The Mighty Room 22 Camp of 2024

The Mighty Room 22 headed to Warrington and the Silver Peaks for a week that challenged even the hardiest members of the class...

The weather looked a bit bleak and the class was nervous about the prospect of heading out to camp and spending a whole week in tents. Vincent Beatson was overhead saying "I hope we dont have baked beans for kai as Sean was one of my tent buddies, sadly for Vincent both these things became a reality.

On Monday we set up our tents and had to really make sure that they were put up perfectly to withstand the weather that was going to arrive during the week. We followed up with a long walk and then the class cooked their own kai on their cookers. That night we had an epic game of spotlight, in which the kids smashed the adults (but they really didn't as they were weak and not as skillfull as the expreienced mentors; i.e. the adults) , and went out for a unsuccessful floundering mission.

Tuesdays activity was hiking the Rongomai and Honeycomb loop ( a casual 10km in length) - this took 6.5 hours and we saw heaps of cool things, including amazing wildlife, on the way. There were a few tired bodies for sure! After a hell meal of nachos cooked by the parents, everyone started to feel a bit better.

Wednesday consisted of a early morning kayak adventure on the estuary, that left Sean flailing in the water, followed by our surf lesson. the lesson started off with a briefing of what to do and tips, then we headed off into the waves to give it a go ourselves. It was good to see everyone giving it a go and enjoying themselves but sadly the two hours flew by too fast.  After a hot shower and tasty lunch we started on our next activity - bivouac making.  It was a long afternoon, building, walking, team bonding and star gazing and by the time night rolled around everyone was ready for a good night's sleep.

Compared to the other days, Thursday was pretty chill and mellow.  Breakfast was french toast (and ice cream for those who got up early), and then we got ready and drove to Doctors Point, where we learnt some about the local rohe, and went on a hell tree swing, (in which Mae almost went flying).  The scenery around the area was stunning and the weather held up well.  Dinner was a mix of leftovers and sausies, and before we knew it it was our last night.  We all went out for our last game of spotlight, and then we were back in bed for a windy night. The Pā site was Mapoutahi and the area is known as Pūrakaunui - where the bodies of the slaughtered people (around 270 of them) we killed and piled high to resemble sticks stacked up. We did a karakia on entry and exit. It was cool to learn of this history.

The next morning their were a lot of tired faces, but their wasn't too much on the schedule except a extremely fast pack up - 65 minutes! We had a great lunch of pies, home baking and fruit and then we were driving back to civilization.  Once back at school, we called our parents and then we were all headed home to our own beds and warm houses.

Thanks to all the parents that came out and helped, it was a big help and we wouldn't have been able to pull it off.

By Connor Horne and Menzie Saker