BootsnAll Travel Network



trekking: through the eyes of children

 

If you were to read the children’s journals, you would get the impression we did lots of eating. And that would not be altogether wrong, but neither would it be the complete picture.

Immediately at the conclusion of the walk, when we were exhausted and sore, we asked the kids if they would ever do it again. Unanimously they chorused, “Yes”.
“Even the uphills?”
“Absolutely”
“Even the freezing?”
“We’d take more clothes”
(You see, it was so cold the first night we slept in thermal underwear under three blankets and still couldn’t get warm.)
But they’d do it all again.

Here are a few thoughts from them:

  • *We stopped at a local market where we got supplies for the trek. The market had everything from black chicken to fried crickets and huge jackfruit and tons of different veges. We ate the crickets……they were crunchy and juicy and their legs got stuck in your throat.
  • *We stopped near a waterfall and walked along through bamboo groves to get to it. It was magnificent and freezing. It was so forceful it made a strong wind. It really was freezing, but fun to swim under.
  • *After lunch we drove on to hot mineral springs. We were all in our clothes and so we just sat on the edge of a pool of HOT water, trying to keep our clothes dry. Kboy10, Kgirl8, Lboy7 and Tgirl4 all managed to slip and get soaked. The bottom of the pool was slimy.
  • *It took an hour and a half to hike up the 2km to the village where we stayed overnight. I had fun helping peel and chop some veges for dinner. In these parts people cook over a clay flower-pot-type stove. They put wood in the pot, light it and then put a wok on top.
  • *The huts were simple. Bamboo made the frame and was woven for the walls. Roof was thatch. But they seem quite happy with what they have. It makes me realise how lucky and blessed we are to live in NZ.
  • *I have never seen so many stars at one time.
  • *We could hear someone snoring to their heart’s content. Dad thought Mboy6 was being silly and was going to tell him off (it was 5am) when he listened closer and realised that it was a pig!!
  • *I had learnt how a boat floats, so I tried to make one, but it just sank.
  • *We watched the elephants get saddled up. First of all ten blankets went on the elephant’s back, all on top of each other. Then a seat, about 1.3m wide, went on. The seat was strapped around the E’s middle and under its tail. To get onto the seat on top of the E you climbed up a bamboo ladder and onto a platform. You then stand on the elephant’s head and clamber into the seat….The first time Muso (our E) went down a slope towards the river we hung on so tightly; it really felt like you would slip right off the seat…..The four big kids got to take turns sitting at the front of the elephant, just behind its ears. The E’s hide was rough and the hair was prickly, but we had a great time!!!
  • *Fishing in a fast flowing river is a recipe for chicken for dinner!
  • *Imagine you are full after that (previously described) dinner and are writing this in front of a fire by candlelight and BooWan is playing the guitar, all the stars are watching and it’s just perfect.
  • *Because we are staying right by the river it sounds like it’s raining at night.
  • *The road to the main one was more potholes, shall we say, than road.
  • *We were so tired that the orchid/butterfly farm was not that interesting (and that being written by a budding entomologist! – shows the degree of his exhaustion). The flowers don’t get me, no, not one noodle. I don’t like being tired.


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3 responses to “trekking: through the eyes of children”

  1. jen says:

    I like how you did the adults and the childrens perspetive

    I also like the photo

    brave to eat the crickets

    “It makes me realise how lucky and blessed we are to live in NZ.” yes indeed

    LOL a pig snoring – I didnt know they did 🙂
    I like learning new things

    Im sure Id like to ride on an elephant – I dont like heights

    Jen

  2. Fiona Taylor says:

    I love it! How wonderful to hear from different perspectives – and what an adventure on all fronts!!! Oh, how marvellous!! Thanks for keeping the blog. I am having a blast 🙂

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