Day 4, Activity 1/2/3, Winter Learning Journey.

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.

At Farewell Spit, a lot of whales have been stranded and died.  300 to be exact.

It’s so devastating to hear that so many whales died at Farewell Spit.

The way the people helped the whales were, is that they had to first and foremost, keep  them wet. They did this by wetting  their towels,  shirts, and sarongs  then draped them over the whales.  They  had to keep the blowholes clear and had to be careful of the tails.  The campers also helped  by using their chilly bins, water bottles  and cooking pots to help keep the whales  wet.

The volunteers worked all night to save the whales, which was great because  all the whales were gone the next morning.   

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/

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!

I rate this movie a 5 because I feel that the message the movie sends is a strong one. No matter who you are, you can be who you want to be. Whale rider tells you to just do you. It's a heart touching movie to me.  It's a huge inspiration for me to carry on doing me and not do what others think.  

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).

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

I think that fishing in Farewell Spit should be banned because first of all, they’re God’s creatures. Secondly, they’re just Whales living their life. Thirdly, they’re  beautiful sea animals that deserve to live their life!