Waikato River Trip

Last Wednesday I was lucky enough to accompany Year 10 Outdoor Education on a river trip down the Waikato River. We started outside of Hamilton, by the airport, and ended up in the middle of the city. We floated through downtown and under five bridges. It was a beautiful trip.

Before the students got in the boats, Keryn talked to all of the students about safety and how to paddle, etc. The boats we used were made by people at Fraser High a long time ago and no one has ever fallen out of them. They are flat bottom boats so it takes a little bit more effort to tip them than a canoe or a kayak. After we carried the boats down to the river, the boys boarded their boat. Instead of keeping the weight evenly distributed, they all climbed in on one side. Sure enough they tipped the boat. The first boat to tip in Keryn's eight years (or more) of experience with teaching outdoor education. I don't know if the students did it on purpose but it was dumb of them either way. They had to take their shirts off and paddle down the river in bright yellow rain jackets. One kid was too big for the rain jackets so he had to wear his wet t-shirt for the 14 kilometers of river the students crossed.

When Keryn gave paddling instructions, she told everyone that usually the girls are in the front and the boys are in the back because the girls seem to grasp the concept of togetherness better than the boys. Sure enough, that's the way it happened. Until we stopped for lunch, the boys were way in the back. It didn't matter what we said to them, they just could not grasp a hold of the concept of paddling together and breaking right and left, etc. It was absolutely ridiculous. After lunch, Matt (Mr. Robinson) paddled with them so that we could get to our destination before nightfall.

Since Matt helped the boys out they did quite well and the boat with all girls fell behind. It was like food in their stomachs caused their brains to stop functioning.

The boat with a mixed group (one boy and five girls) stayed ahead of the game and didn't need any special instruction.

This is Keryn striving to remain calm although she was terribly annoyed with the boys and their lack of skills.

Being a teacher, I got to ride in the teachers' boat and we didn't have to paddle. We had a motor. After we had been on the river for a while, Matt offered me the chance to steer. It was quite different from anything else I've ever done. Move the stick left and the boat goes right and vice verse. I enjoyed my first experience with steering the boat, but being the speeder I am I struggled with going slowly and staying with the paddling students.

It was a fun trip but not my favorite trip of the three that I went on with Outdoor Education. I really liked the tramp but the trip to Waitomo was my favorite. I'll tell you about that one tomorrow...