphing. We then had yummy wraps for lunch and then had some free time. Some girls headed out with Mrs Coombes, Lin and Emma (the parents) for a nice walk up Sugar Loaf which was located behind the field station. We had dinner which was kebabs, garlic bread and veggies and then began the Cass Cup. This involved a range of challenges from best dressed to charades, to a quiz and even some good old nursery rhyme questions. The 2021 Cass Cup winners were The G.O.AT.S. After the cup, it was wind-down time then bed.

The last day wasn’t quite as exciting, as the morning was filled with clean up, however we did get to go for a nice walk up a hill at Grassmere Lodge, who were very kind to let us use their property. When we started our walk we were surrounded by cloud and couldn’t see very far, however as we reached our destination it had just started to clear. So as Mr Meredith was explaining what we had to do, the cloud cleared and we got a nice view. This view was then sketched in a precis sketch. After everyone had completed their sketches we walked back down and headed off home. Of course, we made a pit stop for some yummy pies at the Sheffield Cafe. I mean who could resist food? Then after the pies, there was a quick stop at Z for fuel, before we were back at school and headed home. 

A big thank you to Mr Meredith, Mrs Coombes, Ms McDermott, Emma and Lin for coming with us and being awesome.