WLJ- Day 7 (Final): Keep NZ Beautiful

7. #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 ☺

• If you put your rubbish in your pocket and when you run it drops out of your pocket, if you know your rubbish drop just pick it up because it’s not your property and your reliability to drop your own rubbish on the ground.
• If you know that someone drop their rubbish just asked them politely to pick up their rubbish and they will pick it up straight away.
• Last of all, if you see rubbish on the ground just pick it up even though if it not yours, still pick it up because you want your community to be clean.

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 just playing the PS4 because I haven’t been on the Play Station for months so I think I should just go on the Playstation and just enjoy my day. I like playing around on the Playstation but because it’s just sitting in my room and I wanted to play on 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?

I learned a lot on my trip, travelling around New Zealand and just visiting other areas which I haven’t heard about in a while. As I was travelling around New Zealand I like heaps of things over there, but here is my 3 best things in New Zealand.

1. KareKare waterfall, Karekare Waterfall is one of my bestest choice but it just nice and beautiful because you can just relax in the water and just listen to the birds.
2. Rangitoto, Rangitoto is a wonderful mountain, you can walk up to the top and just see the view that looks amazing. I think as I was experiencing more about Rangitoto, I just felt like going up onto Rangitoto
3. Tane Mahuta, known as a big Kauri tree I love it so much because it was just so massive it felt like I wanted to visit it.

I learned heaps about the Great Spotted Kiwi, I just like how we travelled around the world and just visit some places where I learn some new things about New Zealand.

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.

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!

WLJ- 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 hundreds 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…

I will feel kind of scared arriving in New Zealand

But I was wishing it was warmer than Queenland

I just wanna sleep through one night

Hopefully I will be alright

I see the blue sky

And the sun was a bit too bright

I just wanted to leave

But is that all I’m relife

I’m just a human Maori *I’M NOT MAORI*

A Maori which one time would be good at sewing

Just waking up with a smile

But I’ve haven’t seen my parents in a while

I just sawed the time

But I thought is that right

I look at the clock again

But it’s broken

I wanted to just get out of this yuck house

And hopefully crawl out like a secret fast mouse

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. Flax weaving, it would be really interesting just hearing one of the Maori people teaching us how to weave a flax so you can present it at home for your parents or Whanau. So in the future you can just think back of what you done and just weave out a flax again.
2. Little Maori carving contest, for the Maori carving it’s just having a little board in front of you, but before carving you have to draw what kind of Maori design you are going to draw on your board. So after doing that you can just carve it out and that you Maori carving. The age for the Maori carving is 10 to 13, containing sharp object.
3. Girls making Maori Poi, any girls can make a Poi, it’s sound awesome trying to make a Poi. So after the girls finish making their Poi they can just dance it out with the poi in front of the crowd.

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

So this Haka video for this is ok, but number 1 it always the same haka and number 2 for their final game they always do their haka which the All Black’s save for their final game. For this one I give it Number#2 (it’s kinda alright)

#2. All Blacks vs South Africa 2016

I kinda liked this haka because it’s just silent like the military but the fans doesn’t really like the haka because I can just tell the All Blacks fan are not cheering along. So I will give this a Number#3 (It’s just the worst haka for the All Black’s)

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

I would say this is one of the bestest Haka that All Blacks perform, I’m giving you my honest opinion but so far I like that the crowd is cheering along while they are doing it. I will give this a Number#1 (The best)

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

Sorry I’m blogging this at 5:45am because I’m going somewhere today :(

WLJ- 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 was walking and all of a sudden I took the wrong turn, as I was walking I could hear strange noises coming out of nowhere, I got scared I had the shivers. So I walk and walk until the strange noise came close and closer, I ran as fast as I can so I don’t need to be near the creepy side. I pulled out my torch, I was flicking the button on and off but it didn’t come on, I turned it on and off again and as I look at the battery of the torch it was all rusty and old. I realized I haven't change the batteries in 2 years. I sawed a torch in the sky, the lighting was coming closer and closer. I ran and I called hear someone saying “Where is he we have to get him”. I got very scared so I went to the light and all of a sudden it was my group. I was all happy but we changed the battery of my torch and it appear to came on……

To be continue…..

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 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.

1. Julian Savea
2. Julian was born on 7 August 1990 (Age 26) and born in Wellington
3. Julian is famous for his Rugby, he plays for All Blacks, Hurricanes and Wellington Lions.
4. 2 interesting fact about him?

• He represent New Zealand at Sevens under-20 level
• And his position of choice is Wing

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 sound like fitness and you can just pump up your legs while you're riding a long trail in Otago. And also the best thing is that you can experience the nature and just smell the beautiful oxygen.

Rachel on the Otago Rail Trail, April 2017

Bonus Activity: 10 points

Whew! It has been quite the day of sightseeing. You reach your hotel in Dunedin tired but excited. Tomorrow you are going to visit a very special and important place in the south island before you drive back to Auckland…

WLJ- 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.

Freedom Camper offer their towels, t-shirts and sarongs to drape on the whales. They all grabbed their chilly bins, water bottles, cook pots and bowl so they can fill it up with water and pour it on the whales so it can still be alive. The volunteers stayed to help until pitch black (Night) and hoping to leave the whales on shore so the high tie can come and wash them away, the coming morning the whales went back to the ocean and all the volunteer can see is sand. The whales was gone and the volunteer  thanked the people that help to keep the whales alive and safe during the night.

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 and such more. So she putted herself a little challenge, she asked the dad “Can you teach me”, and the dad said “Yes”.

When the days went past she was starting to be able to have the strength and ability. One day 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.

To be continued……..

This movie is so awesome I will rated out (5) [Excellent movie]

Link to the whale and the little girl (Video)

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).

Yes fishing should be banned in Farewell Spit because it’s just too much stress for other public members, to prevent this from not happening is to try and put up signs around Farewell Spit to warn fishermen to not fish near Farewell Spit, several deaths to the dolphin from fishermen should be fine.

If they just killed it and leave it dead in the water may cause the water to not be safe for other swimmers because the blood from the Hector Dolphins may be very poisonous. So leave the Hector Dolphins alone because it’s just like human beans but they are living in the water.

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

Bonus Activity: 10 points