After a fun night in the Maori long house with the group we enjoyed a final breakfast prepared by the tribe before heading out to enjoy today's beautiful weather.
Our first stop was a local beach where we had time to chill, swim, go on a walk, or do some shopping. A bunch of us had been itching to swim so the first thing we did was jump in the ocean. It was pretty cold and a bit shelly but it was nice to be swimming in January. We then wanted to check out the local scenery so we did a little hike by the mountain by the beach and then went out on a small point off of the beach. The weather was great and the beach area gorgeous so it provided for some good fun and photos. After the walk we laid out and continued to work on our tans.
After chillaxing on the beach we headed out to try our hand at blokarting, which is essentially a sailboat on land. You lay down in a three wheeled cart with a steering wheel and a sail and rely entirely on the wind in the area to navigate around the course they had set up. When a good gust of wind came you could get going pretty fast and ride on two wheels. A handful of our group managed to tip the carts over, but both the cart and driver took it like a champ and came out with no harm done. It was a fun experience and again related to the theme of sustainable adventure.
From blokarting we visited a local preserve where we lent a hand in working towards getting the preserve up and running. We were split up into three groups and rotated around different stations.
At the first station we worked together to measure the diameter of planted trees to provide data that the preserve would be able to observe and study.
At the second station we were each responsible for planting 5 new flaka trees, providing for a total of over 200 new trees in the area planted entirely by our group. Our objective of planting trees was not only to provide a new natural environment in the area but also to offset our carbon footprint of traveling around by bus and plane.
At the final station we took part in ridding the area of small walnut trees and other invasive species that were prohibiting the growth of native species that other volunteers had planted. The process is known as releasing and is extremely beneficial to the survival of the correct plants and trees.
After working at all three stations we enjoyed a nice kiwi fruit and juice snack and enjoyed the beautiful day that we were given. The preserve is well under way towards becoming a real nice place for visitors to come and take in the natural environment around them. Our guides had hoped that within 5 years the preserve would be completed.
We then traveled to our accommodation for night, which turned out to be a pretty nice hotel where five of us guys got the penthouse suite. It was nice to be out of a hostel for once but I missed being close to everyone else. The night was pretty low key - I stayed up late doing laundry and playing cards.
Tomorrow should be a fun day with dolphin watching and white water rafting on the to do list.
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