Raincliff Youth Lodge is located approximately 50 minutes drive from the Peel Forest Outdoor
Centre. The Lodge boasts excellent sleeping, kitchen, dining, and meeting facilities, all in good order sleeping up to 100 people. As a result we run many Primary and Intermediate programmes, especially for larger groups based out of this site.
One of the benefits of this site is that most of the activities can be done onsite, or within walking distance. With an abseil site across the road and the Opihi river running adjacent to the Lodge it means groups can run multiple activities without requiring additional transportation.
We usually run the activities in 2 1/2 hour sessions and groups can tailor their programme accordingly. This site is very cost effective for schools due to the close proximity of the activities and the low camp fees.
The activities we run at Raincliff include;
Abseiling
There are three abseils, we call Baby, Mama and Papa bear. These are on limestone rock and it is a good introductory site for students Year 5-8.
“I liked how you guys encouraged me to do the big cliff. You’re the best abseiling teachers ever. I had so much fun I would love to do it again.” – Yr8 student, Waimate Centennial School
River Safety
Using the Opihi or Ophua rivers the focus of the session is to teach students basic river safety skills, including identifying hazards and river features, river crossing techniques, white-water and active swimming, receiving a throw bag and what to watch out for when dealing with rivers.
Weta Caves
These caves are about a 15-20 minute walk from the camp, passing Maori rock drawings on the limestone cliffs along the way. The highlight of the caves are the cave weta’s that reside inside which can draw all sorts of excitement and shrieking from the students as they learn more about them.
Adventure Based Learning
We have a large array of adventure based learning activities that we use to develop team work, communication, trust, leadership and problem solving skills within their group. Activities are selected depending on group outcomes and students’ ages.
Tramping/Eco-education at Pioneer Park
Just a 4 km drive away Pioneer Park has a range of tramping options ranging from 40 minutes to 3 hours long. We often combine the tramping with teaching the students about the native environment that they are in and what they can do to help preserve it through a series of engaging activities.