Te Vaka Māia toughed out

Our rangatahi are up for anything – you just need to look at what our Flaxmere College students have been up to this year!

Twenty seven students took on Te Vaka Māia this year, the eight-week leadership and strength course that sees them up and training from 6am three mornings a week, joined by police and college staff.

In August they got an extra special treat for putting in that gruelling mahi. After lugging tyres, poles and jerry cans around Flaxmere Park, they were presented with a huge cooked breakfast, prepared for them by the local Rapid Relief Team (RRT).

The Big Day  - The Longest Challenge – kicked off at 5.30am on September 14, with the community road-side to cheer the students, 10 police staff and nine school staff on as they again carried tractor tyres, poles and jerry cans, before ‘towing’ a Unimog through the streets of Flaxmere.

Also in August, eight of Flaxmere College’s ‘strongest and fittest’ Year 10 rangatahi took on the regional Hillary Outdoors Get2Go Challenge. The team had to ‘tag team’ it over a mountain bike course near Black Bridge, then tackle an orienteering challenge in Haumoana, followed by a kayaking and paddle-boarding race on Te Awa o Mokotūāro (Clive River).

Toby Blakey said the team, while not making the nationals, put in an excellent effort.

“The boys did really well, cheering each other on when the going got tough in the mountain biking and in the orienteering one group was ahead of a number of other school teams; and importantly no one got lost!

“We all knew the river races weren’t going to be our strongest activity but the boys had great fun and showed great whanaungatanga with the other teams. Our team was by far the muddiest and wettest out there. Ka pai nga tama! It was a fantastic day.”