Mourners pay their respects 

Hundreds of mourners have gathered at Auckland's Elim Christian College to pay their respects to those who lost their lives in Tuesday's Mangatepopo Gorge canyoning tragedy.

The father of one of the victims has described it as a tragedy for New Zealand.

Six students and a teacher were swept to their deaths when the river they were crossing was hit by a flash flood.

The water volume  in the gorge rose 36 times what they had been in just half an hour, leaving virtually no chance of survival.

The Palmerston North coroner is to conduct a full inquiry into the cause and circumstances of the seven deaths.

The police and department of labour will also investigate the incident and the Outdoor Pursuits Centre will also carry out its own investigation.

A week at the centre in the Tongariro Forest Park is a highlight for thousands of teenagers every year but the adventure has turned into catastrophe for Elim, leaving an entire community and many New Zealanders reeling.

The victims have been named as 29-year-old teacher Anthony McLean and students Natasha Bray, Portia McPhail, Tom Hsu, Anthony Mulder, Floyd Fernandez and Tara Gregory, who were all just 16.

On Wednesday the school gave an insight into its loss.

At a special assembly, school principal Murray Burton read the names of those who died in the tragedy. He struggled to read it out, as grief rippled through the hall.

"To face the death of one person, let alone seven, how do you face that," says Paul de Jong, parent of a survivor.

Elim College is encouraging its students to keep coming to school, saying it's better to grieve together, than alone at home. Students came to school to pray and cry together, to try and hold each other up under the weight of enormous pain.

"We are going one step at a time, one hour at a time, maybe one minute at a time," Burton told an afternoon news conference.

"I would not deny the fact that I am angry at why this has happened to the kids and the families and that's a natural reaction. It's not an anger that is white hot, it's just why us, why this?," he says.

Students at the college say their faith has helped them find a silver lining in the tragedy.

Head girl Jessica Mulder says the disaster will take a long time to work through. But she says they take strength from their Christian faith in knowing these people have gone to be with the Lord.

Mulder says that gives them a sense of joy and celebration.

Counsellors and the community have rallied around the school. Manukau City mayor Len Brown had a job to do at the school.

"I'm the dispenser of the tissues today and it's just hugely important for the mayor of the city to be here with the young people and to just give them the love that a father has to," he said.

Many poured their feelings onto paper, writing goodbye notes to already departed friends. "See you in heaven. You are in a better place now," some wrote.

Andy Bray's daughter, Natasha, aspired to be head girl next year. Knowing there won't be a next year for her is pushing his beliefs to the limit.

"This is just a personal thing. I know this isn't a worldly way but my daughter hadn't even kissed a guy. She longed to get to 16 and go out with her first boyfriend," says Bray.

"[It] absolutely does test my faith in God. This is another chink in the armour and tests my belief, of course it does," he says.

He says his daughter wasn't keen on adventure but left on this trip determined to face the challenge. Now he will use the same approach to get through this.

"When I said to her 'honey how do you feel about the rain, you know and what it's gonna be like, she said, We've got this little saying that says 'we're gonna jump in puddles dad' and she said 'what I mean by that is even if it's bad we're gonna make the most of it.'"

By afternoon, the bus carrying the survivors came through the school the gate and some of the students literally fell into the arms of waiting friends and family.

Bray summed up the feelings of many.

"This is a real tragedy for New Zealand. Who knows what these kids might have gone on and done. You know, I just see my own daughter and the plans and dreams we had for her."

Bray says initially he was angry, believing you should be able to send your child off to a school camp run by professionals and see her come home again. But he says that anger has been turned around by the love and support of the community.

He says the parents of the drowned children will go down to the site at some stage and have a service there.

The Christian community is in shock following the deaths. Allan Lee, news editor of the Christian network Rhema, says the community is trying to make sense of the tragedy.

He says the Christian community is small enough that everybody will know someone almost directly or is friend of a friend who have been involved in the tragedy.