You can contact LEARNZ, part of CORE Education, at:
Postal Address:
PO Box 13 678,
Christchurch 8141,
New Zealand
Ambassador Egbert
Hello everyone, tēnā koutou,
I am Egbert the LEARNZ ambassador. I go on all the trips with Andrew and help look after the other ambassadors from your schools.
I really love LEARNZ field trips about New Zealand's special places. I am looking forward to discovering more about kauri dieback with you, and finding out what I can do to help.
Best,
Egbert
Monday 7 May
Kia ora tatou
Today Andrew, Edmund and I went for a drive around Kerikeri. Monday is usually the travel day so instead of travelling we went looking for kauri trees. It was lots of fun. Andrew let me and Edmund select the radio station to listen to as we went ‘kauri cruising’. This all went well until Andrew decided to play car Karaoke!
The highlight was going to Puketi Forest to look at the massive old kauri you can see not far from the road. I have been here before, but it always amazes me just how big the kauri are. It’s always a special time being next to something that has been alive for hundreds of years.
Best,
Egbert
Tuesday 8 May
Kia ora tatou
I have been up close to big kauri a few times before, but I still get a surprise when I get near them again. I know I’m small, but next to a big old kauri tree I feel like an ant!
It was great to be in Waipoua Forest today. There is something about the forest that makes me feel relaxed. I bet the plants and animals that live there are relaxed too. Although if you were a kauri tree you may be feeling rather nervous about getting kauri dieback disease – especially since there is still no cure for it yet!
Best,
Egbert
Wednesday 9 May
Kia ora koutou
It was cool being back in a forest today, even though it was only a very small one! We went to AH Reed Memorial Park in Whangārei to chat with Travis Ashcroft and Kim Brown from MPI. Of course we scrubbed our footwear and sprayed it with sterigene before we went in and when we came back out.
It was interesting because I saw people walking their dogs in the park. I wonder if they cleaned the dog’s paws before it went in. one dog also didn’t have a lead, so it could have potentially run over kauri tree roots if it went off the path. We’re going to talk about this sort of thing tomorrow.
Best,
Egbert
Thursday 10 May
Kia ora koutou,
I have had yet another great learning experience on a LEARNZ field trip this week. I hope all of you have had as good a time as we have. If you haven’t yet been to see kauri or other great native New Zealand trees in the forest, you need to. Keep pestering your family to take you, or maybe even start arranging a school trip. The more time you spend outdoors in nature, the more you’ll like it - and the more you’ll want to help protect our precious taonga such as kauri.
See you all on another field trip soon.
Best,
Egbert
Egbert is looking forward to finding out how he can help kauri. Image: LEARNZ.
Monday. Egbert looks tiny compared to this huge old kauri. Image: LEARNZ.
Tuesday. Egbert feels relaxed when he is in a forest. Image: LEARNZ.
Wednesday. Egbert is at AH Reed Memorial Park In Whangarei. Image: LEARNZ.
Thursday. Egbert is outside the Arataki Visitor Centre. Image: LEARNZ.