Bigfoot Magazine - Term 3 2014

Issue4/September14

Register or Not to Register?Coastguard Boating Education-Safe Boating ProgrammeWeeRide ReviewFeast Catering - Our Preferred Catering Provider

EOTC Programme -Don’t Miss This Opportunity!

MAGAZINE

1814

10CAMP PROFILE: CYC Camp Ngaruawahia 6

PROVIDER PROFILE: Feast Catering

12GEAR REVIEW: WeeRide Seats

MEET THE TEAM: Meet Hayley Dorward5

IN THE NEWS: Coastguard Boating Education - Safe Boating Programme

8 BIGFOOT TEAMS IN ACTION: Photo Gallery

BIGFOOT ACTIVITY PROFILE: EOTC Profile

16

contents

SAFETY IN THE OUTDOORS: To Register or not to Register

AboutBigfoot Adventures new e-mag showcases how we help you to have the time of your life, and introduces you to some great facilities, activities, cool new outdoor equipment and relevant industry news.

Editorial Content: Francesca Marcellino-ReedContact Francesca on 0800 Bigfoot or (09) 444 1446 or email [email protected]

Address:Bigfoot Adventures LtdPrivate Box 302 265, North Harbour, Auckland, NZwww.bigfootadventures.co.nz

Art Director:Jodi Olsson

Publisher: Espire Media

Enquiries: Phone Jennifer on (09) 522 7257 or email [email protected]

Cover photo: Crisp Mountain Air

This is a GREEN MAG, created and distributed without the use of paper so it's environmentally friendly. Please think before you

print. Thank you!

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contents

SAFETY IN THE OUTDOORS: To Register or not to Register

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iI have just arrived back from Canada where I spent six days riding in Whistler and a few days in Squamish. Both of these areas are oozing with truly wicked mountain bike trails and other amazing areas for out-door adventuring. Such as ‘The Chief’ in Squamish, a gigantic granite dome that boasts amaz-ing rock climbing. I caught up and stayed with a good friend and old work mate while in Squamish and he is definitely in the right place to fulfil his pas-sion for the outdoors.

I am proud to say I have come back relatively unscathed and loved my time there with the highlight being a ride on the world famous ‘Top of the World’ ride. This is an absolute must do when Mountain Bik-ing in Whistler.

The most significant other highlight since our last issue is

that my son is now walking...watch out he is off and into everything and just doesn’t sit still! I am really looking forward to introducing him to the great outdoors and our first mission will be out on my bike with his Weeride seat.

Have a read of our gear re-view in this issue and see what the WeeRide bike seat is all about. I look forward to getting out soon with a group of other dads for a ‘Daddy Day Care on Bikes’ ride. I will let you know how it goes!

We have some exciting proj-ects in the pipeline at the mo-ment. I am looking forward to sinking my teeth into organis-ing an Auckland to Welling-ton Cycling Journey for an Auckland based school and have just brought the Kennett Brothers book ‘The New Zea-land Cycle Trails’ to help with

the planning and idea of keep-ing most of the riding off the road. We are also developing a closer working relationship with Castle Rock Adventures in the Waikato to run all of their adventure activities which is very exciting.

Enjoy the rest of Term Three and hopefully you have some adventures planned at Mt Ruapehu as there is plenty of snow about at the moment. I am off for a sneaky look at the new Skyline Rotorua mountain bike trails later this week. You just can’t keep me off my bike at the moment. Will keep you posted on whether it’s a worth-while ride.

.

Kris Bartley

4 www.bigfootadventures.co.nz

fromtheeditor

www.bigfootadventures.co.nz 5

HHayley has worked for the Big-foot Team for over nine years and is currently our longest standing employee. Her cur-rent role at Bigfoot is Office Manager and this has evolved from basic office work, payroll, finance, sales, recruitment and now overall Office Manager and Kris’s “go to” person in many areas of the business.

At the time that Hayley began with Bigfoot she was a new mum and over the years Bigfoot has seen her expand her family to three children, whom are now 10, seven and four years old.

Hayley enjoys many things about her role here at Bigfoot, but mostly the variety in her work, the fabulous team she

hayleyDorwardby Kris Bartley

ability to work within a team. She is a keen runner and Big-foot touch rugby player but admits getting cold, dirty and wet in the great outdoors is not her idea of having fun.

On this basis she feels her strengths are office based at Bigfoot supporting Kris, other office staff and the instructors to offer exciting programs to anyone whom is keen to ac-cept the challenge. Many of you may have been in contact

MEET the team

with her already or be unaware of the work that she has done behind the scenes. Whilst she controls the invoicing side of the business she also pays the Bigfoot bills, so it’s always best to be on her good side.

She has a “my door is al-ways open” approach to her work and loves the saying “Our greatest weakness lies in giv-ing up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try one more time” by Thomas Edison.

works with and the flexible hours are what she loves best. She mentioned that she has enjoyed being a significant part of a small business grow-ing into a bigger business and welcomes the opportunity to continue to build the Bigfoot brand and be part of its future.

Outside of office hours Hayley’s passions in life are challenging herself physically, drinking coffee and hanging out with her family. This year Hayley took part in Auckland’s first Tough Mudder event. It was a gruelling 21km race through mud, wooden obsta-cles, electric currents, trench-es, dark tunnels, icy baths and was a good test of Hayley’s weekly training schedule and


wonderWAIKATO

campprofile

CYC Camp Ngaruawahia Located only one and a half hours from central Auckland, Ngaruawahia is an ideal location for a school camp. by Jessie Lynskey


camp

wondernNgaruawahia: close enough

to Auckland to not have to spend a day travelling, but far enough for the students and staff to feel like they have es-caped the rat race of the city.

The Christian Youth Camp Ngaruawahia (CYC) is lo-cated in a tranquil setting on the town’s Western side. The camp can cater for a wide range of groups.

With a decent sized kitchen and dining area, this part of the camp is an asset as it gives groups this option and consists of 208 beds in an array of cabins

Alternatively, there is the option of having your camp catered for by CYC. They can cater for up to 253 peo-ple. This eliminates all the hassle associated with feeding a number of hungry mouths if time is limited. This part of the camp consists of 253 beds, a large dining room, washing machines/dryers, and many other facilities.

The two sides of the camp can function independently, so even if there is a group using one part of the camp,

another school or group can use the alternate part of the camp and can be more or less unaware of each other. If numbers are large, a group can book out the entire camp. These various options enable the camp to be offered to a wide range of clients.

The location of the camp lends itself to ensure a vast range of activities can be of-fered. In the past, Bigfoot Ad-ventures have run all sorts of activities, both on and off site. With the decent size grounds at the camp, Bigfoot have run archery, mountain biking skills, orienteering, raft building, and we have also used our mobile rock wall: all concurrently and with no problem.

As well as onsite activities, there are plenty of fantastic activities that can be carried out nearby. These include, but are not limited to: moun-tain biking at Kaniwhaniwha, in the bush at the base of Mt Pirongia, or at the Pukete Mountain Bike Park. If rocks are more your thing, there is some great caving to be done

at Karamu, as well as climbing and abseiling! On top of this, there are some great walks lo-cally on which to carry out a day tramp.

CYC has a pool that can be used either as an activity within the camp’s programme, or for students in their free time at the end of a day. Stu-dents also love the hydro slide to top off a fantastic day out-doors. There is a flying fox in the grounds too, as well as a little mini golf course.

CYC is an excellent option for camps of various ages. Bigfoot has run camps for primary and secondary school children here. The fact that it can be self-contained in terms of camp activities; can be run catered or un-catered; and that there are a wide range of activities/various locations that can be used outside of the grounds, means that it can suit a range of groups. For a short stay or long stay, young or old, CYC is an ideal venue

Located only one and a half hours from central Auckland, Ngaruawahia is an ideal location for a school camp. by Jessie Lynskey


IN ACTION

All inControl

Kiwis IN CANADAON TOP OF THE WORLD by Matt Harris

Winner of our Issue 3PHOTO COMPETITION was:

COOLCRISPMorning

bigfoot teams

Who saidTRAMPINGwas allHARD WORK


Send us your activity photos - the winner for the best ac-tion photo will receive a $50 RnR voucher. Compet i t ion entry closes on October 28th 2014, and the winner will be announced in our next issue.

PHOTOCOMP

the PERFECTconditions

GOOD WAY TO WARM UP

RAILWAY RIDE

under candle light

ViewfromtheTOP

Bigfoot Leads a Caving Expedition

aAs providers of outdoor ac-tivities and camps, we are of-ten asked if we offer catering, or if we know of people who provide catering for camps. We are now in a position to say that we have some expe-rienced caterers who we have used on various camps, and who we look forward to using in the future. Feast Catering are an excellent option and well worth considering when planning a camp.

Our preferred catering providerBy Jessie Lynskey

feast CATERING


This is Feast CateringFeast catering is comprised of four individuals: Carol, George, Louise and Sam. They have carried out ex-tensive catering for school camps, sporting groups and holiday programmes, includ-ing catering for a couple of significant activity weeks that Bigfoot Adventures have pro-vided for schools.

It can be a big enough task to organise a school camp or activity week with regards to timing, transport, activities,

parent help etc., not to men-tion the fact that everyone is going to need to eat whilst on camp. Schools sometimes think it is going to be more cost effective and the best option to organise this side of the camp themselves.

Catering can be perceived as a simple task, but often becomes a lot harder than expected, can result in poor food choices, and not be as cost effective as expected.

This is where Feast fits in perfectly. They are a company who are self-sustainable; they

providerprofile


feast CATERING

can cater for a large group whether there is a significant camp kitchen on site or not. The Feast team, without fail, manage to serve up qual-ity, varied, fresh and healthy meals for such camps, be it set out in the bush or at an estab-lished camping ground.

You can tell that Feast Ca-terers have a good under-standing of the relationship between enjoying the out-doors of New Zealand and eating healthy fresh food cooked from scratch.

The other great thing about Feast is that they are competi-tively priced, which enables a simple decision from groups – either they require a caterer or not – rather than this decision being made solely as a result of budget. Feast Caterers also gives you the option of differ-ent menu selections.

So make sure when you are organising your next camp with Bigfoot to ask us to book in our preferred caterer, Feast Catering. They are a great team and have never disap-pointed, but are in hot de-mand, so let us know if you require catering and we can lock them in for you!


WWith the long days and sunny skies of summer just around the corner, now is the perfect time to take learning outside.

Are you looking for a day programme that will help prepare your senior school students for the follow-ing year? Want to encour-age them to step forward and take a leadership role amongst their peers?

Bigfoot Adventures can provide a one-day program full of fun, challenging activi-ties for your school, and en-courage students to develop their key competencies, ie: thinking, using language and

EOTC PROGRAMMEDon’t miss this opportunity!by Francesca Marcellino-Reed

bigfootactivityprofile


texts, managing self, relating to others, and participating and contributing. We can tailor the day to facilitate the key competency for the term and help you achieve your objective. The programme is suitable for between 90-120 students at a set price.

What is EOTC? Educa-tion Outside The Classroom. EOTC gets the students out in the open, where they can excel in aspects of their develop-ment by making learning more engaging: through play, team-work and problem solving.

Instructors will arrive and set up one hour prior, usually spread around the outside of the school field. They will then run through the activi-ties with the school helpers, parents or teachers. Students are welcomed and introduced to the Bigfoot team, followed

by a mass game to get them warmed up and ready for more. After being grouped, each team has 45 minutes to design and create a team flag, all the equipment for which will be provided by the Bigfoot Team.

The program will be a se-ries of rotations between the varying activities at each sta-tion, and each activity has its own learning outcome. We will provide certificates and prizes for the top teams to give the program a competitive and engaging atmosphere.

School lunch breaks and morning tea breaks can be in-cluded in the day’s timetable.

What are you waiting for? If this is something your school will be interested in, contact us on 0800 Bigfoot. Check out our website or email [email protected]

What is EOTC?Education Outside the Classroom EOTC gets students outin the open where they can excel in aspects of their development by making learning more engaging through play, teamwork and problem solving

www.bigfootadventures.co.nz

mailto:admin%40bigfootadventures.co.nz?subject=

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AWee Rideseat

by Aaron Hainsworth

After some research I found baby seats come in two main types: a rear carrier seat and a front carrier seat. The deci-sion to choose the WeeRide was easy for three reasons.

Firstly, the view would be more interesting for the child as they could look forward and see what was coming rather than having a view of my back with snippets of the side. Secondly, I would be able to see the child while riding, and thirdly, the WeeRide is more robust and adjustable (it holds up to about 20kg).

It took approximately ten minutes to set up and was fair-ly simple. All it took was fitting a solid support bar from the seat post to the frame at the front, and then simply screw-ing the seat on. Strapping my daughter in with the five point harness (which held her securely) we were ready and off for our first road ride. Your balance is not affected with

After returning from a ride with my son and seeing how excited he was, and my wife suggesting she would like to join us on the next trip, some thought was needed on how we were going to include the whole family on our next adventure, as we have an 11-month-old daughter as well. I was in the market for purchasing a new baby seat.


gearreview


the child in front of you and it is nice to be able to see them and have them in between your arms. You do have to ride with your knees further out but as you are going for a gentle ride this is no issue.

The advantage of the WeeRide is allowing the child to enjoy the view, especially when Mum and brother are in front and they can watch them and enjoy the ride: and by the amount of brrrm brmming go-ing on, there was definite en-joyment.

The seat allows for the child to turn their head around and see you. This was really nice, to see my daughter turn around and give me a big smile while we were riding and chatting. There is also a removable pad-ded dashboard in front so the little ones have something to hold on to or rest their heads on if they are getting tired. Obvi-ously it is not meant for hitting

table tops or jumps, but for the gentle berms and undulations of the lower Whakarewarewa tracks it was great.

Something to be aware of is the temperature of the little one. They are go-ing to be colder than you, as you are working and they are not: so wrap them up warmly.

Overall, the WeeRide was the best option. It is a solid piece of equipment that gives peace of mind, as you have your child safely in between your arms and it is easy to check on them without taking your eyes off the track. It is great for the family to be mobile, to go on outings together, to ex-perience the outdoors. As the saying goes, “the fam-ily that rides together stays together.”RRP $249


iIn New Zealand we have a myriad of lakes and rivers, not to mention the fact that we are completely surround-ed by the ocean. These aquatic environments pro-vide endless opportunities for fun, adventure and learn-ing. Many people choose boats as their means of max-imizing these opportunities. They are a very useful tool

for accessing our beauti-ful marine environment, but do require some know-how to use. We should not dis-courage people from using boats, but educate them on how to keep themselves safe whilst doing so. Coastguard Boating Education and Big-foot Adventures are keen to provide young people with the knowledge and safety

skills they require to keep themselves and their families safe on and around boats.

Boat ownership is very ac-cessible to the majority of people here in New Zealand, and with such a beautiful marine playground it makes perfect sense. Whether you are looking to explore new places above or below the water, carve up some wake

or go in search of reeling in ‘the big one’, boats offer so much opportunity. However, there are certain responsi-bilities that come with own-ing a boat. The skipper is responsible for the safety of those on board the ves-sel. First and foremost, the skipper should be skilled and knowledgeable. But why not educate anyone and every-

by Jonny Moncur

Water. It’s the very lifeblood of our planet, yet ironically it claims a significant number of lives every year. Mother Nature can be devastating at times and survival in this case is often far from our control. There are, however, many situations where the weather doesn’t feature as a causal factor. Instead, an unfortunate lack of knowledge or experience leads to tragedy in the water.

coastguard

inthenews

BOATING EDUCATION-SAFE BOATING programme


one on board, and in par-ticular, to the younger family members who will grow up to skipper their own boats and pass down knowledge to kids of their own?

As a part of the Coastguard Safe Boating Programme, students will learn the re-sponsibilities associated with being a skipper. They will be taught how to use essential safety items such as lifejackets and VHF radios. Students will also be taught the appropri-ate practical safety skills they may require should the boat capsize and they end up in the water. The aim of the pro-

gramme is to turn Primary and Intermediate school children into water safety ambassa-dors, in the hope that teach-ing them how to be safe on the water will save their own and other people’s lives for decades to come.

Bigfoot Adventures is one of the outdoor provid-ers chosen by Coastguard Boating Education to deliver the programme to schools. Bigfoot already has a large involvement with schools, so it makes sense to integrate the Coastguard Safe Boating Programme into the exten-sive outdoor programmes al-

ready on offer. It is a fantastic addition to Bigfoot’s kayak and raft survivor activities, or an equally good option on its own as an activity for aquatic centres. It doesn’t matter whether the students are swimmers or non-swim-mers, as the programme is designed to suit all.

More than 25,000 cer-tificates have already been awarded to children who have completed the pro-gramme. The number of participants and providers is constantly growing as the programme is rolled out across the country.

If this is something you would like to see your children or stu-dents involved in then please give Bigfoot Adventures a call and we will determine exactly how the programme will fit with your upcoming camp or activity days.

Also watch this space for news on our comprehensive ‘Water Skills’ Programme, rolling out this November. This will include Safe Boat-ing, plus many other skills and tips regarding knowl-edge in, on, under and around the water.

.

BOATING EDUCATION-


IIn our last edition, we spoke of how it is a changing landscape out there and how it is exciting that we, the outdoor industry, are collectively improving our deliv-ery practices to prevent serious

harm and incidents. We recom-mend that any provider used should have passed a ‘Safety Audit’ and be a registered ‘Ad-venture Activity Provider’ with the Department of Labour.

by Fiona Ryder

This year within the EOTC and adventure pursuits spectrum of what we do, there is much dialogue and discussion about what an ‘Adventure Activity’ is. Which of your providers for your EOTC and Outdoor Education courses are required to be registered by MBIE (ie the Department of Labour)? Who can you hire, or who should you hire to deliver your activities? There are lots of important questions!

to Register or not TO REGISTER

With all the discourse cur-rently happening around the country, the amount of rea-sonably known risk is increas-ing all the time. In simple words: we are now much more aware of what risks are out there and we know more

about how to manage them.So what is an “Adventure

Activity”, as per the regula-tions? The answer to this is important, because the answer defines which of your chosen providers must have an audit achieved by November 1st.

I would like to add some clarity to this for two reasons. 1. As a Principal or leader responsible for sending stu-

dents out on an adventurous outdoor experience or a multi-activity camp, there are some important processes and decisions to be made regarding the quality of any external provider they engage with.

2. As a director/owner/operator of an outdoor or ad-venture activity provider, there is a great onus to ensure that all practicable steps have been taken to manage any reasonably known risk.

safetyintheoutdoors


The simple process to find the answer is to ask yourself:a. Does the activity have a high level of danger

inherent in the nature of the activity?b. If the activity provider does not have sound risk man-

agement systems in place for this activity, could your participant, student or young person end up in hospital or require professional counselling?

The simple examples of activities that are easy to identify as an ‘Adventure Activity’ are:

• Rock climbing – if the rope system fails the participant is likely to break something (eg spinal injury).

• White water rafting/kayaking etc. – if the guide is not pro-ficient then it is likely they will not negotiate the rapids well and the participant is more exposed to serious harm.

Therefore, these activities have been developed over the years and have very stringent mea-sures in place to ensure safe practice. As a result, there are actually relatively safe activities to have as part of your camp.

Where the line is blurry is in regards to the less obviously

risky activities. Even the Work-safe department of the gov-ernment are battling to define which activities in this greyer area are considered to require an audit.

For any providers out there still wondering, our best ad-vice is to contact the registrar

of Worksafe and request a formal letter detailing their advice to you regarding whether or not you are eli-gible to register as an Adven-ture Activity Operator.

To assist with this, Worksafe have devised a Decision Tree that will walk you through the questions the registrar will ask. Best to prepare for these, and maybe you will answer your own queries.

To assist us in choosing pro-viders to work with Bigfoot Adventures in any of our pro-grammes, we have developed a tool to help investigate the safety management of that provider, be it an ‘Adventure Activity’ or not.

If they are safety audited and registered, then great. If not, there are some measures and common sense steps we take to satisfy they are still

managing the lower risk asso-ciated with the activity.

We are willing to share with the industry and take any feed-back on how it works for you. School leaders may find it use-ful as a check for the Board of Trustees to use. To request a copy, simply contact: [email protected].

Update: At the time of the last publication, there was only one audit option, namely the Outdoor Mark. Since then, three other companies have joined the scheme and they also offer activity provid-ers safety auditing services.

So now, what you should consider is whether or not your provider is safety audited and registered with the gov-ernment (MBIE), rather than, as previously advised, to hold an Outdoor Mark.

http://www.business.govt.nz/worksafe/about/what-we-do/adventure-activities/for-operators/aao-decision-tree/view

mailto:fiona%40bigfootadventures.co.nz?subject=

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the greatest accomplishment IS NOT IN Never failing but in rising again after you fall

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Bigfoot Magazine - Term 3 2014