Tramping 101 - An Introduction to Tramping
The ‘Tramping 101’ camp is a camp created to teach year 10 students the very basics of tramping, such as packing your pack, camping, and cooking your meals. The camp is aimed at students who have lesser knowledge of tramping and does an excellent job at providing the students with necessary skills to get them adept enough to confidently go tramping by themselves. This camp provides many beautiful experiences tramping up various routes around the centre of the North Island.
Routes in the camp vary with the first day being the easiest 40-minute to 60-minute walk down a river valley on the first day. This tramp is an optimal pick as it offers to the students what the very basic feel of tramping is and what they can expect moving forward, while also being an easy walk with extraordinary scenery. I found this walk to be extremely useful as a baseline as to what tramping is and how basic it can be without the need for more physically demanding routes. On this day the students set up tents that they were already familiar and confident with as they were shown how to set up the tent at the school before avoiding any mistakes, wasted time and lost students. After setting up the tents students were taught how to use the cooking equipment handed out to them to make their first meals. On this first day all the students brought noodles and it was funny to watch some students struggle to make even that as well as their Milo that was provided by the staff. After dinner, the students were tasked with making a campfire and being shown tips and tricks on various techniques to help a fire stay alive. The lessons about the structure, size, and material of the fuel depending on its location and job in the bonfire proved useful as the students, when tasked to make their own fire, had found great success with one match and got to enjoy a warm fire almost instantaneously.
A lesson I learned from the first night is to always pack extra kit (clothes) as if your only piece gets wet then you will need a backup. Students learned many of these small lessons throughout the camp as we experienced a variety of different types of tramping endeavours, subsequently increasing our repertoire of small tidbits of knowledge based on mistakes we made in each environment. This kind of self-reflection learning method was very useful as every student made their individual mistakes, personal to them, on day one and all learned from them the next day meaning they all learned something that directly impacts them, and not just mundane lessons directed at a general group, which wouldn’t stick with the students. Every student who learned experienced the consequences of the failure themselves and the severity or importance of making sure to follow the lesson.
On the second day we made our first dehydrated breakfast and packed up in order to leave back up the river valley. When at the van again, students were quick to sort out their new kit confidently, knowing what the tramp was like and knowing what proved useful and what didn’t from yesterday’s experience. After sorting their kits, students had lunch and set off to the next track. This next track was an up-mountain route that travels to the peak, with the Rangiwahia hut resting on it. This was the most physically demanding track due to its inclined nature and length. We walked for 2 hours up to the top of the mountain with some funny moments along the way, such as a student tripping and falling on the track, almost falling off in front of a large group of students from another school. This track, although misty on the day, still didn’t fail to provide a miraculous view all throughout, with one of the highlights being a large bridge that passes by a waterfall. I’m sure that the view could have been thousands of times more stunning if it wasn’t for the weather conditions and I plan to revisit this track at a further date to experience its full potential.
During the camp students are provided with a large selection of meals that vary drastically for the students to gauge what meal suits their preferences. On this day, students were provided with an outback dehydrated meal. The meal wasn’t bad but the more fancy meals, Moroccan lamb in my case, were a lot less enjoyable, as opposed to the more simple meals like spaghetti, which you can never go wrong with. The students cooked their meals and had their provided drinks while playing uno on the table. This was enjoyable and brought together the group as a bonding experience. It was nice to spend the day near the huts fireplace keeping you warm.
The next morning we had the same breakfast and packed all our stuff ready for the day ahead. We headed out down the mountain at around quarter past 8 with light showers overhead. We took a nice photo next to the smaller bridge and waterfall near the top of the mountain and continued on our way down. Halfway through the walk, it started raining heavily. We all had a shower from the rain and were absolutely soaked. It was freezing and wet but the group prevailed, taking no breaks and making it straight down the mountain to change into dry clothes and get into the warm van. Luckily the afternoon following the rain and cold walk down Rangiwahia was met with no more tramps as we drove straight into the next campsite. The camp is split into two halves, the first half being the outback sites, and the second half being the more luxurious sites. The site we stayed at was a DOC site with a beautiful, ice-cold, water hole that the students totally had a lot of fun dipping in.
The next day we had the longest day ahead of us as we were going to walk a third of the northern circuit which would take us 7 hours. The walk was blessed with lovely weather, clear skies and some enjoyable heat. We walked through a beautiful landscape with many sites that I would greatly enjoy seeing again. The walk was long and tiring but the views were amazing and rewarding. Once we got back we enjoyed our last day at the camp taking another dip in the waterhole before leaving the next morning.
Overall, the camp was a great experience that has taught me many things. I now have the knowledge to confidently tramp again and the experience to know that I would love to. There were many small, funny and enjoyable moments that brought the group together and allowing everyone to bond. The camp has opened me to the idea of tramping, as well as giving me experience and knowledge to do so, and for that, I am extremely grateful.
