Hanmer Springs Camp 2019

On Monday Totara 1 & 2 went on camp to Hanmer Springs for 2 nights (3 days). I was in a car group with Miss Hines, Mia and Kyra. We left school at around 9am (and had already started on the lollies at 9:15am). As soon as we arrived we drove to our accommodation (Hanmer Springs Forest Camp) to unpack our gear and have our lunch.

When we were there we had 2 & 1/2 hour rotations with either Activity Hanmer or just our groups. These rotations consisted of orienteering, cemetery study/sculpture walk, mountain biking, conical hill/lolly shop visit and tree climbing.

Each night we also got to spend a couple of hours at the hot pools!

Our first rotation (on the first day) was orienteering. I must admit this was probably the best kind of orienteering I have ever done because we got to explore the beautiful Hanmer forest while doing it. We were given a map and had to get into small groups. Then, we had around 1 & ½ - 2 hrs to find as many items/points as we could. My team came about 3rd/4th.

Our first rotation (on the second day) was the cemetery study and sculpture walk. First we walked about 5 minutes to the cemetery. When we got there we took a picture of our group sitting on a stone wall. Miss Hines then gave everyone in the group a piece of paper and a pencil. On the piece of paper were a few questions / activities we had to complete. We had to find the oldest person buried there and the youngest person buried there. When we were searching for our answers we came across a grave about a man who had passed away from being struck by lightning. Then we drove to a half an hour sculpture walk. In the walk there was a range of wooden sculptures that Andrew Lyons had carved. He used a redwood tree that had been cut down from the hot pools. My favourite sculpture was a bear that was climbing a tree. Half way down the track we came to an intersection and Kylee took us the wrong way. Finally we realised that we had gone the wrong way so we walked back to the intersection and met up with the rest of the group.

Our second rotation (on the second day) was mountain biking. I love to go mountain biking so this was right up my alley. The bikes were quite new however the seat was a bit hard and confusing to adjust. As these gears were a little bit different to what I’m used to it took a bit of practice to get used to. Andy (our Activity Hanmer guide) took us through some great tracks in the forest. I loved the pump track that we went on in the middle of the ride and the steep hills/jumps on the tracks.

Our third rotation (on the second day) was walking (or running if you were in Group 3) up Conical Hill and visiting The Lolly Pot (lolly shop) on the way down. When we got to the start of the track there was a sign that said that is would take 30 minutes to get up and 30 minutes to get down. We all decided a goal to get up in 20 minutes or less and get down in 10 minutes or less. It took us 15 mins to get up and 6 mins to get down. All of the girls got down quick but the boys were missing. After about 20 minutes of waiting they turned up but they were coming from the village not the track. They then told us that they had gone of the track and got a wee bit lost. We were all furious with them because in that time we would have already been to the lollie shop and at the hot pools getting ready to swim. Eventually we made it to the lollie shop. Every child got to spend $5 but some naughty and sneeky childeren spent more, someone even spent $20.

Our first rotation (on the third day) was tree climbing. At the start Aria (the Activity Hanmer guide) taught us about ‘GriGri’ (tool to use for abseiling), beylaying, harnesses and the buddy check (checking each others helmets/harnesses and carabiners). We started on the small tree (the blue gum tree) as these were smaller courses and better ones to start on for less experienced climbers. After we finished both courses on the gum tree we got to move on to the tall pine tree. Now, this was one crazily tall tree! After a boost from a parent help, many branches and footpegs I finally reached the top. If you reached the top you can choose to jump a small way off a branch (not the full way down though). It sort of felt like jumping on a trampoline.

When you got to the top of any of the courses there was a little hooter than you got to squeeze!

Each night, for at least 2hrs we got to go to the Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools & Spa (hot pools). On the last night at the pools we went down the Super Bowl with “many” of our friends at the same time. We also pretty much got a whole 38-40 degree pool to ourselves! We spent quite a lot of our time either on the Super Bowl, lazy river or 38-40 degree pool.

Follow this link to watch our class camp video.

Overall, we all had a fantastic time and we would definitely stay longer if we could!