The class started the day off right with a trip to the Riccarton farmers market. We walked around the many local stalls at the Market, sampling the delicious foods and enjoying the friendly Kiwi culture. We loved the many bakeries and artisan foods.
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| Loving the farmers market |
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| Enjoying a vegan Baguette |
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| Dumplings! |
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| One of the many adorable dogs we got to meet |
After the farmers market, we traveled to Travis wetland. At the wetland Colin guided the class in bird watching. We also participated in point counts and along line transects to count and record species diversity. We learned about many native plants and their Māori names and uses. The class spotted many birds including grey teal, shoveler ducks, black swan, purple swamp hen, and even two brown teal (which are rare to the area.)
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| Taking a walk through Travis Wetland |
We made our way to lunch at the Naked Baker, a bakery specializing in savory pies. We enjoyed a nice break and lunch then continued on to Sumner Beach. The class loved the beach and played around in the sand and driftwood.
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| At the beach |
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| The class names in the sand |
After a quick stop at the warehouse to get some essentials, we made our way back to the university to catch a rugby game (the All Blacks against Ireland) We enjoyed watching the traditional Haka by the All Blacks at the start of the game and learning all about the rules and intricacies of rugby.
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| Go All Blacks! |
Tomorrow is first restoration project for the class and we are all excited to get started with ecological restoration. Hope everyone gets some rest tonight and is ready to get dirty planting trees tomorrow!
-Charisse
