Ather's Pass

Arthur's Pass Camp

Wednesday! School camp. Everyone was hanging out in the classroom waiting for the bus. I was feeling excited and couldn’t wait to get started. The bus arrived at school and we ran out into the rain. SPLASH SPLASH,  I stepped into all the puddles.

In the bus I sat in the back seat with Declyn, Jack H, Sonny and Kade. Derek said, “Now we know who the bad boys are!” We thought this is very funny. About an hour later we arrived at Arthur’s Pass Lodge.

There we met Logan who was our activity guide. He is tall with dark hair and wears a red jacket and black pants and has a bright orange backpack. He told us how to keep warm and the camp rules. Then Mr. M told us where we are sleeping. I’m in a room with Matt, Jack H, Declyn, Darren and Boyd which is great! The  bunks were three levels high and you had to climb a ladder to get to the top.

After we had something to eat we went orienteering.  Sahara, Bridget, Rhea, Sonny, Jack L, Mum, Darren,  Dayna and I got a map and clues and searched for words on white logs around Arthur’s Pass. So orienteering is where you use a map and clues to complete a challenge. It was a good way for us to learn our way around Arthur’s Pass. We came home last but we did well and it was a lot of fun.

Next we went for a long walk through the bush to Devil's Punch Bowl and at the end was a massive waterfall. The roar of the waterfall was so loud that it sounded like an earthquake. It was so tall that it looked like it came from the very top of the mountain. There were a lot of steps to climb to get up to the waterfall! At the bottom of the track we played fun games with Logan. The best game was seeing who could run and scream at the top of their voice for the longest. Boyd was the winner. Our group was on tea duty that night and later we played soccer in the dark with two footballs. FUN!

The next morning there was snow everywhere. YES! Mr. M let us play in it and we had a snow fight and a snowman competition. MORE FUN! After putting on warm clothes and having something to eat we went on a bush walk with Logan. Our van had chains on the wheels to stop it sliding in the snow. We had fun shaking the trees so that the snow fell onto Logan’s head and we also built snow castles. When we got back to the Lodge we built a giant snowman that was taller than all the parents and had another snow fight.

After tea we had camp concert. Declyn, Brock and I  told jokes. Sonny and Lochie were my favorite act because they were so funny. Sonny hit a tennis ball with a cricket bat straight into Lochie’s face (by mistake). I still laugh about it even as I write this! After the concert it was bedtime and we had free time for 40 minutes before we had to go to sleep.

Friday was our last day. We had fun games in the snow with Mr. M before we went for our last bush walk with Logan. When we came back from our walk there were a lot of tourists from another country taking photos of our giant snowman. We had our photo taken too.

Then it was lunch, and time to pack up our bags and get on to the bus to go home. Our camp was over. We had lots and lots of fun. My favorite part was the orienteering and playing in the snow.

Thank you so much Mr. M for the best camp ever!