School Trip

23rd - 25th Feb 2009
It was that time again to go down to Gisborne and help out with Gisborne Intermediate School. For the first two days I would be at Otoi. A small country community with a hall and school with about 10 children. The itinerary was pretty much the same as last year with the first day put a side for setting up, tubing down the rapids on the river and a few games. I forgot to bring a mattress this year so ended up sleeping in my van again. I did hear there were a few snorers so I probably would have ended up there anyway.
The next day we were all set for kayaking and mountain biking. There must have been around 60 kids so we split them into two groups with the plan to meet for lunch then swap the groups over. The day started of great with clear blue skies and little or no wind. I looked after the kayaking side of things while a couple of parents and teachers looked after the biking. Everything went very smoothly with the kids having a fantastic time. Lunch came around pretty quick so we headed back to the hall and then returned with the second group. The skies were looking all too ominous with large black clouds and distant thunder. We decided to get everyone of the water and manged to do so just as the storm hit. I lasted for approx an hour then it was all clear again to get back on the water and bikes.
On the morning of the 25th I left Otoi and headed to Mahia. The weather was still pretty unsettled and as I got close to Mahia the rain seemed to settle in. Once there we had a quick talk and decided to get on with the activities for the day. The weather gods must have been on our side as we ended up with a beautiful day. again I looked after the kayaks while teachers and parents took control fo the biking. Moko the resident dolphin was there to great us and stayed with us the whole day. He was up to his usual antics, stealing boogie boards and even grabbed one of the paddles of one of the kids. He seemed a little more boisterous this year and was interacting with most of the kayaks, pushing them aroudn and playing with the rudders. by about 5pm it was time to pack up. Moko was still hanging around but he was obviously worn out as he wasn't too interested in interacting with a few late comers.

School Trip

February last year I was involved in an educational trip with Gisborne Intermediate. Now that I have got my head around blogger I thought I would fill you on on last years trip as they have contacted me again this year for more of the same, and man do I hope it's more of the same. For those of you who don't know, Gisborne is a city of about 40,000 on the East Coast of New Zealand. (My home town) Anyway Brendan Hart (Harty), one of the teachers contacted me and asked if I was interested, and of course, I was. There were two groups of around 60 children each. One group was going to Otoi and the other group to Mahia. First I was going to Otoi which can be best described as a very small rural community. Amazing landscape with steep gullies, beautiful lakes and rivers. On our arrival I helped out with the setting up of camp and general supervision of the children aged from 11-13. The children were housed in tents while the adults were in the hall. After rubber tubing down the nearby rivers rapids and a few games in the paddocks it was time for dinner, followed by some card games. Soon it was bed time but Harty and I stayed up for a while chatting. When I decided to hit the sack one of the parents, who I will not name was snoring away and the more I tried to ignore it the worse so I packed up the sleeping bag and curled up in the back seat of my van. The next day our activities consisted of kayaking, biking and another ride down the river on tyre tubes. Not far from camp was a small, safe lake on private farm land that we had permission to use. It was ideal as the kids could be supervised form the shore if need be although saying that if I was not in the water with them a couple of parents and teachers were. Harty took another group riding over the country roads and when he returned they swapped around. It was a great day with beautiful weather. The next morning I packed up and headed to Mahia. (approx 1 hour drive) Mahia is another fantastic spot. Situated on a peninsular it is spoilt with beaches ranging from golden sand to rocky coast, clean waters and some of the best surf, fishing and diving in the country. The second group was staying at the motor camp and on my arrival we planned the days activities and off we went. Again I was in control of the kayaking with the help of one of the parents while a couple of the teachers, including the principal who had come to see how things were going went on a bike ride.
At the time Mahia was the home of a dolphin called Moko. He/she would turn up out of the blue and had in the past played with swimmers. We were onto our second group when I heard a whole lot of excited kids and I turned to notice Moko swimming amongst them as did all the kids in the kayaks. They all headed into shore while I decided to kayak over to the group. Moko soon noticed me and swam over and began nudging the back of my kayak. I took this as meaning he wanted to have a race so off I went closely followed by Moko. I managed about 30 meters before I needed a rest but Moko got in behind and started nudging me again so off I went heading back towards the group in the water. Someone threw a ball into the water and Moko took it and didn't return it. Grant to the rescue, or so I thought. Moko would bring the ball over to me but just as I was within reaching range he would take it away again. I decided to throw him my water pump which was a great idea to get the ball back but now I couldn't get my pump. Eventually Moko came right up to the kayak with the pump on his nose and gave it back. Let me pat him on the nose for a while before he heard the spalsh of the ball again so we had to do it all over again. Moko was like a pet dog in the water, totally superior in every way. It is one of those experience you just can not describe or explain. Even writing this almost 12 months I still get goose bumps. Was I happy to get asked to go again this year, HELL YES. Nature being nature though Moko may not be there this time but hey, I love what I do and Moko was just icing on the cake.