I awoke at around 5am on Friday the 16th of March to my dog licking my face wanting outside.

I jumped out of bed excited about the week ahead. I showered, had my breakfast and rushed around trying to get Mum sorted in time to drop me off to catch the camp bus.

Mum said goodbye and drove off. Mr Roe then approached me and said, “We have no permission slip for you”. I reached for my phone to ring Mum. My phone was not there meaning my eftpos card wasn’t either, goodbye to lunch I thought. An awesome start to my day. I borrowed Jacob's phone to ring Mum, yay, Mum to the rescue! My day could only improve.

We finally headed off, a bus full of eager lads heading off for a week into the wilderness away from the hustle and bustle of city life with no technology. What will we do without Facebook?

A toilet stop in Roxburgh and a stop for lunch in Wanaka then we arrived at our destination.

Upon arrival, we had a nice leisurely walk up the valley with our packs on our backs to the lodge. An amazing feeling to finally be here. The scenery was breathtaking and when the chatter ceased you could hear the birds chirping in the trees. No buses, no cars and no phones beeping. We set up camp and handed in our phones for the week. Rules and guidelines were set for the week ahead.

The weather was kind to us for the first three days so we managed to get a swim in the tropical warm glacial water, kayaking and our overnight tramp. Unfortunately we woke up to torrential rain so a breakfast and packing up camp were, let's just say WET! Walking back from our overnight tramp in the rain was character building to say the least.

The weather for the remainder of the camp was dreadful. Group three were kind enough to get up early and stoke up the fire to keep the campers warm. A warm camper is a happy camper.

Other activities throughout the week included the glowworms, walk to the waterfall, a games tournament night with Jacob and I only just managing to beat Mr Sharp and Ms Phillips in the Indoor Bowls final 7-3 😄.

The food was nothing short of fine dining with some stew thing, mashed spud, pink pork chops (well I think they were pork), mashed spud, corned beef, mashed spud, chicken, oh and did I mention mashed spud and spaghetti bolognaise. The meals were actually pretty good so well done to all the Master Chef’s, including those doing the chores.

My most memorable moment was our pet mouse climbing up the wall in our room. We looked everywhere for him but he was better at hide and seek than us. After setting two traps we put our heads down for the night but awoke to a loud screeching noise. Success!! 

Disappointingly the weather limited our activities but an awesome experience was had by all.

A big thank you to Mr Roe, Mr Sharp, Ms Phillips, our senior helpers and our parents for paying. Without your support this excellent experience would not be possible.