Watery Weekend

The downpour on Friday afternoon caused a drain to overflow, flooding water out through the dishwasher. You'd think after cleaning that up, the students and staff would have had enough of the sight of water for one weekend. But come Saturday morning the thermal mineral pools at Parakai Springs were beckoning.

It only takes 40 minutes to get to Parakai from Kelston, so the students had plenty of time for zooming down the hydroslides before lunch.

After lunch they lounged around the mineral pools and chatted until the afternoon staff arrived loaded down with dinner. This seemed to stimulate appetites again and once the students had eaten, they set off for the last slides or swims of the evening. Finally, at 9pm, they were worn out enough to get changed and go back to the Village. Everyone slept well that night!

Even a whole day at hot springs was not enough water for two of our intrepid young women. Sunday morning we went en masse to drop Ngawaiata and Miriam off at Princes Wharf on the Auckland Waterfront. They were joining the Spirit of Adventure for a week long "Inspiration Voyage".

We were extremely lucky. We were ALL allowed to board the ship and have a tour. One of the crew gave a brief talk about Spirit of Adventure and the Inspiration Voyage.

We are all looking forward to hearing about their adventures. Their experience is sure to motivate some of the younger students to apply for the Spirit of Adventure over the next few years.

Our last stop for the weekend was a trip to Takapuna on Auckland's North Shore. We spent about an hour watching one in a series of triathlon competitions. Cycling, running and ... swimming! Maybe this experience will encourage us to explore multisports in the future! Who knows?