7. #( Final ) Keep New Zealand Beautiful

7. #( Final ) Keep New Zealand Beautiful

Dawn breaks on Day #7 – the final day of your Great Kiwi Road Trip. You wake up early, ready to make the long trek back to Auckland. Along the way, Curious Kiwi stops at two beautiful places, Taupo and Rotorua, for you to get out and walk around.

Activity 1: While in Taupo, you go for a walk around the lake and you notice pieces of rubbish floating in the water. You also notice that there is rubbish on the footpath. As you know, it is really important to put rubbish in the bin and keep New Zealand clean and beautiful for generations to come.

http://www.kiwidaydreaming.com/p/new-zealand-maps.html

With that in mind, it is time think about what you can do to keep New Zealand beautiful. Use your imagination and come up with three things that you could do to make your neighbourhood more beautiful. Post your list on your blog ☺

1. Put some flowers on the sidewalk.
2. Mow the grass that is on the sidewalk
3. Using compliments

Activity 2: After you have finished up in Taupo, it is time to hop back in the car and head for Rotorua – a town where will have the chance for some much needed rest and relaxation. In fact, you will visit the Tarawera Bush Pool – a geothermal hot pool that is located in the middle of a forest. The warm water in the pool comes from underneath the ground. After a few hours in the pool you feel really relaxed.

On your blog, post a picture of yourself doing something relaxing. I find reading really relaxing. Here is a picture of me reading one of my favourite books!

After a long soak in the natural hot pools, it is time to get back home. Your family and friends can’t wait to see you and they can’t wait to hear all about your adventures. Take a moment to think about what you have seen and done over the past week.

As you can see, I'm reading a book called “Ultimate Survival Guide For Kids”. I'm reading this book because i'm bored and reading books Keep me interested. I got this book from the Glen Innes Library. I think you can get this book in any Library. But if you get this book, Trust me, it will save your life one day. Here are some pictures from the book that i am reading. ( Sorry if you can’t see it )

Bonus Activity: On your blog, post a video or write a description about your week. What have you learned? What did you like about the trip? What didn’t you like? Was there anything that surprised you?

To earn full points for this activity, you must talk about what you learned, what you liked and what you about your great kiwi road trip.

I learned a lot travelling around New Zealand and visiting other places like The land and sea, Cook Strait, Dargaville and much more. What i did not like about the journey, is getting lost in the forest crying everywhere. Luckily a wolf came and told me where was my group. Here are my three best things that i did and found.

1. Finding a Great spotted kiwi. I liked the finding the kiwi and writing about the Great spotted kiwi. The great spotted kiwi and other kiwis are endangered just like the Rhinoceros and the Polar Bears.

      2. Watching the Auckland Tour guide. The Auckland tour guide is super useful especially for those who came to visit Auckland. People can learn where all the places and the history of Auckland by just watching this video. You can watch the video by clicking here.

       3. Lastly, interviewing with Laura Dekker. It's not that we are interviewing a famous young woman, it's that she went around the world with her bout. Isn't that amazing. And we got to interview our family members which is cool.

Bonus Activity: 12 points

Well, New Zealand truly is a stunning country, isn’t it? I think that we are so lucky to call it home! Let’s make sure that we do everything we can to keep the country safe and clean for future generations…

#Keep New Zealand beautiful!

Day #6: Native Aotearoa

Day #6: Native Aotearoa

Welcome to Day #6 of your journey and the last day in the south island. You are going to start the day by traveling 63 km north up State Highway 1 from Dunedin to a place called ‘Shag Point.’ Shag Point is one of five places in the south island where the Maori arrived hund reds of years ago to settle in New Zealand. They arrived at Shag Point in large canoes called ‘wakas.’ For more information on Shag Point and other Maori landing places, go to the Waka landing places website.

http://www.kiwidaydreaming.com/p/new-zealand-maps.html

Activity 1: Let’s imagine that you were on the first waka to arrive at Shag Point. You had never been to New Zealand before and you had no idea what to expect. Write a poem describing how you would have felt when you arrived in New Zealand. Would you have been excited or scared? I would have felt pretty nervous, I reckon…

If i was the first one there, i would have been scared

I would've check if they have hair

My mates would have been excited and i would of been shy

I wouldn't like people that have tattoo over their eyes

I would wonder if they had lots of food

If they tried to kill us, that will kill my mood

I wonder if there were maori’s on New Zealand

I Wonder if they had a plan,

I Wonder if they were actually Maori’s

I Wonder if they met  Maui.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waka_(canoe)

Activity 2: After visiting Shag Point, you hop back in the van and drive all the way up the east coast  of the south island until you reach the town of Picton. You get out of the van and onto the Interislander ferry. It travels back across the Cook Strait to Wellington. Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand and every winter the city hosts a huge Matariki festival to celebrate the Maori New Year. This year part of the festival is being held at Te Papa, a big museum in Wellington.

Read about the Matariki festival at Te Papa.  There are so many different things to see and do at the festival this year. On your blog, tell us about three of the events. You can choose any three events that you wish.

1. Kids’ Theatre: Paper Shaper. Kids’ Theatre: Paper Shaper is about a little man on the side of the rubbish bin when no one is looking. He loves making things out of paper like a sun, trees, flowers, and butterflies. But his world is disrupted when a park visitor puts the wrong things in the bin.

2. Magic with Zappo: Zappo (The magician) Invites you to an exciting performance filled with songs, stories and Magic tricks

3. Balloon workshop with Zappo. The amazing balloon sculptures with Zappo

             The magician. You can even take it home to impress your friends.

Bonus Activity: As part of the Matariki festival, there is a two day Kapa Haka competition. The haka is a traditional war dance that Maori performed before going into battle. The haka is now performed by children/adults in the community and by professional sporting teams, including our national rugby team, the ‘All Blacks.’  The All Blacks have performed various haka over the years. Watch the following three haka videos (1 – 3) and, on your blog, list the haka videos in order from best (#1) to worst (#3). There are no right or wrong answers ☺

#1. World Cup 2015 – All Blacks vs Argentina

#2. All Blacks vs South Africa 2016

#3. Rugby World Cup 2011- All Blacks vs France

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#1.World Cup 2015 – All Blacks vs Argentina

#2. All Blacks vs South Africa 2016

#3.Rugby World Cup 2011- All Blacks vs France

At the end of your day at Te Papa, you head to your hotel in the centre of Wellington. You are staying on Cuba Street, one of the coolest streets in the city.

Bonus Activity: 8 points

Day #5: One Step at a Time…

Day #5: One Step at a Time…

After a long day at the beach, it is now time to move away from the water and drive inland, through the middle of the south island. You are going to start in Nelson and drive south before crossing a huge mountain range called the ‘Southern Alps.’ The scenery is going to be amazing!

Activity 1: After a few hours in the car, you, your group and Curious Kiwi arrive at your first stop – The Lewis Pass Scenic Reserve. It is a beautiful, regional park located at the base of the Southern Alps. You and your group get out of the van and follow Curious Kiwi. He is going to lead you on a short walk through the park. As you start walking, you notice a really cool looking tree on the side of the trail and you stop to take a closer look. When you turn back, the group (and Curious Kiwi) is nowhere to be found. Eek! You are all alone in the middle of a strange forest.

For this activity write a short story (8-10 sentences) about what might happen next. Please be sure to include lots of details about what you might be feeling, seeing and doing after you realise that you are all alone in the forest…

I'm feeling scared. I walk through the forest all covered in tears, all of a sudden,  i heard a strange noise coming from my left. It was getting closer and closer until a big wolf appeared out of nowhere. The big wolf was not harming me but her was acting strange. He needed water. He was dehydriding so i gave it some water. After that, the wolf notice, that she was alone so the big wolf lead her back to her group.

The end.

http://www.kiwidaydreaming.com/p/new-zealand-maps.html

Activity 2: After the adventure at The Lewis Pass Scenic Reserve, you are pretty happy to get back into the shuttle van and continue with your road trip. Over the next few hours you travel up and over the Southern Alps, arriving in the city of Christchurch to eat lunch. You have a delicious meal at a café downtown and then hop back into the van to travel to Twizel, a small town at the base of Aoraki-Mt Cook. Mt Cook is the largest mountain in New Zealand. It is also the mountain where Sir Edmund Hillary trained for his climb up Mt Everest – the tallest mountain in the world. Sir Edmund Hillary is very famous because he was the first person to ever reach the top of Mt Everest!

http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1702543,00.html

Now it is your turn to learn about a famous New Zealander. Use Google to research one famous person from New Zealand and then create a DLO (Digital Learning Object) and post it on your blog. Be sure to include: 1. The name of the famous person, 2. Where they were born, 3. Why they are famous, and 4. Two other interesting facts about them.

Bonus Activity: You and your tour group have enjoyed your day in the mountains but you’re ready for a change of scenery. You ask Curious Kiwi to take you to Central Otago, a region of the south island with lots of rolling hills and flat, brown grasslands. While in Central Otago, you decide to join the Otago Central Rail Trail – a 150 km long cycle trail. Curious Kiwi and I (Rachel) cycled the Rail Trail in April and we loved it!

On your blog, tell us whether you would like to cycle the Otago Rail Trail one day. Does it sound like fun? Why or why not?

One day I would like to cycle on the Otago Trail because it’s just like fitness and you can just pump up your legs while you're riding a long trail in Otago. And last of all you can feel yourself getting hot and cooling down while riding.

Rachel on the Otago Rail Trail, April 2017

Bonus Activity: 10 points

Day #4: Swimming with the Sharks

Day #4: Swimming with the Sharks

By the end of Day #3, you have seen a lot of the north island of New Zealand.  Hopefully you have enjoyed it and you’re excited for the next phase of your journey – the ferry trip across the Cook Strait from the bottom of the north island to the top of the south island. You will spend the next two days exploring the south island before you head back up to Auckland, via Wellington (the capital city of New Zealand).

http://www.fourcorners.co.nz/new-zealand/interisland-ferry/

Activity 1: When you arrive in the south island, Curious Kiwi rents a shuttle van and drives your group from Picton (the town where the ferry dropped you off) to a beautiful beach on the opposite side of the island. The beach area is called Golden Bay and, at one end of the bay, is a stunning area called Farewell Spit.

http://www.kiwidaydreaming.com/p/new-zealand-maps.html

Farewell Spit has been in the news recently as a number of whales accidentally swam into the spit and became stuck on the beach. They were unable to swim back to the ocean because the water was too shallow. Many local people tried to save the ‘beached’ whales. Please follow this Farewell Spit link to learn more about what happened. On your blog, describe what the local people did to try and save the beached whales.

The Local people try to save the whales by keeping them wet by throwing buckets of water, tipping water bottles ,filling little containers with water and using wet towels to keep them nice and wet.

Activity 2: After a morning of learning about beached whales in Golden Bay, you and your group are driven to a nearby town, Nelson, to watch a special movie called ‘Whale rider.’ It is a famous movie about a young girl who was born and raised in New Zealand. Watch the following movie trailers for Whale Rider: Whale Rider trailer #1 and Whale Rider Trailer #2 and then write a summary of the movie on your blog. What is it about? Be sure to also give the movie a rating out of 5 based on the trailer [1 = bad movie, 2 = okay movie, 3 = pretty good, 4 = good movie, 5 = excellent movie].

This short video I’ve watched is about a little girl challenging herself so she can become a Whale Rider. She wanted to be like the other chief back in the days, she wanted to become like the boys because she knows that the boy’s Maori tradition things is a bit harder than the Girls powhiri, so she ask her dad to train her to become a whale rider and her dad said yes

Few days later, she went to the beach and she found a whale stranded upon the shore just laying there, her and the family was so worried about the whale just lying there on the shore. She started to pray and sang, she was praying for the whale to be still alive. She ended up climbing on top of the whale and started to rub the whale, she waited and hoping the whale is still ok, after 12 seconds the whale was moving. It took her along the ocean and under the water.

http://www.incrementa.ca/leadership-succession-whale-rider/

When ‘Whale Rider’ finishes, you and your tour group enjoy a delicious meal in downtown Nelson before heading back to your hotel. You need to go to bed early because you have to get up at 4:30 a.m. the next morning to travel back to Farewell Spit to see a group (pod) of Hector’s Dolphins. It is going to be an early morning!

Bonus Activity: Hector’s dolphins are a very special native animal found only in New Zealand. They are the smallest dolphin in the world measuring 1.5 metres long and they are quite rare. Sadly, many Hector’s dolphins are killed every year when they get caught in large fishing nets and can’t escape. Some people have argued that fishermen shouldn’t be allowed to fish in Farewell Spit in order to protect the dolphins living there. What do you think? On your blog, tell us whether you think that fishing in Farewell Spit should be banned (stopped).

I think we should stop killing our beautiful sea creatures because they have lives to live to. If we kill them now there wouldn't be any left of their kind. I know fising brings us food but did you know you are eating living animals that can live a life too.

https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/hector-s-dolphin

Bonus Activity: 10 points

Day #3: Wild Eyes

Day #3: Wild Eyes

You have now woken up after a long, comfortable sleep at your hotel in Dargaville. You’re ready for another day of adventuring! Today, you will drive around the North island and be introduced to amazing animals that live here in New Zealand. Some are native and some are non-native. Native animals are animals that normally live in New Zealand. Non-native animals are animals that were brought into New Zealand from another country. Examples of native New Zealand animals are the kakapo, the kiwi, the kea parrot, the yellow eyed penguin and the pekapeka bat.

Activity 1: Curious Kiwi, a native New Zealand bird, is your tour guide for today. He is going to take you to visit the Otorohanga Kiwi House and Native Bird Park where many of his aunties and uncles currently live. The bird park is a five hour drive from Dargaville so you hit the road right after breakfast and arrive in Otorohanga at lunch time. As you walk through the birdhouse you learn about the work being done to conserve and protect the native birds of New Zealand. Let’s imagine that you decide to help out by ‘adopting’ a native animal. Visit the Adopt a Critter page on the Otorohanga bird house website to choose one animal to ‘adopt.’ On your blog, tell us the name of the animal that you chose and a little bit about them. What kind of animal are they? What do they eat? Where do they normally live? You can use Google to help you with your research.

The animal that i chose was a great spotted kiwi. The great spotted kiwi are flightless, they are like Ratites, This kiwi is highly aggressive, they are nocturnal (They are active at night) and there are very little of the great spotted  kiwi. That means that they are endangered.

Activity 2: After your great visit to the Otorohanga bird house it is time to hop back onto the bus and head towards the Hawke’s Bay – your resting place for the evening. Hawke’s Bay is a beautiful region of New Zealand. It is known for its wineries and gorgeous scenery. When you arrive in Napier, the largest city in the region, you go for a walk through Waitangi Regional Park and notice that many of the leaves on the native trees have been damaged. Curious Kiwi tells you that they were damaged by possums, non-native predators, from Australia. People in New Zealand are working hard to trap and kill these predators. Their goal is to remove all of the possums (and other predators) by 2050. Go to the ‘Predator Free 2050 website’ to read more about their work.

On your blog, tell us whether you agree that New Zealand should be predator free. In your opinion,  it right to kill all of the predators (eg. possums) or should we just leave them alone? On your blog tell us what you think and give us, at least, three reasons why you think this way.

I  agree with New Zealand because, if we kill all the predators all the preys will be happy and they will live long.

To learn more about the Moa bird go to the bonus activity for today!

Bonus Activity: A really cool new website called Wild Eyes has recently been launched in New Zealand. It is a programme for students who want to complete fun activities (called ‘mis sions’), take pictures and post them on the Wild Eyes site. For this bonus activity, go to the Wild Eyes site and complete the ‘Giant Moa Discovery’ mission. To earn full points you must post a picture of your Moa on the Wild Eyes website and on your personal blog site. The Wild Eyes team and I can’t wait to see what you create!

Here is the image that i made with the Wild Eyes website

Bonus Activity: 20 points