Don't Leave Home till You've Seen the Country...

 “Don’t leave town until you’ve seen the country” was the catch cry of the last domestic tourism campaign in the 1980s and nowhere in the world can this be more true than for New Zealand.

I've spent the last week on a journey around the East Cape with our Middle Years learners (10-15 year olds), a couple of other teachers, our teacher aides and some teachers in training.

We have fed stingrays at Tatapouri, walked historical wharves, and climbed to a lighthouse.
We stayed in public campgrounds, moved on each night and spent a lot of time together.
We saw seals and shags and some incredible scenery and secluded beaches.
We played on the sand and waded in the sea.

New Zealand is indeed a beautiful place. The East Cape can be like going back a little in time. It's uncommercialised, rough and remote. But it's also stunning, breath taking and incredible.

We spent four days on our journey from Te Karaka round the cape and back to Te Karaka. We learnt about looking out for each other, about patience and tolerance for each other, about being together in close quarters for extended periods of time. 

We confirmed that we work and learn with some pretty amazing adults. Adults who cared for kids, who cooked for kids, who were just there for kids all week. 

And that the students we work and learn with our pretty amazing young people with their own strengths and talents, some of which we don't always see in the everyday life of a classroom environment. We saw leadership and caring and initiative in people we don't always see those things from. We saw young people have courage to do  things they were scared of, and interact with their peers in a freedom they don't always have within the social confines of the school environment.




And we learnt what a beautiful part of the country we live in.