Year Eight Girls Cannibal Gorge Recount

On the 9th of December the year eight girls went to the St James walkway to walk to Cannibal Gorge hut. 

We left school at 8:20am in the morning. We had to drive to Reefton and buy a hut ticket. Then we drove to the start of the St James walkway, and the first thing we had to do was fill in the intentions book. 

The walk is about 3 hours long and about 7km long. We had to walk through lots of avalanche zones and creek crossings.

When we got to the hut we put our bags down and went to the river which was right by the hut. The water was really cold but very refreshing. Lots of the girls went all the way under and some only went half way under. 

After the swim we had some lunch and then we got ready to walk to the next hut called Ada Hut, which was another 3km from Cannibal Gorge Hut. The walk was really nice but the ground was really wet and soggy and it was hard to keep dry feet. Once we were at Ada hut we had a look around and walked back. 

When we got back we set up where we were going to sleep and get our dinner ready. I was in a group with Mackenzie and Grace and we made pasta for tea. We used a gas cooker to boil some water. The food we were cooking was just where you had to add boiling water to it and close the packet. For desert we had apricot crumble and chocolate. 

After desert we had a go with Mrs Kemp's slingshot. Mrs Kemp put a paper plate on a bush and we had to stand some way back and put a rock in the slingshot and fire it. I was quite close to hitting the target. Then we went inside to play a game. 

Once we finished playing games we got ready for bed and then told some stories. Mrs Kemp told a scary story and scared us all. After that we went to bed but we heard some noises and it turned out to be mice. They were looking for food in our bags so we had to move all the bags to a higher surface. Once we we in bed it was really hot and we all had trouble getting to sleep. 

In the morning when we woke up it was really cold. We got up and made breakfast my group had savaloies and a muesli bar. After breakfast we went down to the river to fill up our drink bottles. 

Then we packed up and began the walk home. It was a really nice walk home and the weather was nice. We stopped and had lunch just before one of the the swing bridges. It did not take us long to get home. 

Once we were back at the cars we had a break and then headed home. On the way home Mrs Kemp kindly brought us all and ice cream. Then we came back to school just in time for the bell then headed home. 

I really enjoyed the walk and being with my friends. It is a really nice track and we were lucky with the weather. 

Lake Daniell Walk Review

On the 12th of June Ruma Tahi and Ruma Waru tramped the Lake Daniell walk that is in the Southern Alps. We were learning to manage any type of risk that could happen and how to help or prevent it.

We drove to Reefton in our car groups which took about an hour and we all met there to go to the toilet and stretch our legs. Then we drove past Springs Junction and drove a little bit further, then we took the Marble Hill turn off which led to the start of the track.

Once everyone was there we started the walk. It was a pretty easy walk because it was flat and the track was leaves and gravel. We stopped after the first fifteen minutes and numbered off then we kept going for the next half hour. After the half hour we stopped to have something to eat.

The bush around the track was very dense with trees. We had to do a scavenger hunt and we had to find a long tailed bat. One of the dads who was walking with us told us a little bit about the long tailed bats. He told us that they liked to nest in the beach trees which grew all around us. We tried to find some but we didn’t. There were other things to find on the scavenger hunt like the Blue duck and the Kaka.

Once we got to the lake we had our lunch. There were people working at the hut sight because they had taken down one of the other huts to build a new one. The hut is in memory of Phillip Nicholas, Brian and Sharon Manson who were killed in a landslide. There was a jetty that went out a little bit out onto the lake. We were only allowed seven on at a time. The lake was surrounded by mountains covered with trees. The water of the lake was freezing but it was pretty, shallow and clear. I enjoyed going onto the jetty to look into the lake.

It had started to rain when we got to the lake so we had to put on our rain jackets. I really enjoyed walking with my friends, and we would not have been able to go on walks without the parent help that we had. There were lots of parents that gave up their time to come with us.

Overall I think that the Lake Daniell walk was great. In total it was around 18.6 kms. I think that everyone should give it a try.

Hypothermia "Umbles"

      Hypothermia “Umbles”

Mumbles is when the victim with hypothermia is mixing up words
and having trouble speaking.    💬💬💫

Stumbles is when they are having trouble
with moving, it might also be that they might feel like
falling over. 👇👈👉

Grumbles  is when they  have a bad temper. The person
with hypothermia might be saying or doing unkind things to other people.
😠😡

Fumbles is when the victim might be having trouble moving their hands.
Also might be hard to do up a jacket, or other simple tasks. ✊

WALT: manage risks on a winter tramp in the Southern Alps / Ka Titiritiri
o te Moana 💭

Callaghans Ridge

Yesterday Rm 1 and 8 went on the Callaghans Ridge tramp. Before we left Mrs Kemp checked that we had a rain jacket because it was meant to rain. She also gave us a sheet of paper that had thing that we had to find on a scavenger hunt. We found a tomtit, fantail and a blue mushroom. The fantail came over and was following us because we were disturbing the bugs, that they eat. The tomtit came out when we were waiting to begin the walk. 

It rained a little bit on the walk. We were sheltered by the towering trees but we still got quite wet. The track was muddy and there were puddles of muddy water all through the track. The mud was like clay and stuck to our shoes making a thick layer. There was a competition for who could keep there feet dry. Nobody got a anything because everyone had wet feet. I had fun walking through the puddles. 

At lunch time we had to make a bivouac. We only had 15m of rope and blue tarpolen, my team found a spot where there was a cluster of trees to tie the rope to. The tarpolen got tied to the rope and the rope got tied to the tree. I think that our shelter was a good spot and there was enough room for everyone in our team to sit and eat our lunch. 

I enjoyed the walk and I think that because it rained it made it a lot more fun. I think that it is quite an easy walk and that it does not take long to complete. It is a good walk gor beginners and a good walk for the beginning of the year. It took us most of the day but if you don't stop you could get it done a bit quicker. 

Noho Marae Follow Up

On the 5th of March Ruma Tahi and Ruma Waru went to visit the
Noho Marae. We had to go through the Powhiri (welcoming) process
and share our mihis. Later on we went down to the Arahura river to
look for Pounamu, only four people found some. After that we
walked down to the beach and got into teams and made sculpture
of one of the characters from the legend Potini and Waitaiki.

After we got to the marae and we went through the Powhiri process
we had morning tea, which was some mini savouries and a slice of
red velvet cake each. After we had morning tea we went into the
Wharenui to share our mihis. W sat in a circle and took turns
standing up and sharing our mihi. Then we went down to the
beach and river to look for Pounamu.

When we got back from the beach, someone came in and told us
some legends, and we learned some of the things on and about
some of the carvings. We got told what the different colours on
the carving meant, they meant different tribes like, Ngai Tahu.
We also got told about what the carvings were carved into, which
was some old trees that they found in a lake.

Then we went and had dinner. For dinner we had chicken and
potatoes, gravy bread and salad. After that we had desert which
was pavlova and red velvet cake with some tinned fruit. Once
dinner was finished we some of us had to help the cook clean
and put away the dishes, and wipe down the tables and sweep
the floor.

Once we had dinner we did some activities, the ones I did were
rippa rugby and weaving. For rippa rugby we got put in teams, girls
vs boys, and the girls won. It was raining a little bit so we had to go
inside and play another game. The game we played inside was
where one person was blindfolded and they had a pillow and they
had to try and hit everyone else. If you got hit you had to sit and
wait until the next round. The person with the blindfold had to try
and get as many people as the could in a certain time limit.
For the weaving we got showed how to make a flax flower. I
managed to make one in the 45 minutes that we had, and I really
liked how it turned out.  

After that we made smores and sang some waiata. We sung songs
like Karoro E and He Honore. Each of the teachers there told
everyone a legend while we ate our smores. Mrs Ireland told us
about how a paua shell was sad and that everyone teased him,
and then he got a beautiful shell. We all slept in the wharenui, girls
on one side and boys on the other. We all went to bed around
10:00 pm.

In the morning we got up at about 7:00 am and got dressed and
packed up our things before breakfast. We had to take of the
sheets covers on our mattress and put them in a pile. The we
had to take our mattress over to the door, where there was a
cupboard for them to stacked away. Next we went into the
Wharekai to have breakfast, which was the option of, weet - bix,
toast, fruit, yogurt and some other cereal. Once we had breakfast
we got assigned jobs to do to help clean up. I had to help in the
kitchen and wipe down the tables and put away the dishes.
Some of the other groups had to clean the toilets, and some had
to clean the inside of the Wharenui. We put our gear by the outdoo
r fire and waited by the fire when we were finished our jobs.

We went on a walk, not far from the Marae, called the Mananui
Tramline. It was a quick walk to a lake where a battle took place
a long time ago. We had a quick snack while we were walking
back to the cars. I enjoyed the walk with my friends.

I had lots of fun at the marae, I enjoyed listening to the history
behind the carvings and going down to the beach to look for
pounamu. I also enjoyed going on the walk and working in my team.