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| Who says Rotarians cannot have a heap of fun |
Thanks to David Stone's persistence and organisation 37 children in years 7& 8 at Glen Taylor (plus 5 Rotarians and 2 teachers) had a very enjoyable trip to Rangitoto Island. There was great excitement as we boarded the bus and the noise levels were very high as we headed along the waterfront to the ferry building through rush hour traffic, maybe the bus lanes are a great idea after all!!! The reality of these children's lives was bought to us when one of the children said ‘I now know where Kelly Tarltons is’ as we drove past it. Onto the ferry and trying to control the kids excitement as they explored the boat. Once on Rangitoto we split into our 7 groups and headed up towards the summit, or 5 of the 7 groups did. Simon’s group along with teacher Megan’s group decided it would be easier to stay on the flat as they headed off towards Islington Bay.
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| Uphill ... uphill ... uphill |
After an hour walk and a bit of complaining the 5 remaining groups reached the summit of Rangitoto, including a couple of educational detours lead by Gary Key. It was time for lunch and it was good to see the oranges from Graham’s New World being eaten as otherwise there were a lot of chip packets. If going uphill was a bit slow the kids were pretty keen to race down until one boy fell and grazed his knee. A bit of blood and the fact that Alex McKenzie was at the front soon slowed them down though. After exploring the swimming and rock pools at the bottom it was back onto the ferry and being blasted by the wind on the top deck as we headed back to Auckland.
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| Hitching a ... ferry ... ride |
It was a much quieter bus trip back to school with a few of the kids falling asleep. Despite all the physical exercise all the kids had a great day with some very nice farewells as they headed back into school. They had been studying volcanoes so hopefully there was some educational value in the trip as well. Thank you to David for organising this event and to Alex Gatt, Gary Key, Simon Jones (aka Shackleton), Andy McCarrison and Alex McKenzie accompanying the children.
