2017 New Zealand Adventure

In December last year, nine students, three staff and three parents undertook the adventure of a lifetime – tramping, mountain biking and rafting across the South Island of New Zealand. Here’s a snapshot of the adventure:

• During seven months of training, the group ascended more than 7000 vertical metres of stairs and clocked more than 300kms of walking from the College to Pelican Waters.
• The group attended more than 20 logistical meetings and made many phone calls to New Zealand to organise transport, land access and camping permissions.
• Of the 23 nights they were away, only five were spent in permanent shelters, all other nights were spent in tents.
• In total, the group tramped 145kms, mountain biked 150kms and rafted 270kms.
• The group crossed eight mountain passes, each over 1100m high.

The weather was very kind to the group, but the little rainfall meant the rivers were quite low. This was good for crossing them but not so good for paddling on them! Group members’ feet were constantly wet with more than 90 river crossings in the first three days alone. One of the many highlights of the trip was witnessing first-hand the significant impact the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake had on the environment.

Thank you to the staff at Boyle River Outdoor Education Centre and Clarence River Rafting New Zealand for the assistance they provided to make the journey such an amazing experience. Thank you also to staff members Ms Angela Hill and Mrs Libby Anderson for everything they did in assisting the students and myself throughout the time we had together.

To view all the highlights of the trip, visit: https://youtu.be/1X_OjW1EeQc.

Dr Peter McMahon, 2017 New Zealand Adventure Coordinator