Friday 1 February marked the first day of Manukura camp. The camp kicked off at Te Herenga O Orewa Marae with a traditional Maori welcome known as a Pōwhiri.

After some kai we had a workshop to learn the Marae Pepeha, we were challenged during this workshop to speak only in Te Reo. This really made us put our Maori knowledge and memory skills to the test, although there were still a lot of charades to try to communicate our thoughts to other members of our group. The Marae gifted us this Pepeha to use as our own.

On Saturday we headed up to Matakana to go to Action Matakana, where we participated in a leadership and team-building experience to last us a lifetime. The first couple of hours were spent discussing leadership attributes and skills, such as effective planning, which was followed by a variety of interactive team tasks.

In two teams we then had the amazing opportunity to race on a 3km military-grade obstacle course consisting of 34 obstacles. This was a highlight for all the Manukura. The course was made especially hard, as each team had to complete the course with ‘Jerry’, a 20-litre jerry can that couldn't touch the ground and had to stay with us for all the obstacles and 3 eggs.

During camp, we grew our knowledge of each other and developed trust and strong communication skills that can be used within our roles in school and beyond. Along with having an amazing time with our team, we would also like to acknowledge all the staff that took their own personal time and stayed with us and visited us over our trip, we thank you all so much!

- Your 2024 Manukura