This article was first published in the Tararua Tramper Volume 92, no 10, November 2020
Two Student Trips to Tongariro
19 September and 8 October
Wellington High School students have enjoyed plenty of opportunities in 2020 to get into the great outdoors and improve our skills.
Tramping is the best and worst of times. What I can say is that I have never regretted a tramp. It would have to be one of the best character-building exercises offered at our school and certainly the most accessible. You will have a hard time not making friends on these trips and most likely lasting ones at that. What tramping has been to me is a chance to clear my head and be proud of myself come Monday, feeling relaxed and healthy.
By joining up with the WHS Tramping Club, students have plenty of opportunities to get into the great outdoors. There are trips offered to all different year groups. We are lucky to have a teacher like Bharat Pancha, and some of his experienced tramping friends, to take us away on these trips. They will always make sure everyone’s needs are met and all trips are well-planned. Parents are invited and often needed to provide extra transport as we often have more students than the van can handle.
The relationship teachers at WHS have with the Tararua Tramping Club (TTC) means we have great access to gear such as ice-axes, climbing helmets, crampons and two-way radios, and there are experienced trampers who are prepared to host or help on our school tramps.
Following the disappointment of having the 2020 trip to Nepal cancelled due to Covid, we have filled the 2020 calendar with trips into the Tararuas, snowcraft courses in Tongariro National Park and two recent Tongariro crossings in winter conditions.
The first trip to the Tongariro was for students from different schools who completed the TTC snowcraft course and the Tongariro trip was offered as a chance to practice their skills.
The second trip to the Tongariro was for students who missed out on the trek to Nepal in April. Nearly all the students had completed the TTC-run snowcraft course in 2020 or in earlier years
Thanks also to Ann Matthews, Stu Hutson, Nikki Joseph and others from the TTC for giving generously of their own time to make these getaways happen for WHS students, not only this year but also over the five years I have been at WHS.
We have had plenty of fun and all learned heaps. We are all inspired to do more trips in future years. For WHS students who want to go on the Nepal trip offered to Year 13s, going on some tramps will show Mr Pancha they are interested.
- Party members
- Bharat Pancha(leader), Oliver Gradwell (scribe), and WHS students.