Mountainbiking, swimming and disc golf were among activities keeping children busy last week during an annual adventure programme in Ashburton.
Scout Adventure Plus programme coorganisers Philip and Judith Crozier had 14 children registered and a full week of outdoor fun lined up.
Based out of Mania-O-Roto Scouting Park on Chalmers Ave, the programme included plenty of water activities and a biking leg to Hakatere beach, where records of past years were broken.
‘‘We biked in the rain (the final day) down to Hakatere and they were still keen, so we went round to Wakanui,’’ Philip said.
‘‘We broke a lot of records; it was only two and a half hours down and two got up the cliff at the end, which only one person in 10 years has ever done,’’ he said.
‘‘You wouldn’t believe it, some of them then biked back to Ashburton.’’
‘‘They were a good bunch. Some who had done some biking before, but there were still one or two that had hardly done any biking, so you can only go as fast as them.’’
Georgie Barr, age 11, said she enjoyed the adventures and hanging out with new friends, while 10-year-old Charlotte Wilson was full of praise for the ‘‘nice’’ leaders and learning how to tie six different knots.
The girls also enjoyed making their own patties and cooking on an open fire.
The week started with a 15km bike ride from the park to Ashburton Aviation Museum and return via a swim at EA Networks Centre.
Day two was a hike on the Mt Hutt access road, followed by a swim in the Methven Community Pool.
The day began with a group talk and map reading about the planned walk which ventured along bike tracks and the skifield road.
Day three saw the group head out to Lake Hood.
‘‘We virtually went in the water every day, somewhere,’’ Philip said.
It was a beautiful day at the lake but there was not enough wind for the sailing boats although there was plenty of action in kayaks and on paddle boards, he said.
Later that same day a health warning was issued at the lake, due to toxic algae.
However, there were no reports of unwell children the next day.
Day four was to include a river crossing session with volunteers from search and rescue but a rain weather forecast saw the session swapped.
Instead, they did campfire cooking and setting up a bivouac shelter before disc golf around the Smallbone Dr Reserve and another swim.
An overnight sleep at the park rounded out the week for the children.
During the sleepover, one youth managed to sleep all night under a bivouac shelter, made by the children earlier in the day.
He slept from 10.45pm to 6.30am, Philip said.
It earned him the Wilderness Award.
‘‘He was as good as gold, he was warm. I don’t think he stirred,’’ Philip said.
‘‘Two boys were in a tent of their own, the rest were in shelters.’’
