WLJ - Day 6 Activity 2

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)Matariki dawn:

I would want to do the Matariki dawn because I would want to learning more about the Maori culture and learn more about the 7 sisters!

2)Star weave jam:

I would love to do the star weave jam because I would love to learn how to weave so I can make my own useful things to use!

3)Matariki Fireworks

I would love to see the fireworks because they would be very satisfying to look at and plus sometimes I forget their are fireworks firing so they can give me frights!

WLJ - Day 6

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…

Being first to be at Shag Point

At first being happy and excited,

But just looking ahead of miles of land,

I feel miserable,

Just seeing nature and nothing but silence,

What is bad on this island?

Vicious  and venomous creatures,

Dark and frightening

Spirits that can haunt you

But isn’t their things that are not that bad?

The nature and the amazing views!

The kind and caring creatures,

But the whole island is nothing but with me in it!

WLJ - Day 5 Activity 2

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.

WLJ - Day 5

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...

As I was on my own in the middle of a forest trying to find my group! I was scared which is why I heard something pouncing very quietly behind me, I thought it was my last few moments but it was a tourist and his own group who was exploring the forest. I asked if he saw another group go by and asked for directions, and then he said yes! I was relieved and also asked if he had a map of the forest if he had one. Relievingly he gave me one incase I was lost again and if it was the wrong group. As he gave me the directions I did what he asked and finally I found my group again! I finally learned my lesson that I should focus on my group rather than something else!

WLJ - Day 4 BONUS ACTIVITY

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 that fishing in Farewell spit SHOULD be banned. The reason is that they are killing innocent animals. These animals are almost extinct and these animals are growing less and less!

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

Bonus Activity: 10 points

WLJ - Day 4 Activity 2

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/

Whale rider: There's a girl named Paikea. Her ancestor came on a whale to her village. That ancestor was a boy. For every generation the first boy born has the name Paikea and become the chief. Paikea’s grandfather didn’t expect Paikea to be the chief since she was a girl. He didn’t want her to be in a boys haka especially since she was a girl. But she found a way that just because your a girl doesn't mean you can’t do anything the same as a boy.

I rate this movie a 5 ( Excellent movie!) This was an inspirational movie and I like the way Paikea was trying to share the message that just because your a girl doesn't mean you can't do anything the same as a boy.

WLJ - Day 4

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 locals were trying to grab anything they have and make sure it was wet to put on the whales to keep them alive! The shore was too shallow and the whales couldn’t swim back! They grabbed their chilli bins, water bottles, bowls and more to help keep the whales wet! Unfortunately these sea creature didn't survive.