A Day On Quail Island 🐦

Yesterday morning, wearing mufti and huge smiles on our faces, the entire Year Eight group ventured out to Quail Island for a daytrip. Although it was chilly at times, and the walks and hills we encountered were quite tiring, we all had a fantastic time both on the boat trip and on the island! We learnt many things along the way, and I am excited to share it with you! Here is our experience, and a brief history, on Quail Island.  

What is Quail Island?

Quail Island is a small uninhabited island located off the Lyttelton Harbour, just a short boat trip away. Back in the early 20th century, Quail Island was used as a human quarantine area for leprosy patients coming off boats and living in Christchurch. 

It was also used for Maori to hunt for quails (which are now extinct) bird's eggs, stone, flax, and also for farming and training dogs. As of 2017, the island is home to a beach, walks, penguins, native birds and trees, as well as introduced species of trees and birds. Black Cat Cruises is a company offering a ferry service to and from the island everyday. 

Heading to the Island!

As Lyttelton Harbour is quite a long distance east of our school, we were required to take a bus. It took about fifteen minutes to get there, and I was excited to get off by the end of it! 

Lyttelton Harbour was less than inviting - the sky was overcast, grey clouds glooming above us, the smell of sea water thick in the air as we approached the dock.

In the water was a small jetty boat, bold lettering displaying 'Black Cat Cruises' on the side. Excitedly, yet a little nervous at the events to come, we filed onto the two boats.

Surprisingly, the boats were very cosy. There was a top deck, as well as a deck around the sides, and a large area inside with seats and a bar. Me and my friends stood at the front of the boat, admiring the views and snapping photos. The boat departed almost immediately, speeding across the waves like a cheetah. It was much faster than the ferry is all I can say!

Arriving at the island after a short boat ride was amazing. We approached the dock, climbing off and seeing a large group of kids that had already arrived. The island was much larger than I anticipated. Tall trees sprouted from all ends, steep cliffs faced the harbour, and the water splashed beautifully against the rocks. We were greeted by our tour guides Ian and Tina, would be guiding us around the island in groups. My class had our ecological tour first, accompanied by Tina, Mr Mitchell, Jill, and Mr Gibson. 

An Ecological Tour of The Island

This tour would involve a very tiring walk up a hill, looping around the island to see the incredible view of the harbour. Walking up, Tina told us all about the different kinds of trees found on the land. Quail Island is home to a variety of both Evergreen and Deciduous trees; native species as well as introduced species.  

We learnt about pine trees, which originate from California but surprisingly grow much taller in New Zealand than they do back in the states, due to a number of reasons including higher rainfall and medium temperatures. The island is also home to many bushes, including bushes belonging to the Coprosma family - which contains seeds used to create coffee. 

Heading back, Tina told us all about when the trees were planted, and what pattern. Originally, trees were planted in a cross shape across the island. Tina, as well as her tour group, are working towards restoring the island to it's original state before human settlers.

The History of Quail Island

After lunch, our tour guide Ian brought us on a tour around the 'Ship's Graveyard', teaching us about the history of the island. We got to see a replica of an old leprosy house, rebuilt by students from Canterbury University. Originally there were four houses on the island; inhabited by patients suffering from leprosy. Leprosy is one of the many diseases humans were quarantined on the island for, in which patients may lose their nose, toes, fingers and ears, among another limbs. 

The Ship's Graveyard is home to an array of old shipwrecks. Off the beach lays the remains of three sunken boats. The remains look like rib cages, however Ian informed us that these were only the iron structures of the boats. The boats were built for speed, and sailed between Britain and India for tea leaves. They were towed somewhere between the 19th and 20th century, and now are an amazing view for visitors of the island. 

We also visited the assumed gravesite of the only death on the island; Ivon Skelton. Due to the time period he died, searches for the body have been unsuccessful, and as a result the gravestone is not on the final burial site. This was personally the most fascinating thing on the island in my opinion. Ivon was born in Samoa and contracted leprosy while visiting relatives on the West Coast. He was the only recorded death on the island. 

In conclusion, I had an amazing time on the island. It was one of the most fascinating and interesting things I've ever seen! I visited the oldest building I'd ever been in, visited a grave site and saw the remains of sunken boats used in the 19th century and beyond. I learnt so much about the history of the island, as well as many different kinds of trees and birds on the island. I'm already planning to go back again! 

8Mt's Fabulous Fudge Fundraiser!

As part of our Hauora Kete, we had to do a community service project as a class.
We thought to ourselves, what could we do around the community as philathrapists?
Then Mr Mitchell had an idea.
Around our school, we are visited, coached, and befriended by 24/7 Youth Workers. They are employed by the Youth Church at our Technology site; they offer many cool activities such as the after-school hangouts. 
Well, Mr Mitchell decided it would be great to hold a fundraiser, to raise money to give to the Hope Church, as thanks for all of their support over the years.
What fundraiser did he have in mind?

FUDGE MAKING.

It was on! 8Mt quickly got to work, creating posters, making fudge, and planning for the fundraiser. My role was to create some posters to advertise the fudge stall! Here is my poster.




As you can see, the fudge stall will be named The Fudge and The Furious! In fact, I came up with it myself. 
However, there are more activities than just a fudge stall.
Mr Mitchell challenged us to a fudge making competition.
Here's how it goes - each student submits one piece of their fudge, whether it be chocolate, russian, or just a Brownie or slice. Judges are blindfolded, eat the fudge, and pick the best. 
Mr Mitchell thinks he will win the competition, but I have my doubts. After all, my little sister is a baker!

Come down and buy some fudge and help raise money! 
The fudge stall will be open at Thursday lunchtime, in J6 - Mr Mitchell's class.
#thefudgeandthefurious 

Persuading my teacher for food!

Persuasive Writing Week 3 

This week we were given the task on writing a letter, persuading our teacher Mr Mitchell to shout us food on Friday. The most perusasive letter from each writing group would win a $5 tuckshop voucher. I have written and self-assessed my writing, I am glad to share it with you. 

As you definitely already know, being the most cleverest teacher there is, food is an essential, crucial area of my life. From breakfast, lunch, and dinner, every human, plant, or animal, I require food to live happy and healthily. However, is nutrition everything food is great for? The answer is simply, absolutely not.

When an individual such as you or me consume food, it increases their energy levels enormously! There is no reason at all for you to be forced to have to deal with a disrespectful, lifeless, unfocused and hungry student -- like me. Without just a quick snack at interval or lunchtime, my concentration and focus levels would decrease at staggering levels! Poor concentration leads to a lack of learning, listening, and brain function - undoubtedly leading to poorly uneducated students that you will just be forced to reteach, next year. What kind of reputation would that pose on yourself as a teacher? It’s not only essential to kindly shout me food, but it is simply plain stupid to put that kind of stress and guilt on yourself!

As a busy, hard-working teacher, stress is a terrible, self-degrading, mental tension that I’m confident you will be familiar with. You know the feeling; high anxiety, tension in the muscles, all different types of terrible, unideal symptoms, the list goes on. Well, wouldn’t it be absolutely appalling if your unkindness, unwillingness, and lack of qualities as a good human towards a student lead them to become extremely-stressed and fatigued? You would cause nothing but widely-reduced academic levels on your own, typically-brilliant student -- not only that, but terrible, long-lasting mental health problems.

On edge about your own stress levels? Well, giving me, and me only, food, would be a simple yet extremely beneficial act of kindness and passion. Scientifical research proves that this one-time-only act will definitely increase your happiness; and decrease stress levels majorly.

In conclusion, and to put it in the simplest form; shouting me, an amazing student, a free lunch for one day only, would lead to a happy, respectful, concentrated, well-educated student, and a happy, stress-free day for yourself.

Plus, I’m currently horribly crippled, so you’re really just helping me out.

For my sentence structure, I gave myself an R6. I believe my writing consists of a unique range of sentence lengths; varying from short sentences, to compound sentences, to more complex sentences. In my final draft, I am striving to strengthen my long sentences without rambling.

For my vocabulary, I have given myself an R6. I believe my words express clear, precise information to really persuade Mr Mitchell. Next time I could work on including some onomatopoeia or metaphors, to really draw my readers in.  

So what do you think of my writing? Feel free to write your comments and feedback down below, I love receiving them! What would you give me for my vocab and sentence structure, and would you buy me lunch?

My First Week At HHS As A Year Eight - The Treaty Of Waitangi

These were my first two weeks at Hornby High as a Year Eight student, I am in Mr Mitchell's class and settling in well. This week we learned about Waitangi, as Waitangi Day has just passed and we are in the process of drafting our 'class treaty'. Here's a few things I learned about it.

On February 6th 1840, the treaty of Waitangi was signed by Maori chiefs from all over the country of New Zealand. This treaty was drafted and written by William Hobson, who had sailed to New Zealand just days before, on January 30th. William Hobson created this treaty in hope to stop the disagreements between the Maori and English in New Zealand at the time - over land and rights etc.
The treaty was drafted and written in English by William Hobson and was translated to Maori by a group of missionaries. The translation is where many of today's protests erupt from. The translation was not perfect which led to misunderstandings between the Maori and English. Once the Maori chiefs had signed; some of which were unsure, they were horrified to see the English had taken down the Maori flag, replacing it with the English flag at the time. You see, the Maori and English had different perspectives. For example, when the treaty said the English and Maori would not steal other's treasure, the English thought that meant treasure as in pirate's treasure - gold, diamonds, rubies, etc. However the Maori though "treasure" meant water, land and trees, leading to protests to this day over it.

I have enjoyed my first two weeks at school as a Year Eight and am excited to learn more in the future. I have already finished my first CARR card, volunteered for a job in art class and planning to audition for this year's Shakespeare festival.

:) J