Wairakei Camp, Taupō (Green Contingent)

Written by Rosie & Calvin - Bosuns of the Green Contingent

Day one: Everyone woke up quite early and drove over to the scout den still half asleep. Once everyone had arrived we started to attach the boats to the cars and sorted out who was going in what car. Once everything was done we started to drive up to Wairakei primary school. On the way, we stopped at Taihape to stretch our legs and have some lunch. After we got to the school everyone helped set up tents and unpacked all of the gear. Next, we ate the lovely dinner that the Venturers had prepared for us and went to bed ready for the days of fun and excitement that were to come. 

The stop in Taihape for lunch

Setting up camp at the school

Day two: We had mountain biking. We were to split into groups of three or more and were then free to explore the variety of trails that the park had to offer. Most people had lunch on their own time by the maps (where the cool box was), or in-between trails. After mountain biking, everyone was thoroughly hot and tired, so there was a trip to AC Baths in the afternoon where everyone had an amazing time before heading back to camp for a good sleep. 

Hamish, Magnus, Charlie and Ethan in various states
of excitement for the mountain biking

Day three: We woke up at around eight and had some breakfast. After that, we got all of the stuff we needed and we drove over to the scout den and started to rig up some boats. Once all of the boats were rigged up everyone made lunch and then sorted out the crews. After that, we put the boats on the water and went for a relaxing sail. Sadly it wasn’t windy enough and it was going to take too long to get to the Maori carvings so we just went back to the den de-rigged the boats and went for a swim.

Ethan & Ciara & crew sailing on Lake Taupō

After dinner on the 31st, it wasn’t long before the Venturers had thrown a full-on new years party for the scouts and leaders, complete with glow sticks, balloons, and youtube just dance. 

The Venturer hosted New Years Party

On New Year’s Day, we used the inner tubes to float down the Waikato River for a few hours, it was a really fun, chill time which we needed after the amazing party the night before. Near the end of the float, we also stopped to sit in some of Taupo’s famous hot pools for a while and had a great time with that as well. All in all a wonderful day. 

Sitting around in the hot pools

Day five: Everyone woke up at around eight and started to get ready for the day ahead. Once we were ready we had breakfast, made lunch, and drove over to the den. Like day three there wasn’t much wind so we just went swimming and used the boats as bombing platforms. Other than that we didn’t do anything else. It was just a nice chilled-out day at the den. 

Sailing races when pride is at stake,
but the wind is not co-operating

Day six: We packed our bags ready for an overnight trip to Rotorua, where we did the Redwoods Treewalk and later had a fun stop at a lake for a while afterward. Later on in the evening after setting up our campsite we went to see some glow worms and took the Treewalk again before a nice, early bedtime of 2:00 am. 

The light show in the Redwoods at night

Day seven: We all had a long sleep-in before we got started on our way back to Taupo. On the way there we stopped at a lake to go swimming and cool ourselves off. The only problem was that the lake was horrible, it was filled with duck poo, fish, algae, and other stuff that no one would want to touch. So instead we went to a river. The river was nice and cool and it had a big enough drop-off to be able to bomb into. After our swim, we came back to camp and just hung out for the rest of the afternoon. 

Day eight: Whitewater rafting & swimming 

On day eight the camp woke up early for breakfast in preparation for the drive to Tongariro for whitewater rafting. Scouts 13 and over were allowed to do level three, while under 13s went on level two. After rafting, we had lunch at a park, drove to Taupo scout den, swam for a while, and had dinner there. 

Top left going forward: The guide, Ash, Ruby & Hamish
Top right going forward: Neil, Hamish Brown, & Bronson

L-R: guide, Rosie, James, Angus, Jesse, Magnus, Sean

Top left going forward: guide, Matt, Grant, Emyer
Top Right going forward: Kalina, Dougal, Ethan

L-R: Kym, Amelia, Annaliese, Charlie, Ciara, Gabi

Day nine: Our last day on camp. Everyone woke up early, packed up everything, and then had breakfast. After that, we hopped into cars and drove back to the den with a few stops along the way. When we got back to the den we unpacked everything and had a talk about the many thousands of things that we did. Once that was over we all went home knowing that we had an amazing camp.

Final debrief