Year 7 & 8 May 9th - 13th

Monday, May 9th dawned a little damp as 66 excited Year 8 students headed off to Wainui for their much awaited three day camp. The bus dropped them at Tikao Bay and they completed a 2½ hour ‘tramp to camp’, up and over farmland and into the Wainui YMCA Camp. Luckily the skies cleared a little and there was a spectacular view to distract everyone from the steep climb up and the muddy sections on the way down. 

Although it rained off and on for the Year 8’s, the students did not complain and got stuck into their activities with determination and enthusiasm. Both camps enjoyed the same variety of activities although the Year 7 students did not get to do the ‘tramp to camp’ due to the increased wetness of the track and mud. An alternative activity was held for them in the hall.

The students enjoyed all of the activities on offer:

Orienteering: Lots of map reading skills to find the various orienteering markers located far and wide around the site.

Search and Rescue: The students learnt how a real search and rescue operation for a missing person would be done. They had to locate a missing person ‘Bob’, give first aid and extract him to a given point.

High Ropes: This was a real adventure and challenge for lots of the year 7 and 8 students. Trust, co-operation, responsibility and communication were the key skills. They were amazing at encouraging and coaching each other to try to go a little bit higher.

Adventure Based Learning: This was a fun session where the students got to test out their team building skills to complete a variety of activities. From crossing the Lava Pit, to transporting a marble along man small tubes to tying themselves in a knot. It was loads of fun for everyone.

Flying Fox: This was based at the top of the valley and students enjoyed an exhilarating and fun ride as they sped down past the trees. An extra challenge was thrown in for some to drop an item into a hoop as they sped past a certain point.

Mystery Activity: This was an A-Z scavenger hunt to find 26 natural items beginning with a different letter of the alphabet. Students were in groups to do this and then had to use these items to create a sculpture with an EOTC theme. They were very creative.

Wide Game: On the last day the instructors ran a ‘wide-game’ for both groups which involved stealing gems from one side of the large camp area ‘Mexico’ and getting them back to the other side without being tagged by the willing parents and instructors. The students had the best time ever playing this game which required them touching base at each border.

In the evenings the students also enjoyed many fun games of spotlight and the Year 7 students had a spectacular fashion show. They came in after the year 8’s on Wednesday and stayed until Friday. Although Covid came to visit on the last day of their camp, the sun was shining every day and they took part with lots of positive energy.

A huge shout out to all the parents who helped out at camp. You were all amazing and we just loved the way you lead the various activities adding your own little twists to each one. The best by far was the effort you all went to in the Search and Rescue activity. The narrative for ‘Bob’ seemed to get better with each group. Ka Pai - we loved your willingness to step up and make us feel like no job was too big an ask.