A small but enthusiastic group of 10Y students assembled at school last Monday ready for their school camp at Mt Aspiring.

For the first time we had elected to use minivans as our mode of transport – a fortuitous decision, as it turned out to be a lot more reliable than a commercial bus service.

One of the main benefits of minivan transport is being able to convey everyone right up to our bridge and save on 5km of walking in. This meant we had all our gear safely indoors before the forecast rain set in later that afternoon.

The rain continued steadily on Tuesday, so sports tournaments and other indoor challenges kept the boys amused. The odd break in the weather allowed us to venture out to check river levels and admire the growing number of waterfalls.

Wednesday was hangi day. This was a first for the Lodge, and a lot of organisation had gone in to making sure we had all that we needed – hessian sacks donated by Allpress Roastery, stainless steel food baskets from Rietvelds, basalt rocks from Blackhead beach, etc. It was a whole day and whole class activity - one group dug the pit, another tended the fire, another prepared the vegetables, and several boys took turns on duty making sure no steam was escaping from our earth oven. An expectant crowd gathered around to inspect the goods after a solid 3+ hours underground, unfortunately requiring a little more of a wait as we had to finish the pork off on the gas to ensure it was thoroughly cooked. All agreed afterwards that it was a delicious meal and with a few tweaks we believe we could improve the process next time.

Our first fine day arrived on Thursday and we set off for a day walk to the Rob Roy glacier. Van trouble thwarted our plan however and we had to settle for a shorter walk to Wishbone Falls followed by some creek damming and diversion. In preparation for an overnight camp-out, each group had to choose a suitable site, then following instruction on tent pitching and cooker usage, set out to prove they could be totally self-reliant for the night. This turned out to be a valuable learning opportunity for all.

The fine weather continued into Friday, and we made the most of it by getting all the boys through a kayaking session under the expert tuition of Mr Thomas. Several took the opportunity to enjoy a swim, many of these during the kayaking activity.

Packing up on Saturday morning was done very efficiently, and we were out at Aspinall’s gateway in good time ready for our bus pick-up. Unbeknown to us however, our bus hadn’t arrived at school that morning and by the time a replacement was sorted we were well behind schedule.

A cooperative effort from the boys and a fine team of staff made this a successful camp. I hope the boys will carry these memories and apply their new skills in their future endeavours.