MAC Mag 06

BRONZE – Pearl Flat
“We had a meeting a couple of days
before we left to discuss what food and
clothing we should bring and to sort out
who would carry what equipment. On
the day we walked in the weather was
sunny with patches of high cloud. We
walked up the valley to the Aspiring Hut
where we stopped for our lunch break.
We then walked further up the valley
which became more challenging as we
passed through the beech forest. We
emerged at Shovel Flat but carried on
walking to Pearl Flat where we set up
camp at the fork of two glacial rivers.
Once we got our tents up and had
cooked our meals we sat around the old
campfire swapping stories and jokes. It
was a lovely warm evening so we didn’t
got to bed until quite late and those
who were silly enough to leave their food
outside during the night lost most of it to
the possums!”
Jack Beattie
“I’m really glad that I have had this
experience – I have got to know the
people tramping with me, I have seen
those wonderful views and explored
a magnificent area. This is the just
the first of many tramps – I can’t wait!
I persevered throughout the trip and
found it best to go at my own pace
to conserve energy. I really enjoyed
this expedition, particularly being out
enjoying nature.”
Nicole Batchelar
SILVER - Kepler Tramp
“We set off on our first silver tramp on
the Kepler track, with a weather report
of snow storms! Unfortunately for Tim
Andrews he’d only brought one set of
thermals.
So, after a fine day’s tramping, and
45 minutes walking in the dark, we’d
bunked down and had a good sleep.
We moved out the next morning,
into the steadily falling snow. During
the day we tramped for four hours
through a snow storm, between
Avalanche huts on a mountain ridge!
It was a hard tramp for some of
us – a great character building
experience’ according to the
teachers! Even though this tramp
was a bit more adventurous that
anticipated, we had a great time,
full of laughter – including a kilogram
of mince, a burned mouth (not so
fun!), the world’s first camping stove
accompanying us, balloons, giant
blisters and charades! Thanks very
much to the teachers and parents
that accompanied us.
We all had a great time!”
Alison Reid and Helen Prescott
GOLD - Rees and Dart Valley
(Final tramp, one step further to Gold)
“By the second day we were missioning
up a vertical hill which was covered in a
foot of snow. Sometimes I wonder how
we did it! Then on the third day we woke
up to it snowing heavily outside. It was a
tough decision to decide whether to risk
the walk or stay in the hut. We layered on
the woollens and took on the snow and
we came out on top the best tramp of
my life.”
Jillian Macfie
The Young New Zealanders Challenge of the Duke of Edinburgh Award is a programme designed to challenge young people to use their leisure
time constructively and to become balanced individuals.
Students may enter the award at 14 years at the Bronze level and work their way through the Silver and Gold levels. They may choose their own
challenges within the categories of physical recreation, skill, expedition and service.
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These awards are highly valued in the community as they show that a student has commitment, perseverance, a sense of adventure, the ability to
organize themselves and, best of all, that they are balanced individuals. The awards count highly as qualifications in jobs, scholarship, university,
polytechnic and halls of residence applications and are well worth having. This year over 80 students have participated at one of the three levels
and we are thrilled to have eight students who have completed their Gold award – a first for Mount Aspiring College!