Flaxmere College on the Kaituna River in Rotorua, taking on the rafting challenge with the Rotorua White Water Rafting Company.
Flaxmere College on the Kaituna River in Rotorua, taking on the rafting challenge with the Rotorua White Water Rafting Company.
Blood, sweat, team effort, and nearly a broken nose while whitewater rafting led to Flaxmere College’s Service Academy’s first win at the 2024 NZ Defence Force Academy (NZDF) Challenge after 14 years of attending the annual camp.
In the first week of September, 18 Flaxmere College Services Academy students, along with services academy director staff Pita Lloyd and teacher Maree Lloyd, headed to Okataina in the Bay of Plenty for five days of extreme outdoor sports as part of the inter-school Service Academy Challenge.
Each year, the NZDF hosts Service Academies from high schools across the country in an adventure challenge that tests students on what they have learned over the year, through military activities and local outdoor recreation tasks.
Flaxmere College teacher Maree explained, “It is designed to be both challenging and fun, with each academy competing against each other for the ultimate bragging rights of winning the adventure challenge.”
Some of this year’s challenge activities included whitewater rafting, ziplining, orienteering, and a corporate challenge consisting of a 5km walk, 10km run, and 20km bike ride.
Flaxmere College Service Academy orienteering team at the Red Woods in Rotorua.
In the rafting, Mikaera Patuwai almost broke his nose on his knee in the chaos of hitting the bottom of a waterfall.
“There was a lot of blood in his raft, but what could he do but carry on?” Maree said.
Patuwai’s nose wasn’t the only casualty of the week. On the bike ride, John Grant, Cody Bishop and Hera Peni-Tipu did a few handlebar flips and took out some 100-year-old pines along with missing a bridge here and there.
Although all a little broken, bruised and tired, Maree said “They were all smiling at the end”.
Stacking up points in the rafting and bike riding, Flaxmere’s three orientation teams also gained as many points as they could in the time allocated.
Each activity was timed and scored; only the tough guy/girl challenge remained, and Flaxmere’s service academy believed they had “no chance” of winning.
Despite the group doubting they had a shot at first place they still jumped in and gave the final challenge their all.
The tough guy/girl challenge, or what the students refer to as “the mud run,” was held at Lake Ranch in Rotorua, and involved mud, obstacles and some hefty hills to climb.
Flaxmere College's winning Service Academy team.
As Flaxmere was the largest academy, they were split into two teams; the rabbits were supported by Pita, who put in a speedy effort and gave it their all.
The second team, supported by Maree, had a few who were broken from the previous day’s activities. Although they came last in that challenge, their teacher said, “We put in a stellar effort and tugged at the heartstrings of all those watching as we supported each other to finish as a team.”
Service Academy student Robbie Kara said he “really enjoyed” the whitewater rafting and ziplining but found the tough guy/girl challenge was the “hardest” activity.
After much deliberation and anticipation, students and teachers covered in mud, and everyone exhausted, the NZDF staff added all the points over the week.
Flaxmere, not expecting to win, was surprised to find out that they were sitting in first place with a three-point lead, thanks to Hera Peni-Tipu’s persistent effort in the 20km bike ride as the only female to complete it.
Peni-Tipu gained six points for the win, which was critical since there were only three points between first and second place.
Flaxmere teacher Maree said she is “super proud to say I work with these amazing young people at Flaxmere College.”
Service Academy member Kara had a great time away and said, he would “absolutely I would definitely do it again.”
He added, “I would recommend students join the services academy so they can experience challenging themselves, exceeding their own limits, making friends for life, and having fun.”
Maddisyn Jeffares became the editor of the Hawke’s Bay community papers Hastings Leader and Napier Courier in 2023 after writing at the Hastings Leader for almost a year. She has been a reporter with NZME for almost three years and has a strong focus on what’s going on in communities, good and bad, big and small. Email news tips to her at: maddisyn.jeffares@nzme.co.nz
