The Plaza in Salamanca, Spain, 2024. The students from Kerikeri High School there at night after being at the theatre.
Hola from Kerikeri High School
Kerikeri High School students are planning a trip to Spain, and have until May to sign up for the venture.
It will be the fourth Spanish excursion. Previous trips were taken in 2015, 2018 and 2024. A trip was planned in 2020 but cancelled due to Covid.
They are fundraising by hiring out their labour, offering services such as garage cleaning ($35-$50 a job), window washing ($10-$20), errand running ($10-$20) furniture moving ($15-$25) and pet waste cleanup ($10-$20). They are open to other job suggestions, too.
The students are available to work all day at weekends, and from 4.30pm to 7.00pm Monday to Friday. Each student going to Spain needs to raise about $9000.
Spanish teacher Kerri Williams says 12 to 14 students will be on the trip, with two adults accompanying them.
“Students spend three weeks in homestays billeted in pairs living with a Spanish host family while attending a language school for four hours each day.
“They spend three to four nights in an apartment or hostel in Madrid on arrival while they adjust to the time difference and recover from the travel.”
Students will visit Madrid, Salamanca, Barcelona and Alicante, as well as historical places such as the Palacio Real, the University of Salamanca and the walled city of Ávila.
They will also visit places of cultural significance, including El Prado Art Museum, Las Ventas Bullfighting ring and many of Gaudi’s buildings as well as places of contemporary interest, such as the Real Madrid Stadium Santiago Bernabeu, an illusions museum, DA2 a contemporary art museum and an “escape room”.
Ashton Baker, a student on last year’s trip, said the immersion was a huge success.
“We were properly immersed in the Spanish culture throughout, whether it was going to a cafe and ordering chocolate caliente con churros, hot chocolate with churros, or talking with our host families who didn’t speak a word of English.
“Through the Spanish Don Quijote language school, we learnt lots and took guided tours around the city of Salamanca, where we learned about the history and architecture of all the buildings.
“We also did lots of fun and interesting activities like Zip lining across a river, going to an amusement park, seeing a Van Gogh painting and even just going rowing in the park.”
If anyone would like to donate to the students’ trip, contact Kerikeri High School. Phone 09 407 8916.
Pompallier educators make visit to historic Pompallier Mission
It’s the oldest existing industrial building in New Zealand. Pompallier House in Russell is a printery and tannery built by Catholic missionaries in a French style rammed-earth construction,
The Brothers completed the printery building in 1842, and Pompallier Mission became the hub of the Catholic undertaking in New Zealand and the wider Pacific. Nearly 40,000 religious texts were printed in Māori.
Today, it’s a Tohu Whenua cared for by Heritage NZ Pouhere Taonga, and Pompallier House recently hosted a group of educators with a unique connection to the historic site.
Marist teachers representing members of the Marists of Champagnat Star of the Sea Province, which incorporates countries in the Asia-Pacific region visited the place where Bishop Jean-Baptiste Pompallier established the Roman Catholic headquarters to Oceania, with help from a group of Marist Brothers from Lyons.
The team of visiting Marist Brothers were led by Brother Brian Stanaway, who has a long-standing connection to the historic mission and who was part of the rōpū (group) that brought Bishop Pompallier’s remains back to New Zealand in 2002.
The Brothers were given a tour of the Mission House, printery and tannery by Pompallier Mission staff.
Group member Daniel Dungey acknowledged the in-depth knowledge of tour leader Cornelia Schmidt and the manaakitanga (blessing) of Property Host Tracey Rewiri on behalf of the group. He also paid tribute to “the amazing mahi the staff provide in keeping this beautiful story alive for future generations”.
The Pompallier Mission visit was the starting point for a hīkoi around Northland with the group of educators visiting significant places in the history of the establishment of the Roman Catholic Church in New Zealand.
These included Motuti, where the remains of Bishop Pompallier are buried at St Mary’s urupā (cemetery) on the Hokianga, and Tōtara Point, the site of the first Mass said on January 13, 1838, by Bishop Pompallier, near Kohukohu, also on the Hokianga Harbour.
Sandbar cricket returns
Last month, about 30 Russell Boating Club members and associates assembled on the intertidal sandbank at the southern end of Motukiekie Island.
They were with some stalwarts from the Ōpua Cruising Club to play a game of cricket.
The annual Greybeards versus Mudcrabs cricket match had not been played for a few years, but there’s a long and proud history of the event taking place dating back to the 1980s. There’s even a trophy up for grabs.
Traditionally, the Greybeards were the club’s old timers while the Mudcrabs were those who live on their boats at Matauwhi Bay. Such distinctions, however, didn’t interfere with the game that was held on March 1, simply because the tide was right, and it was about time.
Once the tide was out far enough to offer flat sand, it was game on. Everyone had to bat, and most involved got to bowl. For a couple of hours, an intense match ensued, helped by an umpire who may or may not have had a bias one way or the other.
Anything that landed in the water was a six, or indeed, a four and with runs piling up on the scoreboard, there was quite a bit of big hitting and lots of loud shouts of “catch it”.
The Mudcrabs emerged victorious, with some of the Greybeards blaming their loss on the amount of champagne consumed before, during and, if they say so themselves, after the match.
The game is earmarked to return next year (when there’s a favourable tide) and rumour has it astroturf could be rolled out at that point.
The Northland Expressway will run from Warkworth to Whangārei.