At the end of Term 1, Community One was getting ready to head away to their school camp, but then Covid had an outbreak and the camp had to be postponed until later in the year. So instead of having their camp in Term 1, they waited all year to experience this highlight of the year for our senior students and their last camp experience at Primary School.

On the morning of Wednesday 23rd November, there was much excitement in Community One as the camp had finally arrived. We loaded up the cars and prepared for our drive to Arthur's Pass. After first stopping in Springfield at the famous donut to play in the playground and have morning tea, we were back in the cars and headed for Castle Hill where the sun was shining. We did a short walk and climbed the rocks before heading back into the cars for the last part of the journey to reach our destination. As we arrived in Arthur's Pass the weather changed and rain set in for the next two days so we had to put on our wet weather gear as we headed out on our activitites.

Highlights of our camp experience -

Day one: We arrived at camp and met Alex our guide before heading up to Devil's Punchbowl waterfall and finished with river crossing where the water was icy cold. We had thunder, lightning and heavy rain so it was inside games, a dance party, a talent show, inside hide n seek, and an inside spotlight.

Day two: We hiked up Bealey Spur for our half-day hike, this tested some of the kids but it was worth it in the end for the beautiful view. The weather this day was very cold so we wrapped up warm. In the afternoon we took part in the sensory trail then some of the kids braved the freezing water and went for a plunge at the bottom of the waterfall where we were staying. The temperature was freezing but the rain had stopped so we were able to play outside for a while, then it was back inside to get warm and play more hide n go seek and inside spotlight.

Day three: There were some very tired kids so it was a slow start once they finally woke up. They packed their gear before we went out orienteering then headed back to camp for lunch before driving home via the Viaduct and stopping in Darfield for ice cream. It was a stunning day and the kids enjoyed jumping on the rocks while at Castle Hill.

EOTC experiences are not possible without the support of parents who give up their time to come with us on these trips. Thank you to Ant, Phil, Tracey, Vikki, Libby, and Emma who came with us to the camp.