Holiday Blogging WLJ - D4 A1/2 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.

After checking out the website I found some evidence!

Seeing what happen to the poor whales were really sad. The people there did as much as they can do to keep the whales cool. They were draping things wet t-shirts, sarongs and towels in order for the whales to be cool. They also poured water all around the beached whales with bowls, buckets, pots. In one of the video's Amanda Harvey from the department of conversations instructs about 5 men on how to right a calf. Rest in peace whales!

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].

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

Movie Summary:

It all starts off with a young girl named Paikea! Paikea's ancestor was a leader and was a whale rider! Paikea want's to become a leader but the problem is that it's only for boys :( But since her family got's her back Paikea finds whale riding fun! I think I would rate the movie 5 for excellent! I rated it a 5 because it has a great meaning saying Never Give Up! It also has a great story and shows culture.

Sorry if the summary was wrong.. I have not watched the movie!

Holiday Blogging WLJ - D3 A1/2 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.

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

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. 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.

http://www.newzealand.com/int/plan/business/otorohanga-kiwi-house-and-native-bird-park/

The Brown Kiwi:

Today I decided to adopt the Brown kiwi (Warning: This is not for real) To start off the Brown kiwi is endemic to New Zealand, so that means the Brown Kiwi was found in a certain place. The Brown Kiwi's are only found in the North Island. The Brown Kiwi eat I think most of small things from the ground. They like to eat things like cicada's, moths and also centipedes! There are a few more like spider's, crickets and weta I know right weta!

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.

http://www.outlawyarn.com/possum.html

On your blog, tell us whether you agree that New Zealand should be predator free. In your opinion, is 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.

3 Reasons why we should kill all predators!!

1. The first reason and I think this is the reason everyone should know is that they affect us! Sometimes when I see a photo of a Stoat who has killed a baby duck of course I might cry. I mean Durrr!

2. I think the second reason is that it ruins our beautiful environment. E.g. If you created a beautiful plantation and all of a sudden possums and stoats run all over it after all your hard work! 

3. This is just a kind reason for all predators out there. I think that the animals should stay wherever they came from, because killing them might affect the country they came from. So I mean if we killed all mouses and they are like native from somewhere they might have less native animals!

That is all for D3 guys thanks for stopping by!

Holiday Blogging WLJ - Bonus Activity Interviews

Bonus Activity: When you finish your interview with Laura, you decide to keep on interviewing people. For this activity, your task is to conduct a real interview with an actual member of your family. Please ask them to think about their five (5) favorite things to do in the out-of-doors. They can be things that they enjoy doing on land or in the water. Post the list of outdoor activities on your blog.

Interview w/ Loseli ( My sister )

Question: What are you 5 favorite things to do when you are outdoors?

1. Walking in the Panmure Basin

2. Playing with my little cousin's

3. Reading a book outside

4. Go to the beach 

5. Going to the swimming pool!

Then End!

Holiday Blogging WLJ - D2 A1/2 New Zealand by Land and Sea!

After a short ride through Auckland it is time to start exploring the rest of the country. Today you are going to venture around the north island of New Zealand to look at active volcanoes, gorgeous beaches, windswept coastline and lush, green bush. As a group, you will start at Rangitoto, the largest volcano in New Zealand before driving west to Karekare, a stunning beach on the outskirts of Auckland. You will finish the day by driving north to visit Tane Mahuta, the oldest living kauri tree in New Zealand.

(1)Rangitoto: http://www.doc.govt.nz/rangitoto; (2) Karekare:  http://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/themes/beaches/88348522/nz-has-one-of-the-best-beaches-in-the-world-according-to-passport-magazine; (3) Tane Mahuta: http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/328117/track-to-tane-mahuta-to-be-closed-for-tree%27s-protection

Activity 1: After a very busy day of sightseeing you and your group drive from Tane Mahuta to your hotel in Dargaville. When you arrive you decide to sit down and record your thoughts in your travel diary. Before you start writing, take a minute to read more about Rangitoto island, Karekare beach and Tane Mahuta.  On your blog, tell us which of the three places you most enjoyed visiting and why.  

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

I thought that visiting Tane Mahuta was amazing! Walking through the trail I saw lot's of shades of green it was beautiful. Tane Mahuta was very appealing and also made me feel and look like I was a dwarf! During the tramp I think most of all I saw green everywhere. The tramp took about 5 or 6 minutes. I think my visit to the Kauri Tree, Tane Mahuta was awesome!

Activity 2: As an island nation, New Zealand is completely surrounded by water. It is the perfect place for people who like to swim or to sail! While in Dargaville, recovering from your busy day of sightseeing, you notice a number sailboats going by. One of the boats is manned by a young German girl named Laura Derek. At the age of fourteen she sailed around the world the entire world by herself. You can watch a short video clip about her adventures here: Laura Dekker sailing trip.   

Let’s imagine that you had the chance to interview Laura while in Dargaville. On your blog post five questions that you would ask her.

Laura Derek!

5 Questions:

1. Hi Laura! What inspired you to Sail the world?

2. Did you have mixed feelings before starting the journey?

3. Did you feel lonely during the trip?

4. If you were to bring 1 person during the trip who would it be?

5. Who would you like to thank for making your trip possible? 

PS: This is work from yesterday!

Holiday Blogging WLJ - Bonus Activity NZ Flag!

Bonus Activity: Now it’s time to start your tour! Curious Kiwi decides to start by taking you on a short tour through downtown Auckland. You stop at the Sky Tower, the tallest building in all of New Zealand. When you look up, you see a huge New Zealand flag on the top of the tower. This flag was created back in 1902. That makes the New Zealand flag 115 years old!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_New_Zealand#/media/File:Flag_of_New_Zealand.svg

Last year, the Prime Minister of New Zealand suggested that we should replace the flag with a new, updated design. He invited everyone in New Zealand to come up with their own flag design and submit it.

For this activity, it is your turn to design a new flag. Use any drawing programme that you wish. I would recommend the Flag Designer website. It allows you to create a flag in three easy steps. When you are done, take a screenshot of your flag and post it on your blog. Here is an example:

Source: http://flag-designer.appspot.com

Work:

Description: After a lot of searching, designing and thinking I have finally created my own New Zealand flag! I decided to keep some of the colours from the old flag and turn it into something new! So to start off I chose my background colour to be blue of course.... Why? Well as I said it's one of the colours that are part of the New Zealand flag, but the colour also represents the sky and sea. In the corners I've added two koru patterns which represents culture and love (To make love I decided to face the two koru's opposite to each other then connect it to make a heart shape). The green defines the land like the tree's, plants including the grass. I then added to ferns to the side which represents sport because the logo for the Silver Ferns is a fern and the same thing with the All Blacks. I've also put it near the green line because the fern is a plant in New Zealand and which connects to the plants. Another is the colour black which defines everything we do in New Zealand like celebrations! The colour red was just there because it was from one of the colours from the original flag. And the best for last the kiwi. The kiwi represents us as here in New Zealand we are called kiwi's which I take as a Special name!

Holiday Blogging WLJ - D1 A1/2 100% PURE New Zealand!

Day 1: 100% PURE New Zealand  

                                

Well, the time has now come! School’s out for the holidays and your tour of New Zealand is about to begin. I hope that you are ready and excited! Curious Kiwi certainly is – he can’t wait to start the Great Kiwi Road Trip! Before you all hit the road, let’s take a minute to review some key facts about New Zealand.

Activity 1:  Go to the Tourism New Zealand website and click on the ‘Facts - New Zealand People’ tab. Read about the people of New Zealand and then choose three interesting facts to post on your blog. The facts must be written in your own words. Do not simply copy and paste the facts from the website☺.

 

Facts about New Zealand!

Fact 1 - New Zealand People: There are 4.4 million yes million New Zealanders (We are also known as Kiwi's!) About 69% of Maori's are of European descent. There are 14.6% that are indigenous and 9.2% are Asian. There are also 6.9% that are non - Maori Pacific Islanders.

Fact 2: In Maori New Zealand is called Aotearoa. Often the word Aotearoa is translated as,"Land of the long white cloud," Which is the current Maori name for New Zealand.

Fact 3: Many years ago Maori people voyaged across the sea and found new places. That is what New Zealand is about! Why you ask? Well it's because the Maori voyaged across the sea and remember how they found places that is how they found New Zealand!

Activity 2: Your tour of New Zealand is going to start right here in Auckland. Watch the Tourist video for Auckland to learn about the awesome things that you can see and do in the city. Once you’ve finished, choose your favourite five activities from the video and list them on your blog.

Favorite Activity's in Auckland!

1. Go shopping in Ponsonby ( I go church there! )

2. Play at Misson Bay's Park!

3. Going to Kelly Tarltons!

4. Going to the Sky Tower/ Bungy Jumping - I don't know if I'm allowed?

5. Going to Auckland Zoo and seeing all the awesome animals!

An Beautiful view of Auckland!

It's the start of the holidays and a NEW FRESH START I'm so excited! I am very happy to be starting the Winter Learning Journey! We are going to be learning heaps about New Zealand! Thanks Rachel!