Cheerful exhaustion
What a great weekend full of food and chatter and learning. We challenged the scouts to each write a paragraph about the tramp and the experience that sticks most clearly in their mind. Below are some of them:
From Connor:
"Atiwhakatu Tramp. A tramp. My first tramp with a big bag on my back. And sure was it a difference. Instead of carrying a light day bag, you are carrying all of your stuff. At first, I thought it would be hard. But it was surprisingly easy. My favorite part of the tramp was the cooking. I love cooking with the gas stoves. Although we made an explosive out of one of the gas cookers, I still enjoyed it. For dinner, we made macaroni and cheese. For breakfast the next morning, we made yummy porridge. Our group's porridge was the best of course. Nick made some sloppy watery porridge for his breakfast, because we are so amazing and kind we gave him some of our lovely porridge. There is even a photo of me feeding him it."
From Ella:
"It was really cool. I enjoyed the walk and really really liked the sleeping quarters. I learnt that u can go without a lot about stuff e.g., a pillow.
When I came to the scout hall, I realized why you needed a lot of space left in the top of your bag because you had to carry your own food in your pack. I then had to switch from my tiny little bag to a decently sized tramping pack. Then (after I had put all my clothes into the other pack) we were called to sit on the floor to be sorted into our car groups. When we got to the car park, we had lunch there. Then we set out on the tramp to Atiwhakatu hut. My favourite bridge was the bridge that had the wired floor, The one that swayed really hard. I got a shock when I saw Derrick throw Rosie’s group’s gas cooker out the window. I marvelled at the gas cooker on fire outside.
The weekend was really fun. I hope we do something like it again."
From Amelia:
"Atiwhakatu tramp was so much fun. I think my favorite part was the actual walk. The views were amazing and the weather was nice. I loved the bridges and the scenery. It was a pretty easy track with a few hills but mostly flattish. I'm very happy I got to do the tramp, I might not have been able to do it as I hurt my ankle. Overall it was tons of fun and I'm grateful to Nick for organizing it and the rest of the leaders for helping us with the cooking and stuff."
From Trinaya:
"The lengthy car drive to Halesworth Carpark was to be honest, pretty monotonous. But since I had never been on an overnight tramp before, I guess the excitement for me started when I reached the hut. My favourite part of the tramp was probably the swing bridges. The first swing bridge from the carpark swung so much that my hands were gripping the railing super tightly! Once we reached the huts, the first thing we did was collect firewood. After that we got to choose our bunkrooms and start unpacking! By the time everyone was sorted and unpacked, We were told to start making dinner. We did this in our watch groups. Basically everyone was making Mac' n' cheese the first night! 🍲 After dinner, we had this tramping quiz that Nick had put together for us. It was really fun!!! In the morning we walked back. Surprisingly to me it felt like half the distance of walking to the hut! It was a really fun tramp and I can't wait until the next one!!!!"
From Hannah:
"My favourite part about the Atiwhakatu tramp was the actual walk. The scenery was gorgeous and the swing bridges were so cool. At the start of the walk, I was excited because I hadn't been on an overnight tramp before. When we were on the last boardwalk we saw the white roof of the hut, and we started running. Everybody was so happy and relieved when we got there. The bunk beds were so cool cause you got to be around all your friends. It was an amazing tramp! Thank you Nick for organizing it!"
