Waihi Beach Camp 2016

The 2 senior classes have returned from a very successful camp at Waihi Beach last week. The students and parents enjoyed the week immensely despite the constant threat of rain trying to ruin the activities. Rough seas ended our rock pools activity and persistent rain halted a trip to the hot pools and made packing up camp a challenge, however the rest of the week went superbly well.
The Waihi Beach Surf Life Saving crew were fantastic. The children learnt about safe swimming at the beach, what to do if they ever got caught in a rip and CPR. Then they had some fun at the beach balancing on bogey boards in the surf, beach races and tug of wars. Then on day 2 it was Gold discovery as we visited Martha mine, the Education centre and then onto the Gold discovery centre. We were all amazed how much rock has to be dug up for the amount of gold and silver recovered – no wonder gold is so expensive. We finished the day with a swim down at the Bowen Town beach. No waves, but loads of nipping crabs. Day 3 was a walk through Karangahake gorge to look at the original gold era and the ruins of the past. Walking through the 1km long train tunnel was an exciting experience too. We were able to dodge the showers and remain dry throughout the 6km walk. We even got to see a seal on a rock in the middle of the river in the middle of the gorge. Back at camp we all had a well earnt rest, and that was when we were supposed to visit the rock pools, but the waves would have washed us all out to sea. Day 4 had howling winds all night long and persistent rain so the Hot Pools were cancelled and we packed our gear ready to return to school and a decent rest for some very tired children. Phew!
THANK YOU to all the parents who contributed to making the camp so successful. Their proactive support with all jobs and duties was much appreciated and the teachers could just focus on the children.
Thanks to all the children who put their best foot forward, showed all the school values – especially resilience, and managed a week away from home. No mean feat for some of our youngest children.