18 students from Halfmoon Bay, Makuri, Ngamatapouri & Tapora schools met in Wellington for the Rural & Remote Schools camp. This is the Rural kids 6th camp!

Monday

Monday was the first day of camp which meant everyone was very nervous. We all arrived at the Hotel Waterloo and met Rachel Whalley who was giving us our room cards. We dragged our bags up to our rooms and then went down to the common room to meet some of the other students. Once everyone had settled in we met in the common room where Mr Grimmer was giving us the rules of our first activity, a Scavenger Hunt. Once everyone knew the rules we then split up into 6 groups and began the hunt along the Wellington waterfront.

At the end of the Scavenger Hunt we went to Enigma Cafe and found our table. We had already pre-ordered our food so they knew what we were having. Once we finished our tea we went to a very attractive place to do Ten Pin bowling. 

Tuesday

On Tuesday Room 407 was on breakfast duty which meant they had to get up a lot earlier than the others. The first place we went to was the train station right across the hotel. We met one of the teachers there and waited for our train. The train we caught went all the way to Porirua. We stopped around 5 times on the way to pick up other passengers. Once we got there we caught a bus to Okowiki road which was right next to Aotea college. 

We walked down a long driveway and saw a very interesting obstacle course spread out on trees. We had just made it to the bottom where we met the person who would be helping us. Before we could start we were all given a harness and put it on. Once we were all secure we went on a tiny zipline to get the hang of things. We had then split into groups depending on what speed we wanted to go. Adrenalin Forest had 6 different levels but the highest anyone in our group went was level 4. 

We all got down to have a little snack and then began our walk to the Police Museum. Once we got to the museum we met a very nice police officer who was one of the teachers for the police college's Pacifica class. We talked about the different jobs police officers have and how long training takes. After a while the police officer had to leave so one of the ladies who worked at the museum took over. We all split up into two different groups. We could either solve a case first or create fingerprints. 

Once each group got to do both activities it was time to leave so we made our way to dinner at the Chinese Dynasty restaurant. On the walk to the restaurant we went over a bridge and saw a line of trolleys in the water. We had made it to the restaurant and sat down at our table. Once we were all finished eating we were all tired so we caught the bus back to the train station. We had arrived a bit earlier than the train so decided to have a race. We all found a buddy and raced them down the ramp and then back up the stairs to touch the snapper machine. By the time everyone had a race the train had arrived so we all hopped on and went back to the hotel for a good night's sleep!

Wednesday

On Wednesday everyone had to be dressed to impress because this was the day we went to the National Library and The Beehive. We all met in the lobby and counted off before we departed. Once we arrived we realised we were the first ones there. After a short wait we were allowed inside and met two very nice ladies who were going to be our tour guides. During our lesson we were able to see the real Woman’s Suffrage petition and Te Tiriti o Waitangi. We then had a little talk about our futures and matched important events to their timelines. 

We then had a little bit of morning tea and headed out to Parliament. Once we entered the gates we met our other tour guide who then showed us the way inside, but before we could enter we had to go through a metal detector and put our carry-ons away. 

In the evening we went to the night market and had delicious kai! After that we walked to the night Parliament and watched a live debate. Once we saw the first debate we made our way back to the hotel to have a good nights sleep!

Thursday

Today we did a ferry crossing to Eastbourne. On one of the seats it was supposed to say “do not stand on seats” but instead said Ant on seats! We then went to the Defence Force careers, then caught the train back to Wellington. We then went to Te Papa followed by Croc Bikes, we went climbing and for dinner we had pizza, afterwards we went for a ride on the cable car.

Friday

Friday we had an eventful last day at Wellington. In the morning we went to Capital E and filmed our amazing mock up live report of an alien invasion. Then we had a break before going to Weta Workshop. 

At Weta Workshop we got to see movie props such as swords, hammers and costume pieces. We got to touch the costume pieces and they were all very realistic. 

Next stop was shopping, we walked up and down Cuba Street looking at the shops. After the shopping experience we all went to Mongolian BBQ for dinner after Mongolian BBQ we all went to Time Zone.

Saturday

We had to say goodbye to our friends. Some of us went out to the airport early for the long flights home. Thanks for the memories!

Students presentations:

Melody

Briana

Jasmine