Geography Camp Report

 Why were we there? To measure the river processes of the Eglington River, however, we almost forgot about that as we all looked around in awe. What a wonderful opportunity to be studying Geography in Fiordland National Park. We were all reminded of how nature is truly the best art form.

Our first stop was the Mirror Lakes where the boys learnt about their formation as Oxbow lakes left over from course changes in the Eglinton River. At Cascade Creek, the boys were keen to do their field work, despite the cold temperatures and freezing water. They all worked well in their groups measuring the river depth and flow. Additionally, they measured and examined the river sediment size and shape. The plan was to carry out the same measurements at Kiosk Creek but due to the heavy rainfall the night before, this part of the river was too high to allow the boys to carry out all of their measurements. That evening they processed some of their data, ready to use for their 1.2 Internal when they returned to school.

Thursday involved a trip through the Homer Tunnel to Milford Sound. We had a wonderful time aboard the RealNZ Mariner and experienced the impressive waterfalls and the landscape formed by both tectonic and glacial processes. The favourite part of the boat trip for many of us was the dolphins swimming in the wake of the boat and racing right towards our boat.

The camp allowed a bit of downtime in the evenings which some of the boys used to try their hand at fishing, playing chess or running around in the dark playing Spotlight. On the last day, it was a quick tidy up of camp, then the boys carried out some service for the school by helping Mr Palmer tidy up some cleared shrubs and weeds. Lastly, we hit the road to return home to Dunedin.

Overall, it was a very successful Geography camp. A special thank you to Mr Palmer for all of his help and support as well as Mr Avis who joined the group and had lots of useful Geology knowledge to share with the boys.