After a night in the ghostown that was Wellington, we headed off on our 5hour bus ride to the Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuit Center. The week was spent doing some fun and unusual activities.
The first day we went streaming up a river, knee deep, for some of us short people waist deep, and for others who fell in head deep. Without too many bumps and bruises, we made it to the waterfall- a sight to behold. A beautiful rainbow popped out and some were able to capture it.
That night folks, we recieved the most amazing Halloween care package that you could ever, and I mean EVER, imagine. Thanks to Eric’s MOM! We spent the night eating chocolate and Halloween candy talking about how awesome you are. For any other loving parental units who would also like us to think they are awesome, care packages are more than welcome! Contact the office for details on our location. Next stop Sydney 😉
After our feast, we climbed, on full bellies, Mt. Tangariro, also known to Lord of the Rings fans as Mt. Doom. Now, when I say climb, I really mean climb, not hike. It was so incredibly steep. When we reached the top the view was outstanding. We were then instructed to whip out our ice axe that we luckily had stored in our packs. With ice axe in tow, we slid, on our bums, down the 2000ft. mountain. Yes, that is correct. Oh, and did I mention it was covered in snow, a wee little childs DREAM.
Other activities included team building excercises, high ropes course, and a field trip to the thermal pools.
Last but not least we went caving in Okupata Caves. This was a challenge for most as the cave was very narrow and there were some difficult squeezes, especially POOH BEARS CRACK. Yes, that’s the real name.
After caving we ventured out on our overnight camping adventure. Canoeing for almost thirty minutes led us to a private beach island where we all set up our own camp sites from a tarp and sticks that we were given. The night was very quite and a reflective time for most, spent alone in our tents.
OPC was a great and we did so many things that would have been so expensive to do on our own time.
Thanks to Ken and Pip our leaders at OPC.
Much love back home,
Hannah and Stephenie
