“Standing proudly in the back drop of the glittering Lake Tekapo was Aoraki Mt Cook”

Our 12 Geography trip to Aoraki Mt Cook started with an early departure on Sunday the 26th. Travelling in the school van and minivan. We felt excited about the trip we had been anticipating all term. The first portion of the trip had unpleasant weather but, after a quick stop in Geraldine and listening to questionable radio music through the hills, we arrived in Tekapo, warmed by the sun and welcomed by clear blue skies. After seeing our first glimpse of Mt Cook across Lake Tekapo, we searched for a place to get lunch. Some went to the four square while others frantically walked laps of the town in search of a nice cafe before we set off again. After another drive, we reached Glenntanner, our accommodation for the two nights. Later we walked the 3-hour Hooker Valley track. Following some antics we reached the end of the walk. We were able to observe the glacier, the product of glacial transportation and the morrianes we had been studying in class. There was also a lake filled with icebergs and some of the boys ‘rescued’ parts of the icebergs.

We woke up the next day dreading the Red Tarns track. A steady uphill walk of climbing staircases. Our point of the trip was to collect data on vegetation zonation and after a quick tutorial from Matt who works for DoC, we were ready. Unfortunately, my group accidentally left the rest of the class behind and missed 3 data collection sites. We kept climbing the stairs wondering where everyone was. At least we could stop and take a break every minute! The panoramic views of the mountain range at the top were worth the climb. For lunch, we went to the hermitage and my group exhausted the cafe’s supply of cabinet hot chips. The chips were a welcome reward for the walk. We later listened to the DoC presentation about Keas in a room filled with taxidermied animals which were a bit unsettling. Later, a few of us were so tired we resorted to lying down on the information centre floor. The glacial boat ride was cancelled due to weather so we measured and analysed rocks at a river. This was still memorable as we ‘off-roaded’ down a DoC track in our school vehicles and saw a bit more of some of our classmates than we would have liked. My group also realised we had lost our room key. Dinner was a barbeque with sausages and chicken skewers and we ate hoping the boy’s cooking skills wouldn’t give us food poisoning. Glenntanner had lake access and some of us ran down the path in an effort to get sunset pictures. Our initial optimism faded when we realised we had to trek all the way back to the camp. At night our whole class played an impromptu game of spotlight with some girls from Timaru Girls’ High School.

On the third morning, we set off for home. We were met with snow and I’m thankful to Miss Dawson for getting us to and out of Burke’s Pass in those conditions. After all of us went to the Geraldine Subway, it felt like we had singlehandedly carried the local economy! With a long detour in Glenroy and being met with traffic cones blocking the road, the last leg of the journey didn’t want the trip to end.

This school trip was memorable, and I won’t forget it. At times it felt surreal that we were at Mt Cook on a school trip and I’m thankful to the organisers and school for making this trip possible.