Our annual Year 6 camp to the Thames is always fun filled. With bags packed, hive of excitement and a few nerves, our boy’s headed off to Kauaeranga Valley, a mecca for adventure, challenge, and fun.
Once the boys had settled in their dormitories, there was little time for reflection as they were literally ‘catapulted’ into a range of adrenaline filled activities. There was hardly time to catch their breaths as they rotated around different pursuits such as kayaking, rifle shooting and archery.
Throughout the week the boys prepared for, and undertook, one of the highlights of the Year 6 camp – the walk up the Pinnacles. The hike being an integral part of the experience where teamwork, resilience and stamina were tested to the limit as the boys completed the challenge up and down in one day. The boys walked for over 4 strenuous hours.
This year, instead of staying overnight in the DOC hut, the boys were treated to a return to the base camp and a night’s stay at the newly built Summer Village. Under the gaze of the stars, the boys helped to light a campfire, toasted marshmallows, enjoyed torchlight games with the evening rounded off with a night under canvas.
The final days of camp involved refreshing dips in the local river, whizzing down the water slide and an all action ‘cross games’. Happy memories were made and there were many heavy eyelids on the bus trip back to school at the end of the week.
Some of our Year 6 boys had this to say about their experience….
“I really enjoyed the waterslide even though it was raining heavily. There enjoyed the new experiences like air rifles and archery.” Noah Hammond
“I liked whizzing down the zipline and around the go-kart track, throwing axes, doing ‘trust falls’ and the movie night.” Olly George
“The Year 6 camp had many thrilling rides and blistering challenges. For example the go-karts were tremendous, and the hike was harsh, humid, and wet but they were all worthwhile experiences. A quick tip, beware of cockroaches if you are ever sleeping in the Summer Village.” Cole Pearson
“The part of camp I enjoyed most was kayaking because I’ve only been kayaking twice in my life. I went ahead and made the most of it. The part of camp that was most challenging was surviving the millions of bites on my legs and fighting back the feeling of being homesick.” Andrew Wen
“When I went to camp, I really liked paint ball because we could practice shooting moving targets that shot back, and you could hide behind tyres so you wouldn’t get hit. I got home sick, I missed my dog and my dad a lot but I got through it in the end and enjoyed my time at camp.” Nicholas Fail
“My favourite activity at camp was the treacherous hike up the Pinnacles. I loved the lush native forest and bush all the way up and it was cool to hang out with all my friends. The biggest challenge for me was the food but I had them anyway because I knew I needed all the energy I could get.” Christian Buchanan
