Tūrutu’s Year 8 Camp to Waipara Adventure Centre, written by Elise & Lillian (Room 14) 

Excitement buzzed in the air as we double-checked our gear one last time. For some of us, it was our first time going on a school camp, and we felt a mix of nerves and excitement about what was to come. Tūrutu Kaupeka headed to the hall on the 17th of March, ready to start our camp adventure. The bus was waiting outside, and as we climbed aboard with our backpacks, the chatter and laughter filled the air. 

Our first activity was the river walk, led by our amazing instructors. We formed groups of three or four, looping our arms through each other’s backpacks to keep each other from falling over. As we splashed through the rocky river, the cool water splashing onto our legs, offering a refreshing break from the heat. When we reached the bridge, the instructors gave us a fun challenge to see how many truck drivers we could get to honk their horns. We shouted, waved, and cheered; we ended up setting the record with six or seven honks!

Finally, we arrived at Waipara Adventure Centre. As soon as we got there, we saw all kinds of different activities like a rope swing and an obstacle course. After the instructors gave us the next instructions, we all headed to our bunk rooms quickly dibsing the beds we wanted. As we unpacked, we talked about the activities we had next and what we needed to bring. 

Some of the fun highlights were the water hole and gaga ball during free time, and kayaking as one of the activities. The water hole was so fun because we got to splash our friends and swim around. Gaga ball was also really fun because we got to cheer on other people and watch some of the teachers play!!! Kayaking was also really fun because we got to play lots of different games like lining up all our boats, and if the instructor shook your boat, then you had to climb into the boat next to you. There were so many other fun activities like abseiling, archery, orienteering, kayaking, shelter building, faulty towers, waterslide, and flying fox, also, raft building. We had such a brilliant time!

Our first day of camp was super sunny and really hot, but days 2 and 3 were cold and rainy. Luckily, we were totally prepared, we had packed jackets, long-sleeved tops and warm jumpers. The only bad part was that on day 2, the rain was so heavy that we had to skip one of our activities. But it wasn’t all that bad! Instead, we got to play some fun German games for a while. Then we switched and played another game where we were split into four teams. One person from each team was blindfolded, and they had to find balls scattered around and bring them back to their team's bucket. It was actually really fun and made up for the missed activity.

On the last night, we had a movie night. We all brought our sleeping bags and pillows into one of the girls' common rooms and watched Mufasa. It was so much fun snuggling into our sleeping bags and laughing with our friends at the funny parts. We want to say a huge thank you to all the parents and teachers who helped out at camp and organised it. We really appreciate it!

Camp was amazing! We had the best time ever and made so many fun memories that we’ll never forget. It was one of the coolest experiences, and I wish we could do it all over again!

Amoka's Year 8 Camp

written by Shofie (Room 11)

At this year’s camp in Waipara, there were a bunch of fun activities! We did kayaking, raft building, shelter building, abseiling, waterslide, flying fox, archery, orienteering and faulty towers. My favourite activity was definitely kayaking. We played tag in a kayak, which was a really exciting thing to do. We also had a great time building shelters as a group because we learnt how to make our own shelters and poured water on them to see if they were waterproof.

An activity that everyone loved at this year’s camp was spotlight! On the first night, we played a version where we were in a group and had to find crayons in the dark. We then used the crayons to draw the best camp related picture. On the second night, we played a different version where we versed the adults and they had to find us in the dark! The main objective was for the students to get to the other side with special sticks before we got caught.

Overall, I thought the camp was amazing because of the new experiences we could try that we would probably never have tried if we didn’t go to Waipara Adventure Centre.

written by Diaa (Room 11)

Waipara Camp was like jumping into a giant blender of laughter, wild adventures and a rollercoaster sleep experience!

From the moment we hopped off the bus, it felt like our friendships levelled up. We weren't just classmates anymore, we were a squad of adrenaline thriving, dopamine chasing, chaos creating little rascals, and that was the best part of it. It's the friends, the conversations, the occasional teasing, the questionable fashion choices, it was the little things that mattered… it was the little things that made it!

It was the conversations around the cabins that  somehow went from deep life advice to arguing whether the ocean is a soup, and honestly, I’ve never laughed harder in my life, and that sums up the first day perfectly.

By the second day, the sleep deprivation had made it to our cabin, which it followed nicely over into breakfast. The morning feast - where rolling never ending toast was the appetiser, followed nicely with the entree, taking your pick of porridge, cereal, or peach slices paired beautifully with a nice cup of warm Milo. Hot chocolate with cereal is a match made in heaven. 

We hopped off that bus on the last day sleep-deprived, fuelled by Milo with wicked stories waiting to be told to our peers, but not before a quick nap, of course (that would take place on the bus). I closed my eyes on the bus and dreamt about camp.

Kōtukutuki Year 8 Camp

Our Year 8 Camp at Waipara by Evelyn (Room 16)

On a cold and cloudy morning in Week 8 of Term 1, while everyone was at school, Kōtukutuku was off to Waipara to have the time of their lives… at Year 8 camp! Since the weather was pretty dismal leading up to camp, we skipped the river walk and arrived early, while Tūrutu was finishing up. We got a warm welcome from the camp leaders and an introduction. We then ate morning tea and started by playing capture the flag. After a few games of capture the flag, we had lunch and free time while Tūrutu left. Once they were gone, we went to unpack and start the activities.

Over the next 3 days, we would be doing abseiling, raft building, shelter building, kayaking, orienteering, water slide, faulty towers, and archery for the activities. We were split up into 8 groups for the 8 activities. My group started off by doing abseiling, which was one of my personal favourites. I loved the part when it was over because I knew that I just overcame something really scary. Next was raft building and it was probably the BEST one of all. Even though we were half underwater, we still made it to the end of the lake and back. After raft building, we had some free time before dinner, which some of us took as an opportunity to go swimming, and the others talked or played gaga ball in the pit or tried walking on the stilts. There was also a very popular and fun game that included two players, each trying to knock down the other's golf balls with a red ball.

Dinner came, and it was quite the experience. We had butter chicken with rice and veggies, and personally, it was not the best, but… we still had to look forward to the Kōtukutuku challenge night! It was full of fun and interesting activities for us to enjoy in our groups of 10. Some of the challenges were the

• “Fear me not.” - Where we had to drink a mystery drink made by the teachers

• “Get me out of trouble.” - Where they had to come up with their best excuse for “I forgot my homework because…”

• “Funniest comedian.” - Where they had to tell their funniest joke.

After the challenge night, it was getting ready for bed, chatting until midnight, and before we knew it - day one of camp had come to an end. 

Day two started as we arose at 7:00 am from our not long enough slumber to get ready for breakfast, which was my favourite meal out of all of the meals. Breakfast included hot chocolate, cereal, and toast with spreads of jam, honey and marmite/vegemite. Today was a bright and sunny day, so everyone was buzzing with excitement when we got ready for our next activity. After archery, orienteering, and morning tea, we had lunch which was sausage rolls and salad. Next (for my group) was orienteering and shelter building. Orienteering was a blast, and shelter building was… a learning experience, in my opinion, but finally, after a long day, dinner finally came.

For dinner we were having Nachos and it was pretty good, but there was a twist. We were having a silent dinner and if you wanted to talk to your friends you had to write it down on a piece of paper with crayons. It was really fun; and funny. After dinner, we had loads of free time before we had a Kaupeka meeting and I used that free time to go swimming. The water was freezing but it was really fun. Once I was done by how cold it was, I went back to hang out with my friends. After everyone was back from the swimming place, we got popsicles and played some observation games before going to bed. Eventually, after talking, we went to sleep. 

Day three. The last day at Waipara. It started by getting up and having breakfast, which was the same as the day before, and packing up before our first activity. Once the bunks were all cleaned and we had a space just in case we had to change for our next activity, we started our 2nd to last activities. Our group was doing faulty towers and I absolutely hated it. I only got up to 8 crates, but that’s ok. Then it was water slide, also one of my favourites. We also had a go on the flying fox which was pretty fun. Once that was over, it was lunch, then home. Lunch was uneventful and it was hotdogs which were yummy. Then we said our goodbyes and I went home with my dad instead of going on the bus. Overall I think camp was the best thing ever and I would totally do it again.