Kate W -- Blogmeister

There were butterflies in my stomach. I was so excited! On the 7th of March, Puarenga Learning Centre went to the amazing, breathtaking Lake Rotoma!! We went to Lake Rotoma to bond with other people and to learn how to survive in the wilderness.

The sun shone down on us as we entered the forest for super science. We did a search and find quiz for native trees and plants. We found a fallen log which was taken over by bright orange mushrooms!! Miss Curtis told us they were called orange pore fungi. It is as small as your pinky nail and it grows in the forest. There were lots of fantails in the bush which frantically flew from tree to tree. After that Miss Curtis took us to some rotten logs to find some huhu grubs and other critters. We found three huhu grubs and Hannah found two native millipedes! I also found a baby slater. When I picked it open it metamorphosed into a tiny ball!! Science was great fun!!

Next, we had cooking. My group was in charge of preparing morning tea. I chopped the crunchy, juicy apples and set out the mouth watering cookies and biscuits. That was great fun!! Whaea Shelly taught us how to make perfect pikelets. All you need is milk, an egg, flour and sugar.

On the third night we had the dreaded, petrifying burma trail!!! I was dead excited!! All around me people were crying and bawling their eyes out.I couldn’t help myself from laughing a bit!!It was pitch black when we entered the bush.Suddenly, the ear splitting sound of a chainsaw pierced the air. Everyone screamed!! I screamed for the fun of it too!! Nobody really listened to Matua Del when he told us to be as quiet as mice. There was also a loony man on the loose! Now, that was freaky!

Butterflies were in my stomach again. Yes, it was time for the camp concert. I was so nervous!! Parents and older and younger siblings came to watch. The first group to perform was group one. They did American Idol. Bryanna and Rangipurei sang. Finally, it was my group’s turn. I sang “Twinkle Twinkle”. I made my voice all hoarse and croaky. Group four won. The concert lasted until 10:45pm!!

Sadly, it was Friday, our last day. We quickly packed up our gear and took down our tents. We spent the rest of the afternoon happily swimming and fishing We didn’t catch any fish but we did catch plenty of weed and leaves. After fishing we went back up to the empty, partly deserted campsite. We had warm, delicious hot dogs and buttery steamed pudding for lunch. Yum!

I had an amazing and outstanding time at Lake Rotoma. I can’t wait until Thornton Beach.