Fun times at Arataki

Fun times at Arataki

THUMP. The bus came soaring over a bump. I turned to my buddy Theoden and what do you know he is a sleep. I was thinking in my head how is he asleep we have been going over bumps for ages, I tried to wake him but it didn't work.

We were on our school trip to Arataki with Rooms 7 & 6 to inspect the corry diabac virus and insect bugs and their surroundings.

When we got there we saw Miss Bess or Ranger Virginia as she called herself now. She gave us work to do which we took around the bush. At the start of the bush trail there was a scrubber to help stop the disease called Kauri dieback. Me and my mum’s group all scrubbed our feet.

After we scrubbed our feet went started our hike around the loop track. We saw that this part of the bush used to be a potato farm. I was amazed and I bet everyone else was as well. “Wait a second guys,” I said as I hear a sound is that a cicada. I followed the sound and it was there with a bunch of different bugs.

We went across the nature ID track we saw so many names of the tree’s that by the end we knew all of their names. And then we stopped talking for a minute and heard kids talking and birds chirping.

The next thing we did is we went into a workshop about bugs and how they help nature recycle. Ranger Virginia  told us that leaves make their food by a process called photosynthesis. This is when a leaf uses CO2 and H2O to make O2 and sugar (food) for the tree. Once the leaf is finished it falls off and becomes food for the bugs. They eat it or chew, chew, poo, poo as Ranger Virginia explained. What comes out is part of the soil that we stand on and has nutrients for plants in it.

All too soon our amazing adventure had finished and it was time to go back to school.arataki is a great place of adventure so maybe you should go there.