A major difference from my classes in the States is how many trips we have through the university. My second day here I was able to travel north to Northland to observe their land conservation for three days. This week I traveled to Wenderholm Regional Park to discuss how the biodiversity plan recently created was being implemented. We’ve also viewed ecosystems in the nearby Shakespeare Park with our professors. It’s given me a great opportunity to see the island and shows the areas that we are researching. We just had our mid semester break, a 2-week break from classes, during which I visited the South Island. It’s been harder to find time to explore the North Island (where Auckland is located) so these educational trips have been really helpful in seeing the area I live. The trips emphasize the nature and human uses of the land, being an environmental student makes this so interesting for me to compare to the practices that we implement back home.
Other educational resources in the Auckland area are a wide range of museums. The Auckland Museum, located right behind my dorm on campus in a large park called The Domain, has exhibits on Maori culture and the Pacific Islands. I have only been able to visit once but I find Maori culture so interesting here as it has been so well preserved. The exhibits show the different traditions of the Maori culture. Some of these are still practiced today, as we see frequently here with the Haka. My friend and I attended one of the Maori club meetings at which they still sing the traditional Maori songs and dances. There are few cultures that have stayed as well preserved after European invasion.
