Camp Rotorua 2016

CAMP

RROOTOTROURA
UAHANNAH



Hannah Camp Rotorua 2016

Finally the day had come. It was the day that we
(my mum, brother, Liam, and I) were going to the
place that is famous for their mud pools, geysers
and natural hot springs, Rotorua.

Rainbow Springs:
It was Thursday, the day we were going to

Rainbow Springs. Rainbow Springs is one of the
best of many tourist attractions in Rotorua.
Rainbow Springs has got many animals like kea,
kiwi, white swan, rainbow trout, morepork and
many more.

When we first arrived mum and I went to look at
the trout, while Liam was getting the fish food so
we could feed the fish. When Liam came back,
we tried to feed the trout while avoiding the ducks,
but the ducks were so friendly that you could
hand feed them. I was a bit worried that it hurt
when they pecked you, but it doesn't. So Liam
and I hand feed the ducks for a little bit.

After that we went up to the tree geckos, blue
tongued lizards and the New Zealand native
dinosaur, the tuatara. Liam reminded me about
the time that we got touch a blue tongued lizard.
We found four tuataras, two tree geckos, five blue

tongued lizards and lots of bugs for the tuatara to
eat. Liam attempted to do a staring contest with
one of the tuataras. He of course lost.

Next we met up with the school. Abby, Danielle,
Shikira, Chloe and Neve were sticking with me.
First we all went to the kea, Jenny. Jenny can say

“Ha ha” and “Ha ho”. I remember
last time I was at Rainbow
Springs, I taught Jenny how to
play musical statues. Liam would
be the music, and Jenny and I
would run up and down the side
of the cage, when Liam stopped,
Jenny and I would freeze. One
time, Jenny stopped half way
(But I kept going), then walked
up to me and said “Ha ha”.
After Jenny, we went and saw the rainbow trout.
Shikira found out that the male rainbow trout have
the hooks on their chin and the females don't and
it is illegal to eat rainbow trout, unless you catch it
yourself and you have a fishing licence.
Next we headed towards the morepork. The
morepork was sitting in his tree on the closest
branch to the side of the cage. He puffed out all
his feathers. When he puffed out all his feathers, I
imagined what it would be like to be a morepork.

Then attempted to go back to sleep. But there
was to much noise. Luckily after a while everyone
left to go towards the Big Splash.
On our way to the Big Splash, Shikira and I
spotted a gorgeous white swan. He was standing
in shallow water, surrounded by seagulls, looking
for food.

Finally we made it to the Big Splash. When Mr O
said everyone can go, it was chaos. People were
shoving and pushing and then, the first boat
came. So eight people jumped in as fast as they
could, and off they went. Finally our (Shikira,
Natasha, Neve, ) turn came, so we all jumped in
and the fun had begun. I was sitting in the front
with Shikira, Natasha and Neve were sitting
behind us. We past the dinosaur, the hawk, the
moa, the three maraes, the pa and the tree works.
When were up to the big
drop, Shikira and I took
our hats off and
pretended to surf down.
After about 12 turns Mum
Liam and I left.

Rainbow Springs was
definitely one of my highlights of camp and I can't
wait to go there again.

Wingspan:
Wingspan was the last thing we did at Rotorua.

We went to Wingspan on the Friday. Wingspan is
a place than takes care of injured birds of prey
(birds that eat meat). They have an aviary that
has lots of different native birds like, New Zealand
Falcon, Morepork, New Zealand Barn Owl and
the Australasian Harrier Hawk. Wingspan also
has a little museum.
Aviary:

In the aviary they have all the birds and their
enclosures. Most of the birds are used in the bird
show.
Falcons

New Zealand native Falcons don't live up north
so we don't see them. Wingspan is going to let
some go up here because we have lots of pine
forests. Did you know that the female falcons
weigh only 500g and the males only weigh
250g?!?!?

Ozzy, was definitely my
favourite bird at Wingspan.
He is the oldest flown bird in
the displays. Ozzy lives
alone in a big enclosure that
has got lots of trees for him

to play in and a little perch at the front of his
enclosure. Ozzy is also known as the spitfire

Wink is the male falcon that is paired up with Ali.
Wink was found in a nest in Waihopai, he was
found with a stick poking out of his eye. He has
now recovered from his injury and has retained
most of his vision.

Ali was originally from Nelson. He has
permanent injuries after being deliberately shot.
Ali has fostered eggs and chicks, and is now
paired with Wink.

BarnOwl
Barn owls are native to Australia. It is thought

that they blew over in a storm.

Tahi is the one winged barn owl that was found
in Kaitaia. Tahi was found in a trap with a badly
injured wing. It was so bad that Tahi now lives at
Wingspan with only one wing. Tahi’s name means
the only one, because Tahi is the only captive
barn owl in New Zealand. Tahi has a tiny barn in
her enclosure and about three different types of
trees. She is one of the most gorgeous birds I

have ever seen. Tahi stays in her little barn most
of the time
Museum:

The museum at wingspan is mainly about
falconry. It also has other fascinating things like
the wingspan of lots of different birds. They show
you the wingspan of the haasts eagle, blackbird,
morepork and lots more.
Falconry

In Russia and Mongolia, they have little hats so
they can train their falcons without them getting
scared. Before they had hats they used to sow
their eyelids together.

In Mongolia, they have a falconry festival. It is the
largest multi-cultural event in the world (next to
the Olympics) with 82 countries represented
including 1000 sponsored falconers, thousands of
visitors and even school children.

Next time you’re in Rotorua I would definitely
recommend going to Wingspan.

Camp Rotorua was really fun
and I can’t wait till I can go

again, but I was so glad to be home again with my
pets.

Hannah