Mix the following ingredients:
(portions may vary)
60 Year 10 girls, age 14-15
9 Year 13 leaders
5 Avonside teachers (1 teacher-in-charge, 1 friendly dragon, 1 enthusiastic Welsh-Kiwi, 1 Canadian teacher trainee, and 1 uber-supportive dean)
8-9 Boyle River instructors
1 mud run
60 flying kiwis
½ day mountain tramp
1 hour solo
1 nightline course
1 zillion billion sandflies
15kilos mashed potatoes
1 bedtime story
2-minute showers
Add the following to the above mixture for flavour:
high ropes and/or low ropes, pesky fire alarms, wet (and muddy!) clothing, lollies, cleaning duty, pushing personal boundaries.
Serve and enjoy!
The past three days have been a blur of excitement at the Boyle River Outdoor Education Centre.
It is an Avonside tradition to have Year 10s attend the Boyle for outdoor pursuits and bonding activities. I was fortunate to be able to take three days away from my other classes to spend some time with my Year 10 class. A lot of effort goes into organizing a camp experience, and in the end, a few glitches didn’t detract from the quality time with students, staff, and the great NZ outdoors.
Camp was full of fun activities, challenges, and responsibilities. Although the whole experience stands as a memorable event, there are two activities that paint a particularly evocative image for the devoted blog reader…the mud run and the solo.
Our half-day tramp up and over the mountain culminated with a run through the marshland mud. Never in my life have I seen such a sight! The trail to the main puddle was soggy and unforgiving, but nothing prepared me for the waist-deep mud at the end of the path. Continuous use of the site means that the area has expanded considerably and can accommodate many eager mud-bathers! The girls were having a blast, and no matter how hard I tried to stay mud-free the girls tried extra hard to make sure that I had mud-covered hugs and muddy face paint.
Our tramp out of the area sucked me in – literally! After leaving the mud pool we had to walk out of the marshland and I quickly learned that if I stopped in one position for too long I was immediately up to my thighs in mud. At one point I had to get the girls to yank me out! A good reminder that we all need a helping hand…
My memories of the mud run will be with me for as long as the mud stains on my socks!
One of the evening activities is a “solo” experience in the forest. The solo is notorious for stirring up anxiety and fear in the girls because it requires them to sit alone, in the dark, for about 45 minutes. This is how it goes: after dark, a group of campers are led by a Boyle instructor onto a well-marked and tramped trail. The instructor drops individual students off along the pathway to sit, without a torch (flashlight). After the last student is dropped off, the instructor adds a bit more time to the clock before heading back to gather the girls.
Students are not supposed to talk or communicate with each other, they are encouraged to sit, look, and think. Some girls cry, some girls sleep – some don’t do much of anything at all. My eyes were absolutely fixated on the stars in the New Zealand night sky.
I have spent a great part of my life in cities, and as a result parts of the night sky have been hidden and distorted by the perpetual lights of electricity and the hazy cover of pollution. I was taken aback by how bright the sky is at night when all the distractions of the human footprint are removed.
I could see the cluster of stars that form the Milky Way and my trained eyes are now quick to spot the Southern Cross. Looking at the stars and pondering infinity, galaxies, and universes has a very humbling effect. The voice of my university astronomy professor found its way into my head, reminding me of the mathematical and scientific precision of the universe – a magnificent kind of ordered beauty.
Once I got acquainted with my new surrounding I let my mind wander. The illuminated constellations of the southern hemisphere reminded me of all things that had to happen for me to be standing on a pathway in the forest by the Boyle River on the South Island of New Zealand.
This was such a unique experience for me because NEVER, in my Canadian life, would I sit in the mountain forest by myself for an hour – something would sniff me out and gobble me up! The New Zealand forest is not full of bears, cougars, porcupines, skunks, badgers, foxes, wolves, etc. – a harmless possum might waddle by, or some sandflies might be tempted by bare skin, but in the grand scheme of things it’s probably one of the safest places to be “solo.”
The three days passed by so quickly, hardly enough time to take it all in. The weather was ideal, and I dare say I saw a more pleasant side of my year 10s. I raised my voice, laughed, jumped in the mud, and got some sleep. I think this opportunity to teach and learn in the outdoor classroom was a really positive experience for all of us.
Thanks for reading,
L.
