A Change of Plans...

We left bright and early this morning for Ohakune and arrived at 9 a.m. to meet two local Rotarians.  We thought we were going to be going on a hike, but instead, we were separated into two groups and whisked off for our vocational visits.  Nathalie and Laura got to participate in a field day for local farmers, and Mary and I were lucky enough to visit a local Marae (Maori meeting place), but first we had to change into skirts, as per the traditional protocol.

When we arrived at the Marae, we had to wait to be welcomed onto the Marae grounds with a song by one of the women.  Then we shook hands and hongied (can you put hongi in past tense?) with each of the 26 school children before entering the Marae building.  The women have to enter before the men (there was only one man) and sit behind them.  Apparently, this is for protection.  Then the school children welcomed us with traditional singing and dancing.  They were then sent back to class, and we were lucky enough to spend a considerable amount of time with Korty, the teacher/principal.  She explained many traditions to us as well as the importance of having a Maori immersion program.  The school has 26 students between grades 0 and 8 with two full-time teachers and one full-time Maori resource teacher.  All positions are funded by the government, and the school is very nice, especially for its size.  We then went to one of the classrooms where the very cute students performed two more songs and dances, and we gave them Canada pencils as a thank you.  Oh, and Mary and I had to sing two songs as well.  We sang "Land of the Silver Birch" and "This Land is Our Land" neither of which could hold a candle to the songs the kids sang.

Then, we spent some time with the head of the local Iwi Trust.  An iwi is a Maori tribe.  This iwi has recently received funds from a treaty settlement and is looking at sustainable, economic, and environmentally responsible ways to invest/spend the money to better the community.  It was very interesting information.

Finally, we visited a local builder, which was related to Mary's vocation. Oh, and we had a quick lunch in there as well. Then, we travelled to the top of Mount Ruahepu, but it was in the clouds today, so we were not able to see anything.  Many people come here to ski in the winter time, and the town of Ohakune reminded us of Jasper.

About Nathalie and Laura's Vocational Visit:

New Zealand Beef and Lamb organized a field day for local farmers to come together to discuss some issues, particularly due to the summers drought. There were speakers on fertilizer use and environmental farm planning of which there are many options including the Whole Farm Plan, the Sustainable Land use Initiative and the Beef and Lamb Environmental Farm plan.  It was very exciting for us when the fertilizer speaker had a slide on the Canada Experimental Lakes program and there findings on phosphorous in the water.  Nathalie was sad to tell the man that this internationally well known scientific program has been cancelled by the Harper government due to funding....
As part of the field day we all (about 30 local landowners, agency folk and two Canadian girls) jumped on quads and toured around the farm to view some of the land management work being done.  After being thoroughly soaked (if you want it to rain plan a field day!) we took part in three workshops; sheep autopsies, fertilizer application, and feed for cattle and sheep. We have learned so much about agriculture in NZ and were so lucky to be able to take part in this on-the-ground training with the locals!  And note to our Alberta friends, at the end of the day everyone was invited to stay for a BBQ and beer.  A winning recipe for a field day if you ask us!


Lastly, it was back to our new host family's houses for "tea" (dinner).  The big news of the day is that we felt our first earthquake.  While we were sitting in the living room waiting for Mary's host to pick her up, we felt four tremors and a low rumbling.  There was some dispute as to whether or not it was an earthquake or rumblings from the still active Mount Ruahepu, which apparently erupted as recently as 1995!  I'm saying it was an earthquake...