After breakfast and tidying up, we said goodbye to Hugh, and left Hinewai for our drive back to Christchurch. Our first stop was supposed to be a colonial and Māori museum, but unfortunately, the museum was closed on weekdays. Instead, we got to explore a beach at Okains Bay. A few of us climbed the rocks on the cliff and walked the path far out from the beach. Then, we got a show from the local Okains Bay elementary school. The school had just 11 kids! The kids performed the Waiata dance (song/haka)which was so precious. They also did a Q&A with us about Florida as many of them had never left their very small town.
Saying goodbye to Hugh!
The closed museum we were supposed to go to :(
After the elementary school, we made a stop to see the waka, or boats, that the Māori used to travel. They are now more celebratory, but they were still really impressive to see. Our next destination was the giant totara tree at Montgomery Park scenic reserve. This was just a ten minute walk to the tree and we enjoyed some pictures.
The Waka (boat)
In awe of the Waka (boat)!
Hugging the giant Totara. Camera does it no justice.
Next came tea time again at Little River cafe. They remembered us from last time! We also saw a native plant nursery with mini versions of all the plants we had seen on our hikes. We then stopped at Te Waihora (Lake Ellesmere), a conserved lake and also Canterbury's largest and the 5th largest lake in New Zealand! After our stops, we headed home to the dorms.
Colin explaining how the trees we plant are locally sourced and come from a nursery such as this one
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