Room 5 - Project Island Song

Room 5 and I went on a trip to Urupukapuka Island which is a part of Ipipiri ( A group of islands, Ipipiri means shelter). We went there on the 22 of September on an Explore boat. I enjoyed the ride and loved going to the bow of the boat where the wind flew into my face. We went there to learn more about a project progressing on that group of islands, Project Island Song. When we got to the bay we listened to the birdsong that they worked on daily, it was so relaxing. The water was beautifully blue and the trees swayed with the wind.

When we arrived at the dock Ria and Debs, volunteers to the project, told us about the island and then we exited the boat. It was a sunny hot day and as my friends and I walked down the dock we arrived at the base, somewhere I had been before 2 years ago. They told us about how they wanted the birdsong to be so loud that you couldn't even hear yourself think and how they would achieve this by trapping all of the pests, planting trees and translocating birds.

After we settled we ate our morning tea and split into groups. I was in group 1 and started my activity of making traps. Bosco, Nate, Vinnie and me got all of the supplies and brought them to the tables. I had made traps before and I was excited to make them again. We screwed all of the screws in (extra tight) and decorated our perfect trap with names, patterns and colourful designs. Then we went for a walk on a track and fed the birds. There were so many pretty birds flying over our heads and landing on the tall trees like rosellas that are from Australia and Tuis that are endemic to New Zealand.

As we sat down to eat our lunch group 2 came from another path and walked slowly towards the eating tables. After eating we all listened to the instructions of Ria as we got our shovels, trees and gloves. We took turns with the GPS marking spots on the island. We came up a hill and as we looked down Ria started talking about how we couldn't run down because of how steep it was and how we had to walk down. We slowly made our way down the hill and we finally reached our destination. We listened intently as Ria taught us how to plant the trees and what they were. As Mia, Shanae and I said our karakia to thank our tree everyone started finishing, putting their gloves away and started to climb back over the fence. None of us wanted to go back up the hill so we took the cliffside track. Ria started talking about how dangerous this track was and everything went eerily silent. We finally started walking and talking about the black scale, a disease brought by the European settlers to kill the trees but it backfired when the Manuka and Kanuka trees were too strong to die of the disease.

As we walked through the flower filled paddock towards the base Shanae, Mia and I chatted happily and made our way to our bags, slouching on the deck. I pulled a green apple out of my lunchbox and bit into it, the juice seeped into my mouth before the flavour hit my taste buds and lit up my face. We pulled our bags onto our back and made our way to the docks but before we could go the teachers wanted a photo. We all bunched up and smiled as the camera took the photo. We all got up and headed to the dock again where we brushed off our feet. We were all getting ready to go when Debs started handing out bread so we could feed the fish. Everyone started chucking bread in but the snapper went to the other side of the dock and me and my friends were getting a bit disappointed when I threw a piece of bread in and a snapper dove up and caught it. My face lit up with a humongous smile, as I tossed small bits of bread in even bigger snappers huddled around it before two of them dove up fighting for it, they flicked water up my legs as my friends and I laughed. I got up and entered the boat as I felt water trickling down my legs, I couldn't hold back my smile.

The ride back was short and calm. Whilst Ria and Debs were talking everyone did their crosswords. When I finished I walked to the bow and let the wind blow in my face. Shanae joined me and a little bit later Mia did. We all talked and laughed when we decided to go to the stern with the boys. The motor was so loud we had to shout to be able to hear people. We were making our way to the bow when we were called back inside, we were coming close to the Paihia wharf. Once we were all seated Ria started giving credit to everyone who helped with the trip before saying goodbye and excusing us. As I stepped off the boat a sudden sadness washed over me like a wave, I was sad we were leaving, I was sad it was all over.

Molly Para