No, my spelling hasn't deteriorated... I've just returned from 3 days in the Abel Tasman National Park on a school camp. School trips in the UK meant a 5 hour coach journey, a hail of sweets inside the bus, icy hail outside, nights chasing kids around tents, and 5 days of muddy adventuring.
Instead, I took 23 impecably behaved Nelsonians just an hour from school into a dolphin and seal haven. We camped, swam, BBQ'd and played games on the golden beaches and visited seal colonies, islands and remote beaches by day!
The weather was hot and dry throughout, at no point were any of us bored yet, when I sarcastically asked one lad if he would rather be at school, he said "I wouldn't mind, I quite like school!" I must apeal to his teachers to give him a harder time!!
There was a pod of Orca (killer whales (which are actually dolphins not whales!)) in the area but we were not fortunate enough to see them. One of the guides taught me a fair amount about these awesome creatures, although he emphasised how little we understand them still. They are depicted by native American Indians as wolves of the sea due to their sophisticated social lives and their whilyness. There are two types, most are residents to an area who hunt fish not mammals. The other types are rogue travellers who attack seals and whales, clearing large expanses of sea as wildlife flee these aggressive hunters - detectable by a different clicking signature... apparently the only incidence of killer whales killing man is at Seaworld!
Anyway, I returned to Nelson tanned and ready for the weekend. Sadly, I have to teach for two days next week before heading back out to the Abel Tasman with a different group of students... what a bugger!
No comments:
Post a Comment