Freetime Fun, Day Out in Christchurch

Devin Checks out the Time in Christchurch

Tupelo learning to skate backwards

Sadly, we have only a few days left.  Our five week journey seems to have gone by so quickly. We started our day with student’s choice - a morning out in Christchurch where the students had time to sightsee/shop, or ice skate, and then tucked into some Hillyers pies for lunch.

All manner of birds were brought with early settlers of New Zealand including these Sebastopol geese with crazy feathers.

Not sure why you would pack up and bring a wallaby to NZ, but NZ has trouble with those too.

Bailey feeds a Kea with a broken beak.

Personality of a rock, but Tuatara are soooooo awesome!

The Girls give Poi a go

The Guys give the Haka a go

A Hangi feast

With Devin, our Chief, heading up our table, we enjoyed a four course meal by a warm fireplace.

We spent the afternoon and evening at Willowbank.  Willowbank is a wildlife reserve where we had a chance to see up close both exotic animals that settlers brought and cause problems here in New Zealand (everything from deer to rabbits to wallaby, etc), as well as native animals which the reserve is trying to rehab, educate the public about, or help with repopulation efforts (kiwi, kaka, etc). In addition, we had a Ko Tane or Maori experience where Devin led us as our Chief into a Maori village, and during a music and dance performance, the “gals” got to try Poi Balls and the “guys” got to try a haka Kapai! Afterwards, we gathered in the restaurant to have a hangi  which is food smoked in the ground. Very tasty!

Cheers, Dr. H and Meryl

Grassy Knees and Licking Trees

This morning began with a relaxing stroll through the Riccarton Farmer's Market. Pies, sweets, breads, and cheese were the main fare along with fresh fruits and veggies. A violinist raising money to record with a band, a high-school trumpet player fundraising a band trip to America, and a man playing the harmonica near the entrance serenaded us as while walked among the tents. 

Maddie and her donut-thing

Maddie and Eliza enjoying the morning

Soon, we were all gathered around this bench watching the ducks swim past with our various purchases. Jámm finally got his baguette, Cole got some good cheese, and I got a beeswax candle. There we were, minding our own business, when suddenly... 

He was not enjoying the market

this guy shows up uninvited. Shaking his tail, bobbing his neck aggressively, and hissing at our baguettes and cheese, we fled the scene just in time for tea. On the way to Darfield Bakery, we had a lively debate about Devin's so-claimed "lack" of a belly button (he has one). At the bakery, we could get a drink AND a snack, a luxury much appreciated since Lincoln's breakfast start-time and our depart-time were relatively close together this morning.

(There were open seats)

After that, we completed our drive to Trevor and Heather Taege's farm. Trevor is one of the first farmers to begin planting natives on his land. The blocks are spread across the farm between sheep and cow paddocks. We walked through them and assisted Trevor with pulling dead natives that didn't survive the season and trimming some of the trees and bushes in the way of the path. In a deal with the local city council, Trevor provided the land needed to plant this native bush and bought even more plants to put in after fencing in the blocks himself and saving some of the money he got for the project.

Broadleaf, Matai, Pokaka, Totora, Black Beech, Coprosma, Kohuhu, Kanuka, Golden Akeake, Fuschia, Kowhai, Whauwhaupaku, Kahikatea and some BIG New Zealand Flax were some of the plants growing here.

A Jámm for size reference

We were also delighted by the presence of Trevor's lovely sheepdog. 

This is Pete

Eliza may be a little less enthused than the others.

"Did this all come from Pete?!"

Maddie and Emily also shared an intimate Hongi before we broke for lunch. 

"I am in your bubble"

After that, Trevor told us more about the animals he keeps on the farm. Currently, there are about 170 sheep and 75 cattle, but with the birth of lambs and the change in seasons, those numbers bump up to 500 and 100, respectively. He also selectively breeds the ewes to give birth at a certain time to ensure that the lambs have enough grass to eat around the farm. Then we got a demonstration of herding by Pete, who is a heading sheepdog.

Pete, being the best boy

They seem a little nervous... 

After that, we went inside to watch Trevor shear a sheep. If you have never seen the process, I have a video of that for you as well! Little did we know that we were spending the day with a champion sheep shearer, his record is 350 sheep in 8 hours!!

Just look at that wall!

After shearing, the wool gets sorted into the good fleece, the belly wool, the head and neck wool, and the miscellaneous bits and pieces. From then on it is shipped off to be processed and sold.

From left to right: belly, bits, and neck

The good fleece

We then toured one last part of the native bush before playing some cricket. 

"Can I ring the bell??"

Little did we know that the Tuatara's crushing defeat against the Hungry Keas was attracting an audience.

The curious cows watch on...

They were obviously Tuatara fans

Our last stop for today was the Lords Bush Scenic Trail, where we licked honeydew from Black Beech trees. A scale insect eats the sap of the black beech but can't process it, so excretes it. This excretion is what bees take to make honey and what we ended up licking. 

All of these pretty little beads are sweet little bug poops

And, to close, a collection of us licking trees:

1 lick

2 licks

3 licks

4,

normal

honey's

such

a

bore!

Thank you Scale Insects of the world!

-paige

I Got 15 Animals (They’re All Named Bob) – Wednesday, July 25

Our day started off with a trip to Pegasus, a green development including native plants and a good use of water drainage. There, we visited Pegasus Beach and were entertained for ten minutes following the lines of a stick pulled by Eliza. Well, some of us were. If that wasn’t exciting enough, the rest of us were exhilarated by yet another group photo!!! (Not pictured)

The eel didn't look this blurry in real life

Our next stop was the Pegasus Bay winery, where we walked a trail that was part of the Greening of Waipara project. The natives there were planted in 2008 and have grown a lot since then. But native plants weren’t the only things we saw; we also were able to coax native eels from the depths of a shallow pond using salami!

Cat!

Cat does not enjoy being held

Sleeper cars

We had lunch at the winery (eels were not on the menu), then continued our way up the road after stopping briefly to unload at the Waipara sleeper cars. We met Daryl, a local farmer who talked to us more about the Greening of Waipara project. This project is meant for education, bringing back native birds, and attracting insects that help control pests.

A talk from Daryl

Bear demonstrates his sheep herding skills

The one and only... Bob (the huge sheep with his tongue out)

After his talk, we drove a little ways up the road and Daryl unleashed his sheep dogs, Sis and Bear, from the trunk of his car. The dogs herded Daryl’s sheep into a smaller paddock, where we enjoyed petting Bob (his daughter’s gigantic pet sheep) and learning about some of the different types of sheep.

The wine tasting group

The card playing group

The grand trophy for the 2018 lip sync contest

After that we went to another winery, Waipara Hills, to taste and learn about wine making. There, I made the grand prize for the lip sync; a microphone-ish thing made from only the finest ingredients (cardboard, chocolate wrappers, and lots of sparkly duct tape).

Coco thinks it's been a long day

Then it was off to Daryl’s house for dinner and the long-awaited (and dreaded) lip sync contest! But first, there was plenty of time to cuddle with his adorable pets, play cards, and eat a delicious dinner and Pavlova (courtesy of Daryl and Allison). And play a game of mafia.

But finally, it was time for the lip sync contest. According to the judges, the bar was raised with everyone’s performance. Even Jámm improved from his previous wordless lip syncs and one-word songs by actually lip-syncing nine words (and in his encore performance, more than five verses!). It was a close decision from the judges, but first place for bragging rights and the microphone went to Devin. Corinne was a very close second, and I got third place.

After all of the excitement and dancing, we crashed at the Waipara Sleeper Cars. Despite the lack of heat amongst other things, it was very cool to sleep in old train cars and cabins. Most of us slept pretty well, but some unnamed people snoring (*cough cough*) kept some of us up.

Cheers,

Tupelo