Today some of the students from Tamaki Primary School were given an awesome free trip to Rangitoto Island, courtesy of Kids Can, Tasti and Fullers Ferries. It was so great seeing the children all bright eyed and very excited in the morning, all smart and warm in their Warriors Jackets (thanks Kids Can!).
The bus ride and ferry terminal were filled with the enthusiastic and very loud voices of approximately 60 students, all eager to start the adventure! The photo below is of a large group of the students taking part in a new and noisy game of 'Pukana' which was a lot of fun and also provided some entertainment for the tourists walking around the Cloud this morning!
We had our own chartered Fullers ferry for the journey over and all of the children received a Charlie's Bottle of Water and assorted Tasti snacks which were promptly devoured on the ride over to Rangitoto. For some of the students it was only their first or second ride on a boat so again the energy levels were very high as we made our way out of the harbour. Many of the students had never been to Rangitoto before and were a little bit daunted when they saw the summit we were heading for way up in the distance.
The wonderful group of volunteers supporting us were from Tasti and once we had sorted the students into their groups we started off on the ascent. After a false start where the leaders tried to take us to Motutapu Island we made our way onwards and upwards through the stunning volcanic rock and interesting vegetation. The older students were practically running their way to the top - which provided more rigorous exercise for the teachers than expected!
It was an invigorating, educational, talkative and fun ascent and descent with a quick stop at the top for lunch. A lot of the children were knackered by the top but still found the energy for games, loud conversation and lots of joking on the way down. Needless to say we did not see any wildlife and other visitors to the island definitely heard us coming! It was so heart-warming to see the excitement and joy in the students and I was so proud of them all for showing resilience and perseverance. The thank you speeches at the conclusion of the day made me proud to be part of such a great group of students and so thankful for organisations like Kids Can, Fullers and Tasti that support our students to experience these types of amazing adventures. The students will remember this for many years to come!!
