Wellington Camp

Wellington camp was the best camp I have ever been to. It was also probably the most full-on five days I have ever experienced. The only negative comments about Wellington Camp was the early mornings, seven hour bus rides, and not having much time to explore Te Papa. My favourite activity we did was snorkeling.

DAY ONE - MONDAY
Today we went to Zealandia (an Eco restoration project), Te Papa museum, National Library WW1 Exhibit, and H2OXtreme.
At Zealandia we had a guided tour and got to see some of NZ most rarest birds, insects, and reptiles living in their natural environments. Some of the amazing animals we saw included Hihi, Tuatara, Saddleback, Kaka, and Takahe.
At Te Papa we had an hour too explore the 5 stories in our groups(my group was with Amelia, Raiha, and Megan). One of my favourite exhibits was the giant squid.
At the National Library we looked at their gallery and watched a short film.
At H2OXtreme there was three hydro slides. One was pitch black, the other was blue, and the last one went straight down. There was also a whirl and a wave pool.

DAY TWO - TUESDAY
We went to Carter Observatory, Parliament, and ONTV and Media Studio.
At Carter Observatory we had a talk about the order of planets, and learnt about Extremophiles (an organism that live in extreme environments). We the went and had a look around their exhibits. There was rocks from outer space, a gigantic telescope, a room made to look like a space craft and heaps of other cool stuff. After we had good look at everything we went into a planetarium, which is a big room with a domed roof and seats. We then watched a movie called 'going to the moon for good", and had a look at the night sky and some constellations.
At Parliament we had a talk with Babara Krulger (the MP for Taranaki King Country). We then went into the house and watched the parties debate. It was really loud some times, when everyone was asking questions. It was really strict at Parliament with security. We then went to ONTV and Media where we split into groups. My group went to ONTV first. There we put on costumes and did a play, called 'Once Upon a Crime'.

DAY THREE - WEDNESDAY
Today we went to Wellington Zoo and Island Bay Marine Centre- Snorkeling and Viewing Marine Exhibits.
Wellington zoo was really cool. Not only did we get to see many amazing animals, we got to watch a blue penguin have an x ray and see a zoo keeper feed the tigers. Some of my favourite animals I saw was a Sun Bear, the Chimps, Red Panda and the Kiwi.
At Island Bay Marine Centre we were split into two groups, I was in the second group. Group One was snorkeling first and Group two was playing on the beach. On the beach we found four weights under the sand. They were really hard to pull up! When it was our turn to go into the water the wind had picked up and it was a lot colder. We got into our wetsuits, grabbed our mask, snorkel and flippers, and went down to the beach. We were put into pairs of two, with an adult. I was with Caitlin and here mum, Sharleen. The groups were then given a boogie board which they had to stay close to at all times. We then had a quick talk about signals from the person spotting on the beach and other safety issues. We then got into the water. It was amazing, because the reef started a metre from the shore, in water below your knees. We held onto the boogie board and kicked out towards the rocks on the left. All below us was plants, coral, fish, starfish and massive paua. I even saw an eel or sea snake. The water was cold when we first went in, then I warmed up a bit. When we got to the rocks we saw a Blue Loki. A blue Loki is a big blue fish. There was lots of other fish though. The most common type was a black and yellow striped one. There was also lots of sea weed plants, housing lots of marine life. We stopping kicking and floated for a while, and watched as the creatures darted in and out of the weed. It was around then that I decided to dive down. I was nervous, as my last and first snorkeling experience was horrible, as I swallowed a huge mouthful of salty water. As I dived down though, my fears were instantly forgotten. it was amazing. After a few dives, I learnt that you didn't have to blow out while you were under, which was what I was doing. Instead all you did was hold your breath. I was able to stay under the surface for a lot longer after that. We then started to go back to the shore, as Caitlin was cold. I was freezing too, as the temperature in the water had seemed to drop heaps, but I decided to go out again once we had dropped Caitlin off. When it was time to come in, even though my fingers were blue I didn't want to leave the water, and all the beauty it held. After we had gotten everyone had gotten changed we went to see their Marine exhibits. There we were able to pick up and have a look at some marine life like Anemones, Starfish, Kina, and Sea Cucumbers. It was really cool touching and feeling all their different textures. There was also some tanks with Seahorses, Squids, Sharks, Shark eggs, and Turtles. Once we had had a good look and feel of everything, a man there feed the squid. Before he did that, he asked if anyone wanted to touch it. Amelia and I rushed forward to the front, eager. When the squid grabbed my arm, it was amazing. It had so many suckers and was really strong. it was actually really hard to pull its tentacles off! Then he feed it a life crab. It was sad, but really cool watching his hunting technique.

DAY FOUR - THURSDAY
Today we went to the Holocaust Centre, Museum of Wellington City and Sea, and ONTV Media studio again.
At the Holocaust Centre we had a talk about what happened during the holocaust and had a lady called Vera who was a child-survivor talked to us about her ordeal. We then had a look around the room and read some books/diaries about it. We then went to a room which was filled with buttons. The ladies at the centre told us that a school had collected 1.5 million buttons to represent the 1.5 million children that died. I had always known and thought that 1.5 million was a lot, but when I saw all the buttons it was heart breaking. I will never understand how any man or human could kill people, children especially, in cold blood.
At the museum we had a look at an exhibition called 'through the ages' which had one item to represent each year from 1900 to 2000. then we went up to the Wahine Disaster floor, which happened in the Wellington harbour. We did a little talk/skit about the Wahine Ferry disaster.
At Capital E we went to the Media studio and made apps. The first app we made was one with a picture of a cat and when you tap it it meows. The second one we did was a drawing app. There was six colours to choose from and if you shake the phone it rubs out your drawing. The last app we made was called Magic 8 ball. You ask a question, tap the ball and it will come up with a random answer like yes or no. I really enjoyed it and it was one of my favourite things that we did at Wellington.