Day 1 PUBLISHED

Day 1
"The wheels on the bus go round and round" the class chanted while we were driving to Kakepuku. The drive seemed to go really quickly because I kept myself amused by annoying the driver with the song. When we had arrived at the base of the majestic mountain, the parents hadn’t arrived yet so we waited for a while we didn't want to go up without them. While we were waiting Mr Woody started yapping on about the place being different since last time he came, I heard some bits about no big cows or electric fences and there were no informative signs. Half an hour passed and still no sign of any parents so Mr Woody suggested we start climbing the tall mountain. Most of the class agreed to this idea but a small group stayed behind to wait for the parents just in case they were really late.

As we were venturing into the bush the decision was made that we create groups so we didn't get lost and I decided to go with my mates Richard, Sebastien and Adnan. Suddenly there was a loud and mysterious squawk, which I thought was quite odd but it was probably only a native bird call that I've never heard before. After a few minutes of vigorous walking and looking at the beautiful bush around us we finally came to a clearing with rocks scattered everywhere. It was about noon so we decided to have lunch in this little clearing. Richard yelled "hey over here!" We looked at him and saw he had good spot to eat lunch, we quickly ran towards him and sat down and started munching on our delicious lunch and having sips of cold water from our water bottles. While I was eating I noticed that Mr Woody had mysteriously disappeared but I thought that he just needed a toilet break.

Once we had finished eating, we noticed a little track leading into the dense bush that looked like it had been stomped down by an animal. We thought it probably wouldn't hurt to do a bit of exploring. I then noticed a hoof print on the ground leading down the track and recognised it was a boar's hoof print. I told my group about it. We decided to follow the boar so we said our goodbyes to the rest of our class and ventured down the track leading into the dense bush. After a few minutes of walking through the wonderful bush we came to a big pile of dung which must have been left by the boar.

Richard said “I wonder how fresh that is?” then he stuck his boot in it. The poo squished very easily and went all mushy so it must have been fresh. Suddenly something started rustling in the bushes.

"What was that?" Sebastien said nervously.

"It's only a bird" Adnan said smartly. But then I saw a black shadow quickly zoom past us.

"Did you see that?" I said

“No” they all said. They probably thought I was trying to play tricks on them. However, I wasn't so sure, it really gave me the creeps.

Suddenly out of nowhere a crazy wild boar started charging towards us we all knew what to do RUN! We all started running for our lives like it was what we were destined to do. Suddenly Richard tripped on a log, but before any of us could help him there was a loud scream. The horrible beast had dug its white tusk into the side of poor Richard’s body. Richard only just managed to get out his Swiss army knife and stab the terrible creature back, it squealed as it fled the scene like a criminal. The wound was quite big so Sebastien told us we had to find a kawa kawa tree as its leaves can ease the pain and some flax to tie up the wound like a bandage. Sebastien, Adnan and I set out looking for the tree. While I was looking I heard Sebastien yell out "got some!" so I hurried back to Richard. Sebastien and Adnan were already there with the leaves and flax. Sebastien told Richard to chew the flat, circular leaves and put them on the wound. "Eww no" Richard said in disgust but his wound thought otherwise so he chewed the leaves into a green paste and put them on the wound. Sebastien then tied the flax around his body.

'It's not working" Richard said agonisingly.

"It will take some time to soothe the pain" Sebastien replied. We helped Richard up and carried on we didn't want that creature coming back.

Finally we came to another clearing surrounded by bush. It was getting dark and as this looked like a good to sleep we decided to set up camp. We all had a job except Richard who stayed there with his Swiss army knife out. I went out to get firewood for fire to keep warm and the others were getting things for the hut. There was quite a bit of dry logs and broken sticks around so I had the easy job. When I returned with some fire wood the others had already set up a hut, it was marvellous with stick walls and a flax roof. Sebastien took the logs from me and put them on the ground and added some dry, dead leaves on top. Then he started hitting two pieces of flint together that he had in his bag. Slowly sparks started coming out and we had a lovely and warm fire. Then Sebastien said we had to find some Piko Piko if we wanted to eat dinner. We started searching for some; I managed to find some and grabbed a handful. When I came back with my Piko Piko we sat around the fire and started eating the plant. "Yum" I said sarcastically. Once we finished our food we decided to hit the sack we had had a long day and were all tired. In the night I woke up to some really strange noises but I nodded back off to sleep anyway.