Boy's School Year 8 Camp

With thanks to Director of Sport, Mr Duncan Grant and student reporter, Tom Langwell

It was a stroke of luck for the Year 8 boys that they set off for their camp at the Hillary Outdoors Education Centre in National Park just hours before Auckland was placed in the snap ‘Valentine’s Day Level 3 Lockdown.’ As the rest of the country was placed in Level 2, and the boys had already left Auckland prior to the announcement, they were safely able to continue with their adventure ‘down the mountain.’ It wasn’t so lucky for the Year 7 boys who had been due to leave the following morning for Whangarei Heads. Disappointingly, despite being ready and packed, their camp has been put on hold until a new date can be confirmed.

The Year 8 boys were full of excitement for a camp designed to challenge them, both individually and as a team, in New Zealand’s great outdoors. Before leaving, the boys had been split into fourteen groups of nine or ten boys, with the groups being chosen ‘at random.’ Each group needed to work collaboratively, as they would be sleeping, eating and completing all activities together, providing an abundance of opportunities to develop interpersonal skills and make new friends.

On arrival the groups were split over three sites. The main Youth Development Centre, and ten minutes down the road, the Leadership Development Centre and Taurewa lodge. On the first day, each group was met by their instructor, with each group also having a parent/teacher in support.

And so the adventures began! Throughout the week, the boys experienced some amazing outdoor activities that challenged the abilities of every student that attended. They went through the Okupapa Caves where they saw glow worms and worked their bodies through gaps with names such as ‘the corkscrew’ and ‘the letter box.’ There was abseiling and rock climbing of various heights and difficulties all around the local area, and a zip line that ran from the old Ministry of Works buildings, zipping high above the old road and into the valley at intense speeds. The high ropes challenged everyone, as did water based activities on the Tongariro hydro scheme, bridge jumping, and bush walking, where the boys learnt navigation skills. Just so many adventures and highlights for the boys!

The pinnacle of the week was the overnight expedition. The boys had to ready themselves for all conditions and carry everything that they required for the trip. Some groups camped on the side of Mount Ruapehu, others camped by the caves and some camped deep in the bush. It was true outdoors experience for all and it was thoroughly enjoyed.

A camp like this is designed to challenge the boys to achieve things beyond what they thought was within their capability.  Over the course of a week, they were faced with the full range of conditions that a mountainous region could throw at them, from rain to extreme high winds to brilliant sunshine. Added to their adventures, this made for a week that the boys would never forget.

Our sincere thanks to the Hillary Outdoor staff, Boys’ School staff and the accompanying parents who made this experience so enjoyable for the boys.

The last word goes to Year 8 student, Tom Langwell who reports on his experience:

On Sunday the 14th of February, all of the Year 8s said their last goodbyes to their parents before they lined up for the final briefing. Packs on backs, it was time to head off and load the buses ready for the 5-and-a-half-hour drive…

As we arrived at camp, we were greeted by the friendly Hillary Outdoors team who led us to our different lodges to stay the night. By 8pm, some of us were ready to go to sleep for the night, but the excitement of the first night at camp made it a bit hard to get to sleep. 

When everyone had woken up at 7:20am, we all had breakfast and then went to our group instructors to find out what the plan was for the day, my group’s first main activity was a bushwhack up a hill, which was tough but I thoroughly enjoyed the excitement of being in the wild and having to push all the trees out of the way… it didn’t even matter if we slipped. 

Then on the next day we were greeted by 200 kph winds which scrapped our plan of going up Mt Ruapehu, so instead we did the high ropes course then caving. In the caves we saw glow worms and we had to squeeze through tight gaps that even the smallest person in our group struggled to get through! Then we came back to camp to hear that that the wind destroyed our power lines, so we had no power.

On Wednesday we had our overnight hike which was up on Mt Ruapehu but our first activity was rock climbing up Meads Wall and then we did the 2km hike to our campsite. 

On Thursday, we had to do a two and a half hour walk through a river which was just above freezing level with many obstacles along the way. We even had to abseil one part. When we got back, we went straight to the drying room to dry our clothes then settled down for the night.

Then on Friday we sadly had to go home. 

This camp was my favourite camp that I have ever done at saint Kentigern’s Boys’ School and I wish the best of luck to everyone who goes on it in the future.