Aoraki Award - Sophia's report

Some of my Guiding memories

1. At CBee16 in Christchurch we went tubing down a river in Christchurch. We had about 10 rides each or as many rides as many as you could before you froze! It was awesome and along the river you would have to stay far away from the banks on either side of the river, duck under low bridges and even escape being pushed off your rubber circle by other guides! After a few rides a few of us, including me, made a human chain and floated down the river together. After a few of people got too cold and hopped out, they began shooting us with water guns the moment we came round the final corner! It was really fun and I loved it.
2. Also at CBee16 in my colour, Nikau, we had made a group and every day when we had downtime we would meet in a tent and tell stories. Things that had happened to us, spooky stories and some made-up stories. Some stories even lasted two days! I’ve emailed back and forth with some of them, they were all so nice and I’m so grateful I met them.
3. One night at Cambridge Guides we were farewelling some guides to rangers. We had all brought white tops and were wearing them, we ran out in the dark and threw coloured chalk at each other! Pretty much everyone slipped over in some mud but we were all laughing the entire time. By the end of it we all had brightly coloured tops. At the end of the night after a few more activities we had some chocolate cake, decorated with 4 stars, green (for the green endeavour), silver (for the silver endeavour), gold (for the gold endeavour), and finally blue (for the aoraki award).
4. We were at a all unit camp for Cambridge and we were at Finlay Park. All the guides did an activity called Survivor Island. We each were an animal and had to punch holes from hole punches in our paper we were given for food stations, food stations were hidden all over the island. You had to get as many as you could before the time ran out or someone ‘killed’ you if they were higher than you on the food chain. It was a actual island and was was so covered in trees and bushes and mud, it was incredibly amazing.
5. Another camp we went on was also at Finlay Park but a different camp, just for Endeavour Guides. There was a massive water slide that went down the hill into a HUGE lake that was really deep. I was so scared to go down the water slide but most of the guides and the leaders encouraged me and I’m so glad they did, as I went down about 15 times! It ended up being one of the most fun things at camp.

My guide experience has been awesome and I’ve stepped outside my comfort zone countless times. I’ve also done activities I would never have done otherwise, and I’ve made too many friends to count. I’ve loved every minute of it and I definitely would be a much shyer, different person if I never had gone to Brownies and Guides.