Day 1
On Friday the 28 of February we left Ngāti Toa scout hall to begin our adventurous journey. The drive took longer than we thought because there was lots of traffic. When we got there we found the key the was left under the rubbish bin for us and had a look around then we went back to the car and unloaded everything after everything was inside the hall we got out a table and told the scouts what was going to happen that night and also decided what days I would lead and what days Angus would lead. We decided that I would lead Friday night & Angus would lead Saturday and I would lead Sunday. I think it was good to tell the other scouts what was happening because it meant they didn't have to ask us what was happening next after each activity finished.
After that I decided we were going to set up our beds and then ride our bikes to the fish and chip shop where we were eating our dinner. When we got there I ordered the food and they said we had to wait for about 30 minutes. There was a picnic bench next to the fish and chip shop but me and Rose went to see if we could find a nicer place to eat around there while Angus and Dylan waited for the food. I think that was a good idea because otherwise we would have had to find a place to eat after we already had the food and it might have gone cold. Once the food was ready we went to the picnic table me and Rose found at a park to eat our dinner.
After dinner we biked back to the hall and all found our torches. It was a good idea that we set up our beds before dinner because it gave us more time to play spotlight. We went out to play spotlight and then came in about 45 minutes later because we had to get ready for bed. We probably should have set boundaries before the first round because we didn't know how far we could go but after the first round we said we could only go on the field and the trees around it.
At around 9.50 we went in and got ready for bed we were in bed and lights out by 10 or 10.15. Our aim was a 10 pm lights out so we should have come in earlier but we were pretty close.
Day 2
On Saturday we had planned to get up at 8 but everyone woke up at 7 or 7.30 and so we played cards until then. 8 was too late to get up and we probably could have started on breakfast when we got up so we had more time to do other things. For breakfast we made pancakes which were okay. We used a lot of mix in the first couple that didn't turn out well and then decided to add a bit more water so we would have more mix. That made the pancakes very thin but they still tasted good. It did take us a lot longer than expected to make breakfast and we decided that maybe it was a bit much to have all four of us in the kitchen making breakfast so me and Rose got out the stuff for lunch and started making people's wraps. One thing we realized is we had forgotten to put on the gear list things to put our lunches in but we had planned to eat at the start of the walk that day anyway so we put the lunches in one of the boxes with food.
While we were eating breakfast and a bit when we were cooking, Angus told everyone what was going to happen that day because he was leading that day. When all the breakfast and lunch things were packed up we packed our day bags so everything would be ready by the time we got back from geocaching. We went geocaching for about an hour or hour and a half. It was good but some of them were hard to find or not there.
When we got back we put our lunches in the car and our day bags and went to Patuna chasm. We didn't know where to go so we used google maps. We got there about 45 mins early so we had lunch at a picnic bench that was there, signed in on the sheet out front and put on more sunscreen. It was good we got there early because it meant we had time to do all those things and if we were late they wouldn't have waited for us and we would have missed out.
The car ride that took us to the start of the walk was about 15 mins and had some nice views it was also fun because we were in the trailer it the actual car. When we got to the start the person that ran the Patuna chasm walk gave us instructions about the walk and told us where a first aid kit was and what to do if anything happened on the walk. That was good but made it easy for me and Angus because we didn't have to try to find out where we were or where to go next on a map because we had the instructions and the person had told us everything we needed to know.
The first part of the walk was on land and a bit uphill. After about 15 to 20 minutes of that we went down into the river. It was a steep downhill so they had a rope you could use to help you down. Once we were in the river we went upstream to a waterfall which we stood under and it was nice and refreshing since it was a nice day. After that we had to turn back downstream because past the waterfall was private property. We kept walking downstream and took lots of pictures because it was very pretty. It was rocky and slippery in some places so we made sure that we were watching our steps so we didn't fall. We were just walking straight for a while in some parts the water was up to our waist and in other parts it was only up to our ankles. After that there was a side path to a cave type thing it took about 15 mins to get up there and it was cool but very muddy and slippery on the way up and down after that we just kept walking down the river and because we wanted to do the swim out option we kept walking past the walk out sign with the rope to get back up.
We continued down and it started to get deeper at one point there was a part that was up to ours waists on the side and deeper in the middle me and Rose went under the water there because we thought it was the swimming part but it wasn't super deep for that long. Then after another couple of minutes we saw the deeper part. Derrick and Dermot took the bags because we wanted to go under the water and because we were too short to keep them from getting wet. It was a good idea to give them the bags because they didn't get wet and they definitely would have it if we had carried them.
At the end of the swim there was and orange cone that showed us where to get out so we got out and followed the path back to where we had started on our way up we heard the cars coming back to get people but by the time we got there they had already left so we had to wait a hour for them to come back and pick us up. We should have run when we heard them so we would get there on time.
During that hour we put our thermals on and some of our wet stuff off so we wouldn't get cold because it was windy. Derrick taught us about some of the trees that were around there and the clouds that were in the sky at that point. The cars came back for us at 4.45 we went in the trailers back to the place where we parked and then drove back to the hall.
When we got back to the hall we put on our togs and went to the pool that was right next to the hall. We were there for about 45 minutes because it closed 30 minutes before they said it would. But it was still a good amount of time in the pool before we had to go back to make dinner.
Dinner was pasta which some people thought there wouldn't be enough of because we only brought one bag of pasta but it was enough for all of us. It also didn't take as long as breakfast. After dinner we were going to start making the cake but then we realized we didn't bring a cake tin but then someone suggested we use the pot we made the pasta in so we did we made the batter put it in the pot and then we put in in the oven and set a timer and went outside to play spotlight it was fun but there was a lot more people around. We went inside 15 mins before the timer went off because there were some people walking around the field and it was kinda creepy. When we were inside we checked on the cake but it still had a while to go so we played cards until it was done. After the cake was done we realized we still had to make the icing so we quickly made that and put it on the cake we also wanted milo but we had used the pot to make the cake so we had cold milo it was very good after we had eaten cake we cleaned the dishes and went to bed.
Day 3
We were planning to get up at 7 on Sunday but the alarm didn't go off and so we ended up getting up at around 7.20. When we got up we packed up our beds and stuff because we were going home that day then we made breakfast which was scrambled eggs and bacon on toast but when we were cooking the bacon the stove we were cooking it on sparked so we turned it off and started using another one.
When we were eating breakfast we were talking about what we were gonna do that day and we were planning on doing a 10km bike ride but then Derrick told us that that would only take us half an hour so me Angus and Dermot went outside to talk about what we would do instead while everyone else cleaned up the inside of the hall.
When we were trying to decide what we were going to do we decided that we still wanted to do a bike ride but a longer one that we had originally planned. Angus wanted to ride all the way back to Ngāti Toa but I thought 105km was to much and so we decided that we would ride over the Rimutakas on the Rimutaka rail trail and Derrick would pick us up at the carpark at the end and drive us back to the den.
So we went inside to tell everyone and everything was packed up so we told people what we were going to do and at first they didn't really like the idea because it was still a really long bike ride but they didn't really mind when we were on the bikes. We loaded up everything into Derricks car and he was going to meet us at the start of the Rimutaka track that was about 25 km away but on his way there he stopped at the supermarket because we had to do something else for lunch because we had planned to have nachos at the hall but couldn't do that anymore. Once we had loaded up Derrick's car we left and Dermot was riding with us and had the map on his phone. The first part of the ride was pretty good we were on a bike path for a lot of it and there were some times we went on the road because it was easier to ride on but we only did that on roads that had barely any cars on them and if cars started coming we went onto the path next to the road.
We took a couple of breaks and made sure everyone drank a lot of water and ate some snacks we brought with us so that people didn't get dehydrated and hungry. We got to the start of the Rimutaka track about just over 2 hours after we left. Everyone was pretty tired and not really excited about the big hill that we had to ride up next.
We had lunch. Derrick had brought some lollies for energy and some tuna wraps. We stayed there for about an hour and then got back on the bikes and started up the hill. Rose was struggling a bit and wasn't feeling the best at the start so we took a little break and then kept going. We walked our bikes for a bit and then rode them for a bit and kept doing that and taking some breaks but not too many. We did that all the way up the hill to the swing bridge. I think it was a good idea to walk the bikes when we got tired instead of taking breaks so that it didn't take too long. Angus and Dylan were a bit ahead of us but stopped when they thought they were too far ahead.
When we got to the swing bridge we knew we were close to the top we left our bikes on one side of the swing bridge and then went to have a look over the sides and stuff then we got our bikes and biked across on the other side of the swing bridge there was a tunnel so we a couple of people had torches so we turned them on so we could see. It wasn't a very long tunnel but it might have been more helpful if more people had torches. After another 5 or 10 mins there was another tunnel and then we were at the top.
Once we were at the top we sat under a tree and rested for 15 mins. Then we went down the hill everyone was a lot more happy because we were going down hill and didn't really have to peddle. The down hill didn't really take us that long, only about half an hour and when we got to the end we saw Derrick and loaded the bikes onto the trailer and then drove to the den. When we got to the den we unloaded the trailer and put everything that needed to go back in the den. Then we all went home.
It was a good camp and if i did it again i would probably make some changes especially in the planning but i think we did pretty good.
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