Last week the Year 6s went on camp in Bannockburn. Although it was a wet start to the week, we had a great time together. A big thanks to the dads who came with us to camp.

Biscuiting

Josh Grieve

Getting my life jacket fitted I do the last zip up and get into the biscuit with Zack Gallagher.  We say to “Go slow”, so Dallas slowly increases the speed of the boat. I have a blast speeding around the Lake. As we come in to shore Zack and I both jump off the biscuit. I swim freestyle back to the jetty and climb up. I start to feel a bit warmer and it is soon my turn again, this time with Angus. We both want to go fast this time. On one corner we stopped suddenly. The boat turned and we didn’t. Angus went flying backwards and I held on for dear life. Surprisingly I managed to stay on.

The Gondolas and Luge

Sam Cayford

Swinging side to side I look down. Below me I can see the tall steep mountain with lots of trees and bushes growing all over the rocks. “Scrape,” the bottom of the gondola scrapes across the floor. Then I hear a big loud voice say “Quickly hop off the gondola.” Yay, we're at the top already.  All the Year 6s run to the ski lift. We hop onto the ski lift in the blink of an eye. Looking out over Queenstown a look so cool. We get ready for the camera to take a photo of us. At the top we line up, ready to go, excited about luging down the hill.

The Luge

Cooper Shrimpton

Zooming down the snakey track I see a sign at the next corner which says “slow down.” I go faster and then I see a slope ahead. I noticed that I made air as my cart bangs onto the ground. As I think to myself “I'm going to do that next time,” I pull my brakes back. “Screech,” I go as I make the next turn. Caleb is just ahead and I sped to catch up to him. When we both get to the end we realise that we had tied.

Biscuiting

Aria Wilson

Clutching onto the biscuit, I feel a wave of nervousness wash over me. “ I can't see, I really can't,” I call out. Moving from side to side I feel like we are about to tip. The cold wild water causes goosebumps to spread up my body. Holding on for dear life, I scream “Is it done yet?” The last turns were amazing. The driver, Dallas, tried to get Jasmine and I off and it almost happened but we managed to hold on. Yay, I was so happy! As the boat slows down I turn to Jasmine and say “that was amazing!”

Biscuiting

Rachel Waters

Zooming over the bumpy waves I cling onto the handles for dear life. “ Faster, faster!” Jess screams as she makes a thumbs up sign to Miss McArley in the jet boat. She whispers something to Madison’s dad and suddenly we zoom even faster, bouncing on the large waves. We see a curve. Oh no, the boat turns, swerving us to the side. We scream in delight. The freezing water hits our faces like bullets as we bounc higher and higher. We almost fling off.

Gripping onto the slippery handles, the jet boat slows down. “Phew, we're done.” I whisper to Jess, but it was all a part of a trick to tip us off. Suddenly the boat speeds as fast as a rocket across the clear water. We couldn't even hear the jet boat over our screams. At the dock I jump out of the biscuit and climb onto the deck.

“I need my towel!” I shriek, as my teeth chatter from the freezing cold. We stare at everyone else as they zoom pass on the jet boat. Too soon the dock sways with the crashing waves. “Right” says Madison’s dad “It's Rachel’s turn again.”

“Oh no!”

Abseiling

Jac Thompson

Jumping into the biscuit I feel excited. Ethan on the other hand looks terrified. He has his eyes closed, but what fun we have. Next we went abseiling. The instructor asked “Who is going first.” Nobody said anything but me.

I said “I will.”

As I went down I saw lots of bees, so I went as fast as I could down. When I reached the bottom I raced back up. Joel went after me. A couple of boys didn't make it all the way, but at least they gave it a go.

The Luge

Caleb Ung

Jumping enthusiastically into the black luge cart, I vigorously turn the handle bars left and right. Slowly I start luging down the red slope, which is the more advanced track. I suddenly realise the track is much steeper than the other track. I lean around all of the snakey corners and while passing people. After passing a whole lot of people my heart sinks. There's a steep slope ahead - no wonder those people were slowing down. “No slowing down now,” I think to myself. I clutch onto my handles and “VROOM” my luge cart rises 3 feet up in the air. Cooper and I tried extremely hard to pass each other but we both failed and tied.

1880s School

Abby Samuels

Waiting for Miss Grey to arrive we all shake nervously with our shoulders pressed up against each other's. We hear shoes thudding and coming closer.
“Good morning class,” she says.

“ Good morning,” everyone whispers.

“ Good morning Miss Grey” she cries, trying to correct us. “I have noticed that not everyone has been having their weekly bath, so girls put out your hands as I will checking your fingers. Boys, I will check behind your ears.”

Inside the schoolhouse, standing in front of our seats, we are told to recite the daily prayer. When we finish that we were told to silently open our chairs without slamming them, girls first and boys second. “Stand back up and try that again,” she says. Back down we sat. “You there,” she said pointing to Roland, “come here.” Miss Grey drew a circle on the board. “Nose in the hole!” she said, disturbingly.

“First lesson of the day is handwriting,” she tells us. “We will be doing our ‘Fs’. Two lines of capital letters and two lines of lowercase letters, and then your name written neatly at the bottom. No writing with your left hand.” she demands as we scratched our pieces of chalk down our slates.

School was definitely a lot different in the 1880s.