Camp Wakarara… My 4 Days in the New Zealand Bush with the Kauri Syndicate

In my first email communication with Emma she extended the offer for me to attend school camp. My philosophy of this trip has been to experience it all so without hesitation I said – “Sure! Absolutely! I would love to!” (Don’t worry – there was A LOT of hesitation in the weeks to come…)

Heretaunga Intermediate has 4 Syndicates (groups/teams of classes). Each Syndicate spends a week at camp – leaving school on a bus early Tuesday morning and arriving back at school around 3 pm on Friday. That calculates to 3 nights and 4 days in the NZ bush. The Kauri Syndicate (Room 2 – my first classroom I worked in, Room 3 – Taryn’s classroom where I spent 3 days, and Room 6 – Emma’s classroom) was the last group to go so I endured four weeks of hearing horror stories of the freezing weather conditions, pouring down rain leading to everything being soaked, and even some snow. Needless to say – and anyone who talked with me before my camp adventures – I was terrified. To top it all off – Emma kept saying “You are going to hate me when we get back from camp.” Perfect.

Tuesday morning we arrived at school ready to rock and roll. I borrowed some thermals and a waterproof jacket from Aimee (another teacher), a sleeping bag and wool singlet from Emma’s mom, and a wool hat and socks from Angela (Emma’s sister). I would be a chaperone for Room 6 – Emma’s classroom. We loaded the bus with Room 3 and traveled to the Central Hawkes Bay Settlers Museum in Waipawa. The students had a scavenger hunt to complete, which I was supposed to assist them with. Lucky for my group I knew very little and was instead learning along with them. We had morning tea at the local park before continuing our travels to Camp Wakarara. From my perspective – we were just driving farther and farther into the depths of the NZ bush.

Upon arrival at the camp Room 3 and Room 6 took responsibility for putting up 13 tents. As a parent chaperone Room 6 was looking to me for insight support on putting up a tent. Fake it till you make it right? Because I have put up LOTS of tents in my life – being to camping lover that I am.  Good news is that no one’s tent fell down, no one got hypothermia, and no one gotten eaten by wild animals (oh wait, there are no wild animals in the NZ bush).

Tents on Wednesday Morning - frost and all :)

 We spent Tuesday afternoon onsite at camp. The groups rotated through 3 stations – the horizontal bungee, the Challenge Course, and the Compass Course. The previous week I was responsibly for teaching Room 3 and Room 6 how to use a compass in preparation for the Swamp Track (more to come about THAT adventure). My favorite part of this lesson was when Taryn and I asked Room 3 which way was North and half of the class pointed up. (I quickly realized that I was quite disoriented in the South Hemisphere and had no idea which way was actually North – but I did know that it was not up.) I taught the Compass Course as the students fine-tuned their compass skills.

The horizontal bungee was the most entertaining. A chain was wrapped around a large tree trunk – a bungee cord was hooked to the chain and hooked to a rope secured around your waist. We wore a helmet (just for good looks??), but probably in case you slammed into the tree. Emma stood far down the lane holding out lollies (candy) and the students walk/ran as far as they could to get the prize. The bungee only went so far and you were eventually dragged back to the tree stump. It is like the blow-up versions we see in the States – only this version you have hard ground that you are dragged back on.

Emma (Miss Davis) taunting Jade with a lollie
on the Horizontal Bungee

Emma taking on the challenge with Hayley

Yours truly was given no choice but to try

Zavier and Dujuanna

Challenge Course with Miss O'Donoghue

Eden was all decked out in America gear
which warranted a picture

My Room 6 students HATED having their picture taken,
but I made them get over that pretty quickly...

I missed the evening activities when a student from Room 6 fell while collecting firewood and had a deep gash in the fleshy part of this right knee. As the First Aid representative for Room 6 I got to partake in the 3-hour trip to get stitches and return the student safely back home. It was an interesting look into medical care in NZ – quite different than the States, but not something I will bore you with in a blog post.

Tuesday night was the coldest of the nights. I settled in to my top bunk in the cabin with Taryn, Emma, and Casey wearing approximately seven layers on my top half, three layers on my bottom half, gloves, and a hat. Bring it on NZ bush in the winter.