23 Jun TOPEC Day 2, 3 and 4
TOPEC Day 2 continued Ratu. (Some photos can be seen on the TOPEC website).
Afternoon activities included Abseiling, High & Low ropes Course & ABL activities on site.
Had a couple injuries from yesterday that needed ice packs as well as ABL kick to the head, walking into a pole? Panadol etc.
Girls in great spirits and you can hear squeals of delight from the trees.
I have been very impressed with our meals. Mrs Manning arrived in the afternoon (with Mr Darcy), to assist and supervise the AKO duty group.
Mrs Gadsby and her 3 sons arrived for some fun activities with the girls on the front lawn.
DINNER time! Spaghetti Bolagnese with coleslaw for main then fruit & ice cream for dessert. Like….. YUM!
Mrs Costelloe arrived in time for dinner (some people just have that 7th sense!).
After dinner the same group cleaned, did the dishes and helped set up the drying in front of a roaring fire!
TOPEC Day 3 Raapa
A bit of action happened last night for the URENUI hut, staff and members of Manawa Tapu.
The smoke detector alarm went off just before midnight. Mrs Costelloe managed to switch it off but couldn’t stop the beep of the low battery signal.
URENUI hut members transferred to the ECO lodge with the teachers for the rest of the night.
After checking the alarm the next day it was deduced that the condensation in the hut set off the alarm.
URENUI moved to EGMONT hut in hope that no alarms would go off Wednesday night.
6am another alarm went off in INGLEWOOD hut with condensation touted as the problem there too.
MANAWA TAPU, even with their interrupted night, were on deck at 6.50am setting up breakfast.
Cereals, porridge, toast, spaghetti, baked beans, hot cups of milo greeted some sleepy campers!
Clean up and groups had time to ‘chill’ while staff briefing was on.
An action packed day in store and the instructors were keen to make most of the glorious Taranaki weather and environment.
Morning activities involved: Bridge Swing, Rogaine & Water rafting. After lunch 3 groups went Bush and AKO with Josh went on the Bridge.
Dinner menu: Sausages, roast potatoes and mixed veges with apple crumble dessert.
Mrs Jenni Brown arrived with her kids Amelia and Xavier for dinner prep supervision.
Mrs Leger also arrived soon after for the dinner transition and in readiness for the diners. Mrs Wells popped in for a cuppa with the campers.
All this out of school contact with the campers really is a heart-warming time for our students to relax and have a yarn with staff.
Mrs Moffit arrived at the same time as Mrs Costelloe did the night before…….dinner time! She has the same 7th sense gene in her family too.
Campers looked tired when they came for tea she said but once they had something to eat the energy levels definitely picked up!
Ms Leger suggested a game of Spotlight and I hear Sardines was played too. A fun and very enjoyable evening! Campers ready for sleep.
TOPEC Day 4 Rapare
Early bird Ms Leger was off to school at 7am while Mrs Moffitt and WAHINE TOA prepared breakfast.
A different group slept in the ECO lodge with staff. OKATO Hut at lights out last night had a wet, massive, condensation filled room.
It was as if it was raining inside? Sleeping bags and pillows were taken in the night to a much drier and eventually warmer abode.
Mrs Moffitt left for school at 7.45am.
Manawa Tapu were on clean up and did a fantastic job without supervision. Very, very impressive!
Today is big clean up day. Instructors and their groups are assigned different areas and get busy getting TOPEC into ship shop shape!
These areas are then locked up and NO GO for campers.
It is also overnight outdoor camping. Morning activities are: Rogaine x2, Pack for overnight and Bush.
All further activities are dependent on weather, group dynamics and many other factors TOPEC takes into consideration.