Day 1: Tuesday

On Tuesday morning, the students of Rooms 3 and 7 all arrived at school in mufti clothes, much to the envy of the rest of the school! We had our luggage all packed and ready to go. The parents, teachers, and students departed for Ohope beach at about 10:00 am. We arrived at Lake Okataina, which is on the way, around lunchtime. We had lunch there, and walked part way around the lake and back again. After that, everyone jumped back into the cars for the remaining car trip to Ohope. We arrived around 3 o’clock. When we arrived at Ohope Christian Camp, everybody started unpacking and exploring the campground. We went for a short trip to the beach, and we also went for a swim at the Whakatane Aquatics Center. Bedtime was around 9:00.

Day 2: Wednesday

Today, Room 3 went to the High Ropes and Amazing Maze n Maize, and Room 7 went Fishing, Kayaking, and walking over the hills to Shelly Bay. The High Ropes were a lot of fun. Firstly, we stayed on the ground and did some trust exercises and group activities. Then, after lunch, we braved the ropes. They involved climbing up poles, jumping for trapezes, walking across logs in mid air, jumping from platform to platform, jumping across swinging tyres… you get the idea. Of course, these were all supervised by professionals, and we had to wear helmets and harnesses. After all of this, Room 3 trudged on over to the Amazing Maze in Maize. This is, as it implies, a maze in maize. We had to navigate our way through the sweetcorn mazes, to find little snippets of Kiwiana information dotted through the fields. It took forever, with many confused walks around the same area, but my group managed to find most of the asked pictures and questions! We found the exit about 3 times in a row, and this was before we had had enough. Room 7 had fun with their activities too. In the evening, we went to the Whakatane Aquatics Center again.

Day 3: Thursday

This day, Rooms 3 and 7 swapped activities, so now Room 7 was headed to the High Ropes and Maize, and Room 3 was headed for the Fishing, Kayaking, and Walking to Shelly Bay. My group went to Shelly bay first. The walk over there and back was extremely tiring! But it was worth it, for the amazing views, and pretty shells. The next activity was wharf fishing. There was a man there. I guess you could call him a mysterious stranger, because he didn’t say much about himself, apart from that we should call him sir. He made sure that everyone caught at least one fish, rescued us from hungry bees, baited our hooks, and taught us heaps about fishing, which I thought was extremely nice of him. Next was our final activity, kayaking. It was held in the Ohope Beach Harbour. Tiring, because we had to paddle against the strong currents. Painful, because I, along with everyone else, got covered in rashes and windburn. But very fun, because we played ball tag with the kind instructor, Kenny. In the evening, everybody attending camp went over to the Awakeri Hot Pools. The teachers allowed the kids to buy junk food at the shop there, which probably wasn’t such a great idea in my opinion. Everybody went a bit crazy with the sugar!

Day 4: Friday

This was our last day, so we didn’t have enough time to do much, except have breakfast and pack up. On our way back, we stopped at Te Puke, and had lunch there. Since us kids were allowed to spend their money there to buy lunch, most people bought Subway. Including me! We came back to T.A.I at about 2:00 pm.

This camp was a lot of fun, and I think the highlights for me would have been the High Ropes and Amazing Maze in Maize. I would do them again any time!