My chief scout journey took place over the Matariki weekend from Friday the 28th of June to Sunday the 30th of June 2024.
There were lots of possibilities of what I could do and where I could go. After a lot of thinking, I decided to go to Kapiti Island and cycle down the coast from Paraparaumu to Ngati toa domain. Along the way we’d do things like working at the community gardens, going to a scenic lookout point, and kayaking.
Planning
This journey took a lot more planning than I thought it would. Things took a lot more time than I thought, like budgeting, posting the event on Mahi Tahi, and some of the activities like cycling. Even though they took more time than I thought, they ended up all working out and everything ran smoothly.
Budget
My budget went pretty well. The total cost for the trip per person was $120, I have reached this budget. The trip would’ve cost more, but luckily Kapiti Island Nature tours had a discount of 20%. I knew that if the trip cost any more it would draw people away from attending. So I’m thankful to Kapiti nature tours for the good timing of the discount!
I had the amount of food planned to cost $161, and it ended up being $158.08 which is less than I expected. I was budgeting for 3 people. I budgeted the camp with 3 expenses in mind: Food, Kapiti Island trip and the Koha to Raumati Scout Group. The food cost was $52.70 each, the Kapiti Island trip cost $63 each, the other $4.30 each was for the Koha to Raumati Scout group. That means the koha would only be $12.90.
I would like to round the koha up to $20.
We ended up having a bit too much food at the end so we all took it home and found ways to use it. I used the leftover bananas to make a banana cake and I bought it into scouts to share on the last night of term. Some things like bacon, apple crumble, cereal, and burger patties went very fast. But there were some things that I took too many of, like bananas, apples, fries, tinned food, and raro.
Accommodation
For our accommodation, we stayed at two places, Raumati Scout den in Paraparaumu, and Ngati Toa Sea Scouts. On the first night we slept in Raumati scout hall. We cooked and ate there and there was even a heater. On the second night we slept in tents in a field in Ngati Toa domain which is very close to Ngati Toa Sea Scouts. And everything went well.
The Journey Begins
On the night before the journey, I was excited about what awaited me. I knew that the first day was going to be the biggest day and I liked that. The weather forecast was looking good too.
Friday - Set up
Before we set off to cycle to Paraparaumu beach, I got to check out the Raumati Scout den. Raumati Scout leader Belinda came down to meet us and showed me around. It was very well looked after den. There was a surprise note that said ‘enjoy your stay from the Kaputi coasters from jamboree’ with their logo. So we wrote a message back with a very impressive Porirua pirates picture which is what we were at the jamboree.
We had to bike from Raumati south (Where Raumati Scout Den is) to Paraparaumu beach (Where the Kapiti Island ferry is). We were wearing hi vis vests as we were biking along the waterfront roads. But it was very cold. It was -1 degrees as we were biking along the waterfront and my knees were so cold that I couldn’t pedal, they were absolutely frozen! Luckily the temperature raised to a comfortable 12 degrees on the island, and I could do everything fine without being frozen. I’m very fortunate that the two others in my camp, Angus and Connel, were all fine and we challenged ourselves to keep going when it was really cold.
Kapiti Nature Tours - Check in
Just before we got to the island, we had to have a biosecurity check. What this means is that we had to take all of our bags off and thoroughly examine them to make sure that there were no pests in our bags like seeds, insects, and rats. After that we had to spray our boots with some sort of soap and brush our boots through a brush. We were also told that we can’t put our bags on the ground until we reach the boat, otherwise our bags could get seeds on them. We got our pass to the island and then set off across the road to the boating club..
I would like to thank John Smith from Kapiti Boating club. I popped into the boating club a week prior because we needed somewhere for our bikes to be safe and not get stolen. John let us put our bikes in the bathrooms and we locked them up with our bike locks, and we were good to go to Kapiti.
Friday - Kapiti Island
This was the highlight of our trip. Kapiti Island. At 9:30 in the morning, we set off on the ferry for the island. Just before we were at the shore, the boat that we were in was still going at full speed. I started to worry as usually boats would’ve slowed down at that point, but our driver smoothly slowed down very quickly.
After we got on the island, we had a quick talk from the guide about the trails and the island's history. As soon as that was over, we set off for the Wilkinson track to the top of the island. There were heaps of birds! We took lots of pictures and videos of the sounds of birds, the main ones we saw were Saddle backs, Tuis, Wekas and we even saw a Kakariki bird, of which there are only 100 left in the world! We stopped regularly but still no one had caught up to us. We stopped for a solid 20 minutes at the Hihi feeder, which is where the halfway point to the top is. Only then did people catch up to us.
There were just two things I didn't like about the Kapiti island trip. Firstly at the guide's talk, there was the couple that delayed the schedule to the ferry. Their children were screaming and crying so we couldn’t hear the guide properly. Angus and Connel and I all agreed that it was a bit rude. The other thing I didn’t like was at the Hihi feeder. Some tourists were playing music! The only type of music that you want to hear in a nature reserve are birds chirping. It's quite disrespectful to the birds and people who want to see and hear the birds.
We had morning tea at the Hihi feeder, there were Wekas galore. All it took was a tiny piece of carrot to attract 3 Wekas. They tried to peck my legs, that was a bit scary. Then we set off for the top again. We were chatting, stopping, and looking at all the bird life that was there. And before we knew it, we were at the junction with the other track! We were then motivated to get to the top, which flew by, and then, we made it!
The view at the top was outstanding. We could see from Porirua to Levin. We then ate lunch and went to the old long drop toilet at the top of the island. It smelt like Rotorua on a bad day! And then we headed back down to the bottom. We were just chatting and walking down the track but once we got to the Hihi feeder, something special happened. A big chime of Korimakos, probably 20 of them, were at the Hihi feeder along with the Hihis. I remember that we were talking, and then we just went quiet. The sound was just beautiful to hear. We sat down and just took the beautiful sound in. We were having a snack and then the same 3 Wekas came to peck me for food. We then set off for the bottom again. We were skipping down the island and then, SWOOSH. A kaka bird dive bombed 5 metres away from Angus, he got the fright of his life!
We got back to the bottom in good time so we dipped our feet in the beach water, tried some of the spring water from the lake which tasted a bit murky, and said our goodbyes to the island. But remember that boat driver from earlier in the day? Well he sailed us home too. He drove the boat so smoothly, when we got onto the sea tractor on the mainland we didn’t even notice until we saw the trailer with big barricades (so that the boat didn’t fall off). Overall, Kapiti Island was a great experience for all of us and we’d all do it again.
After our Kapiti island trip, we biked back to Raumati Scout den. We had burgers and oven chips for dinner and an apple crumble for dessert. We had trouble getting the oven going to cook the chips. We had a fiddle with the dials on the oven and it worked! We then got a bit of free time and went to bed at 10:20pm. But just before we turned the lights out, an unexpected challenge happened. I shut the kitchen door but didn't realise the nib was on, so the door locked behind me! But to make matters worse, the key for the kitchen was on the kitchen bench! So we were locked out of the kitchen! Lucky we didn't have any elements on. To solve this problem, I considered picking the lock, or calling Belinda in case she had a spare key. But then Connel suggested we check if we had any windows open, and we did! So we devised a plan. I lifted Angus up and into the window, Connel held the torch for us. Then bingo, Angus was in, he turned the lights on and unlocked the door. I learnt to always put the key back and double check that the door wasn’t locked before shutting it!
Saturday - Biking Journey
On Saturday morning we packed up and headed off for the coast road from Raumati South to Ngati toa domain. We were supposed to leave at 9:30 but we ended up leaving at 10 am. We enjoyed our stay at Raumati Scout den and would definitely stay there again.
We biked through Queen Elizabeth park, and stopped in Paekakariki. We then filed down Coast road and were in Pukerua Bay before we knew it. When we got to Pukerua Bay, we stopped at the local community gardens to do some work for a badge for an hour. We clipped trees and knocked in posts. After this we had lunch and looked around the garden.
After a short bike ride across the village of Pukerua Bay, we arrived at Raroa reserve. We took in the beautiful kohekohe flowers which were quite unique, and then we got to the lookout. It was a great spot to look out to and we saw a whale!
We then biked to Ngati toa domain from Pukerua Bay. I found this last bike ride a challenge because I was getting pretty tired.
When we got to the Ngati toa den, we set up tents. Connel had to leave early the next morning. So we decided to set up 2 tents instead. Me and Angus were in one tent, and Connell was in the other. That meant Connel could have a good night sleep by himself and get up early to leave without waking others. The setting up of the tents was fun, we played around with the poles but still got them up in good time. For dinner, we made chilli con carne. Later we had bananas, chocolate and marshmallows. Everything went to plan.
Sunday - Last day
On Sunday morning, we were supposed to go kayaking, but I decided the weather was not suitable for that, it was way too cold. Instead we did a beach clean up from the marina entrance at mana cruising club to the eastern channel marker of the Porirua harbour channel marker. We got lots of rubbish. I emailed Porirua city council about the gorse on the Whitireia reserve park.
Conclusion
Overall, I enjoyed my camp. I would totally do it again. And I would take my experience from this past camp and do what I think would work better, like getting places on time, and changing my shopping list to have less of some things.
If I had to break down my main highlight every day it would be…
Friday: The entire Kapiti Island trip.
Saturday: Seeing the whale at Raroa Reserve
Sunday: The beach clean up on Ngati Toa beach.
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Derrick and Kem who are my scout leaders, Kapiti Nature Tours, John Smith, Belinda Tomkinson, Raumati Scouts, Pukerua Bay Community Gardens, Ngati Toa Sea Scouts, Porirua Council, and the McIntosh family - the boys Angus and Connel, and their parents. Without any of you I probably wouldn't have done this.
More Pictures here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/RyxYVcunukTTo57B6
