Matakana Island - Day Four

Friday morning saw us back at Panepane Point, where we were given a demonstration of the various pest control and trapping techniques employed by the Department of Conservation in the area surrounding the Dotterel Breeding Colony ...

... and then a tour of the dotterels' breeding area. Some of the birds were still there, although they were no longer nesting.

We had to return to the jetty by 1.30 pm, where we had lunch before saying goodbye to the island and catching the ferry back to Omokoroa - some very tired children ...

... although several boys got to help with the driving!

We got home at 3 pm, very tired, but having had a wonderful week.

Matakana Island - Day Three

On Thursday morning, we all drove to the eastern end of the island, and went for a walk to Panepane Point, where we had lunch, explored, and fished. I caught two small kahawai, but you should have seen the one that got away ...

This is a view from the forest track between Panepane Point and the jetty, back towards the port of Tauranga.

Then it was back to the other side, for a warm swim in the shallow, glass-free bay at Matakana Point ...

... and back to Opureora for more "marae activities" for Camilla and Louise.

Matakana Island - Day Two

I was up early enough to catch the sunrise on the second day, this view taken from the back of the Opureora marae across the harbour towards Tauranga.

After breakfast and the preparation of packed lunches ...

... there was time for a play ...

... before we paid a visit to the Hunter's Creek Sawmill.

Then it was off to the Matakana Island kohanga reo, a full immersion Maori language school, for lunch ...

... a game of rugby ...

... and some netball ...

... after which we returned to home base for some more "marae activities", in other words, fishing at the jetty.

For the "Sandy Shore Study" on Wednesday afternoon we drove in convoy - and getting very dusty - to the ocean side of the island, where the children looked for all sorts of signs of life in and around the beach dunes (Mauao and Mount Mauganui in the background) ...

... finding skinks, earwigs, crabs and all sorts of creepy crawlies.

The views were wonderful ...

... but Camilla managed to get some work done.

The Twins' Class Trip to Matakana Island

[Sun 6 March] On Friday afternoon Camilla, Louise and I returned from a four day class trip to Matakana Island. The following is a diary of the excursion with a selection of the 100+ photos that I took.

Tuesday 1 March
9.20 am - After packing all the vehicles ...

... we left Oropi School and made our way to Omokoroa Point where we caught the ferry at 10.20 am

After a short wait, while the class teacher David Northey discussed the traditional protocol with one of the locals ...

... not a warning, but a welcome from the kaumatua at the Opureora Marae, where we were due to stay for the next four days.

The boys and girls were assigned separate bedrooms, and spent some time and energy arranging mattresses, having pillow fights etc. This is the main wharenui, where the boys slept. The walls were adorned with tukutuku panels and many portraits of deceased members of the whanau, and the front of the historic building - shown below - was spectacularly decorated!

The first island activity was an introduction to fishing from the jetty, just a one-minute walk down the hill from the marae. Within a few minutes, everyone was catching, including Camilla and Louise with their first "spotties".

After we had eaten lunch and the boys had played a game of cricket ...

... we all went for a walk to the nearby Roman Catholic Church ...

... and then had a look at the beach, where there was rather too much broken glass for a safe swim.

In the late afternoon, some of the boys went off to set the flounder net near Hunter's Creek ...

... and then returned to the marae for dinner, another fishing excursion to the jetty and a game of spotlight, before turning in to bed at about 10 pm.