Jessie H -- Blogmeister

On the 7th of March I was so excited but at the same time very nervous because Puarenga was going to camp at Lake Rotoma. I was sort of sad having to leave my luxurious house. We were going to learn lots of new things for a whole week.
On Tuesday it was our first activity which was raft building. A nice hard one to start off with! In raft building we had to make a raft that would stay afloat. The things we had to use were bamboo, wood, tubes, and tubes cut into pieces. When we were finished the raft we had to test it and then race with the other group. Yes of course we won because we were working hard, but most importantly we worked together.
It was the day I had been waiting for because...it was the Burma trail. I just couldn't wait! It sounded so fascinating to hear everyone telling me what it was and what we would have to do, especially when Matua Del told us about the Burma trail back when the Navy did it. When my group went through the Burma trail it wasn't scary at first until we heard the big, noisy chainsaw and the screaming. I was so afraid and yes I have to admit it! Some parents were just amusing, like Mr Sutton. He was like, “I’m the boggy man” and Shania and I were just like, “Hi Mr Sutton”. Afterwards I got my Dad to walk me back to my tent but I had a good sleep in the end.
It was day four and I was super, duper keen on doing kayaking. Off we went and we met this man called Dave. He taught group 5 and 6 how to play Indians and cowboys. It was such fun until I got out! Afterwards he told us to choose a buddy and a kayak. My buddy was Rachel. Rachel and I were so speedy - not! When we got to this sandy bay we played another entertaining game. It was a game with paddles and we stood in a circle. After a hard day of work. I had the most painful arms but I still had a really good day.
I was so excited about science, it was pretty fun. I learnt that Miss Curtis was a ‘bug girl’. I never thought she was. The first activity we did in science was a hunt. We had to find clues, then get the name of the tree or plant it was. When everyone finished that we could either find a HuHu grub or a huge Weta. No-one found either, but do you know what Olivia found? A rare green beetle. She also found a spider that was opening its mouth. When I saw that I screamed, “ahh!” When science was finished I was sort of sad because it was our last activity.
It was the last day and time to pack up and go back to school. In the morning my group had light jog to the park and back. Then it hit midday and we packed up all our gear. Shania and I got into our togs and we had lunch. After that we a nice, icy swim in the beautiful Lake Rotoma.
I had a great time at Rotoma but I bet Thornton will be much more luxurious.

Jessie Heke