Written by South Pacific Overseas Educators, Soumya & Forrest To my beloved superpoopers,
We came together like the Daintree River and parted ways many moons later like its many tributaries. Along the way, we lived and laughed through seventy beautiful, challenging, sweaty, hilarious, eye-opening, wild and wonderful days.
There are so many moments I look back on… a befuddling, chaotic few hours at the Sydney airport when we realized we’d… Read More
Written by South Pacific Students, Madeleine N. & Treavor O. Our group traveled to our last contact, Whenua Iti. We spent the next 9 days caving, hiking and sea kayaking. With our leaders Joe and Michael, we participated in many group bonding activities; we learned more about the Maori culture through these activities.
What have been the three highlights of the week?
🪨 Caving – We went to a cave… Read More
Written by South Pacific Students, Asa & RJ We drove from Raglan down to Wellington over a few days while doing a practice run of our student directed travel. We spent a day in a very culturally significant museum in Wellington before we departed towards the South Island.
What have been the three highlights of the week?
🌎 The first highlight of the week was on our first day of… Read More
Written by South Pacific Students, Talia M. & Madeleine N. Over the past week we had our final stretch outside of Raglan with the Māori. We spent time with knowledgeable Māori community members, Tiaki and Madisyn. We also spent two days at the home Rob and Rangi Marie who combine many Native American and Māori beliefs and customs.
What have been the three highlights of the week?
🏄🏽♀️ Our group… Read More
Written by South Pacific Students, Stella K. and Asa P. Post Hart Farm, we got back on the road and headed to Tangariro National Park for a waterfall hike, mini golf, and a wide view of Mount Doom. Next up: Raglan! We found our way to the maraes to learn about the Maori culture and immerse ourselves in a new lifestyle, making new friends along the way all the while.… Read More
Written by South Pacific Students, Andy & Kyla We arrived at the Hart family farm in New Zealand. This is where we met Greg and Rachel, the amazing hosts that run the cattle farm we worked on. Every morning, part of the group would go with Greg and do the animal related chores such as weighing and herding cattle, feeding pigs and chickens, and driving around on the yute with… Read More
Written by South Pacific Students, Josie G. and Nolan S. We continued our journey at ClimateForce, immersing ourselves in the magic that is the Daintree rainforest. We’ve been mixing our time with physical work for ClimateForce (weeding, fence making, beach cleanups and tending to their tree nursery), learning about environmental careers and the research that ClimateForce does (workshops with plant and seed identification, conversations with ClimateForce employees, and being able… Read More
Written by South Pacific Students, Treavor O. & Tasha B. With our instructors, Martin and Chad, we were able to get certified in scuba diving. We spent one day learning in a pool and two days scuba diving in the magical great barrier reef. After our tiring, but rewarding, three days, we come up to the Daintree. We met the CEO of ClimateForce, Barney and his team. We planted trees,… Read More
Written by South Pacific Students, Talia M. and RJ L. We spent last week at the lovely Sheoak Ridge in the Daintree rainforest. Hosted by Claire and Marcus, two passionate and accomplished conversationalists. We had some amazing wilderness experiences including cuddles with wallabies and educational nature walks.
What have been the three highlights of the week?
🐱 Getting to have unique and immersive wildlife interactions were definitely some highlights, from… Read More
Written by South Pacific Overseas Educator, Forrest On September 20th, thirteen strangers got on a plane with the intent of making their way to Cairns, Australia. After a 15 hour flight the group decided they liked Sydney so much that they’d stay there a little while. We spent two days in Sydney napping away jetlag, exploring Bondi Beach, playing games, and posing in front of the Sydney Opera House. We… Read More
Written By Ryan and Lauren Our last goodbyes have been said. The murmurs of our laughs and celebrations and banter have faded into the surroundings. And the world has continued to turn even as most of us flew half a world away to return to the strange world of familiar things. The story of our journey together has ended. As we re-enter spaces of individual living and storytelling, we’ll each… Read More
Written By Ben Throughout the last 2 1/2 months I was thinking of the perfect way to conclude this blog post. Our group has been through the highs of going caving and exploring the Great Barrier Reef, and the lows of sorting trash in the pouring rain and everything in between. Instead of describing the last week of student directed travel, I decided to bring our adventure to a close… Read More
Written By Baylor and Jensen The week of the 6th we left the comfort of the Hart farm and headed for the South Island. The ferry ride was 4h and it mostly consisted of sleeping, eating and playing cards. The landscape around was beautiful and nothing we had ever seen before. After getting off the ferry we meet one of our guides, And The week of the 6th we left… Read More
Written By Charlie October 31, 2022. A Halloween like none other. I arrived at the Hart family farm exhausted but excited for a change of scenery. An intense couple of days had tired me out, but the beauty of the farm lifted my spirits. Opening the door to our new home, I was greeted by a scene that was best described as a painting. Rolling green hills, grazing sheep and… Read More
Written By Eden & Cole “The largest journey in life is from the heart to the head.” -Terangimarie
This week we let go of some of the things delaying that journey, and did some self reflection to find what fuels it.
October 23rd. Spirits were low. More than half our group was sick. Many competed to be the last healthy one standing, some even trying to play it off as… Read More
Written By Jade and Bridget Maori Cultural Immersion
Kia Ora
Ko Catskills ngā maunga
Ko Hudson te awa
Nō Ironi nō Italia me New York ahau
Ko Jade Marsigliano ahau
Tīhei Mauri Ora!!
Kia Ora
Ko Shenandoah ngā maunga
Ko Potomac te awa
Nō Oui Oui me D.C. ahua
Ko Bridget Scully ahua
Tīhei Mauri Ora Oct. 17 After a long day of travel to Auckland, we finally make our… Read More
Written By Raj I wake up to the sound of the air conditioning unit. It makes a sound- tick, tick, tick, tick. I am aware of the sound, yet also not. It fades in, and out, and in, like a tide. But today is the start of another day, and that is what matters most at the current moment. Not an air conditioning unit. No, in fact, today was extra… Read More
Quotes from the week:
– “Tiaki mai i ahau, maku ano koe e tiaki…” (If you look after me, then I will look after you…) – Tangaroa, Māori god of the ocean
– “Hard plastic remnants”
– “It’s not enough to clean beaches, there has to be an effort to turn the nob off at the source of the plastic pipeline”
– “Imagine being megamind” Data from the week: Total… Read More
Written By Rivermonday, september 26, 2022platypus sighting: after many early mornings of going down to various creeks and ponds in search of a platypus, the long wait was finally over. a small group of four went down to the water’s edge with claire, sitting in motionless silence, transfixed by the water. at last, 10 minutes before all hope was given up, a small brown creature surfaced, ripples echoing… Read More
Written By Talia The land we seek to restore belongs to nobody but itself. We can’t own the spiders or the flies, the barking owls disturbing our rest. We can’t contain the wallabies hopping from bags into freedom, or the trees towering over it all. We spend our days attempting to restore land that will never, and can never belong to us. For the sake of our children, and our… Read More