Outdoor Education

Hamilton's Fraser High School has this really awesome class called Outdoor Education. The students sign up for this class as Year 10s and take it for the rest of high school. They start off doing small trips and build up to larger trips. Each trip requires a trip plan that the students prepare and each trip is outdoors where the students get a chance to work on team building, leadership, and other fun things like that.

One of the classes I have been working with is a Year 12 Outdoor Education class and as part of their unit they have to plan, in great detail, a two-day backpacking trip. They started preparing their plans just before I arrived in New Zealand and carried out their plans last Thursday and Friday. They planned to hike through Tongariro National Park, home of the three sister volcanoes.

Mount Ngarahoe-the only mountain of the three that looks like a stereotypical volcano

The students had to figure out how much it cost to pay for a campsite, van rentals, etc. The students had to make gear lists, plan meals, etc. Each student took a turn being a leader: a tent leader, a meal leader, etc. The students decided the departure time, they researched the map and their mileage and calculated how long it would take to get from one place to another. The students turned in their trip plans and were graded on the paperwork as well as how well they performed as leaders throughout their trip. This group didn't do so hot.

We met at the school at 6:00am and waited around for the students to tell the teachers when to leave. (The students were completely in charge, the teachers were simply the drivers but the students had a hard time grasping a hold of this concept. For example, "Miss, when are we gonna leave?") Once it finally clicked with the students that they were in charge we headed out. We made a potty/morning tea/buy lunch for the day stop and then finished our drive to the National Park. The students were dropped off at the trail head and left to hike by themselves.

Since I am no longer a student, I got to take the easy route with the other teachers. We sat around in the sun for about an hour while the students hiked with packs on their backs. We then drove around the Tongariro National Park, parked the vans, and hiked one hour to a hut. We set up camp in our hut and went to meet the students at the camp site.

Now when I say hut, you must realize that this wasn't some dinky little straw hut. This was a fairly good sized cabin thingy with many bunk beds, fresh water, and four gas stove tops.

This is where I slept. I had one of my cooperating teachers on my left side and a stranger on my right. We shared that hut with about 27 strangers. It was an interesting experience but not the weirdest thing I've ever done.

I shared a pillow with a stranger on a midnight bus ride to Seville, I think that tops this hut experience on the weirdness scale

This was the view as I walked outside my hut



Mt. Ruapehu

After we had things set up in our hut, we went to meet the students at their campsite. They are exhausted (they hiked for at least 5.5 hours) and most of them were really sun burnt.

They played in the creek for a little while



And then we watched them set up their tents. It was hilarious. None of these students had set up these tents before (poor leadership skills-a good leader is always prepared) so they struggled a little bit.



The girls beat the boys in getting their tents set up and after a little help from one of the girls, the boys were finally successful.

After a delicious meal it got dark rather quickly and the hut didn't have electricity. So we headed to bed around 8:30. That was the earliest I had gone to bed since my first night in Hamilton (and I blame that on jet lag).

The following morning we cooked ourselves some bacon, eggs, hash browns, and toast. It was amazingly delicious and those lucky students got to fend for themselves out in the cold morning air. We packed everything up, left our packs at the hut, and hiked up the ridge line so the students could see everything they hiked through.

Halfway to the top, the students were chapped to discover this view

After much grumbling from the students, Keryn (one of my cooperating teachers) insisted the students finish hiking. "No way! We can't see anything anyway!" the students shouted. "Ten more minutes and you'll be at the top and the mist will clear and you'll be able to see it all." was Keryn's reply. Completely doubting the wise words of Keryn, the students headed to the top. Amazingly enough, once we reached the top an incredible thing happened...

...the mist slowly began to clear away and bit by bit you could see everything!

The group in front of Mount Ruapehu

We hiked back to the hut, sat around until the students took the lead and decided to head to the vans (the leadership skills of this group were really poor; my cooperating teachers weren't the least bit impressed). We reached the vans and I completed my first back packing trip in my twenty-two (almost twenty-three) years of life.

My pack and me

After the tramp, we drove to Taupo and spent some time in the hot springs. It felt incredible. I mean, I know I worked really hard hiking my two hours and everything, but it really did feel so good to just soak for a little bit.

Lake Taupo-the bluest yet clearest lake I've ever seen

After our soak, we had dinner at McDonald's (FYI: Big Macs in New Zealand taste the same as they do in the United States) and then took a short drive to Huka Falls. Let's just say B-E-A-U-TIFUL!

Huka Falls



The start of the Waikato River, which is the river that flows through Hamilton and is the longest river in New Zealand

Maybe I don't remember other waterfalls that I've been to, but I was really amazed at how blue this water was. The water at Mesa Falls in Idaho is really clear and beautiful and so are the waterfalls in Yellowstone National Park. But the water at Huka Falls was a brilliant blue that I just don't remember seeing anywhere else. These pictures don't do the shades of blue justice, but trust me-they were incredible!



If we're driving along the road and there's a waterfall, I don't mind stop. What I do mind is hiking to waterfalls; mainly because I don't like hiking but also because waterfalls don't really strike my fancy. Waterfalls are like cathedrals: once you've seen three or four, you've basically seen them all. I don't need to see waterfall after waterfall but what waterfalls actually are never ceases to amaze me. Waterfalls are ginormous amounts of water spilling over a ledge into a massive amount of water below. Gallons and gallons and tons and tons of water pour over the edges every day and it never shuts off. The water just keeps flowing and flowing in massive amounts and I think it is absolutely mind boggling. Where does all of this water come from and how does it never shut off? Even when no one is looking, the water is still flowing off the edge. Incredible. Absolutely incredible.

I really like the idea of an Outdoor Education class. This is an idea I will take back to the states and use as a suggestion for curriculum in my future places of employment. I think it is a great way to teach and exercise leadership skills as well as basic safety skills in the great outdoors, which is a part of every one's life.

I really did carry a pack through Tongariro National Park in New Zealand even if it was only for a total of two hours. I enjoyed the trip but it didn't change my mind about hiking/tramping: I still hate it!