Ski Camp

2019 MT RUAPEHU SKI CAMP

This year Te Waka Ako went on a ski camp at Mt. Ruapehu. Before camp I was feeling pretty excited, but this was not my first time skiing, but it did seem like it because at the time, I couldn't even stop! Along with that I was feeling a bit nervous, as I didn't know what the weather would be like and how steep the slope would be. I knew that when I was skiing, it would be cold, but boy! Did I have something to find out...

Yeah! time for the bus ride! We were driving the whole day, although we did stop a lot.  My favorite part was when we were at Hamilton gardens and my group kept on going in circles. At Hamilton gardens, we were put into our colour groups (pink, purple, blue, green, red, turquoise and maybe more...) and we had to do this cool scavenger hunt round the gardens. The next stop was Otorohanga (try say that ten times fast!) where we went to the Ed Hillary walkway, where we had to find information and write it down on a piece of paper. After that, we went to the Jim Baker memorial playground where we went completely psycho, meaning we had heaps of fun! Once the teachers had rounded us up, we set off to Taumaranui  Primary because they had an AMAZING playground which we used to play hide-and-seek. Then it was hour and a half to 'The Crossing', where we stayed the night...

DAY TWO

Ski time! We left at eight o'clock sharp and headed to the mountain, but our bus couldn't go up, due to the icy roads. So we had to use some other buses. On the drive up the mountain it was pretty cool,  once we got to the snow there were lots of "Ooo's" and "Aaa's". It was pretty cool getting to walk from the bus to the Ski rental, because we got to walk through snow in our sneakers. After we got our ski's (No poles needed!) we walked out into the snow again, but this time in ski/snowboard boots. We got to muck about in the snow for half an hour, but then it was time for sledding. We were sledding for an hour before it was time for lunch. Then it was time for our ski lessons. I was in group two, which I'm guessing is the second highest group (it was). By the end of my ski lesson I could stop, turn, and do jumps. So you can guess how I was feeling. Happy! 

DAY THREE

Back to the mountain! When we got there, we already had our skis and boots, so no need to go to the ski rental! We went straight to our ski lesson and this time - it was sleeting like crazy! It really hurt going down, as sleet is quite hard. We went inside for lunch, and then got to ski by ourselves down the slopes.

DAY FOUR

Awwww, man! Time to go home! On the drive back, we stopped at the A/C Baths in Taupo. The pool had a Tarzan swing and a bombing area with a slide. We then got out

for lunch and had hot dogs, and then got back in the bus. Once we were done there, we visited Huka Falls, which is AMAZING! We then left and went back to the gardens, before leaving for home. I feel really proud of myself, as I can now ski confidently!

THE END!