SUMMER LEARNING JOURNEY: Protecting Our Own 🐬

Welcome to another Summer Learning Journey post! I'm writing this post at Sydney Airport, a few good hours away from boarding our plane to Denpasar, Indonesia. I hope you enjoy!

  

Activity 1: A Flying Fox [4 points]

New Zealand has some of the most beautiful forests in the world. Both New Zealanders and tourists, alike, enjoy walking through these forests. Unfortunately, constantly walking through forests can damage the plants and animals (flora and fauna) that live there. In an attempt to protect the local flora and fauna, an eco-tourism company in Rotorua came up with an idea. The Rotorua Canopy Tours Company designed a series of ziplines that sit above the forest canopy (top). People can ‘zip’ from one section of the forest to another, looking down on the beautiful natural areas below. To see what ziplining looks like, check out this video.


I have tried ziplining and I really enjoyed it, however, I must admit that I was pretty scared to try it at first. How would you feel if you had the chance to go ziplining in Rotorua? 

On your blog, tell us how you would feel about going ziplining in Rotorua. Try to use some descriptive words (adjectives) and action words (verbs) in your post!.

GIF provided by South Park on Giphy!

I believe I would be absolutely petrified if I ever got the opportunity to go on a zip-line in Rotorua. As my Mum says, it's easier said than done: this is something I've learned time after time here in Australia (like the time I held a snake on the Gold Coast!). However, I would at least try to build up some courage to go on the zip-line because the feeling of regret is one of the worst feelings in the world to me. One time I didn't go on a roller coaster at Sea World and I still shudder about it to this day...

The zip-line sounds like it would be a fast adrenaline-rush, that almost makes you feel as if reality has been altered. The trees below, no matter how beautiful they are, would be a blur, but the view of the mountains are crystal clear still water would be surreal. 

I think that after the zip-line, I would definitely not regret doing it, despite my immense fear at the beginning. It would truly be a once-in-a-lifetime experience as I've never been on a zip-line before, and I don't think there's a zip-line anywhere near Christchurch (at least, not to my knowledge). My older sister has been on a zip-line in Hawaii and she said it was awesome, so that helps. 

Activity 3: A House is Not a Home [10 points]

New Zealand is home to some unique wildlife that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. While we work very hard to protect our natural habitats so, too, do people living and working in other countries. One of the oldest international wildlife conservation organisations is called ‘Fauna & Flora International’ (FFI). They support a number of projects around the world, including those working to protect Lansan trees in the Caribbean, fruit forests in Tajikistan, and national reserves in Mozambique. Read about each of these projects and choose the one that interests you the most. 

On your blog, tell us which project you find most interesting and why..


I personally found the article about the project to protect Lansan trees in the Caribbean very interesting. Originally I was interested by the title: I would love to go to the Caribbean, but by the end, I was really invested in the contents of the article.
One reason why I liked this articles was: 
I've worked with tree resin before while making eco-friendly bees-wax food wraps (how satisfying is that to say! We get our tree resin from sustainable gum trees. 
Another reason I liked this:
I am passionate about saving the environment and projects like this give me faith in the world, as cheesy as it sounds. 
The final reason:
For some reason I'd really like to try 'tapping' on trees: whether it's collecting maple syrup or even resin from Lansan trees in the Caribbean (adding that to my bucket list!) It just sounds so satisfying!