Is this the real life, is this just fantasy?

Lessons Learned

Open your eyes

look up to the skies

and seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Whooooweeee this trip is flying by but I'm enjoying every minute, every second rather, of it. It's unbelievable to be in such a beautiful country full of natural wonders and amazing people. We've worked pretty good the last two weeks and got a lot done,

Team Canada and their presentation

The last two weeks have been interesting to say the least. After 2 weeks off I was ready to get back to work. Unfortunately it didn't get off to the best start as the group flight was delayed when we went to pick up the next participants. There's only so much you can do waiting around but the other PL's and I did what we could to pass the time. Once the participants started arriving, we got everyone checked in and on the bus so we took off to the accommodation. The other PL's and I did a quick orientation for the participants as they were all tired so we hit all the main points first. We also had to tell them about guidelines regarding the powhiri ceremony they would be participating in the next morning. Fiona, one of the PL's gave them a Maori song to sing, it was actually the same one I sang as a student participant about the three important things in life.

Everyone was pretty shy at first, especially the guys but it got better with practice. One of the participants in my group volunteered to be the Chief of the group. It was really good b/c his family was originally from NZ and his uncle had given him stuff to say. His role was to represent our group and also tell the people of the Marae what we were doing in the area and why we had come all this way to help out. We definitely came through with the song at the Marae and the students discussed their expectations and pleasant surprises about the whole ceremony when we got back to the Lodge the next day; they especially enjoyed the 'hongi' and its meaning. I really enjoyed the mixture of people in my group as we had Canadians, Americans and a UK resident. That night we played some intense games of elmination spoons and I also helped to narrate two games of Mafia.

What about it?

We took the group to Ianson Reserve the next day to learn about our mission to help nature correct the wrongs of our pasts. From there it was on to TECT Park to do some planting. I drove the car with a Port-a-loo attached so it took a little longer than I wanted. We got about 200 plants in, took about an hour or so b/c it started to rain so we had to head back. That night the head of the host organization we were working with came in to talk to us about the mission of the organization and how everything we do is appreciated. NZ has lost over 80% of its original forests so it has been trying to preserve as much as possible and help kick start conservation efforts across the country.
Group at TECT after a long day of work

Our day with Green Park Primary School Students was one to remember. Everyone had fun that day. From the get go I could tell it would be a great day. My group presented posters of where they were from and we all agreed that the Canadians in the group had the best presentation as they allowed the kids to come up and draw on their poster, which all the kids wanted to do. After that they mingled a little before we went to TECT Park to plant trees. The participants, only a day into their volunteer project seemed like experts when they were teaching the kids about the importance of planting trees and helping the environment; all the kids wanted to plant more and have their own special trees but we got through 220 plants very easily. We went back to have lunch at the school; the other PL's and I had lunch in the teacher's conference room. We learned they were doing a fundraiser for a bounce house they had purchased for the kids with disabilities (They were selling scones and soup); one of the kids told the teacher in charge of the fundraiser she was her hero and the teacher didn't know what to say...neither would I.

Learning about Canada, great presentation

Teaching proper planting technique

Now onto fun and games. The participants went and played on the sports fields (dodgeball, rugby, piggy back rides, basketball, jump rope) and jungle gyms. It was a lot of fun as the kids really enjoyed being outdoor, whether they were getting muddy/dirty playing rugby or running around their jungle gyms it was a great time had by all. I played some rugby and everytime we got the ball 5 or more kids jumped onto our backs to take us down so it was hilarious watching some of us get dog piled.

Owned that log

The next day involved planting over 750 trees at TECT Park (cabbage tree, lemon wood, manuka and a lot of others) after we cleared an entire bank of large branches and logs. It was a good work day and we could see the difference we made so when we got back I decided to hit the swimming holes about ~25 minutes from the Lodge. A lot of the students came along but didn't bring their towels so many jumped in with their thermals/under armour. No one would believe me that it was warmer in the water though so many walked back cold and wet. It was really 'refreshing' jumping into the natural streams and also running around the cascade of waterfalls. It was so peaceful there

Track work (uprooting)

I treated my group to Tim Tam Slams :) that night, we'll just leave it at that until I can get a video up to describe how awesome it is (especially after a long day). The next day we helped to 'release' or weed/clear around the plants that ISV planted the year before to help them compete against faster growing weeds. This was the groups first introduction to goarse, blackberry and Japanese Honeysuckle. My group tore through some heavily invested areas and we all got cuts/pokes/scratches to prove we were really in there. It wasn't all that fun at first for some people but it got better and soon everyone realized that conservation also involves the necessary need to remove species (nonnatives anyways). The rest of the groups planted 500 flaxes that day so all in all it was a good day.

Taking a break from the honeysuckle

The next day before the groups free weekend involved a lot of clearing; it was super fun and tiring at the same time. I spent a decent amount of time sawing through a few large logs, one in particular that finally was taken apart before lunch. It was cool to see the culmination of the work we'd done that week at TECT as we put some plants into the cleared areas too.

4th of July Weekend meant the participants going to Coromandel to let loose for 2 days and to take off some stress of a full work week. I stayed behind at the Lodge to help take a participant to the hospital, which got better as the week would go on. I ran into Dave (see previous blog) from Avalon on the street and we chatted a bit. That weekend I got a lot of reading done; two books actually! First was the Tao of Pooh (an amazing book with many good lessons to be learned by all; I really hope to read it again soon as it made me appreciate everything and reminded me that there are important things in life but simple ones are just as important). I also read Kiss the Girls, which a previous participant had left behind, it was a good thriller to read but a lot different from the Tao of Pooh (which I recommend to everyone).

Baby Skink!

The rest of the week was a blur as we helped D.O.C with Track Maintenance/building. My group really got into it as we had a very tricky section to work on, leveling an area and also uprooting some stumps. It started to rain hard so the day was called, unfortunately we never got to fully finish off our section of the track but it was nice to see the difference we did make in a few short hours. We also started a no cussing rule with my group (10 push ups every time you used profanity); twas fun. That night the other two PL's myself and a few students rocked out and sang a bunch of songs, with a great rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody. The participants had to do performances/skits at their Marae stay at the end of the week so we had to help give them ideas.

Before we got to the track

Middle of our work day


Before leaving for lunch

After a good day of work

Well Hi There

The next project was a day at 'The Village,' a retirement community that we went to to help release plants and also plant. My group, after releasing past ISV plants, tackled Japanese Honeysuckle that had taken over an entire hillside, choking/killing off native plants, it was a site to see. It was so thick we rolled it up and I was able to jump on it comfortably to compact it and land in it without too much worry almost like a mattress. We planted flax the other groups cut up on the cleared area, it was a really good before and after spot. The participants then got to interact with a few residents from the community and share their appreciation and thanks for the work that was done. We had a kiwi tracker come in to talk to us about the day in the life of one and what equipment they used on the job. A free day followed that day but not much happened though the PL's had to deal with car trouble...oh the joys of that car we had to drive ;)

Kiwi Tracker and his best friend

The last work day involved going back to Avalon and working alongside the members there. It was a great experience for a lot of the participants who hadn't worked with people with disabilities before. We cleared an embankement of its blackberry vines and grasses before planting native plants in the area; it was a good day and everyone enjoyed it. Some of the Avalon members did some dances at lunch and some of the students did some in return (a River Dance and some back flips). We took off from Avalon after the members performed a haka and the participants did a song in return. From there it was on to the Marae where we did a debrief, our final discussion and had some time to reflect and evaluate all the things the group accomplished.

The start of the honeysuckle

1/2 way into it
Clearing Honeysuckle
Tree with Honeysuckle killing it

After getting rid of the honey suckle

Beautiful Aftermath

I treated my group to a final Tim Tam Slam, Cheers to the Drop Bears! Then we got into a pretty intense game of Ultimate Frisbee, it was good to run around and everyone had fun even though it got really competitive at points. That night the performances were excellent after an excellent dinner; the participants really pulled through. The guys really stepped up too and came up with their own original song about the purpose of their trip and why they wanted to help the environment (someone please send that video this way please). We stayed up playing mind games the rest of the night (I learned some good ones and had a lot of fun playing some I learned from being a camp counselor).

The next day was a little bitter sweet as we dropped the participants off at the airport and said our farewells and see you agains. Go Drop Bears!

Cool 'Hobbit' Tree in Albert Park, Auckland

After a day in Auckland I could finally get a little rest before picking up the next group, which happened yesterday. I showed them around central Auckland for a bit and they are all really cool and seem to have gelled a bit the last day or so. I look forward to our next week of work at Tawharanui Open Sanctuary and hope to update you all soon, thanks for reading, keep in touch (email, blog comments, skype, tokbox, fb, whatever way you want to), Take care of yourselves,

Cheers,
Tyler

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