A Week at Mt Aspiring Camp - 10S
By Brent Matehaere | Posted: Sunday March 18, 2018
Sam Pomare, Devon Korte, Damian Larson, Vaughn Collins, Noah Mafi, Jamahl Wiparata, Oliver Croy, Adam Loose, Judah Nika, Sunia Uele, Andrew Wang, Ashton Booth, Harry McLauchlan, Josh Reeves, Oliver Ritchie, Winston Ward, Yun Chang, Hunter Beale, Gage Colclough, Oliver Shaw, James Sutherland, Ranginui Te Patu, and Jack Power were accompanied by Year 13’s Reuben Wairau and Alex Ballantyne and lead by staff Mr B Matehaere, Mr M Brown, Mr R Golder and Mr C Scott.
This group mainly of 10T arrived at camp to find that water was pouring from the walls in the kitchen. With the plumber set to arrive Monday morning it was decided the best course of action was to head out on overnight camp immediately. Tents were sorted (pegs left behind) food distributed (bread left behind) and essential gear checked. The group were heading for Pearl Flat, some 20km away and just below the tracks to French Ridge Hut and Liverpool Hut under the shadow of Mt Aspiring. Groups left together and travelled West towards the Mt Aspiring Hut. Some using the path and others taking the short cut through the creek and up the grass prior to the trip through the bush for lunch. Meeting old boys Ciaran McMeeken, Wade McFarlane, and Jonny Appleby was a treat, recalling camp stories and catching up on their journey since school.
Pearl Flat was reached with some fatigued students and staff as the groups were organised and sent off to set up their tents and gather wood for fires. The former performed much better than the latter. The boys found the collection of firewood and maintaining a fire for cooking the most difficult aspect and a lot of fuel was wasted on keeping fires going. By the time they were leaving on day 4 cold baked beans on squashed bread was a popular choice for breakfast.
Following a night of watching space junk burn up in the night sky the group tackled the Liverpool Hut walk. This is an extreme walk and meeting two seasoned American tourists whom had travelled the world and never come across a track this vertical confirmed its severity. The boys set to the task and supported each other to the top where the views back down the valley and towards the glaciers and of course Mt Aspiring were breath taking. This was a true achievement for this group and one that impressed all the staff on the journey and Mr Roe when we meet at the changeover.
The walk home was led by Mr Golder as Mr Matehaere left in the early hours of the morning to meet the Plumber. Tents were packed up (pegs left behind) camp sites cleaned up and left as they were found and the trek back to the lodge began. Either hunger or a desire for a warm bed drove them back quickly but covering that distance in 3.30 hours is a true effort. Lunch was warmly received on arrival and we were back in the lodge as a light rain began to fill the valley.
Day 5 saw the river up from the rain and perfect conditions for the kayaking. Mr Matehaere lead four groups down the river and the thrills and spills had throughout the day were reasonably incident free. There were some good stories around the dinner table of how many times they fell in and how far the boat floated away when they fell out.
After sitting down for most of the day a walk was in store for the group and we tackled the less common Glacier Burn walk. While the Rob Roy walk is popular with the tourists we had this walk to ourselves and again we were treated to some spectacular views of glaciers in this pristine hanging valley. Photos taken, snacks eaten and stones thrown into the water to splash those nearby. We headed back to the East branch of the Matukituki where we then allowed a self-paced return. Reuben Wairau lead a couple of able cross-country runners Ashton Booth and Winston Ward back in quick time arriving just some 30 minutes after Mr Matehaere who was on his bike.
The last full day saw a desire to get wet which involved finding a large and deep pool of water to jump into and another kayak down the river. As the rain started to fall and the temperature dropped for the first time in the week we were not perturbed and found ourselves out in the rain getting wetter. A warm fire and a desert of apple crumble and custard certainly put a positive stamp on the last night.
The exit day, day 8 was performed really well and we had a final morning tea in the bbq pit before walking to Randal Aspinal’s place to meet the bus. This was a chance to reflect on a fantastic week up in an amazing part of New Zealand were all these young men demonstrated a real desire to get out and enjoy what’s on offer in our back yard.
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