Each grade at QPS participates in an annual camping trip. Sadie's Year 3/4 class headed out for an overnight in Cardrona, about a 1 hour drive up the Crown Range which connects Queenstown to Wanaka.
I was lucky enough to be selected to bum along as a parent helper. It was time to dust off a few of those old Eagle Scout skills!
First a few thoughts from Sadie on the experience...
"I liked playing with my friends."
"Building a dam was my favorite activity."
"It was really fun camping with my class because I could do it it with my friends."
"It was my first time sleeping in a tent, in the wilderness and away from stuff."
Kiwi Observations
Before getting into the camp, I had a couple of Kiwi culture observations.
Adults Step Aside
Adults, parents and teachers here make a real effort to not do things for the kids. They expect the kids to pick up the slack in a much more intentional way. Everything from setting up, cleaning up, or carrying heavy bags. There's no questions asked; the kids do it. Helicopter parents are nowhere to be seen. We saw the same dynamic at play a few weeks ago during Halloween - if it wasn't a toddler, it was kids on their own trick or treating.
Cake in Hand
A classmate had her birthday at camp, so there was a celebration with some cake. Kids got a piece by sticking out their hands to be served. No paper plates, no napkins. An American parent, who has been living in NZ for quite some time, enlightened me on this. It wasn't a camping thing, explaining "that's so Kiwi". Why waste a plate and napkins? Typically at birthday parties it's simply cake in hand, camping or not.
Now to the Fun of Camp...
Sadie and classmates loaded up in the morning at school.
I went ahead in a car with a group of parents, where we got busy setting up camp. I was on tent duty, spending the morning with a small crew.
While I was busy at camp, Sadie and the kids were in Wanaka. The teachers did a nature lesson out at Lake Wanaka and then they spent time at nearby Puzzling World.
After lunch, kids arrived and it was a mad scramble to claim a tent.
Sadie decided to bunk up with her friend Aya. Joining them in the tent were Aya's twin Eva and their friend Rina.
The kids set up their tents, which were inspected by teachers and scored for cleanliness. Sadie and her crew declared their tent the "Purple Pandas".
Late afternoon there was an epic game of capture the flag. The flag was placed at the top of a nearby hill. Here's Sadie's group unleashed up the hill, going after the flag. Unfortunately Sadie's game was cut short . . . she struggled opening her eyes after getting sunscreen in her eyes.
After a BBQ dinner, the Purple Pandas PJ'd up.
It was like a beehive of kids in PJs.
The night wrapped in the little community building with a talent show. Kids were invited to come up and share a talent. My favorite was this group of Japanese kids (two of whom are Sadie's friends, the twins who she bunked with) who danced to a Japanese tune.
In the community room, there were old newspaper clippings on the wall. There were a bunch from a music festival held here sometime in the '60s or '70s. I had a good chuckle reading the caption under this picture. Lawrence seems like a guy I'd like to hang out with.
Early light and a choir of birds made for an early wake up for the kids. There was breakfast and games at the camp.
Gathering for a group photo before heading out.
The bus headed back towards Queenstown, dropping everyone off at a roadside trail for a hike. It was an hour hike down into Arrowtown. Arrowtown is an old gold mining town, so once the kids arrived they were sent out to dam the river in hopes of finding some nuggets. Sadie proclaimed this was here favorite activity of the trip.
And that was a wrap. It was great fun to help out on the trip, watch the kids do their thing and hang out with a crew of parent helpers. A couple days later Sadie came home with letters from her and two of her classmates, thanking me for helping out at Camp Cardrona.
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