Lodge a natural learning environment
Manawatu’s Sixtus Lodge has been operating for 40 years. The first class moved in on October 24, 1977, and since then more than 800 class groups have stayed at the lodge.
For many of this paper’s readers, a camp at Sixtus Lodge would have been their first school outdoor education experience.
Until the mid-1990s school usage was restricted to intermediate age children in Palmerston North and Feilding but since then classes of younger children and high school students, from the wider Manawatu and beyond, have been welcomed.
Initially Sixtus Lodge was envisaged primarily as a venue for school outdoor education but it quickly became apparent that the facility would also be an attractive location for weekend parties - youth groups, special interest groups, family reunions, religious retreats, etc. Today there are few periods when the facility is vacant.
The idea for an outdoor education centre in the region arose in the 1970s. Outdoor education ‘away from home’ was beginning to take hold in education circles - but also at this time, there was an energy crisis leading to carless days, restrictions on weekend petrol sales and skyrocketing petrol prices. Aggravating the issue was that most established outdoor education facilities were located well away from Manawatu - which meant transport costs were to loom large in budgeting for a school camp. This was proving to be a major impediment for many children participating in a school camp.
A group of Palmerston North Intermediate Normal School (PNINS) teachers, who regarded outdoor education as a vital component of the school curriculum yet were also aware of the economic constraints of ’travelling away’, got to wondering whether it would be viable to establish an outdoor education centre in Manawatu - and so, after determining the essential requirements of such a centre, a serious investigation was begun.
As the venue was to be for outdoor education it made sense that it be away from urban areas and in a landscape quite different from what most children would be familiar with. Ideally there should be native bush nearby and other resources for ’outdoor’ studies. Also, the site selected would need to be readily accessible by road, ideally be within a 50km radius of Palmerston North and be suitable for building on as groups of some 30 to 40 people would need to be accommodated from one and four nights at a time.
The task now became to find such a place. Many possible sites were considered but most seemed to have drawbacks accessibilty, terrain, power and water inadequacies, land purchase costs. But then a chance meeting with Apiti farmer Les Sixtus was to bear fruit. Mr Sixtus was enthusiastic about the idea of young (urban) folk being made more aware of life outside the towns and their gaining a greater understanding of New Zealand’s natural environment. He was so enthusiastic that he was prepared to offer some 6 hectares of his land to make such a venture possible. The site offered seemed to meet all the required criteria - except one. It was some 75km from Palmerston North. But given the other positives of the site, this was an offer too good to let go.
With a site in mind, the next task became whether to construct a facility or to move unused buildings - like halls and closed schools - to the site. Costings were done and eventually it was decided it would be better to construct a ‘fit for purpose’ building from scratch rather than transport and convert buildings originally constructed for other purposes.
While initially the scheme had been a PNINS ‘thing’, it soon became apparent that year round usage of the facility would require other intermediate and full primary schools in the area to be involved. An invitation was offered and soon most of those schools became enthusiastic supporters too. John Crone, the driving force behind the scheme, would arrive at a school with a model of the proposed facility and a prepared spiel urging the school to get on board!
The focus then turned to raising the necessary finance. Pleas for sponsorship and donations went out, banks were approached for loans, and fundraising activities were organised. These were to have sufficient success to enable construction of the facility to begin.
During the winter of 1977, teams of volunteers, guided by tradesmen, were beavering away on that patch of land donated by Mr Sixtus. The site was some 16km from Apiti, at the end of a no exit metal road and within walking distance of the Ruahine Forest Park.
The first class, appropriately from PNINS, arrived in October of that year. It is said as the first carload of children were coming in the gate, the final drop of wallpaper was being fixed to the lounge wall! A few weeks later, the facility was officially opened by local MP and then Education Minister Les Gandar.
Sixtus Lodge remains ideally suited as a base for outdoor education. The main building is fully carpeted and well insulated, there is ample hot water, the sleeping areas are comfortable, the kitchen is well-equipped, and there is an efficient drying room. Outside there are playing fields and fixed play equipment like concrete pads, basketball hoops and rope swings. There have been improvements over the years - the establishment of a Challenge Course and an Arboretum, and some additional buildings. But those who attended the facility as children back in its early years will find it much as they remember it.
Adjacent to the building are the playing fields, the Arboretum and the Challenge Course. In the valley below is a stream and a native wooded area with well-defined tracks. Within walking distance are glow worm caves, a chasm walk and the Ruahine Forest Park with its natural vegetation cover. A little further afield is the Oroua River Velley, the Iron Gate Gorge and the Alice Nash Memorial Heritage Lodge.
What makes Sixtus Lodge such a great place? Firstly, its isolation - the only lights you see from the facility is starlight and while you are only an hour from Palmerston North you are part of a totally different landscape and environment. And secondly, there is no permanent staff at the lodge. Thus the group organiser or teacher can arrange the camp just as they want, focusing on those aspects and activities which are seen as appropriate and beneficial to the group or class. When the group arrives they’re on their own: The group lives together, eats together, folk‘ house keeps’ together, and does the various activities together - so developing a real sense of community.
Participants usually return home as ‘better’ citizens - more considerate, less selfish, less dependent and more empathetic towards other people and the environment.
Furthermore, the charges for hire are very reasonable. School groups: A flat rate of $10 per head (both adults and students) per night. Other groups: School age folk $10 per head per night and adults $20 per head per night.
So parents, if you are concerned about the cost of your child’s outdoor education camp, ask the school why it’s not using one of the local ‘outdoor education’ venues. There are at least four within an hour of Palmerston North.
Transport costs are reduced and children don’t spend many hours travelling enabling them to have more time to focus on what outdoor education should be all about!
On Saturday March 25 Sixtus Lodge will be celebrating its 40th anniversary with a jubilee that promises to be a fun and familyfriendly day out in nature.
Visitors will be provided with morning tea at 10.30am and afternoon tea at 3pm. In between there will be free horse and pony rides between 11am and 1pm. There will also be guided walks to the valley below the lodge, and to the glow worm caves, leaving at 11am and 1pm.