Good weather in Term 1 and the school holiday break offered an opportunity for students at all levels to don packs and head into the outdoors. With support from Andrew Smythe (Bushworks NZ), in a teaching and supervisory role, students completed both trainings and adventurous journeys.

Niamh Maxwell (11ST) completed her Bronze practise journey, two days and one night out in the Nina Valley. Bonnie Maxwell (13HW) completed both her Gold practise journey and her qualifying journey, covering three nights in huts or tents and four full days tramping. The practice tramp covered the St James walkway in North Canterbury. The qualifier was an arduous climb over the Harper Pass, finishing in the Taramakau Valley. Sophie Madsen, Riccarton’s head girl from 2015, joined Bonnie for this, and she has now completed her Gold award.

Vanessa Ye (11WA)and Francesca Zhang (11BU) completed their Silver adventurous journey practice with a combined Burnside High / Riccarton High tramp over the Cass Lagoon Saddle. Before that, both girls joined with Erica Chung (11WA) to complete their training at Drachophyllum Flat, North Canterbury.

It is great to see more students turning up to G5 on Monday lunchtimes, to log their activities and plan tramps, and just to have a general catch up of how their activities are going. It is an individual challenge, so it’s awesome to see these students shouldering responsibilities and remaining enthusiastic. Well done!