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.