You can contact LEARNZ, part of CORE Education, at:
Postal Address:
PO Box 13 678,
Christchurch 8141,
New Zealand
Ambassador Māia
Kia ora,
I'm Māia the kea. My name means bold in Māori. Like most kea I love to give things a go and am often curious and a little mischievous. I am the ambassador that travels all over the place with Shelley the LEARNZ field trip teacher. I love getting out and about on adventures. Even though I'm more at home in the mountains, I'm looking forward to heading to Waikanae for the River Restoration field trip.
See you then,
Māia.
Monday 27 July
Kia ora koutou,
It was so good to be travelling again and it was a perfect day for it! As we flew north from Dunedin, we enjoyed views across the mountains and spotted many rivers along the way. Once we landed in Wellington we drove north to Waikanae. Here we discovered a small beachside town. We went for a wander up in the hills behind the town to explore the Waikanae River catchment. This river flows down from the Tararua Ranges and is important for plants, animals, and people. We will learn more about this awa over the next few days.
See you down by the river tomorrow,
Māia.
Tuesday 28 July
Kia ora,
Today we ventured up into the hills to see how the Waikanae River journeys from the mountains to the sea. As the awa flows down from the hills it grows in size as more and more small streams enter the river. It was cool to see some of the critters that live in the awa like stoneflies, mayflies and shrimp. We didn’t have much luck trying to catch eel though. Perhaps we needed to set our nets in different pools, or maybe the water isn’t as clean as it could be. Tomorrow we will test the water quality to find out.
See you then,
Māia.
Wednesday 29 July
Tēnā koutou,
We explored the lower part of the Waikanae Awa today and we discovered that this river can cause a lot of problems when it floods. People have built stop banks and parks to protect areas from flooding. A lot of effort has also been put into planting alongside the river to reduce flood damage. We also looked at how important wetlands are in reducing flooding. Tomorrow we are going to chip in and help the locals with their planting project.
See you then,
Māia.
Thursday 30 July
Kia ora,
We made the most of our last day on the field trip by helping plant over 50 plants. I helped dig holes and it was challenging but satisfying work. It would be cool to come back here in a few years to see how much these plants have grown. It has been an inspiring week seeing how people can work together to help restore a whole river. I hope you’ve enjoyed the field trip as much as I have and can join us on another one soon.
Ka kite āno,
Māia.
Māia is looking forward to the River Restoration field trip in Waikanae. Image: LEARNZ.
Māia explores the forest that forms part of the Waikanae River catchment. Image: LEARNZ.
Māia checks out the upper reaches of the Waikanae Awa. Image: LEARNZ.
Māia looks at how floods can be managed in Waikanae. Image: LEARNZ.
Māia is at the Waikanae Estuary Care Group Nursery selecting some plants to plant in the estuary. Image: LEARNZ.