Rotorua girl takes top prize in photo competition

Ten-year-old Kaytalia Coles' winning photo. Photo / Supplied

A Ngongotahā School student has won an national outdoor photo competition, scoring a $300 voucher for her classmates in the process.

Kaytalia Coles, 10, won the Walking Access Commission's national best photo prize for their top Outdoor Spot Competition.

The winning shot was taken in the Redwoods which Kaytalia described as her favourite place to walk.

"Tall Redwoods reaching for the sky, a carpet of crunchy leaves and squishy mud beneath your feet. My favourite place to walk, the Redwood Forest.

Walking Access Commission regional field advisor John Gibbs presents Kaytalia Coles, 10, with her prize at Ngongotahā School today. Photo / Supplied

"Hiding painted rocks in the roots of the trees for others to find. Playing hide and seek with my cousins. Balancing along the logs careful not to fall in the cold creek. Exercise is fun when you're having adventures," she said.

Her prize for the best photo was an Osprey Daylite Plus daypack filled with a drink bottle, a micro-fibre towel, an emergency blanket, a pair of Skellerup Red Band gumboots, a pair of merino snow socks, and a book, Up the River – Explore and Discover New Zealand's Rivers, Lakes and Wetlands, published by Potton & Burton.

Kaytalia's school also received a $300 voucher for a school day trip to a nearby outdoor walk or trail plus advice from the local Walking Access Commission regional field advisor John Gibbs.

Ten-year-old Kaytalia Coles' winning photo. Photo / Supplied

Ngongotahā School was also gifted

Great Walks of New Zealand

published by Potton & Burton, and sunscreen from the Cancer Society of New Zealand.

The competition ran during Term One and Two of this year and attracted entries from schools all over New Zealand.

It is an annual competition run by the Walking Access Commission and aims to promote a love of the outdoors and for exploring New Zealand's amazing tracks and trails.

The Commission works to support communities to create and tend tracks and trails, resolve disputes and care for the land.