The final group of Year 9 Adventure students embarked on their overnight tramp. In a collaborative piece of work, Lucas, Cody, Jarvis, Tay, and Jake tell us what happened.

Our Year 9 Adventure class spent Term 4 preparing for our overnight tramp. During the term we learnt how to read a map, what clothes to wear in the outdoors, say a karakia, and about the Māori Atua. Our tramp was to Turere Lodge in the Orongorongo Valley.

On the morning of the trip we started by getting ready in the gym and checking our packs, then we went outside and got in two minivans. After a 45 minute drive we got to the start of the walk, and after a toilet break and an introduction we set off.

On the track we spent a while walking, it was fun, exhausting and there weren't too many hills.  The flat parts were our favourite! But one of the fun things we did was telling Mãori stories - at certain parts we taught each other about the separation, maui, tangaroa, punga and tane mahuta.

Just before the hut we walked up the river bed of Orongorongo River, it was really hot and it felt nice feeling the cold water on our feet and legs. The boys were noisy like always. We walked for about 20 minutes along the river bed and got to have a swim in the spot right under the hut. After a swim we climbed the cliff to the hut.

At the hut we all got comfortable in our bunks and had some time to unpack. A few hours after we got settled we went back down to the river and went for a second swim.  After dinner once the sun went down we played sardines and spotlight and card games like spoons.

We had to cook our meals. We were in different groups with different people. My group had sausages and spaghetti for dinner and bacon,sausage,toast and spaghetti for breakfast. Others made mince on toast, burgers, or pasta. There were some master chefs and some not so much.

The next day we got up early but we were quiet so that we didn't have to do things too early. After breakfast we got ready to begin our tramp back to the vans, we were glad to arrive back at the vans, and even more glad to get home have a shower, change clothes and sleep in our beds.