200 students, 50 teams, 10kms of uphill/downhill running, 40 environmental challenges, a bus crash, 4 shattered windows, no physical injuries, plenty of sunburn and a day off school.  Wow.  24 students from Carmel had a day they will never forget at the 2020 Auckland sustainability challenge held at Arataki Visitors Centre.

Think TV’s ‘The Amazing Race’.  Each team raced against the clock to navigate their way through hilly bush land and complete ecological challenges.  Stoats, native plants, insect sucking machines, predator traps, bird sounds, tree aging, Maori mythology, healthy streams, flowers, barcodes on trees, crayfish, rats, teeth marks………the challenges had everything.

It was an awesome day, we learnt heaps and had a whole lot of fun doing it. Oh and lots of our teams won spot prizes to go with a top place finishing of 7th.

Alessia Martin, Year 8