Kayaking

It was a horrible day.
And I was going to be kayaking.
Once we'd all sorted ourselves out, we hopped into the cars with mounting feelings of excitement and or nervousness.


We finally got to the river. We played some games to get ourselves all warmed up, but dear reader, you were probably there, if you go to loburn school. So I won't bore you with the minute details.


After these games, we got into the water with our kayaks and quite a bit of shouting from some of the girls. In my mind, I'm thinking; ''what's all the fuss about, it's just water and a bit of harmless algae.''


Then we played some more games, canoe polo, to get used to our boat, find their flaws and whatnot.
Anyway, a few minutes later, the first, (of many might I add) capsizing happened. I do believe that the person who upset the boat was Samuel.
After that we all learnt how to get back into a boat if it capsized. Not the hard way, of course.


And after all that kerfuffle, (and after the rain had stopped and turned into a boiling hot day!) we set off to begin a tedious 2 hours in (in some cases) stubborn boats and the splashes of Holly M trying to get people to fall out of their boat, especially Lachlan.


We saw lots of wildlife along the way when Holly was quiet. At about halfway, we saw some signets! And, of course the VERY protective parents (black swans) come with that package.
We also saw white baiters, some were nice and friendly, and the other, well lets just say he wasn't to happy when Haylley nudged Jess's boat's nose into the direction of his nets.


After that it was lunch.


And after that, it was another game of canoe polo. And attempt at Eskimo Kisses. Like a hongi, you might say, except we had to do it to the boat. This caused quite a few capsizing's and a bit more that a few screams. 
The game after that caused even more shouts. We rafted up, and numbered off. Then, Chris would shout out to numbers and you had to swap boats. Without falling in. Lets say that quite a few people weren't successful with that last part. Including Mum.


A wee while after, with Jess still in a huff, we got the end of the road. I finally clambered out of my kayak and pulled it up to Mr. Priddy.
Then I changed into some nice clean DRY! (not that I capsized, because I didn't!) clothes. And listened to what Mr. Priddy and the instructors had to say. I then got all my stuff, hopped in the car and headed home.


And, that, was when I discovered that that I was wearing lucky red socks.
I had seriously sunburnt shins. ;)

Lake Daniels.

It was Thursday the 18th. Today, the year 8’s would leave school at 2:00pm and drive to a car park 3.5 walking hours away from Lake Daniels. I had had heaps of butterflies in my stomach, I had been so nervous, it had calmed me down slightly when I’d rung home and found out that Dad would be coming with us. When we got to the car park, I'd changed into thermals and then had a nice dinner consisting of some: bacon and egg pie, pasta bake still warm, and pizza. YUM! The Westport group arrived and had tea, when, we were on the move in two walking buses for the long night ahead. It was wet, and damp and humid. I met three girls from Westport: Sydney, Shanell and Willow. They were nice and we kind stuck together in our own group. Sydney almost had an asthma attack but Marcus lent her his puffer and she and I went up the fount of the group. She was fine after that. About an hour away from the hut my left foot got covered in mulch and mud. Damn, oh well. By now we all had our head torches on and could see the moon shining bright, but not bright enough to penetrate the thick forest canopy. When we arrived at the hut, the moon was shining on the lake creating an ethical appearance, awesome. A lady called Mrs Potter made pikelets with cream and jam for a late night snack. Delicious! The cream melted and went all over the floor. I had the worst nights sleep EVER! Terrible, the snoring from the girls was horrendous! And the plastic My breakfast was good though, creamed rice and fruit. Mmmm. We started back at nine o'clock, soon after I'd told everyone that they have to look out for a black glove that I had lost on the track last night. The reward was two nut bars. Jack B found it and put it on a log and then Beau found it and gave it to me back at the car park, it was really cool walking the same track in the daytime because you could see everything in colour. Back at the carpark we had lunch, then drove to another carpark on the side of the road and started to climb up the mountain side. We didn't get very far because of all the snow, knee deep and I speak from lots of experience falling into it. And the mud. And water. When we got to as far as we would go we were told some stories while looking out at a beautiful view of the mountains and the river. It was fantastic. After that we, well, I, slipped and sledged my way back down, falling into mud and making Mum’s gloves disgusting on the way. We tried to make snow men once back at the carpark, but the snow was more like ice. The Westport principal made us do the famous five, five press ups, which I can do, but not on mud in a nice clean white top! I spent the drive home recuperating and playing I spy, Chinese whispers and the like. When we got home it was about 5:30pm, I had dinner then a nice bath and went to bed. It was a great experience and I loved it.

Lake Daniels.

At 2:00pm today the year 8's will leave for lake Daniels.
I'm very nervous and excited! As I'm writing this my stomach is doing backflips and making me feel queasy.
I hope Dad can make it, he's in Auckland at the moment, if he doesn't get pulled out on call he'll catch a plane and come down here to tramp with us.  In fact, he probably be on a plane right now if he hasn't been called out.
I'm not really looking forward to tomorrow, we get to climb the Lewis pass tops track, Mr B says that that part is really fun. I'm not sure I believe him.
Wish me luck!
😰😪😳😦😁😰

Ropes Day.

Pre-Ropes Day Jitters

Ropes day made me feel excited, anxious and happy all in one go.
I thought I knew what the day would bring.



I was wrong.

Giant's Ladder

It was HUGE!!!  It was eleven rungs tall with each rung getting wider and wider apart until you couldn't reach the next one.  The very top was about 20 metres high but I didn't get any feeling of vertigo just extreme happiness and satisfaction when I conquered the ladder and reached the top.  It felt awesome to be so high and it felt fabulous to have the support of my class mates!

Vertical Play Pen

There were five different stages of the vertical play pen.  The hardest one for me was the net, constantly swinging out putting me off balance, but I hooked my arm over and sat on that seat about twenty five metres high, with a huge feeling of satisfaction bubbling under the surface of my tired façade.

The Flying Kiwi

This is how the Flying Kiwi worked.  My group pulled on a rope in one direction while I ran in the opposite direction attached to the other end of the rope.  Due to the laws of physics (and the fact that the pulley was way above my head) their efforts resulted in me flying like a bird without a care in the world!  It felt amazing to be flying so high above the ground.  It was the highlight of my day.  I will never forget that feeling of immense happiness.

Feelings after

Ecstatic.

I don't know how to describe the feeling of happiness, pride, satisfaction and perseverance all rolled into one. 

I was one extremely happy girl when I went home that wonderful day.


I will never forget that day.

Rakahuri Rage

RAKAHURI RAGE

Heat, that was all I felt aside from butterflies playing a VERY rough game of rugby in my stomach I was going to go on the first lap which was an extra 2.5km. So hot.

We all finally went to the meeting place.  One guy stood on a podium and gave us a briefing, you know, all the usual stuff, pass on the right, let the person know you're going to pass them. Tag the next rider when you have finished your lap, blah, blah, blah, it was sizzling hot, and all I cared about was starting and getting my first lap done. Anyway, I knew what to do because I'd read the info sheet.

We finally started the race. So hot, it must of been, 30 degrees or something. It was so hot, I acted like a thirsty camel today, I drank so much water, I'm surprised I didn't explode. I knew the track. And more importantly, I knew the trees, no, I'd never bashed into one of the trees, I'd just done the track round about 3 times.  I didn't know the extra part, and I didn't like it one bit, it was in the open, where the scorching sun made your skin peel and your hair, especially your eyebrows, sizzle up and disappear. Nah, I'm joking, but it was soooo hot, you would not believe it. And, guess what? I didn't get sunburned and I am the most sunburn prone person in my family. I will burn like wildfire on a windy day if I'm not slathered in sunscreen, and I hate putting it on, it takes FOREVER!!

Finally, I was in the forest, my, what I like to call, advantage area. I knew the forest like the back of my hand. And, it was shady, well, most of the time, but even that didn't stop the heat.

My favorite parts in the forest are: when you go up a hill and  down again, and, on one of the trees it says: caution, bumps. There are three in a row, so fun. That part is in the open IN THE SCORCHING HEAT, but then you go straight back into the forest after a nice down hill lump. :)

YAY! SHADE!

I finally got to the last hill. After that, I sped across the flat strip and then turned left. Raced down the grassy paddock exit , this is one of the hardest parts because, the grass is thick and it drags on your wheels. So annoying, zooming round the tents on the path, I finally reached the loburn school gazebo, everyone was cheering me on, I tagged Haylley and she was off down the track. Yay, now I had at least an hour to rest and eat some food, and the good thing was, my  few laps would be shorter!

Okay, while I'm resting, I'll tell you about my team: our name was Lightning, supposedly we were fast, sometimes true and sometimes not. In my team there was, Haylley, Ethan and myself.

None of us liked the grassy paddock.

Some things you'll want to know about me, my name is Rhianna, I love to ride bikes, I hate riding on grass, today I did four laps, I honestly don't know why, I didn't have to, I think I'm mental. And someone I was really proud of today was Ethan, because on his 2nd lap, he didn't want to do it, but he did do it. And he finished it without an accident. Good job Ethan!

And the day was finally over. When I went home I headed for the shower. That night, I went to sleep with a smile of satisfaction on my very tired face.

I am so proud of myself because I didn't have to do an extra lap, but I did and it was my shortest lap; 25 min.

My time for my first lap, with extra 2.5km was 37min. My other timings were all about 30min.

Hawdon hut/Cave Stream

HAWDON HUT
 MY FEELINGS, WORRIES & WONDERS.

                     PRE-TRAMP!!!

FEELINGS

I’m really nervous about the tramp, I need to do some more walks, I’m thinking about doing Mt Grey this/next week, it will also tick off the second mountain box.

Excited because It will be my first William Pike challenge, glad because I won’t be the only one doing it!!!

WORRIES

I really hope that the weather’s okay, if it’s raining, it won’t be very fun. WASPS, does Hawdon Valley have lots of wasps? I hope not.

WONDERS

I wonder how long the tramp is??? Do we walk back up the valley on the way home??? How many to a bed, I find it really hard to sleep when there’s another person sleeping in the same room, I wonder how must rest will I get that night?

Let's say that the weather is rubbish and we turn around and go home, do we do the challenge another time or not??
Not my photo.

CAVE STREAM, MY FEELINGS, WORRIES & WONDERS.

FEELINGS

Nervous, excited and worried, I’m worried about the last part of it, don’t you have to crawl along the ledge and then up a ladder? And somewhere in there, there is a waterfall, sounds like fun!

Excited because I like most things to do with water, not so much river crossings, but I’ve never done something like this before so I’m excited about that too!  And I’m just nervous in general.

WORRIES

I’m worried about the last part of it, don’t you have to crawl along the ledge and then up a ladder? What happens if someone falls off?

But there’s no point in worrying myself to death so I’ll stop right here.

WONDERS

Is the water cold? Do we have to squelch our way back to the minivans in sodden clothes? How dark is it and will it have flooded because all the recent rain?  Are there any fish or eels in the water?
Picture of Cave Stream. Not my own photo.

HAWDON HUT & CAVE STREAMPost Tramp

I got to school at 7.45 and was really excited and also very nervous!!  I dumped my pack and daypack outside the Mt Thomas room and had a bit of a chat with the other kids who were already there.  William Pike suddenly turned up so I went over and said hi.  He was a really nice guy!  Mr Priddy turned up five minutes later and gave us a run down on what would happen when we got there.  He then sorted us into our food groups and split the groups into two and we clambered into the mini-vans.  I ended up sitting next to William Pike - bonus!!

We then began our journey.  Along the way William Pike asked me some questions and I answered them as best as I could.  He lives in the North Island and is not very familiar with the scenery down here. We finally arrived at the Hawdon Shelter where the Army and the Navy were doing a course.  We took some photos and then headed off.  

Our first river crossing was within the next five minutes.  When we reached the river William Pike gave us a short speech about how to cross it safely and gave us a hint that if you should avoid crossing a river if at all possible.

The way to cross a river is to link your arm underneath between a person's pack and their back and hold on to the strap of their pack.  I linked up with Anna, Brooklyn and Derrin.  We crossed the river safely.  The water was half way up our thighs.  After that we continued walking for about half an hour and had our next river crossing.  We still linked arms but we did it in small groups seeing as last time we did it in groups of four it was rather hard to cross.  I linked up with Haylley.  

After that we walked for about another hour and a half and had lunch.  Here we all looked at the maps we had been given to try and find where we were.  We were about a third of the way there.  We then walked over to the forest and continued walking through the trees.  At some points there was no path you just had to walk along fallen tree trunks.  Once I jumped down from a certain tree and got a bit of a scratch and bruise on my leg.  We all started getting rather tired at that point but walking for another two hours or so which included at least two to three more minor river crossings that we did on our own.  

Some time later we had to climb down into a river and had a group photo.  Just before this my group had lost contact with everyone else because we were a bit behind.  We then heard shouting and screaming.  I thought they'd reached the hut but it turned out they hadn't as they had found the river and were having a bit of a swim.  Some people had completely submerged themselves because it was so hot.  I eventually convinced myself to do it and it was very cold!  We hopped out and carried on for a while and climbed down a small rock face and had to decide if we climbed up next to Mr Priddy or tried to squeeze up a small rock that looked easier.  I kind of fell over in the water and my pack nearly got soaked.  Fortunately it didn't!  Marcus had squeezed up between the rocks and was about to help me up.  I took my pack off and handed it to Marcus and he tried to help me up.  Holly Prickett gave me a hint but I still got stuck.  I eventually got out and William took a photo. 

Some time after that we reached the hut. It was very disappointing!!!  It was very small and the toilets were long drops outside with lots of sandflies!  The window wouldn't close in the girl's room and let the sandflies in.  Dinner was delicious though!  After tea we went down to the small river for a play then went up another valley climbing up some rocks and rivers for fun.  When we got back to the hut William talked to us about what happened on Mt Ruapehu the night he lost his leg.  We then had a milo that was very hot and after that we went to bed.  It took us ages to get to sleep.

We woke up the next morning and had yummy porridge, repacked our packs and put our disgusting wet socks and boots on and tramped all the way back up the valley.  Very tiring but we made it!!!

Then we had lunch which was delicious buns and muesli bars and went on the half hour drive to Cave Stream.  We put all our thermals on and tramped down to the exit.  It took forever, here's a hint for anyone planning to do the walk, put your thermals on AFTER you've checked the water height!
After checking the water level was ok we tramped back up to the car park and all the way to the side of the hill to the entrance. It was a very steep downhill walk.  After walking one metre into the cold water it got very, very deep.  It was already up to my hips and a few seconds later it was up to my chest.  I promised myself I wouldn't scream but eventually I squeaked.  It was very cold.  After moving on from the deep part the water became instantly warmer and shallower.  Cave Stream took about and hour and the rock formations were fantastic!  I could only dream of such formations in an ice cave.  It was even better than the Waitomo Caves, and they were pretty awesome!  At some points you had to climb up mini waterfalls which was really cool.  About half way through we all turned off our head torches to see how dark it was.  Pitch black!  William took a couple of photos and we carried on.  Eventually we reached the end and Mr Priddy told us that instead of the rungs that were there today, back in his day there was only a rope with knots.  I am so glad there are rungs today because I would never have been able to pull myself up that rope.  While I was waiting for the others to get up the rungs, I started swimming around.  People say it is hard to swim with shoes on, I found it fun! And not that hard, maybe because I could touch the ground...
Some kids who were also waiting got others to hold on to their head gear and completely submerged themselves in the slightly warm water.  I even put my head under the waterfall.  We were not carrying packs in Cave Stream which was just as well.  I climbed up the rungs and once I was in the warm daylight I almost immediately slipped over the slimy rocks.  

Dear Reader, if you ever get the chance to, please go to Cave Stream.  You will seriously enjoy it :) 

Then it was time to head home and I was very lucky and got to sit next to William again. And when we got to Sheffield Mr Priddy shouted us all an ice-cream!  We deserved it!


Photo of me with William pike after completing Hawdon hut/cave stream.

Mt Richardson

It was Friday the 13th.

It was a little bit windy today, but I had a lovely warm jumper and a windproof rain-coat, just in case.  I went in Brooklyn’s car on the way up to Mt Richardson.  When we got there Mr Priddy did a number off, I was number 31 out of 50.

We finally started.  It was nice and warm.  At about 10:00am we stopped for a break and something to eat, I got a nut-bar and some salami on crackers.  We continued to walk.

I finally got to the top with Mrs S, Kaitlyn and myself, it was soooooooooooo windy! And cold, I put my jumper and rain-coat on, then I had lunch, in a nice little sheltered spot out of the way of harsh fingers of cold wind, I didn’t get much time to eat much, but my sandwich was good and the salami was fantastic.  I took a nut-bar out and ate that while walking along the ridge.  Very windy, it was fun though, walking straight one second, the next, you’ve been blown 2-3 feet to the right.

When we started going down the mountain, people had kind of separated into groups, I was at the back with some people from Team West and East. We went back into the forest.  Some bridges and stairs as well as nice, sheltered bush and fallen trees. Near to the end of the walk, my leg started to spasm; Dad says this was a muscle spasm, completely normal.

In the forest, there were lots of beech trees, with honey dew on them; this tasted awesome!  We eventually came to the end of the track and out into the sunny sunshine. It was funny remembering that about 4 hours ago I was musing at the huge blackberry bush on the side of the track, no ripe blackberries though!  

We came to the car park about 5 minutes later, I went on the bus to get back to school and I sat next to this nice old gentleman and he was really friendly! I told him that we were having cross-country the next Wednesday and he told me a funny story of when he was younger and was doing cross-country and how he got into a lot of trouble for what he did!

My feet were so sore and when I took my boots off at home, they were all pale! It was a really good day and I slept like a log that night!  And, I always think of days like this as days off school!  And that makes it seem a whole lot better!  :)

WPCA - Activities