Today we had planned a trip to the beach and to the Opotiki Heritage Museum. There were a few good reasons why Mr Williamson chose these places. Mr Williamson had read on a previous blog about poet, Apirana Taylor, who took a class to the beach to find inspiration in nature. It was such a good idea that Mr Williamson decided to borrow it. (Thank you, Apirana and Ahipara School!) The beach at Opotiki is, of course, the place where the first story of Opotiki began when Tarawa first landed, guided by his two pet fish, Opotiki-mai-Tawhiti. Des also suggested we use the beach as a setting in a description exercise. The visit to the museum was to provide us with a wealth of stories from Opotiki's rich history.
We began in the library and planned our trip and what we were hoping to achieve. The beach trip came first and we could not have chosen a better day to sit in the sun, admire the rugged and beautiful scenery of the East Coast and be inspired by nature. Whakaari plumed its steam on the horizon, the peaceful ocean calmly lapped the shore and the students were quick to find their muses.
After an hour or so we headed back into town to visit the museum where former teacher, Matua Heremia Warren, gave us a guided tour around the third floor. We were certainly lucky to have such a knowledgable local historian guiding us through some of the stories that lay hidden in the museum's many artifacts. We looked at carvings from local marae that were in the process of being restored, we saw found artifacts from pre-European times as well as more modern items of interest including the war room, itself a portal to numerous tales and legends. Along the wall were small rooms, each offereing an insight into life in Opotiki at different times in its history, including someone's living room and an early classroom.
We all took away new insights into the depth of history and the number of stories that Opotiki has hidden in its past and preserved for the future.
No comments:
Post a Comment