Saturday 23 February 2013

A Great Way To Start The Year!

Our second annual Mystery Trip kick-started the year.

On Tuesday 29 January at 12pm, we had a powhiri (formal welcome) in Ruamoko Marae, to welcome new students and staff. After that we had lunch in the Common Room… then the game started!
Two groups of students were handed a quiz of ten questions. Once a team had all the answers correct, they were given their first envelope. Inside was a photo of a park with old buildings to help identify the location. The second team’s envelope contained a photo of a Mega-zone building.


The race was on and the teams were off! They had to race to their locations and take a group photo proving that they found the right place, and their next clue… a photo of the next location.

 
 
Having raced to five different locations, the teams then had to find stones with their names on and take them to their final destination - Chosen Valley Christian Camp.



We all picked which cabins to stay in for two nights. We had a meal and then a welcome speech from the Activities Coordinator who explained the rules of Chosen Valley and the safety rules for the activities.

To wind down after our race across Auckland, everyone came together in the evening, sat in the lounge and had a chance to catch up with each other.

The next morning everyone was eager to try the activities.







In the evening, due to the fire ban around Greater Auckland, instead of a campfire most of us went for a one-hour walk up the hill to see the view of the Franklin/Ararimu area.




When we were all back in the lounge Susan presented the activities and responsibilities for 2013. All of the preparations for this year have been very positive and everyone is looking forward to having a good year.

It was great to see older students helping out with new students, making them feel part of the group and supporting less abled students throughout the stay.




One of the students gave a thank you speech to the camp organiser, who appreciated their time and the students’ impeccable behaviour while there.


Some students are now keen to organise the next mystery trip next year. One staff member will guide them. It seems that the students are getting more confident planning events as each year goes by.

Tuesday 2 October 2012

Ski Weekend

September 14th was the big day for the students from Totara Village, Kelston Boys High School and Ormiston Senior College - the annual ski trip to Mt Ruapehu.

 
We left at 1pm with eleven students and four staff. As usual there was a lot of excited signing and some laid-back students relaxing with their music. Te Kuiti was the first stop for hamburgers and drinks before going on to Mt Ruapehu. By 8.15pm we had arrived at Skotel Alpine Lodge. Two student leaders, Miriam and Tuhoi, organised the group to go downstairs to get rental skis and clothing. 
 
When we woke up at 7am to heavy rain pouring down, the staff were surprised to see all the students already up and dressed. Everyone was so enthusiastic to go skiing, by 8.30am we all left to go up the mountain. 
 
Due to the clouds visibility was quite limited, so most of us stayed down in Happy Valley (the bottom ski field) where the students took ski and snowboard lessons. Susan helped the ski instructors and Nicki helped with snowboarding. It was amazing to see how much the students improved in just a morning.










 
Unfortunately Ngawaiata sprained her ankle during lessons so she was taken to the First Aid clinic to get it checked out with an x ray. Fortunately it wasn’t broken. She had a ride on a snowmobile to the clinic!

In early afternoon the weather turned for the worse. By 3pm the students were wet and tired, but happy. Back at Skotel most of the students indulged in a spa to relieve the cold and stiff muscles. Everyone was in bed by 10pm and slept soundly!
On Sunday morning, even though the weather was still as bad as the previous afternoon, the ski field was still open! Poor Ngawaiata stayed with one of the staff, but the rest of us went up the mountain again. We found that there was more room to ski as there weren’t as many people around. Regardless of the rain and the freezing cold, the students kept whizzing up and down the slopes. Some of us tried to go further up in the mountain but had to turn back. It was just too cold to go on the chairlift with that freezing air blasting faces and hands.

 
For our last evening at the Lodge, we dined on gorgeous homemade pizzas that the students made - a very colourful meal. We had a drama evening, where all of us had a chance to perform for our friends, and ended up laughing with each other.



 
We got an early start in the morning for our long ride home. The trip north came through Otorohanga for lunch at Subway. A weary group arrived back at Totara Village by 4pm. Worn out from a fantastic weekend skiing and snowboarding, laughing and sharing with friends, and already looking forward to going again next year!

Sunday 19 August 2012

TOTARA VILLAGE WELCOMES JAPANESE DEAF VISITORS AUGUST 2012


Tena koutou katoa (Greetings to you all)

On Monday afternoon Totara Village staff and students had the opportunity to meet our manuhiri (visitors), five Japanese Deaf students and three adults. 

Introductions were shared: Yutaka Osugi (leader) Takashi Shozaki (professional actor), Hanae Ochi (teacher of the deaf), five students whose names were - Naoki Iwata, Ten Ohama, Kanae Oishi, Yuka Tsuji, Maika Tanizawa.

Communications were a slight problem to start with. We were able to get through a word at a time.  Kaori Kobayashi one of our Deaf teachers did a fantastic job being our translator.  The Japanese were very lucky to also have a dictionary translator (small electronic keyboard) to help us communicate, but we were having fun determined to find ways to communicate!

Everyone had the chance to mix and mingle with our manuhiri and enjoyed sharing our dinner with them. Afterwards Ava held an Activities Night where we shared each other’s signs for five particular colours: red, green, black, blue and yellow. We were split into three groups of five. The Japanese students showed us their signs for the colours and we showed them our colours in NZSL. After a few laughs and mistakes on the way, we were off to a fine start. We made the symbol for the Olympic flag.

On Tuesday after school, our students were looking forward to more activities with the Japanese students.  We were ready by 4pm and off to Mount Eden, where it was windy, which we are used to. Some of the Japanese students thought it was very cold and windy. They had warm clothes on but maybe not enough.  They took many photos like we did.

Next stop was Mission Bay where we got dropped off at Kelly Tarlton’s and walked 2km around the water front to Mission Bay beach. Although our students thought nothing of our windy waterfront, our visitors thought it was quite cold. We encouraged them to run to warm up, which they did. Whether it was the run or the trees blocking the wind, we all felt warm on Mission Bay beach. 


The fountain in Mission Bay was changing colours and the Japanese were intrigued by it’s beauty. We all took more photos. 

It was getting late for tea, so we went back to Kelston to buy our fish’n’chips, then back to the Common Room with bread, butter and tomato sauce. We showed our guests the real Kiwi (New Zealand) way of eating fish’n’chips: without plates but using the paper that was used to fold the chips in as our plate. We explained it is a very Kiwi tradition, fish‘n’chips and tomato sauce. They had never seen sausages before! We encouraged them to try fish’n’chips and sausages in the Kiwi way. They enjoyed their yummy kai (food).

The next morning, before 5am, some of our students and most of the Japanese students went to see how a hangi (roasting pit in the ground) is prepared. They watched the adults setting up the fire and putting the kai into the pit when it’s hot enough. 


The students all looked so tired after their early morning, but agreed it is worth rising early to enjoy such an experience.  By lunchtime the hangi was ready to eat.


After lunch we were treated to a performance by Takashi Shozaki. He entertained a group of KDEC students: our youngest pre-schoolers to our oldest Transition students, and all the staff who joined the audience. Even though some of us may have difficulties communicating, his performance transcended language barriers. We were able to understand and admire. 



We had quite a light dinner after the hangi for lunch. Then another kiwi favourite, ice cream and fruit salad for desert, which was most popular among our Japanese visitors.  We provided six different flavours of ice cream so everyone found a flavour they enjoyed.

On Thursday after school, our students waited in anticipation to meet up with our Japanese visitors. Homework and duties were forgotten as we waited for our new friends to set up the Common Room for us. We were excited yet sad because it was their farewell. 


We stayed in the Common Room from 3pm to 10.30pm! All of the students were tired but determined to be there and not miss this last evening with their friends.

The Japanese visitors came with food galore, ‘Sushi’ and ‘miso’ soup which was delicious.  Kanae showed us how to make our own sushi wrap. We are all very fast learners and eaters!  It’s a shame we can’t have sushi every night, but we can definitely have it once a week now we know how to make our own!


We had our presentation after dinner, our Japanese friends showed us their activities and how to paint our names on this special paper that they use for writing which was a big ‘WOW’ for those not familiar with their style of writing.


Finally we held poroporoaki - our farewell speeches and presenting taonga (special gift) to our visitors, some with mixed feelings and some sad.


We want to say “We have all enjoyed your company, and learned a lot in such a small amount of time.  Thank you for sharing your culture, your language and your friendship and aroha with us.  You are all most welcome back anytime.


Kia kaha (Stand strong) Ka kite ano (See you later)

Tuesday 20 March 2012

Waitomo Caves

Our accommodation was well hidden from the street and we spent some time trundling around in the dark looking for our huts. When the first van got stuck in some mud we all helped pushing it out. It was funny when one of students got splashed all over with mud (sorry that we all had a laugh at your expense!) Five minutes later the second van got stuck and it was even funnier when one of the staff slipped in a ditch and tore their trousers.


The staff were woken up early Saturday morning by excited students eager to start the day. We arrived at the glow worm cave at 9.20am and the guide took us underground to start our tour. She explained how the cavern was formed and then took us on to the pier for the boat ride showing us the glow worms. We were all in awe seeing such a beautiful sight.


 

Out on the other side of the cave is a museum with displays showing the history of the glow worm caves. Our favourite part was a tunnel we could wriggle through like cave explorers in the past.









 We went back to the huts to have lunch and then went on to the highlight of our trip, Ruakuri Cave


The tour normally lasts 1 ½ hours, but the students asked so many questions we took nearly 2 ½ hours to go through. The guide answered every single question we could throw at him and obviously had a rich knowledge and passion for the work he does.








After dinner, we went back to Ruakuri Reserve for a short night walk. From the bridge there is an amazing view of glow worms outside.

On Sunday we travelled back to KDEC via the Otorohanga Kiwi House. We saw two lovely kiwi in action, one Spotted Kiwi one Brown Kiwi. We also did their Kiwiana quiz which involved a race around the main street of Otorohanga to find the answers.



It’s easy to take for granted what a diverse and beautiful country we live in. We all need to take time, every now and then, to see some of the wonders in our own backyards.