Written by Bailey Heinzen and Ashley Hedrick

A Week on the Town

Birthday girls left to right: Abby Hall, Ashley Hedrick, Bailey Heinzen

After spending a week with our homestay families and celebrating three birthdays within the course of two days, all the students, professors, and homestays gathered back at the quaker settlement to enjoy each others company and eat some great food. While there, everyone took a moment to acknowledge the three birthday girls pictured to the right. After a robust chorus of happy birthday, we were all ready to cut into, and devour, all of the five birthday cakes that were made by various people.

This week we continued taking our classes Environmental Issues of New Zealand, Geology of New Zealand and Cultures of New Zealand. We have been discussing the Dairy industry and its economic and environmental effects, as well different sources of energy, both renewable and non-renewable. As a class we had some great discussions concerning the advantages and disadvantages of different types of energy sources. Additionally, for many of the students on the program this is the first time any of them have taken a geology course, so it was interesting  learn about the different classes of minerals and rocks. Our professor Meg Smith isn’t able to use the samples that she normally has, so this class is new for her too. On Monday  February 10th, we visited the Whanganui Regional Museum (Heather Brock is doing her internship there) to learn about Māori food and women from Āwhina Twomey. Āwhina is hard to describe without being her presence, but she is a very impressive woman. She is extremely intelligent and proud of her culture; she is  someone who commands respect, and it was a great experience to be able to learn from her.

The group standing on a hill in front of Dougal's timber farm on February 14th with his herding dog, Marlo.

Every Friday we go on a field trip, usually in relation to one of our classes. This week our Valentine’s Day adventure was a visit to Dougal Macintosh’ farm. Dougal and his wife, Di, have been hill farmers for over four decades. What’s so special about them is that they are farmers who are very environmentally concerned, and they take great care to make decisions that respect the environment. Dougal was an incredible guy, and the group love learning from him. After the visit to the farm we went to the nearby dog trial, where sheepdogs compete in different herding events. It was so cool to watch the dogs working with their owners; it was amazing to see how long these animals could focus on their task, and they were clearly so happy to be doing it. There were also many other farmers there who were very kind and helpful in explaining what each competitor had to do and how they earned points. The sheepdogs that are used were originally bred from Border Collies, but now they’ve been developed into a unique New Zealand breed that only takes six months to train.

One of the many dogs patiently waiting its turn to show
its stuff at the trials.

Although much of our week was packed full of learning, our program assistant, Ikumi Doucette, found time to play in the Twilight Soccer League which is essentially a recreational league where nearly all ages and skill levels are invited to play during certain weeknights at 7 p.m. Previously her team had not been terribly successful, but with a cheer block consisting on Bailey, Brent, and Ashley her team won with a score of 4-3 with the winning goal being made by Ikumi.

For the first time this semester the students were given a free weekend with no scheduled events. Naturally we all had grand plans of visiting nearby towns and relaxing. Unfortunately, we were not able to do so given the amount of homework that is due in the upcoming days. One such assignment was titled “Flora of New Zealand” which involved collecting clippings of plants that fit within specific categories and mounting them on paper with appropriate labels. We also worked on our nature history journals which are due at the beginning of next week.   

Even with all this work to be done, college students never waste an opportunity for a good time. On Saturday morning many of us ventured down to the local farmers market to look at the wares being sold and of course taste some of the local cuisine (which was delicious). Later that day many of us joined up in various locations to do work. After all, there isn’t a party like a study party!

As this week comes to a close, everyone is anxiously looking forward to our trip to Bushy Park and Kapiti Island.

                                   

*All photos courtesy of Zoe Wolfe