Year 12 Kahurangi Tramp

Discussions on the merits of FM radio, frozen mince and the occasional piece of navigation training entertained year 12 students as they traversed the ridges and valleys of Kahurangi National Park on a three day navigation and tramping assessment. Students were put under pressure to navigate through the bush to predetermined points and prove themselves worthy to be called skillful navigators. With map and compass, sweaty brows and a few false turns, most got their group to the correct locations and some discovered that limestone bluffs don't always appear on maps, eh Matt!

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Middle Earth Cave

The last trip of the Year 13OED Caving unit was completed last week with two groups descending into Middle Earth Cave. A 10 minute scramble through giant boulders brings cavers to the first pitch of the cave, a 40m shaft that unlocks the rest of the cave system. There were a few peaking students who lowered themselves into the darkness at the pitch head but everyone coped with the pressure well and 6 hours later resurfaced after a really cool adventure. Desiree confirms it with a good ol' thumbs up!

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NZOIA Cave Training

Last week 5 Year 13 OED students got to be model students on a NZOIA (New Zealand Outdoor Instructors Association) cave instructors assessment. They were trained up on SRT skills on the Whenua iti tower and then taken on a guided journey through Summit Tomo on Takaka Hill. Large abseils, tight streamways and even Moa bones were the order of the day. Check out the photos here.

Greenlink Cave

Year 13 OED are fully immersed in their caving unit at the moment. The crew have been training hard to develop their SRT skills and last Friday was the first opportunity to test them out underground. Greenlink Cave on Takaka Hill is part of a network of caves that all link together, including next weeks mission: Middle Earth cave. We descended through the marble as far as the first main pitch, or vertical shaft, called Watergate, which is about 10 meters deep. The students then descended to the bottom and after a quick explore we ascended to the surface again.

more photos on flickr