Shania H -- Blogmeister

On the 7th of March 2011 Puarenga Learning Centre went to Lake Rotoma Camp (Camp Relf). We went to learn about survival skills, the native bush, wild animals, insects and team building.

It was Tuesday and I was so excited because it was time for my very first camp activity and it was raft building. To start off raft building we had to get the equipment and we walked with it down to the lake. We had to make a raft that would float in the water. Once we had our raft we raced group 6 and my group ,group 5 won !! I think group 5 was happy that we won. After that group 6 and my group made a big raft together. We all planned it out in the sand then started to make it. It was time to put it in the water. When we were pushing out into the water it started to fall apart but just a little bit. No-one worried about it.

It was the third day of camp (Wednesday) and the activity that I had was bivouacs. My group and group 6 went behind the marquee and into the bush. We had to look for a place to build our bivouac . Shani, Kate, Jessie and I had found a good place to build our bivouac. We started to collect braches and dead ferns that were on the ground. Our goal was to fill up all of the gaps so that when it was time for the bucket of water to be poured over our bivouac it would glide off the dead ferns. All of the other people’s were built but the people that went under them got wet. They looked like wet clothes coming out of a washing machine! In our bivouac hardly any water came through. So we were told that we won!! I was happy.

It was still Wednesday, but it was night time and we were going to do the Burma trail !! Before any of the camp groups went into the Burma trail we got told that there was a Loopy man around in the bushes. We went into the Burma trail in camp groups. My group (group 5) was the fifth group to go and I was so scared because all the other groups that were in the bush were screaming so loudly that they woke up some of the wild life. We started near the big water tank and came out behind the marquee. In the Burma trail we had to hold the rope to guide us through the bush. Then when we were walking through the bush a chainsaw went off. It was starting off slowly so to me sounded like a wild pig ! When I came out of the Burma trail I felt glad that I went threw it.

It was the last the last day of activities and I was doing science. We went into the bush behind the boys port-a-loos. When we got into the bush we went over some rules, then we got this book with information about trees, the bush, leaves and mushrooms. We had to look for clues that were letters A to L. To me it was like a treasure hunt. When we had found a letter on a tree or a branch we looked in the book for answers. After we had finished in the bush we went through the Burma trail again but it wasn’t scary because it was day time.

I really enjoyed camp, the lake was so peaceful and beautiful. I can’t wait until Thornton camp next year!!

Shania