Noah D's recount of Coasteering, an activity from our Ōtūmatua Camp at Wainui YMCA.

Day 1 at Camp

“Noah, time to get up!” My mum’s voice cut through my dreams. I glanced at the clock. “Why so early?” I asked, my voice still muffled with sleep.

“You’re going to camp! Now hurry up or you will be late!” At the mention of camp, I sprung up like a shot. With a smile on my face, I rushed around the house like a mad bull, gathering what I would need. Soon, I was out of the house, piling my load of random and unneeded stuff into the car. Like a bullet leaping from a gun, I was scrambling to get sitting in my seat, ready to go.

Before I knew it, I was walking up the narrow path to my classroom, sweating profusely. I was leaning over and my muscles hurt from carrying my heavy baggage all the way here. Casually dumping my bags on the floor, I slumped on the couch next to Flynn. We talked for a small bit before his sister tried to kiss him (it was quite scary!). Then we were called to pile our bags into one of the trailers.

After what seemed like the longest time, I had collapsed next to Callum in the car. Very quickly after that, we were all talking and laughing together. Not too much later, an idea popped into my head - we could play the word game! A smile spread across my face. The word game is basically a “try not to laugh” challenge. You say one word of a sentence; it doesn’t have to make sense, but try to make it funny. If you laugh, you're out. We played for ages, before I realised I needed to take a rest as I was becoming horrendously shaken up.

As quickly as we had arrived and were able to stop listening to the droning of the car engine, we were greeted by beautiful bird calls, cicada creaks, and the yelling and shouting of our classmates. There was a beautiful green courtyard, and lots of different cabins, about 8 or nine that I could see, surrounded by thick, dark forests, offering shade to our otherwise boiling deck. We all gathered together and were sorted into bunkrooms. There were 11 bunk rooms - I was in bunk room 10. As soon as we were all in, there was a human tornado trashing the room unforgivingly. “Guys!” someone yelled. It was hard to tell who, “Get ready!”

Not long after, I was standing outside the changing rooms, in an uncomfortable wetsuit, and the buoyancy aid wasn’t helping. Struggling to walk, I waddled over to the bench, and sat down, now in a shower of sweat. Soon, we realised there were 10 of us, and only 8 seats in the car. A feeling of uncertainty grabbed me holding me tight. But it was unheeded. Soon, Ming Yu and I were riding to the coast, making the car seat shiny.

A steep crevice of a path sloped steeply downwards; a drop from this could kill you with ease. Carefully, after waiting for what seemed like all eternity, I was heading down as slow as a tiger stalks its prey. Steep drops and crumbling dirt tried to send me barreling down, but I heeded them no more than an unusually large cloud. Soon after, I was sitting down on a log with the rest of our group, getting ready.

Not too long after, the leader explained the safety rules and dangers to look out for, and we set off for the island. I saw so much more than just rock pools, as I normally do. Turns out when you look for it, you can find so many extraordinary creatures you never would have thought to find in a rock pool. Sea anemones, seaweed, sea snails, mussels, and limpets - they were all there. I was amazed at what you can find if you look. Soon, we came to the crossing to go over to the island. As I slowly advanced, the waves washing over me, I saw swaying seaweed and large underwater plants dancing to the rhythm of the sea. Cold water crept to my chest and pulled me into the water.

Startlingly, I could still comfortably swim while barely using any energy, thanks to my buoyancy aid. Soon, I was quite enjoying myself, casually floating towards the island. Not too long later, my feet touched hard rock, and I saw what was on the island. There was a whole sea of black mussels, drawing my eyes to them like a hungry dog to a bone. Deep black holes dotted the rock I was on, life crammed into these small pools of water. Life looked like a struggle here; creatures fighting for space and food, but it couldn’t help you more to see the wonders of life on the coast.

A while later, we were waiting while the leader explained what we were going to do next. Wet, slimy, bright yellow lichen covered this part of the island, small shallow pools containing seaweed were dotted here and there, along with the occasional mussel cluster. As the leader explained: “Ok group, we are now going to jump.” She pointed to a small rock next to an outcropping on the island, a deep offset lagoon underneath. “You will either jump off that small rock… or papa bear,” she said menacingly, pointing to the tall outcropping of rock. “Who’s jumping with me?!”

Suddenly, I was aware I was waiting in a line of most of our little group. I was standing at the back of the line, not quite sure what to feel. Slowly, the line crept forward, allowing me to see what actually happened. The next person in line stood as far forward as the cliff would allow. Then everybody below would Chant “3! 2! 1!” and then the person would leap as if they were in a coffin, arms crossed across their chest, feet first into the water. Soon, I was standing there, and the chant began. It was ringing in my ears. My brain was taken over by numbness, and I just did what I saw, thinking and feeling nothing.

As I jumped, I snapped back into reality almost in an instant, again aware of my surroundings. Only then did I realise that I was afraid. But I had no real time to fear, the water was already touching my toes, ready to swallow me up. I made no splash at all; the buoyancy aid had really done its job well. After a second of floundering and getting a feel for the water, I was floating lazily on my back, eyes wide, a smile painted clearly on my face. Feeling a sense of achievement, I doggie-paddled to the ledge and heaved myself out, dripping like a wet dog.

A while after I got out, our group was all ready to go. As instructed, the only things we left behind was our wet footprints - these were unavoidable to make. We were invited to swim right back to the beach, which pleased all of us. Jay, Regan and I parked ourselves in a couple of pools near the beach where the water streamed in and out of tiny gaps, creating a backwards and forwards current. We were thrown around relentlessly like ragdolls, tossing and turning in the unforgiving sea, except for the fact we were having fun. Soon we were called out of our washing machine to climb back up the deadly hill.

I really enjoyed coasteering, and if anything was ever recommended, it would be that. The sea is the best thing though, its warm waves wash over you, and instead of making you cold, warming you up. The animals that live on the sea are really amazing when you watch them closely, and see the competition for space and food, and how they have adapted to live with the tides. The plants are also eye-catching, as they look like they are alive, dancing with the rhythm of the sea. I would definitely recommend it to everybody, and have started pleading to my parents to go there as a family.