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LIFE AT CAMP
It was as if I had got on a plane back home instead of New Zealand as it rained for the first two days I arrived. Fortunately things were about to change. I was collected by my couch surfer dude (for those unfamiliar with this term, it is basically when strangers offer travellers to crash on their couch) and this was the guy that I was to spend the next month with, assisting him to run school adventure camps and trips. The day after I arrived I went swimming in the ocean and with water temperatures around 17 degrees it was nice to be able to spend a bit longer than two minutes in the water. Over the following two days I discovered how expensive New Zealand was to be with food prices being particularly expensive. Lucky for me then for the next two weeks at camp offered no local shops nearby.
The day before and after I spent two weeks volunteering at a kids camp (year 10 students - aged 13-14) near Miranda, my couch surfing host took me to the local indoor climbing wall which was good fun. We also took a drive up to the camp to ensure that the bush walk trail remained suitable for the kids.
Day 1 at camp and also set up day. I was driven to the camp in a camper-van by a teacher who I became good friends with and who was a great help in giving me good contacts within New Zealand and someone who I hope to be meeting up with in the coming months. After a day of setting up the camp, along with year 13 students and teachers we were treated to fish and chips and a swim in the Miranda hot spring pools (which also had a huge trampoline!).
I can't remember the last time that I did so much sleeping walking/talking but for the first four nights on camp I both slept walked and talked in my sleep. I'm still not sure who it was more terrifying for, me or the other teachers in the dorm room, who had known nothing about my misfortune sleeping habits until the first night. I had stupidly put myself in the top bunk which didn't help so after a few days I vacated to a bottom bunk.
On a better note, for two weeks solid (and I mean solid bar sleeping times), I had a constant stream of food (must have been every few hours with huge, huge, huge meals three times a day). It was like a dream come true. The second day of camp, I was working alongside a guy, Bret, who was fantastic at teaching the children how to sail. Over the coming two weeks I was to instruct archery, kayaking, bush walking and orienteering and co-work the sailing. On one occasion, I had to take the sailing class which made for an interesting learning curve, as prior to this I had only spent an hour in a optimist boat and had helped Bret with a number of his sessions. It was amazing how much I was able to teach the children about sailing and how well the children responded to the session. Over the two weeks I absolutely loved teaching children the activities and getting them motivated to try the activities that the camp had to offer. That been said, I found the most rewards,came for me, from the children who were low in confidence. It was great to be able to give them the encouragement and skills to participate in activities that they didn't think they could do.
As I have already mentioned, during camp I also tried my hand at sailing an optimist boat which was great fun, learning how to capsize and zigzagging up and down the lake. I loved it. On days I was kayaking we got very wet but this was great as the weather was so nice. The most fun in the water was when I was having fun with the children and other instructors playing kayak water polo.
Every second night, the children went to out-camp, which involved making their own dinner on camping stoves, sleeping in tents, and competing in a singing contest around the bonfire before having marshmallows and milo. The children seemed to really enjoy it and so did I, even on the sixth time around. For the staff this was when we had stakes on the BBQ along with salad and kumera (a type of sweet potato native to new Zealand). Great evening! Often the sky would be full of stars which was an incredible sight and on one occasion we saw the most beautiful full moon.
Ever alternative day would come a 3km run for the children before they were to get breakfast (for me a 3km cycle and sometimes a lovely early morning swim in the sea). So after a 3km run and three activity sessions in the day, the evening would bring about the burma trail (the children had to walk in the dark, without torches, feeling only a rope and going through swaps up to their necks). On the last burma trail I walked through it with another instructor, Sophie, and we had a blast. The swamp sections were the best but meant once we got back to camp we had to be hosed down alongside the children.
Along with all the fun bits, there was always going to be a not so fun bit. A lack of washing facilities over the past 2 months meant that I have had to do all my washing the old school way and wash them by hand. I haven't actually minded, but I scrub my clothes so hard that I get blisters on my fingers which isn't so fun. I'm just grateful that I'm not living in some of the townships in Africa where they have to wash clothes by hand on a daily basis.
I thought I was pleased to have left the UK to avoid the wintery weather and to avoid the common winter colds, of so I thought. I was surprised then, when I caught a cold and sore throat which lasted two weeks straight. I also thought I was leaving the UK to find new experiences away from my previous job with the Drug Treatment and Testing Orders team. Turns out on the last camp, my expertise was needed when I caught a 13 year-old girl under the influence of solvents! Turns out a few boys had been supplying cans and some form of tablet which I have not learnt to the day what it was.
From my first two weeks in New Zealand, I had learnt a lot about the Kiwi and Maori cultures. I had learnt that the most common phrases were 'far out' and 'sweet as' - not sweet ass'! I had also learnt that in order to become a real Kiwi I had to start walking around in bare feet. Besides learning about life as a Kiwi and Maori, I got so much out of working at the camp and more that I could have ever imagined. Some include learning to sail an optimist, learning to play the Ukalele, teaching children outdoor activities, meeting real Kiwi's, getting free food and accommodation and then finding out I was to get paid for my work, lots of kayaking experience, the lend of a bike, making new friends and the best part of all was just the sunning location that the camp was in - no phones or laptops in sight.
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