The last Friday of the school holidays was the closest the group could get to a Friday night at Turere Lodge, so we grabbed it. And we absolutely hit gold with the weather! Unlike friends who were in there in the 10 days before us, we had golden sunshine and light breezes all weekend – perfect for getting lots of kids along the track and to the hut.
The river was exceptionally low and full of algae, the kids had a great time reinforcing a dam bridge across it (despite the mozzies), and bedtime came with surprising ease. Most of the parents followed to bed pretty soon after the kids in anticipation of maybe an early night.
Saturday dawned fair and the walk out saw us encounter a LOT of people heading in to the Orongorongo Valley. We were at the carpark by lunchtime, after climbing the Jacobs Ladder track and visiting Macs Hut along the way. Most of us also managed to hunt out the Kiwi Guardians Post near the carpark.
The kids did an amazing job walking, looking out for each other, and having fun. It is always a joy to see so many kids all together, enjoying the outdoors.