Rotoiti Lodge Outdoor Education Centre is celebrating half a century of providing outdoor education.
Police sergeant Noel Oxnam from Murchison first suggested the idea for a youth hall in the early 1960’s, and after significant contributions by the region’s community and Noel’s unfailing enthusiasm and drive, he was able to see his vision realized with its official opening in 1968.
The site has hosted school camps, youth organizations, outdoor education, sports groups, weddings, family gatherings, cultural groups and numerous club and craft groups.
Russell Ferens, director of the Lodge, started working there in 2006 as an instructor before progressing onto his current position.
He estimates they have seen over 1,400 weeks of school camps, over 65,000 students and teachers.
After holding an open day in February this year, Russell says he enjoyed hearing from some of the people who attended their stories of how the Lodge had featured in their lives, from the building of it to their experiences of going to camp there.
“It always makes me smile to hear how something that happened on camp years ago had an effect on someone, and helped them to learn a bit more about themselves or change a direction that they were heading in. One of the strengths of the Lodge is the range of user groups that use it and I get a kick when students tell me how their grandparents have been telling them about coming here for camp and I hope that those same students may in the future tell their grandchildren, that’s something pretty special.”
With the building showing signs of ageing, the Whakatu Rotary Club, with help from several other clubs across the district, is currently fund-raising to help with re-fitting the aged and out-dated lodge kitchen.
Whakatu Rotarian and the Lodge fund-raisers’ project leader, Trevor Marshall, says the club has taken the lodge on as their community project.
He says they are getting a strong response from the public and businesses, for them to want to be involved.
“The Rotary club was involved in the building process of the Lodge from the very beginning.
“We see this as a great opportunity for Rotary to recognize that and preserve it as much as we can. The goal is to give it a complete makeover, a fully completed kitchen, a refurbished living room, full double glazing, big surrounding decks, solar powering and vehicle upgrade. Which means the facility won’t need to raise its prices to accommodate those fixes.”
Trevor estimates about 120,000 children from across the Top of the South have attended the Lodge, and believes it is crucial to keep the facility going, “as far as the importance of keeping the Lodge going, absolutely it is important, if not more now than ever.”
For Russell, he would like to see the Lodge continue to grow and develop, “it is an amazing resource for the communities of Nelson, Tasman and Marlborough and opens up so many opportunities and new experiences to our youth that are not so easy for a lot of people to access in the modern world. There are so many barriers – from the financial, to access, equipment and clothing that are suitable, to travel and being able to physically get to – what I think is one of the best National parks in the country.”