Students affected by Cyclone Gabrielle explore Rotorua outdoors funded by school

Ilminster Intermediate funds outdoor education trip to Bay of Plenty after Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / Rotorua Canopy Tours

Students from a Gisborne intermediate school visited the Bay of Plenty this week as part of a three-day outdoor education trip funded by the school’s board of trustees.

The trip was originally scheduled for earlier in the year but had to be postponed to this week because some of the students from Ilminster Intermediate were from families whose properties had been hit by the flooding caused by Cyclone Gabrielle in February.

Ilminster Intermediate principal Megan Rangiuia said the group of 18 students visited Rotorua’s Canopy Tours and Rocktopia in Mount Maunganui.

The school funded the trip, which ensured money was not a barrier for students said Rangiuia.

Students selected for the trip needed a school attendance rate of more than 90 per cent. which had been a “challenge” this year due to the cyclone and other weather disruptions.

The students were also chosen for “living out school values” which included being positive, inclusive, responsible, and respectful.

Rangiuia said for 20 years the school had historically funded school trips for tournaments and leadership camps.

“It comes out of our OPTS (operational funding) grant. It’s just something long-term our board, going back 20 years, made a commitment to do,” she said. The school has 300 students.

“We are really lucky. The kids are really grateful,” said Rangiuia.

Ilminster Intermediate funds outdoor education trips in the Bay of Plenty after Cyclone Gabriel. Photo / Rotorua Canopy Tours

Student Kirianu Pishief, 13, said her family “didn’t have power for a few days” after Cyclone Gabrielle.

She was nervous about the rock climbing excursion at Rocktopia in Mount Maunganui but was grateful for the opportunity funded by her school.

Student Alice Varey said ziplining at Rotorua Canopy Tours was her favourite outdoor activity.

“, I was kinda scared but it was really fun,” said Varey.

The thirteen-year-old said she was challenged to overcome her fear of zipling during the tour.

“I was kinda nervous but I gave it a go,” Varey said.

She said she learned New Zealand was once covered with forest but that had fallen dramatically over the course of history.

Since 2012 Rotorua Canopy Tours have been working to restore the native forest where it operates. Tens of thousands of pests have been caught and 280 hectares of native forest has been restored in the area.

Varey said the conservation area looked “really healthy” and the trees were “really green and pretty big”.

Student Kyle Tukalan-Pinn, 12, said it was his first time doing outdoor activities that involved heights.

“It’s a good challenge,” he said.

Rotorua Canopy Tours general manager Paul Button.

General Manager of Rotorua Canopy Tours Paul Button said “It’s really important for the young kids to be getting out and experiencing the outdoors.”

He said experiencing the effects of the wairua (spirit) and wellness of the forest was about “reconnecting people with nature”.

“They are a part of it and learn about the biodiversity challenges and what we are doing and what they could do about it,” said Button.

He said the students were receptive and “love the adventure and the exhilaration” of the ziplining tours.

It was about “getting out of their comfort zone and connecting with their classmates”.

“You’re 20 metres up high on 1000-year-old trees,” he said.

Button said education about preserving New Zealand’s native forests was important.

“In New Zealand, our forest and biodiversity are our natural assets,” said Button.

Michaela Pointon is an NZME reporter based in the Bay of Plenty and was formerly a feature writer