See Year 13 Ben Cisterna-Baeza’s report below:

Year 13 Camp at Tautuku Lodge

What’s up guys? Benjamin Antonio Cisterna-Baeza here. Let me just tell you about the splendid camp that took place this year. It was run by Dr Thompson and other lovely staff members and held at the Tautuku Lodge, in the Catlins from 12-15 August.

What was the camp about?

Well pretty much, a bunch of Year 13s went away for 4 days and participated in many leadership focused team building exercises which were physically and also mentally challenging. These helped with finding which role you would fit - whether you are a lion who takes charge or a golden retriever who just agrees with everything.

During the weekend we participated in many fun activities and from what I know the most popular activity was what the guys call “Slip n Slide.” I won’t tell you much about it because I don’t want to ruin the experience but apart than that, the other main activities that took place were abseiling, kayaking (it was freezing when I had to do it) and the confidence course which some people found challenging.

Another favourite activity was one of the very last ones where everybody walked to the beach late at night when the stars were out and had time to reflect on themselves and who they truly want to be.

It would be my pleasure to say thanks to all the staff who were able to come down in their free time to spend time with some annoying kids and help out with the camp. I’d also like to give a special thanks to the two lovely young ladies - Catherine and Verna - who cooked up the awesome food for us. Camp would not have been the same without them.

I asked a couple of year 13s on what they thought of the camp.

And this is what they had to say…

“It was a life-changing experience, I was forced to really think about myself..” (she trails off her sentence and looks into the distance) - Naomi Jutel

“It was pretty good” - Fletcher NoMoore

“It was very very fun” - Luna Koyama

“My favourite part was Griffin” - Harry Almey

“I don’t know, I didn't go” - Nico Urwin-Baulch

“I will never forget the things I saw and experienced” - Connor Stephenson

Tautuku Camp