Yay! Camp! Two weeks ago, Ruru and Korimako went to Woodend Camp for two nights. Korimako in the first half of the week then Ruru went in the second half. Both camps were quite different weather-wise! Both were busy and challenging with so many activities. Have a read of some of the things we got up to!!

GO KARTS
On the tyre-edged track you would put on your helmet and be strapped into the kart as you got safety checks done and instructions on how to use the kart. On your first lap they ask you to go slow to get used to the track, but on your second lap (last lap) you're allowed to go any speed that makes you comfortable. Some students were very cautious but others flew around.

ZIPLINE
The helmet is your one-way ticket to the zipline tower so once you have that on you are allowed to go up the stairs. Once you make it to the top, you can watch the next person go from a better angle. Once they had gone we were helped to clip your harness onto the zipline rope. After that, you will step down to the launching zone which is super high. We had a quick safety check then had to find the courage to step off and fly across to the end where an adult was there to help to unclip you from the zipline.

CLIMBING WALLS
As you might know, climbing walls are quite popular mainly because of climbing businesses such as clip n climb and YMCA adventure centre. At Woodend camp, the climbing wall is around 5 metres high. An adult helped us put our harnesses on. Each climber had a belay team, their job is to keep your rope tight. Abseiling down was so much fun after getting to the top.

THE WALK
After leaving school on Monday on the bus we stopped on the way as we were going to walk the rest of the way. We had morning tea and a drink then started following a gravel path all the trees looked like they were burnt. After what felt like forever we stopped at a playground for a bit then continued on again. Later we stopped for lunch and there we spotted two goats and a pig! After we finished eating we set on the path again this time with only 800 metres to go. We were all so excited as we walked beside the road then spied an entrance up ahead and sure enough, it was camp. Yes, we had made it!

ORIENTEERING
As all the kids got sorted into our camp groups my group was told to go to orienteering. I skipped up the slope towards our camp leader who gave us our map and explained at every post there was a letter of the alphabet and we had to collect them all!! Basically, we would all stick together and if we got lost we had to follow the fence back to the camp. We wandered out of the fence’s protection and into the wild. We were running all over the place. Finding the posts got harder and harder. There were so many mushrooms and trees. After a while, we found all of the posts except two so we started walking across the fence line until a boy in my group tripped over and started bleeding. That’s when we all noticed that we had a lot of scratches too, so we went back to the dining hall and got our scratches tended to. What a great adventure! The next group of orienteering got told to wear long pants.

ARCHERY
As we all gathered we felt excited because today was the day for archery. Then we had to sit down and listen to five minutes of the safety briefing. Finally, we got into the action. I was second to have a turn. My first hit just barely missed the target. My second hit was way off and my third was pretty close. I sat back down in line as I watched all the other kids fire their arrows. Then this boy came and on his first shot he hit not the target but a pinecone hanging from a tree way above it. No one could get it down. I wonder if it’s still there?

AERO JUMP
Yesterday we were told we would be going to go on the aero jump. Everyone said it was a blast. My group was so excited. We all got weighed before going on it. As each person had a turn the rest of us watched them jump and we all called out and encouraged them to do a backflip or a front flip. When it was my turn I did so many backflips it felt like I was floating.

WATERSLIDE
As I waited in line the cold air and the wind was biting us but this was our only chance to get a go on the waterslide. Quite a few people only went once or twice as when they slid down they flew off the mat at the end because the slide was a tiny bit too short and we were going so fast. When it came to my turn I slipped down as fast as the wind and scraped my butt at the end. It hurt so I only went down once.

TALENT SHOW
Korimako’s talent show took place on the second night of camp. At least five different student groups were competing. Talents shown were dancing, a special worm race, miming and gymnastics. First up were the teachers. One of them was a librarian and another was a chicken. Each day the chicken went to the library and would say “book” on the second day he said “book book.” On the third day, he said “book book book” The librarian wondered where and what the chicken was doing with the books so on day four he decided to follow the chicken the chicken came in and said book book book book book book so the librarian gave the chicken all the books then he followed the chicken and he ended up at a pound when he saw the chicken with a frog. The frog said: redit rrrreediit. We all found this skit hilarious.

NINE SQUARE IN THE AIR
For nine square in the air you need between 3-9 players or more and a ball. You spread between the squares and the person in the middle is the king or queen. Once the game starts if you throw the ball and it hits the pole or you don’t catch you move all the way back to square number one. Children at camp really enjoyed playing this game but so did the parents and teachers who joined in too.

AIR RIFLES
At the air rifle range, we all had to wear safety glasses and make sure the gun was pointing down. After we had followed those two steps, we put the bullet in with the pointy side pointing downwards. We aimed and then tried to shoot one of the metal ducks. We really enjoyed learning how to use the air rifles and we are very thankful for the adults helping.

RURU’S GOT TALENT
And now finally on the last night, we had Ruru’s Got Talent. Children got to choose if they wanted to perform their talent or not. We had: comedy, magic shows, singing, dancing and lots more. Ruru’s judges chose a winner out of the top five talents, and first place went to: Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Afterwards, Ruru had a dance party, and then after a massive day, we all headed off to bed.

Both camps were slightly different but with so many activities there was something that everyone enjoyed and so many different things to try. Both studios had a great time, challenging themselves and getting to know each other better. Thank you to our amazing teachers and parent helpers.