Mission Stations for Year 9 Camp

When we first arrived in the early morning, many feelings hung in the air. Tiredness, excitement, nervousness. I doubt anyone was excited for the 4 and a half hour drive, but after many songs were sung and jokes were said, we arrived at Te Kūwaha Mātauraka, our second campus. 

After a long day of travel, team building exercises – missions – were warmly welcomed in the fresh Fiordland air. These missions included slacklines, bombs, eggs, toxic waste, spiderwebs, and floating poles, and were led by passionate year 13 leaders.

After finding out which bunk rooms we had, we got set up for the week and settled in with some future friends. Dinner was demolished, happily followed by dessert. Oh, and one more mission.

After a good night's sleep, activities began. Hikers, bikers, and kayakers left for a day of adventure. The selection of activities required teamwork, determination and a good deal of perseverance.

At the end of each day, we were faced with another mission - all designed to strengthen our teamwork and to develop our perseverance when faced with a challenge... or a cold bucket of water.

What felt like the biggest challenge - working with people we didn't know well - turned out to be the best part of camp. However, the food was pretty good too.

We'd like to say a big thank you to all the parents who joined the camp. We appreciate all your energy and support. We'd also like to say thank you to the teachers who came with us.

We are especially grateful to the seniors who gave up a week of their studies to come and hang out with us, help us out and guide us through all the challenges. It was really good to get to know some of the older boys.

Our Year 9 camp was a fantastic start to the year. It was a chance to get to know everyone so much better, and now we are ready for all the challenges this year.

For many more photos from Year 9 Camp, you can visit the Te Kūwaha Mātauraka Facebook page:https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61576697454396