Monday morning chores started at 8:30 and finished at 9:30. My chore this week was to sweep and mop the wharekai with Sam, another EcoQuester. Once we finished cleaning the wharekai, we helped the van crew clean the vans in preparation for tomorrow's departure. At 9:45, the students were split into two groups. One group would go down to the beach and finish up learning kayaking procedures and the other started with Hermione in the garden. My group went to the garden first.
The garden is fairly large. There are 20-25 garden plots (5ft by 5ft) that contain many types of crops at various stages of growth. Hermione began the gardening lesson by asking each of us to stand in front of a garden plot that sparked our interest. I stood in front of one that had nothing but soil. I don't know why. But for some reason, I felt the need to stand in front of this sad patch of dirt in hope to turn it into something magnificent by the end of the semester. Once everyone had their garden plot, Hermione informed us that these plot would be ours until the end of the semester, just as I had hoped. While most others weeded or planted in their plot, I turned the soil over and over again, laid down a layer of compost, spread some lime powder for acidity control, layered some wet cardboard, and covered the cardboard in mulch. This is also known as "putting the garden to sleep." For the next 2-3 weeks, I will not touch my garden plot. It sounds like an oath because it is an oath. I want so badly to plant and harvest in my plot, but I can't. I won't even weed it. I will simply let it do its thing. And by thing, I mean heat up, let the cardboard decompose with the compost, and allow the worms to work. Ria told me that, at latest, by the time we get back from the south island, my plot would be ready to succeed and grow our food! Being able to grow food that will be used for the EcoQuesters and staff members is such an awesome accomplishment. I've never been in a garden to this extreme before! This was something that I am excited about.
After I finished putting my garden plot to sleep, I helped Meagan plant some lettuce in her plot. Then, it was time to head down to the beach. Walking down there, I passed the other EcoQuesters who went down to the beach first. As they passed us shivering, all they could say was, "good luck" and "get ready to be cold!" This wasn't very reassuring to hear. Then again, I spent all summer in Sweden, jumping into various lakes that were only 2-3 degrees Celsius. How bad could it be?
The first part of the kayak lesson was taught by Maree. She focused on the basics: how to hold your paddle, how to get into your kayak properly, and what to do if you tip. When we got into the water, John took over. John had us paddle around while playing a game of tag with a sandal to get used to the kayaks. Not too much later, it was time to tip. In order to pass the kayak instruction course, Maree and John needed to know that the students would be able to get right side up if they tipped. And what better way to ensure this than to show them. So, we all paired up (I was with Mary and Miranda) and took turns "falling" into the freezing ocean water. I, mindlessly, volunteered to go first. I jumped right in with no hesitation, and it honestly wasn't that bad. The water was freezing but I was used to the initial can't-really-breathe shock from being in Sweden. The only difference was that in Sweden, I was able to jump right out and warm up. Here, I was 200ft from shore and the only way out of the water was back in the kayak. Fiddling to anchor my kayak on Mary's, I managed to pull my bow over hers, empty out the water, flip the kayak up right, and then shuffle back inside the cockpit. Everyone did this once. The moment the last person finished, we raced back to shore to warm up.
Showering was a wonderful thing after being so cold for so long. After everyone was showered and warm, Steph called everyone to the wharekai for some soup and garlic bread. Yummy.
At 2pm, Ria lectured about wetlands, subtly introducing this weeks academic topic. After Ria was finished, Ric came into the wharekai to introduce our field trip for the week: Opoutere. In Opoutere, we will be staying a a youth hostel and be taking day trips out to hike and kayak around local estuaries. The plan is to leave early tomorrow morning and then to be back Sunday. Luckily, the mentors are giving us students from Friday afternoon to Sunday off. Most students are planning on renting cars and driving around the Coromandel and camping. Another thing regarding this week is that we are traveling to a very pre-technology town, meaning cellular service and internet connection is EXTREMELY limited.
Until next time…please enjoy some pictures of my adventures thus far!
love these paige!!! (auntie jen)
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