On Monday, the 25th of November, 26 boys in Year 10 left for camp in Castlepoint. When we arrived, the weather was great. Some of the boys were shocked by the heat since Palmy is never that hot. We unloaded the vans and set up our tents. Most boys had an easy time setting up, though some needed the teachers’ help.

We were all eager to get in the water and had plenty of time, so we put on our wetsuits and went surfing. Many of us had never surfed before, so we were just riding the whitewater. It was so cold, but we all enjoyed it. Then we returned and had burger patties and sausages for dinner. It was quite windy, so some tents and a couple of pegs came loose by the end of the night, including mine.

On Tuesday, we surfed in the morning in perfect weather with really nice waves. We didn’t surf for too long because we had other plans for the day. We walked down to the gap and saw how big the waves were there. We also spotted a few seals and got the chance to get up close and personal with one that ended up charging at us. We then walked up to the lighthouse and reached the top, where the view was breathtaking. We went back to camp, had another surf, and then dinner. It was a good sleep due to the lack of wind at night.

On Wednesday, we looked out onto the ocean and saw huge, clean waves that weren’t dumpy, so we all wanted to chase those waves. We surfed twice on Wednesday, and it was by far the best day for surfing. We then went back for dinner, and because we used the dairy so much, they shouted us all L&P for dinner. We had another windless sleep.

We woke up on Thursday knowing it was going to be a very windy day, as we had been told all week. It was way too windy to surf, so we went on a walk up a mountain to another incredible view. Then chaos ensued when the wind picked up even more, and tents started breaking. It was fun watching everyone rush to take their tents down. In the end, only one tent was left standing, and everyone else slept in vans or in the kitchen.

On Friday, we packed up quickly and got on the road to Masterton. We stopped at the pools for lunch. We were all so tired that we barely talked on the way home. Overall, the Surf Wairarapa camp experience was one of the best and most exciting of my life.

By Max Bradnock