One weka immediately set the scene for its species the minute we arrived on the Island. Every
time we’d stop on the track either ascending or
descending the mountain, or just sitting or standing or lounging around anytime or anywhere
there’d always be at least one weka mooching
around somewhere too looking for scraps of
food or just being it’s inquisitive natural self. The
view from the trig station at the highest point
on the island was stunning. The western side of
the island was sheer cliffs down to the water far
below. The eastern side, and view looking back to
Paraparaumu beach, looked a very long way off,
when compared to the opposite view standing on
the beach at Paraparaumu looking back to Kāpiti
Island.
After descending from Tuteremoana, we were
picked up by launch on the beach at 2.30 pm
and ferried to the top, northern end of the island
where we stayed the night in cabins. After a
warm whakatau or welcome from locals, we
reciprocated with whaikōrero, haka and waiata
from Brodie Hēnare (a Church member from
Wainuiomata), Josiah Martin, and Orban WaitakiMessenger. All three boys were part of this year’s
kapa haka group that qualified for next year’s
Kapa haka National Secondary School finals
in Gisborne. Even before the whakatau had
finished, the second most noticed bird on the
island was signalling its intentions to the group.
The infamous kākā was everywhere too. Niko
Lerm (Caleb’s cousin) was photographed with
St Bernard’s College 2013
one bird on each of his shoulders and one on his
head. He literally took turns, bite for bite, with
a kākā, as they demolished a banana together.
What a sight.
The trip could not have been the success that it
was without impressive input from teachers like
Paulina Watson and Perry Nicol; and parenthelpers, Alan Marshall and Dave Plumb.
Faculty
pupils facial expressions during this exercise was
priceless as they looked in their bags with fear
expecting something to LEAP out at them. More
importantly this reinforced for us the reason why
the island is predator free.
Lindsay, the international chef and whakatau
specialist, promised us that if we got some paua
for him, he would cook it for us for dinner that
evening. That was the quickest I’d seen a lot of
those boys move, ever, plus they only had to be
asked once. Janine, our guide, Moana Hibbert
and Tupoki Wairau-Hunter were the paua collecting machines. The nineteen paua collected were
turned into an absolutely lovely dish – even those
that didn’t particularly liked paua loved how
Lindsay had prepared it that evening. Lindsay
spoilt us every meal he cooked – not only with
quantity but quality even more so.
Much to the disappointment of most, the evening
was wet after a warm though overcast day. This
meant the likelihood of us spotting the spotted
kiwi was slim. As we walked through the wet
undergrowth, kiwi, like humans, didn’t relish
the idea of being out on such a night despite
hearing the occasional call of the kiwi higher up
the bush line. None of the four groups achieved
the goal of sighting a kiwi during the evening so
I’ve been wondering if, in fact, like the Loch Ness
Monster in the Scottish Highlands, they do exist.
This is why I’m looking to take a similar sized
group of boys’ back next year. A visit to Kāpiti
Island wouldn’t be a visit to Kāpiti Island without
spotting a spotted kiwi; it’s as simple as that. All
would agree, the Kāpiti Island trip was an unforgettable experience and something everyone
should have on their Aotearoa/New Zealand/St
Bernard’s College bucket list of things to do.
Trip down the Whanganui
River
Planning is currently underway for two trips down
the Whanganui River for next year. Both trips will
be for those students learning te reo Māori during the year. Each trip will take in the history, the
marae, the tikanga, the kōrero along the River.
Mr Tupu Williams
HoD of Māori
57