Sign In / Register
The population of Kaiwaka virtually trebled over the New Year, as more than 1200 young people from seven countries descended on the town’s sports complex for Illuminate, a 12-day international adventure camp for venturer scouts.
There were 945 youths aged 14 to 18 and around 300 leaders camped on the rugby pitches and neighbouring fields from December 31 until January 11, with 25 minivans bussing them all to a wide range of expeditions and activities from Cape Reinga down to Waitomo.
IT and comms manager Jenny Rodgers said half the contingent came from Australia, almost half from New Zealand, and the rest from Canada, the UK and other countries. She said Kaiwaka had proved to be the ideal base for the three-yearly event.
“We wanted to be in the north of the North Island, so did a search of all the different venues and
Kaiwaka Sports Complex came out on top,” she said. “We needed camping space, activity space, admin space – and camping for 1200 people is quite a big ask, but Kaiwaka came up trumps. It was the perfect spot.”
Illuminate was split into two sections – Phase 1, where Venturers picked one of 27 different five-day expeditions to go on, and Phase 2, with camp-based activities and day excursions. Expeditions ranged from film-making, off-road driving and a man hunt to sailing, diving and shooting, while camp activities included climbing walls, escape rooms and water assault courses. There was also a range of evening activities, including bands, DJs and a paint party.
One member of Warkworth Venturers, 15-year-old Accalia Guilford, joined in the fun at Illuminate and said the experience was unforgettable.
“It was amazing, absolutely phenomenal,” she said. “You get to do these things that you usually don’t get the chance to do, like going caving, which was great.
“The best part was meeting all these new people. I met amazing friends and have got a lot of memories. I loved just being independent, and there were some great pranks that went on.”
Local retailers were full of praise for the event, saying it did the whole town good and that organisers and participants were “wonderful” to deal with.
