As a part of the requirements for each level of the Duke of Edinburgh Award, students need to have an adventure. Student Zoe Petersen runs through their excursion.

This year we did a combined silver and gold award cycle trip over four days - our Bronze adventure had been a tramp previously. 

On the first day of the trip, we all met up at school at 8.00 am, bringing with us our backpacks, bikes, and lots of excitement. We got our bikes strapped into the trailer, loaded our gear into the van, and buckled in for the long drive from Upper Hutt to Pureora, on the Western side of Lake Taupō, where our biking journey would begin. Six and a half hours later we arrived in Pureora.

There were eleven off us on the trip and we all formed a pretty tight group. They were Violette Billington, Jasmine and Lily Candy, Mr Carew, Mr Murden, Mrs Murden, Mrs Sayers, Kale Trueman, Eli Urwin, and Angus Williams.

The village, if it could even be called that, consisted of a few DOC houses, lots of trees, and a long road that in fact did not lead to the campsite as we had thought. 

When we finally made our way back to the campsite after a small detour, we all set to work claiming the flattest spots and pitching our tents. 

Branches were scavenged from the wood to light a fire, which we all gathered around to enjoy some warmth, food, and good company.

The next morning we woke early, buzzing with excitement about the day to come. After we had eaten breakfast and packed up the tents, we headed off to begin the Timber Trail. The first 12km of the trail was a gentle uphill climb travelling through beautiful bush, but by the time we reached the top of the climb, I think I can speak for the rest of the group and say that we were relieved to have some downhill riding up ahead.

After a few kilometres of downhill we crossed the first swing bridge of the day and stopped to eat lunch at a picnic table on the other side. Not long after settling down to eat our food, Mr Carew turned up, very impressively having driven the van with all our gear to Piropiro (the next stop on the trip), and then biked up the entire downhill section to meet us at the top. And then as if that hadn’t been hard enough, he wanted to just ‘pop to the top’ of the hill that we had just biked down! From then on Mr Carew was given the nickname Werac (which is Carew backwards) since he was doing the Timber Trail backwards. (Love that! .. JT the Ed)

Throughout the rest of the trip everyone else was given nicknames too. For example, Violette was Mountain Goat, or MG for short, Jasmine was Neon with her brightly coloured helmet and bike, Kale was Capsize Kale, a nickname he earned from the kayak trip last year, and Angus was Tank since he’s very interested in all things army.

The rest of the day passed by with lots of downhill track, and before we knew it we had arrived at Piropiro campsite. While most of us set to work getting our tents set up on the simple grassy campsite, Mr Murden and Jodie (Mrs Murden) headed up to the lodge where they would be staying the night with a proper cooked dinner and actual beds. Initially, I think we were all quite jealous, but we were quickly won over when they brought us pizzas and fresh clean water from the lodge!

The next day of biking once started with a harsh uphill climb, before settling into a mix of uphill and downhill. As we got further along, the scenery started to change as we rode along the old tram track. The path became slightly less steep, instead winding around the hill to create a gradual incline, and there were many times when rock on either side of the track had been carved out to allow the track to pass straight through.

About 25 kilometres in, we finally stopped for lunch on a picnic bench looking out over a spectacular view of the hill below. It was at this point that Mr Carew caught up to us, having climbed uphill almost the entire way to reach us! Luckily for the rest of us, this meant that the rest of the ride would be smooth sailing. By the time we arrived at the campsite, everyone was tired, hot, and possibly a little sunburnt (some more than others!) after a long day of biking in the sun. We set up our tents, and then took in the campsite, revelling in the luxury of having a flushing toilet!

The final day of our trip was definitely the easiest ride, despite the fact that I think everyone was sore after having already done two days of biking. We followed a gravel back road from Ongarue, where the campsite had been, to Taumaranui, where Mr Murden and Ms Sayers would meet us with the van. The road was fairly steep in places, but for every uphill, there was a downhill just as steep, giving our legs a nice reprieve. The time passed quickly, and before we knew it we had arrived in Taumaranui and were loading our bikes into the trailer, ready to make the six hour drive home.

Overall it was an amazing bike trip, and despite all the challenges, I think we were all very proud of what we had accomplished.