On the weekend before we went on camp we were packing our bags. I had lost my togs but later I found them I studied the camp packing list with Mum and we packed all the gear that we needed. I had heaps of gear and we struggled to fit everything in the bag!. We put the bags in the car and traveled to school. We took all our sleeping bags, pillows, blankets and bags into the transit trailers. The vans were called Tracy and Troy Transit. I Traveled in Tracy Transit. The vans looked high and had stripes. Tracy had blue stripes and had a trailer that kept on opening! Troy had black stripes and had the same trailer but it had writing on it. After we had put all the gear in the trailers I got a jacket that was green and had diamonds on it with white stripes on the sleeves. I got in Tracy Transit and sat down. Mr. Chapman and Pat got in the vans to drive to Rotorua. It was a while before we got to a very windy part on state highway 43 when we got a rest because someone was felling sick. Then we got to the metal part of the road on the way to Taumarunui and Claire was felling sick. Claire didn’t want to stop though because she just opened the window. The next stop was in Taumarunui where we stop to go to the toilet and then we went to a playground where we had lunch. I went on the monkey bars that were painted blue. We stayed at the playground for a while and then we continued on. Nina was listening to music in Tracy Transit. Nina found a sign when you could start to smell the sulpher, the sign said “Welcome to the Bay of Plenty” and Nina said that it was the Bay of stinky! The sulpher smelt like rotten eggs! After seven hours of travel we finally got to Rotorua then it took about 5 minutes to get to the Blue Lake from Rotorua. When we got there mum and some other adults said the lake was beautiful. When we found our cabins we had to make our beds and got some clothes out so we could get our pajamas’ ready. For tea we had delicious spaghetti bolognaise and for pudding we had ice cream. After tea we had to wash our dishes in the kitchen sink. Then we went back to our cabins and brushed our teeth then we went to sleep because we were tired from traveling. I had a bad sleep that night because I noisy cabin mates!!
On Tuesday we got up and we had some free time and then we had to get our plates to go down and have breakfast. When we got down there I noticed that there was a spa beside the building that we ate at. When we got in and got our food I sat down. When we had finished we washed our dishes and got in Tracy to go the buried village. The buried village was called Te Wairoa. When we got to the buried village it was raining. We stood outside the shop and café on the deck until we were told to go inside. When we got inside we had to put our bags/daypacks on the deck under the veranda on the entrance to the buried village. After we put our bags on the deck we went to the buried village museum. When we got in the museum we had a look at the bits and pieces that were rescued from the ash. We saw the posters and paintings on the walls. I took some photos. There was a movie that was in a made up Rotomahana hotel and there was a TV inside it and it had a movie on it. I watched the movie. When we got outside we saw a building with photos of people that were in the Tarawera eruption. Then we saw heaps of old broken buildings that had been buried in the eruption. The next thing we saw was the trout in the stream and we fed them with food that Mr. Chapman gave us. Then we saw this weird path that kept on having danger signs on it. When we got down the steepest bit I saw the waterfall that dropped for 5 meters. Then we continued on and we stopped at the café to wait for the others. When the others got up I bought something at the shop. When we had had something to eat we went back in the vans to have a barbeque lunch at camp I had a good lunch. Then we went to the Hydroslides leisure world first we went on the Hydroslides. I went on the blue on first with an adult. It felt good going down but I hit my head lots of times. Later on I went on the red one. It was better than the blue one because it wasn’t so fast or cold. Then I went on the black hole. When I got in the black one I was a little bit scared because I couldn’t see. I did a little scream. When I got to the bottom I was afraid that I would squash someone that was at the bottom of the pool. I went on the black one heaps of times. After the Hydroslides we went back to camp and waited until we had to go to pizza hut. At pizza hut the man came out and showed us everywhere around the kitchen and told us what he did. We saw the massive fridge and dough maker that they made the pizzas with. When we had finished the tour we folded the pizza boxes but it was pretty tricky. Then we got a plate and chose our dinner. I had pizza, pasta, chips and sauce. It was very nice and delicious. I had ice cream and cake for pudding. After pizza hut we went back to camp and played grandpa’s green undies. Nina always laughed. It was a funny game. After the games we washed our teeth and went to bed.
Wednesday
On Wednesday we got up and did our morning routine. After we did our morning routine we were off to the Rotorua museum. When we got there we were greeted by a man that worked for Rotorua museum and he put a sticker on our shirt. Then we talked about the rules for the museum. When we got in the building we learnt about the Tarawera eruption then we got a worksheet and we only got to get to do half of it because we had to watch another movie about the Tarawera eruption. When the earthquakes were happening the seats moved, shook and went up and down. The movie showed the Rotorua museum that used to be the Rotorua bath house. After we had lunch at Lake Rotorua we went to Te Puia. When we got there all the parking was taken up and Mr. Chapman and Pat had to take the vans to a park a little further down. While Mr. Chapman and Pat were parking the vans we went to the Marae at Te Puia and waited for Mr. Chapman and Pat while a lady was talking about the rules of the Marae. When Mr. Chapman and Pat caught up to us and the lady had finished talking we went onto the Marae. There were two schools that were there including us. The schools went through the side door and the visitors went through the front door. We saw all the Maori people doing dances and telling stories. When the cultural show was over we saw the weaving and carving workshops. At the carving workshop the wood that the carvers were using was pine from Taranaki. After we saw the workshops we went to see the geysers. The geysers were boiling hot. Down the side of the bank by the geysers there were some little mini terraces. Also on the side was heaps of solpher. After I had seen the bottom side of the geysers I went up to the top lookout. After we had looked at the geysers we went back up the track to where the Maria was. There we met a lady that taught us to weave flowers. I made a flower. After we had finished at Te Puia we got in the vans and went back to camp to get our togs. After we had got our togs we went to Waikite hot pools and the water was very warm. There was a boiling stream that came from a boiling spring. I went to see the boiling spring. Then we went back to camp and had takeaways for tea. Then we had free time and then it was bed time.
Thursday
On Thursday we got up and we did our morning routine and then we left camp to go to the Luge. When we arrived we went into the building and waited for Roma and Pat because the fuel in the car that they were driving had nearly run out of fuel so they had to go to a petrol station. When they arrived we went up to the top of the hill in a gondola. We arrived at the café and Mr. Chapman gave us our tickets and I went down the intermediate track. We all had four turns and it was very fast. It was a very good felling going down the Luge. I kept on passing people down the Luge. I went really fast on the luge and I liked it.
When we had finished at the Luge we went back to camp and we had lunch there. We got into our togs and we went down to the lake. 0n the biscuit I got water in my face. It was fast. I didn’t do water skiing because I didn’t feel like it. I saw Mr. Chapman doing water skiing. Mr. Chapman could not get up on his skis so he took off his wetsuit and he was just in his tog shorts. Mr. Chapman still could not get up on his skis so he took off his life jacket and then he finally got up on the skis. Then we said goodbye to the man and went back to camp to have tea and play a game. Then we went to bed.
Friday
On Friday we packed up all our gear and put it in Tracy and Troy’s trailers. Then we had breakfast and started traveling. We traveled for a while and then Mr. Chapman and Pat missed a turn off so we had to turn around and go back to where the turn off was. When we got to Pio Pio we stopped for a rest and got an ice block. When we arrived in Taranaki Sylvia wanted the radio to be on but she had to wait until we were further into Taranaki for it to work. The travel was very boring. When we got to Stratford we kept on going until we got home. When we got to Makahu we met the people that were picking us up and then we went home.
