Camp Food, Masterchef style.

Stepping into the room, I glance around at the other contestants before taking my place behind the nearest available bench. Breathing slowly, I wait until I hear the words: your time starts now!

And we're off. The noise in the kitchen intensifies as people battle for ingredients and equipment, and I can hear the dramatic music playing in the background. Right. Gathering my thoughts, I take a second to think about the task at hand. 

Today I will be cooking my take on a delicious bowl of...Porridge. However, in this kitchen time is not your friend, so I will have to push myself.

The seconds fly by, and before I know it, five minutes has gone, and five minutes is left. And to make matters worse, I haven't even put my oats on. I fear this mistake may cost me. 

The pressure is building rapidly, and all of a sudden I hear a commotion in the dining room. The diners have arrived! Frantically I get the bowls ready for service. Out the corner of my head I can hear the countdown beginning. 5,4,3,2,1... Step away from your bench. 

Taking a breath, I smile to myself. No matter what the judges decide, I'm proud of my efforts, and I hope I get the chance to cook another day.

WPCA Community service

This year, as part of the WPCA, one of the challenges we had to do, in our own time, was a minimum of twenty hours Community service. Now, this could include things like helping out at a retirement home, local library, Rotary BBQ etc. I would say that this has been one of the bigger challenges this year for the majority of the students participating in the WPCA, but for me, it has also been one of the most enjoyable.

The first community service hours I did was for my schools Summer Sound Concert. This involved first setting up a stall, and then selling things to raise money for the school. This was one of the best ways to get some hours.

I also started to do some things weekly, at one time I was working at the preschool for two hours on a Tuesday, and at the Library for another two hours on Thursday.

When I reached twenty hours, I had the option to stop, but I found that I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to keep going.

As the year progressed, I found myself doing more and more community service, and I ended up doing a whole range of different activities; preschool, Library, Book Fair, working bee and more. Every single place I ended up helping out at was great fun, and I loved working with the people there as well.

So, after all that, I ended up with a grand total of 61 hours, and I'm very pleased with that outcome. I have loved every second of being able to participate in the WPCA, its been an amazing experience.

Kayaking

On Wednesday the 9th of November, I woke up bright and early, ready to complete the last activity of the William pike challenge: Kayaking.

After arriving at school all the year eights gathered round as our principal told us who would be transporting us, then we got into our vehicles and drove to the corner of marshlands Rd, where we would be starting our Kayaking. After everyone had arrived, we all got introduced to some people who would be coaching us on what to do.

First we started off playing some games, one of which involved splitting us into two groups. We were then told that we would be working in those groups for the rest of the day.

I was in the group labelled the "Cabbage Tree" (long story) and the first thing we did after being split up was go over some safety measures, play a few more games, and then finally we were all given a kayak and allowed into the water.

After a few more games in the Kayaks we then started off down the river, where we then went on to kayak about seven km down the Styx River (with stops for a lunch break and some games).

Now, let me tell you, it was a great trip. The scenery was amazing, teeming with native plants and wildlife, plus the water was crystal clear. And, for an extra bonus, at the end of the trip we were all allowed some time to go for a chilly swim!

 So, after all that I thoroughly enjoyed the last WPCA trip and all the other trips before that. The WPCA has been a truly amazing experience, and I'm very glad I was given the opportunity to do it.

Lake Daniel

On Thursday the 18th of August, all of the year eights at Loburn School prepared to embark on yet another WPCA activity, a night tramp to lake Daniels.

For this tramp, we would be driving up to a carpark at the start of the tramp and meeting a group of children from Westport, who were also doing the WPCA challenge, and completing the tramp with them.

Shortly after some cold dinner, we all started off on our tramp. For this, we had to hike for approximately three hours, some of which was in the pitch black, to a hut where we would stay the night. We would then climb back the next morning and go to the Lewis pass and climb a mountain.

After a long dark walk, we arrived at the hut around nine pm, where we eventually ended going to bed at around ten, if that. The next morning we left after breakfast, and arrived back at the car park around lunchtime. Perfect timing.

Then, after everyone got back, we drove to the food of the mountain we were going to climb. This was probably the best bit, because the mountain was covered in... Snow! Now that was fun. Sadly, because of all the snow, we were only able to climb about half way to the top before the teachers decided it was time to turn back.

One of the best things about this trip was having the children from Westport on the tramp, they were great company, and I had a very fun filled time.