Today we headed out with layers of warm clothing, a cosy jacket and woolly hat. First destination was Baldwin Street. The rain stopped for us to complete the epic climb. Everyone made it to the top, some of us much faster than others. The three jaffas that we rolled downhill, weren't as successful, all becoming casualties of the journey.

Then we headed into the museum and university. We were so impressed with the surveying dept and the learning they put together for us. A number of children were inspired by this potential future career pathway. The Planetarium was an awesome way for the children to learn about our solar system. A number of the adults, caught a few zzs as the stars twinkled down on us. Next it was off to the butterfly rainforest, another magical experience. As was the discovery centre, where we could have spent the whole afternoon.

After a day of learning, we climbed aboard the bus, and headed up to Moana Pool. We had the hydro-slide to ourselves, as well as use of the leisure pool and diving pool. There were many first time experiences and lots of wide smiles, as we embraced challenge!

After a dinner of yummy nachos and a birthday celebration for Maddi, we headed out again on the Hair-raiser Tour and glow worms walk. What a day! All tucked up in bed now, recharging the batteries for another full on day tomorrow.

We all made it to the top of Baldwin St!

Some were faster than others!

There were casualties, but not the human kind.

A surveying lab experience.

That drone was very impressive and mighty expensive!

Learning about our solar system in the Planetarium.

The exhibits in the discovery centre were highly engaging.

Learning about Dunedin's spooky history.

The serious contenders!

Made it!

What a day we have had! The weather, while cold, gave us snippets of sunshine, hail showers and enough fine breaks to make being on the go outside OK. It was perfect albatross weather and we saw lots of them flying. The Monarch cruise was a fabulous way to see the wildlife and provided some thrills along the way. Four chicks were nesting in view of the albatross observatory and we even saw one being fed by its parent! This was a real treat. Then we were off to Larnach Castle to hear its interesting and slightly spooky past, and admire the work of art that this building is. It was cottage pie for dinner, divine (thanks to the cooks), before we jumped back on the buses for night time exploration. The lodge group went off on the hair-raiser tour (and a few hairs were raised!), while the cabins group explored a bush track, lined with glow worms. Just the right amount of scary and magical! It was great to have Megan Harris join us for dinner and be our glow worm guide. We finished the day with a some more of our shared novels before heading off to bed. The troops have settled to sleep very quickly tonight, as you might imagine after such a fun-filled day.

The good news about the weather forecast...

• Most of our activities will be indoors.
• The rain on Monday isn't meant to fall until the evening.
• Albatross and other wild life are much more active in stormy weather, note Tuesday forecast.
• It's a forecast, and might change.

A happy camper is a prepared camper!

• When your child arrives at school (at the normal time) on Monday, they must find their home-group teacher and show them their lunch, drink bottle, waterproof coat and sunhat.
• If they have medication, this needs to be in a named plastic bag and handed to their home-group teacher.
• If you have prepared a pasta bake or cottage pie, please put these in the labeled chilly bins in the maker-space. 
• Food donations, baking for Mountains and Forest and bag of fruit for Coast, need to be put in the boxes that will be in the maker-space.
• Gear (excluding daypack), needs to be put on the basketball court if it is not raining, or if it is wet, in the atrium. 
• Technology permission slip, needs to go straight to home-group teacher. Children must return this slip if they are to take a device on camp.