Covid 19 coronavirus Delta outbreak: Northland students' trip of a lifetime cut short due to lockdown

Shelby and Lily completing the Snow Castle Challenge on the Hillary Outdoors Tongariro trip.

It was to be a week full of far-flung adventure and technology disconnect for 30 Whangārei Intermediate School students.

And it was, until the emergency landline at their Tongariro lodge shattered the oblivion on Tuesday night, last week.

The strident bell brought them back to the real world with a jolt, said Whangārei Intermediate School (WIS) deputy principal Paul Botica.

The group was taking part in the school's annual Hillary Outdoors Tongariro trip, which offers a unique alpine learning environment with life-changing experiences set at the base of the Tongariro National Park in the central North Island. Costing more than $1000 each, many of the kids had contributed by fundraising, before setting off the previous Sunday for the eight-hour bus trip amid great excitement. They were two days in and oblivious to the community Covid-19 case announced earlier that day, when they got the call.

"I said, 'Oh bloody hell, you're joking, aye?'" said Botica, now back in Whangārei and in lockdown.

He said, although the weather hadn't been the best, the kids were having a blast.

"It was going great and the weather was looking to clear on the Wednesday. We were fairly isolated and had no TV or cell phone or WiFi contact, unless you walked a kilometre out to the main road – the whole idea was to go bush. But then we got a call from the school on the landline at the lodge. We were oblivious at that point, we knew nothing was brewing."

The Years 7s and 8s were "gutted" they had to return home and there were a few tears, said Botica.

Jack Parsonage was a year 7 student at the school last year and, as soon as he heard about the trip, he was determined to go, said his mum Lisa. However, last year's lockdown meant it was cancelled.

"Jack was so disappointed. The only thing he has been talking about since is the Tongariro trip this year happening and he was really looking forward to it. Jack was packed many weeks ahead, and kept checking what he needed."

When she received the news of lockdown last week, her first thought was, "I really hope they are out there on their overnight trip and don't find out until they get back".

"Sadly, due to weather, it turns out they had to postpone that so had only done team activities after an awesome first day up the mountain snowboarding for the first time."

For Jack and many others, who had never touched snow before, it was to be the trip of a lifetime.

WIS has been taking students since 2004 and this year's intake had enjoyed a day on the ski slopes Monday, followed by team building which included low rope and traverse challenges and indoor rock climbing Tuesday, while the weather was bad, in preparation for the following days' activities.

For many, it was their first snow experience.

"They had two full days; Monday we had a ski day, which included snowboarding and it was pretty sleety – they found out what cold was that day!" said Botica.

"But they had a ball. Once they had that lesson, they were off and, at 4 o' clock, the mountain was closing and they were soaking but they were still pretty keen to carry on. If they hadn't turned off the lifts, I think some of the kids would've kept going," he said.

They were looking forward to the rest of the week's adventures, which included kayaking, abseiling, flying fox, high ropes, outdoor rock climbing, caving and an overnight expedition, and were disappointed when news came in that they had to return home. However, with typical resilience, they bounced back fairly well.

The kids practised rock climbing ready to tackle it outdoors.

"We didn't have much information at first and were wondering if we had to go that night as they had to shut down the Hillary outdoor centre. But they were in good spirits the next day and the problem-solving and team work they'd done the day before kicked in and they used it to lift each other up. They looked ahead at the jobs that had to be done to get home and they were really focused; they had to clean up the lodge, cook breakfast, they just got on and did it. There was no one dragging the chain, they were amazing."

The bus trip home was an all-day affair involving phoning ahead to gas stations at three locations to use their facilities, with all public toilets closed. Then, the masked children would enter the premises five at a time, before sanitising and returning.

The kids, suitably kitted up, stopped for lunch at Lake Karapiro on their return home.

The parental reunion back in Whangārei also involved social distancing with a text message sent in advance to stand back and let their kids walk to them with their luggage.

Philippa Mentor said while parents had to wait at their cars, they received the biggest hugs after 10 hours of travelling.

Her son Boston carried out a lot of his own fundraising, listing games, clothing and selling "worm wee" for gardens, as well as weeding people's gardens.

"He had been looking forward to it for months and exercising to get his fitness up. It was outside his comfort zone so he applied to challenge himself and grow in confidence. He has returned with solid friendships and a sense of achievement and independence even though it was cut short. It was a trip of a lifetime, which is a shame, but I'm relieved to have him home safe and the staff did an amazing job dealing with the unpredictable situation.

"He would love to go again and do everything properly - we are hoping that is an option. As much as he was relieved to be home, and me, he was gutted too and said that it was just starting to get really good and it sounds like the experience brought the group closer."

Added Lisa: "I wasn't concerned for (Jack's) safety, as I know Paul Botica and the team down there would take great care of them all. I would have been very concerned had they got stuck down there away from their families, so was very pleased they were able to return."

She said Jack had been quiet when she phoned him on the bus trip home but, in true 12-year-old form, his first words to his mother were: "What's for dinner?".

# It is unclear at this stage if the remainder of the trip could be refunded.