CAMP KAIRAKI.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 17986, 1 February 1924, Page 2

CAMP KAIRAKI.

(Contributed.) Have you smel'.ed wood-smoke at twilight? Have you heard the pine-log burning? Arc you quick to read the noises of the night? You must follow with the others, for the young men's feet are turning, , To the camps of proved desire and inown • delight. For five weeks, the members of the Bops' Department of tho Y.M.C.A. have been living under canvas at Camp Kairaki. Under the pines, the sea in tho background the river glis-

tening through tiie trees in front, a carpet of pine needles under foot, ivairaki is an ideal tamp site. Here is the "i" camp "of proved desire and known delight." The Boxing Day lp.uncih had scarcely readied the laming when kit-'Uags, sugar-bags, sacks, 'dress-baskets, and naiied blankets came hurtling ashore. A sharp caution was needed to restrain the eager owners from following. The berthing completed, the jetty is soon a scetlung mass of joyous campers. What a rush to camp to sec which is tho appointed tent! Sounds of jcy ai.d of disappointment mingle as the tent lists are read, but a little judicious shuffling sends chums off contented. Travelling suits are discarded: camp "togs" are donned, and by lunoh time all have settled down to camp life. "What an air of superiority small vet experienced campers can assume on this day ! "Come to the cookhouse door" caused a hurried assembly, the smartest of the day. Mails are examined; the hair must show signs of a recent brushing. "Into the marquee. No. 4," and with a'triumpliant grin, No. 4 tent, the smartest at inspection, goes to lunch. Tho remaining tents follow; th© food arrives, and tent captains divide the rations out; a silence, appearing more intense than usual silences, while the director says, "For life and health and food, we cive Thee thanks, O Lord." Tho "Amen" and fork rattlings are simultaneous. After dinner. the paper is read, letters and tuck-boxes are distributed, and camp announcements made.

The regular routine begins next morning. Reveille is at 6.45, and five minutes later the "fall-in" whistle calls a pyjama parade for physical drill. Blackened faces pay tribute to the energy of some sleepless camper. "All present"; ''Off to the beach, boys!" Ten minutes under the physical director and sleepiness has vanished; morning dip follows : blankets are spread cut to nir, and all is noise and joy. Flag-raising conies next. The boys, grouped round the pole, are called to silence and in the ensuing hush, the clear notes of the bugle ring out the "General Salute," while every boy watches ,the flags climbing, climbing, climbing. This and flag-lowering ■at sunset are the most impressive moments in the day's routine. Breakfast over, morning prayers follow, and there the boys are told very simply, very straightly of God and the world's need for boys and men, clean of speech, clean of mind; clean of wind and clean living. The spirit pervading the camp sliows the boys' earnest desiro to live so. The- morning programme begins in earnest at 'J .30, when "Honour Ifimblems" are competed for in athletics, swimming, boating and ten educational %sts. Picnics, boating excursions, swims in surf and river, steeplechases and ten-mile walks follow. The camp Klu-Klax has a busy time; the canteen, managed by two boys, i*: well patronised : rabbiting is popular with the smaller boys if not with the director's deg; the appearance of a whale's skeleton is a familiar one; the camp newspaper, the "Ka'iraki Kraeker," appears regularly; the ramp postmaster is first favourite when tlio mail arrives ; transport officials work hard in bringing supplies to camp. The camp is essentially of the boys, for. the boys and by the boys. So do the days pass. All too soon, the call of the city_ is heard, camp is broken and Camp Kairaki .1923-24 is a treasured memory. Memories of cookhouse fatigues (oh, if only mothers would teach Johnny to peel potatoes, how the camp funds would benefit!), of firewood parties, of whaling expeditions, of salts parade are fleeting ones, but others are lasting. "What boy will ever forget his overnight camps, his sitting round the camp fire, his bed under the stars his first attempt ty "toss a flapjack" and the friendly fire which burnt the damning evidences of failure? "Will <iny boy forget that fascinating talk on bees or those services in the chapel by the sea; what boy will -forget "Abide with Me," sounded by the cornet away among, tlia trees, the notes, mellowed and softened by distance, drifting into the chapel? To how many boys came a new idea of history as the story of Te Rauparaha was unfolded on his very battle ground; to how many boys has come a newvision of the heroism of their Maori brothers who rest under the battle monument fit Woodend ? Can anyone estimate tho benefits derived by those boys in the open air among God's plants, helped by the spirit of goodi will running through the whole camp, evidenced by. the sharing of "tuck" boxes and beds, and encouraged by tho I director's daily call to Christian living?