Day 3: piripcave, water falls and a natural bridge.

Final day.

We woke at 630, had breakfast and were rushed to pack our bags and empty the tents before heading out.

We started at piripiri cave which was awesome to see, even if we couldn't go down very far. 

After that we went to the waterfall. This was amazing! Huge waterfalls and lots of water and offspray. We snuck our way down to the water side through mud, many of us sliding on our bums, to touch the water and get an even more awesome view. Plus some photos of course. This left is very muddy which didn't please the adults as we scrambled back into the cars.

We then ventured on to the natural bridge where we had morning tea and meet up with the other group. 

The natural bridge was another outstanding experience. With rock at Both sides as well as above us. The view looking through was pretty great too. We followed that up with a walk through a karst rock field. All the students were quick to climb as high as they could. 

It was then time to head back to the tent site, do a final pack up and leave one last time. Hopefully we didn't forget anything.

Lunch consisted of left over sausages, buns and a whole heap of baking. We were accompanied by the other group and many wasps (luckily no one got stung). 

When lunch was finished it was time to leave and we quickly packed up and headed to the big apple, also known as the icecream shop just outside of otorahanga(apologies for the spelling).

We all got huge ice creams, ate them and headed home.

A huge thank you to our super fabulous parent helpers who made the camp such an amazing experience-we couldn't have done it without you. 

I hope you all have a nice relaxing weekend, sleeping off all that excess food. 

See you Monday at school for the final week before holidays! 

Day 3: piripcave, water falls and a natural bridge.

Final day.

We woke at 630, had breakfast and were rushed to pack our bags and empty the tents before heading out.

We started at piripiri cave which was awesome to see, even if we couldn't go down very far. 

After that we went to the waterfall. This was amazing! Huge waterfalls and lots of water and offspray. We snuck our way down to the water side through mud, many of us sliding on our bums, to touch the water and get an even more awesome view. Plus some photos of course. This left is very muddy which didn't please the adults as we scrambled back into the cars.

We then ventured on to the natural bridge where we had morning tea and meet up with the other group. 

The natural bridge was another outstanding experience. With rock at Both sides as well as above us. The view looking through was pretty great too. We followed that up with a walk through a karst rock field. All the students were quick to climb as high as they could. 

It was then time to head back to the tent site, do a final pack up and leave one last time. Hopefully we didn't forget anything.

Lunch consisted of left over sausages, buns and a whole heap of baking. We were accompanied by the other group and many wasps (luckily no one got stung). 

When lunch was finished it was time to leave and we quickly packed up and headed to the big apple, also known as the icecream shop just outside of otorahanga(apologies for the spelling).

We all got huge ice creams, ate them and headed home.

A huge thank you to our super fabulous parent helpers who made the camp such an amazing experience-we couldn't have done it without you. 

I hope you all have a nice relaxing weekend, sleeping off all that excess food. 

See you Monday at school for the final week before holidays! 

Day 2: downstream river caving and mini quest

Today we've had a busy day. After moans and groans at 630am we had breakfast and sped off to black water rafting co to start our adventures. 

Unfortunately no photos from these activities as lots of mud and water was involved. 

During the mini quest we had students, parents, teachers and instructors all in water, swinging off trees and attempting to tightrope walk over rivers. 

In the cave we saw wetas and squeezed our way through small spaces(with many whimpers and a few tears)-the adults obviously struggling a lot more than most students. 

We followed this all up with a swim and spa at our luxury accommodation.

We are now watching our own cooking show staring Reuben and Wayne before dinner and activities tonight.

No sign of rain yet!

See you all at school 330pm tomorrow!

After dinner Steve hired some little carts. We had a blast driving them, attempting to steer away from tents, down the hill. 

This was followed by a torch light scavenger hunt, and some games of spotlight. 

Yet again we all fell asleep and were silent by 930. This may have been due to our exhaustion from the days activities or a after-effect of the multiple servings of ice cream we had for dessert. 

Another huge day tomorrow

Day 1: glow worm caves and Ruakuri walk

Today our new horizon started!

We left school at 730am and after a quick pit stop, many road works and a lot of backseat singing we arrived.

Our accommodation, to our glee, has a pool, spa, playground and trampoline as well as BBQs and a large field for us to run around.

We started off at the amazing glow worm cave where we took a boat ride and saw billions of shining glow worms. We then had a chance to learn about glow worms and the uniqueness of caves at the discovery centre. 

As you can see in the photos, we also had a practice run in squeezes and got to learn through some interactive displays.

After we went( for the first time of many) on the Ruakuri walk. Here there were many cave formations and even more stairs! 

We got back to our accommodation, finished setting up tents and sleeping areas then had a swim, spa and played some volleyball and French cricket.

To finish the day we went on a night walk at Ruakuri. We tried to hide and scare the other group, unsuccessfully, and shared stories of Cynthia; the long lost Berkley girl wandering the bushes. On this walk we saw hundreds more glow worms, lighting up the bush, in the very same places that they were hidden that afternoon. 

We got home had supper and some delicious baking! Yum! And went off to bed. The students were obviously exhausted because not a peep was heard.