Written by Zoe Wolfe and Adaobi Onunkwo

Hello All!

         

    This week has been one full of learning, exploration, and togetherness.  We began class on Monday with a lecture from Peter about mining in New Zealand and the difficult balance of energy needs and environmental concerns, and then we discussed a paper on the geological formation of modern day New Zealand with Meg.  In the afternoon, we went on another visit to the Whanganui Regional Museum to see Āwhina Twomey.  She gave a fascinating presentation called “Extending the Strapped Hand,” where she spoke about a trip she took to the United States with a group of students and professors from Te Panekiretanga o Te Reo Māori, a total immersion school for fluent speakers of the Māori language.  They travelled to North Dakota, Utah, Minnesota, and various other states to meet with teachers of Native American and first nation languages.  There, they did workshops and discussions with the teachers to help them improve their programs and take vital steps toward revitalizing the declining languages.  Āwhina’s story was powerful because it reminded us all that the cultural issues we are learning about here in New Zealand are not always so different from the cultural inequalities we have back home.  The connection made between the Native Americans that she encountered on her trip throughout the United States and the Maori communities that she is a part of in New Zealand,allowed us to bridge what we have learned in New Zealand and what we have been taught in the  United States. This comparison strengthened our understanding of the ostracization of the Māori community which was eloquently illustrated by Āwhina when she stated, “They are on your doorstep as well.”         

Tuesday, everyone headed back to their respective internships, where we all seem to be settling into a routine.  Those at Bushy Park monitored stichbird feeders for hours on end; the bird rescue folks continue to be enamored with Dawn (their boss); those at Pūtiki Kindergarten washed their hands furiously to avoid getting the stomach flu (again); and the students working with Ash Patea helped teach Māori in the schools, to name just a few of the internships.  On Wednesday, we were back in the classroom, this time visited in the afternoon by Tūrama Hawira, an expert Māori historian and environmental advocate.  He spoke to us about the Māori worldview and how it ties in with many of the environmental stances the iwi take today. His class was captivating; he interwove his knowledge about the land from his ancestors with knowledge about environmental impact of his sacred land. Lucky for us, we get to have another class with him later this semester.

On Friday, the group took a trip to Bushy Park, an enclosed forest reserve that was established on farmland given to the Forest and Bird Protection Society by Frank Moore in 1962.  Since then, a predator proof fence has been erected, most of the invasive mammals in the park have been eliminated, and endangered species have been reintroduced.  We began our visit with an introduction the homestead that still remains on the property.  There, we were treated like true guests with coffee, tea, and scones in the beautiful dining lounge. 

Afterward, we split up to go on walked around the various tracks with Peter, Chris Divine (the sole paid employee at Bushy Park), and Terry (a longtime volunteer at the park).  While some walked through the wetlands, others climbed the gully, and some even got to see a nest full of stichbird chicks.  Stichbirds (or hihis), saddlebacks, and North Island robins are the three main species of bird that have been introduced to Bushy Park with aims to rebuild their populations. The aim to rebuild of these populations are of particular interest because of New Zealand’s connection to these species. The saddlebacks and robins have done extremely well, and the hihis are slowly but surely increasing their numbers.  In order to monitor them more carefully and record better data about nesting, all of the hihis that were introduced have bands on the ankles to identify them.  However, seeing unbanded hihi birds is exciting because the lack of bands means that they were reared in the park.  

On Saturday we loaded up in the vans again for a trip to Kāpiti Island, another forest reserve off the coast near Wellington.  Like Bushy Park, the reserve is protected from mammal predators, but for Kāpiti, that barrier is water—the entire island is devoted as a reserve.  That night, we stayed on the mainland coast and enjoyed an evening at the beach.  Unfortunately, our plans to go by boat to the island the next morning were thwarted by the wind and waves.  We made the most of our time, though, and went on a beautiful hike along the coast, over farmland, and through native forest with Anthony, who will be leading us on our Marlborough Sounds trip at the end of the semester.  The walk we had with Anthony was exhilarating, climbing on top of high peaks only to be knocked back by breath taking views. It was not uncommon to hear a member of the group ask, “is this real life?” Indeed it is, what an honor it has been to see such a beautiful country and we cannot wait to see the many beautiful sights that await us.

Until next time,

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

Written by Joanne Huang and Emily Sells

This week was an exciting week for everyone!  Sunday marked the first night that all of us would be staying at our new respective homes. On Sunday afternoon, our host families picked us up at the Quaker settlement. Everyone was excited and quite frankly ready to end the close quarter living on the settlement.

The following day held as much excitement as we had our classes at the Tupoho Whanau Trust. On a typical class day (Mondays and Wednesdays), we are learning about the New Zealand’s environmental issues with Peter Frost and later in the morning, the interesting and quite unique geology of New Zealand. During that same day, some students made their way down to the pub between classes to catch a glimpse of the Superbowl. In the afternoon we have a Cultures class which involved making a pūtangitangi (Maori wind instrument) from clay with Wi Taepa.

The crew at Dawson Falls.

This was also our first week doing internships (on Tuesdays and Thursdays). Our internships are all over Whanganui ranging from working at a bird sanctuary to teaching Maori songs to kids in school. Our school work and internships kept us very busy all week. Thursday was Waitangi day which marks the signing of the treaty between the English and Maori, we had a free day on which some landed at the uptown festival and spending time with our host families.

Friday we left for an overnight trip to Mount Taranaki with Colin and Lyneke. On our way there we made a quick stop at the largest Dairy Processing factory in the world.  Here we learned how many tons of milk, butter, powdered milk, and other dairy products that are produced each year by Frontera, a leading multinational dairy company and the world's largest exporter of dairy products. During the middle of our drive it started to rain which would continue for the rest of the day and most of the night.

Using a hand-held microscope to look at the invertebrates.

Upon arrival at Mount Taranaki we all enjoyed our packed lunches and a quick background of the vegetation of Taranaki.  Due to its isolation and abundant amount of rain all year round Mount Taranaki offers a very different variety of alpine plants and trees that are very different from Mount Ruapehu. We hiked in the rain to the nearby Dawson falls as we learned about more about the fauna with Colin and Lyneke. We later caught a number of stream invertebrates that were present in the icy cold stream. After our long and wet hike we got back to the hut and examined the invertebrates under a magnifier that displayed the magnified invertebrate on a computer screen.

Being cooped up at the Konini Lodge because of the rain led to spend quite some time doing a number of activities. Some were playing cards, making friendship bracelets, reading, napping, and later that night games of “mafia” and “how’s yours” was played. The following day we left Taranaki still unable to see the mountain/volcano because of all the rain clouds.

Enjoying their time at Konini Lodge.

On our way back we made an afternoon stop at the Tawhiti Museum in Hawera. We were lucky to  attend the 'Traders & Whalers', an interactive boat ride that attempts to reconstruct the history of trading of goods between the Maori and European settlers, and later, the wars. The other part of the Museum exhibited a number of dioramas and life size exhibits of settlements of Europeans and how it affected the life of the Maori people. Other exhibits included farm utes, tools.

We ended the week with a cookout at the Quaker settlement where everyone met homestay families.

: - )

Written by Cole Moore and Hanna Sosin

The week has been a blur of activity and school work. Upon returning from our River trip we soon fell back into a packed schedule of classes. Monday and Tuesday were dedicated to being taught the Treaty of Waitangi. An absolutely lovely couple, Jillian and David, taught a continual stream of information on the subject. The Treaty of Waitangi is the contract between the Maori country of the United Tribes of New Zealand and the Crown of England. Due to a difference between the English Draft of the Treaty and Maori version, Teriti, there are tensions in New Zealand that resonate today. Many New Zealanders are unaware of the larger implications of the Treaty of Waitangi due to New Zealand History not being taught very much in the school system.

Wednesday, we got a lecture from Lyneke on plants. After the lecture we walked around the settlement to see examples of the plants we had been taught. Thursday, Peter gave us a jam-packed lecture on New Zealand fauna. Interesting examples of fauna include a carnivorous snail and the kakapo, though there are many, many more. After class and dinner on Thursday we were given a general overview of what to expect during the coming days. Afterwards most of our group members gathering to watch a movie or have an early night.

Ruapehu Field Trip.

Friday we went on a field trip. We packed up about a day’s worth of equipment and set out for Mount Ruapehu with Colin Ogle, Lyneke, and Peter to discuss and observe the unique flora and fauna of the area. We explored three distinct areas, encompassed three different altitudes which means three completely different bush, as they call it here. The first area was at about 650 meters and was essentially a black beech tree and tree fern forest. Lyneke and Colin proceeded to spout off a variety of information on most of the flora while we trailed behind with notebooks and pencils in hand. At points, Peter attempted, not very successfully, to call up birds with a speaker, mp3 player set up. We did manage to see the New Zealand Pigeon, the kereru, which would prove to be a fairly common sight over the weekend.

After eating lunch in the shade of this national park we moved to a higher elevation of about 1,150 meters. At this height the beech trees essentially disappeared to be replaced with smaller podocarps. Not to mention about a 5 degree change in temperature as well. Here at this altitude we passed by a pretty impressive waterfall as well as a parasitic plant known as a mistletoe here. Quite different from mistletoe in the states here it is a fairly unique and gorgeous semi-parasitic plant. After that we finally moved on to the final part of our days excursion where we moved to the altitude of about 1,500 km and were in full on alpine conditions. Very little actually grew here however, what did was fascinating. Alpine variants of common flora as well as things like the worlds smallest podocarp. We thought we were done with the days excursion but we got a little surprise at the end of the trip when we stopped at a motor home park to look at a Black Beech tree. This tree in particular was the home of the only known sample of Yellow Mistletoe in this area.  Not just that but we also got to see the endangered New Zealand falcon perched in the same tree. 

Lunch on the boardwalk at Gordon Park.

The next day on Saturday we would meet up with Colin and Lyneke again this time at the Arboretum in the corner of Wanganui to learn about some of the trees that grow there. After that we would move out to Gordon Park Scenic Reserve to begin a service project there.This project would consist of us getting into groups and removing invasive species from the area. The main species we would be focusing on in particular was called “Jerusalem Cherry” which was an incredibly resilient member of the nightshade family. It looked a lot like the Cherry tomato plant however the fruiting body was orange instead of red, and apparently highly toxic. Regardless we got right to it and spent a few hours tearing this plant out of the environment it was invading. My group in particular consisted of myself and another student Brent Kramer, we collected the most samples of poisonous fruit and removed more of this plant than any other group. After all this we returned to the settlement to wind down for the night and prepare for going to our home stays in the morning. That night each member of our group sought to relax in whatever way they thought best. Some of us hit the town to sample some of Wanganui's nightlife while other stayed on the settlement and watched movie or had an early night. Some of us were even able to go on a 16 Km bike ride to watch the sunset over the nearby black sand beaches.