On Saturday November 15, 2008, after traveling for several hours from our quick two-night trip to Raglan, which was amazing, the New River Academy stopped at a very educational event.  This event takes place every two years and is known as Global Fest.  This event was held in a big stadium, that I guess is used for Rugby, or maybe cricket.  When you pay to get in you receive a passport that has a map of the different stands and other interesting facts.  There are also spots set aside for stamps, so after visiting a country a stamp was put into your passport.  When we walked in we arrived first at the Maori tent where they had food and articles of clothing with natives talking and doing demonstrations.  There was a lot of food here, from different countries.  So after getting some really good cookies from Holland, I went to Fiji for a quick tour and after that I went to France for a crape, and then China for an egg roll, and this continued for over an hour. In all there were 14 different countries that were displayed and all consisted of a tent with food, natives, music, and arts/crafts.
One of the coolest countries that I visited was the Cook Islands that seem awesome! When walking into Cook Islands area they were playing really good music that is what some people would call “Island music”, it was cool.  After seeing the world in a short time period of less than 2 hours I had to rest.  There was a stage that provided great entertainment the whole day.  They had dances that were native to the different countries and different instrumental dances.  This was a very interesting event to go attend because of the ability to see, taste, and hear the different cultures that are from around the globe.  After the event we finished our drive with arriving back in Rotorua on the Kaituna River for another week before heading further South.
~Ross

    I broke my leg during the first quarter, which took me out of commission for a little while. So I arrived to New Zealand late, just earlier this week. Here is how my first day went.
    I was woken up on my plane at about two o’clock New Zealand time, arriving in Auckland 2 hours later. The first thing I did was to take all of my gear through customs. Normal customs, as most of you know, are worried about how long you are staying and what you will be doing. Not New Zealand, they did look into those thing but the thing they cared most about was their bio security. This is just a way for them to check and make sure that you are not bringing anything into their country that would harm their beautiful country. I could already tell I was going to like it here.
     After I caught my plane to Rotorua and Ian picked me up I met the group in a museum in Rotorua. This was a great first experience to have in New Zealand because it allowed me to start my trip with a better understanding of the geology of the region as well as a better understanding of the Maori culture.
    They day didn’t end there. After the museum and lunch we went over to a thermal park and were able to look at some of the geology of the region that we had just been learning about such as hot springs and mud pots.
    My first day in New Zealand was a pretty awesome way to be introduced to the country.

 BEAT to your own rhythm

Beat by beat, and symbol by
symbol,

 smashing through your head,

 bleeding through your bones,

 rambling through your voice, and jumping out your toes,

 let it slide across floor of wood slate and brick,

 it runs out runs out and out, further out then ever before,

 breathe it in, let it bloom,

 colors vibrant as the veins that course under your skin of
heavenly descent,

pouring out through cracks
holes and splinters,

bursting through skin,
sliding amongst teeth, lips, and you, and me,

smiles and handshakes,
greetings and goodbyes,

kisses of charity, those of
lust, beauty, love and all in between,

manners of shimmers upon
hands,

grazes, grips, and grasps,
gasps of life and the love we lead,

opposites run amidst those
that fly,

those that crawl, and the
others that swim

among waves of crashing,
flowing, and dripping,

watch the ocean float by in
a bath tub

and a hurricane hit you in
a shower

watch mist gleam on silk
skin, and silvery mirrors,

watch it breath against
your own breath,

watch it burn away the
chill, watch it rip through cold and sad,

let it wash amongst your
tears, let soap bubbles float along,

let them pop and fizzle,
falling out as you will one day do,

only wish for it to not
come to soon, wish as i do,

for it shall not come as
soon as you will think,

grays and blacks will fight
there way into you,

see in color, block them
out, rage through life in a beautiful grace

step your step in the way
you wish to step,

dance your dance to your
own music,

sing your song to your own
tune,

let the words flow between
your teeth,

let them gleam in the light
of day, let that moment be yours,

one and only, never again
shall it come as they wish,

it will be yours, as mine
will be mine,

one day, you and i, shall
write a song to our own tune,

and dance a dance with our
own steps,

our own beats and measures,

one day you and i will have
a moment that is simply ours,

until that day, dance your
dance, and sing your song, live your life,

scream out against all those
that would speak against you.

Emery Kate Tillman 

Keegan Grady has finished his update on our surrounding area near the Kaituna River and the town of Rotorua. Keegan spent considerable time on his time lapses in this movie. He also worked hard to find authentic and meaningful interviews. Interviewing is a very hard skill to be able to complete so right now video class is in full swing of the learning process. Hope you guys enjoy it!!!
Best,
Tino

On Friday of last week New River Academy went to a museum in Rotorua. This gave students the chance to discover the culture and history of New Zealand and it’s native people. Our tour guide, Brian McEntee was impressively enthusiastic (being an older man) and kept every student and teacher interested and inquisitive throughout the entire tour. He gracefully led us from one room to the other as we learned about everything from the native, Maori people to the museum itself. The MAOri people are mysterious in the sense that historians and scientists are unsure of exactly where they derive from. Just like the Natives of other Polynesian islands, the MAori came to their homeland on unique crafts of the ocean composed of two wooden canoes lashed together with a mast and sail similar to that of the European explorers on the other side of the world.
    The museum itself was originally built in 1908 to serve as a spa. The building is situated directly above one of the largest geothermic areas in the entire world. Hot mineral water was directly harvested and used to help people relax or recover from an illness. After this business diminished the building only survived to become a dance hall throughout most of the twentieth century. And now, as it existed once on MAori land, it is a well rounded replica of New Zealand’s history.
    This is just one of many unique things we will do outside of the “classroom” to serve as school for this quarter. Through plenty of good paddling and a bearable amount of schoolwork, the spirits of the group have been lively and optimistic since our arrival in this beautiful country.

by David Gorski, student leader

The New Zealand Quarter with New River Academy has been amazing so far.  Some of the highlights include the day and a half in transit over the pond, driving on the left side of the highways, most of the time (a couple of close calls ), the breathtaking mountains and rolling hills, but most importantly the rivers and ocean. We are based on the Kaituna River near Rotorua for the first two weeks, with the exception of a couple of days where we took off to the ocean on the west coast of the north island.

Keegan Grady mastering technique at the famous Kaituna Hole.

    The surf was amazing, I finally got a chance to use my Mountain Surf Drydeck.  Brilliant, I love coming off the water after a great session with dry shorts and boat, Thanks to John Mason. We arrived in the small surf town of Raglan late afternoon on Thursday the 13th, we pulled up to our self-sustaining accommodations, set up camp, and tore up the local surf as a group. On Friday we paddled at the beach, and were given a lesson from the owners of our Solscape accommodations in Raglan. Phil and Paul demonstrated their self-sustaining accommodations which included surprisingly strong bricks made of clay and fiber, solar panels, solar water heaters, and composting toilets. It was a real eye-opener and I will be sharing a lot of these ideas with my family and friends, check out their website for information and inspiration.

Rocks to avoid at Raglan Beach.

    Day Three began at quarter to five in the morning. Four Blue Squad members including Jason Craig, Stephen Forster, Jorgo, and I, led by our fearless coach Tino Specht ventured into the dark in hopes of finding the perfect surf. We arrived at the longest left point break in the world around sunrise after the hilly hike out of our campsite and a short drive. We were not disappointed as we joined a handful of surfers to ride some pretty big waves, topping out around thirteen feet. All of us quickly learned that ocean waves break onto the steep bouldered shores, we boofed our fair share of rapidly approaching boulders that morning. The surfers were really nice and helpful and informed us on how the rising tide would soften up the shore that we were constantly running into. We got back to camp after two hours of big surf, huge aerials, and numerous chunderings. After packing up camp we headed to a festival called GlobalFest which demonstrated the cultures of a dozen countries from around the world including China, Cook Islands, and my favorite, the Netherlands.

    I am looking forward to another week on the Kaituna, and the prestigious Triple Crown Event at the end of the week brought to you by Predator Helmets,  MountainSurf, and New River Academy. The Triple Crown consists of boater-cross, time-trials, and a frreestyle competition. Stay tuned to this blog for updates as we get closer to the event date. The practice boater-cross today went fast and smooth, third was Stephen Forster, second Ross Mcilwain, and in first, Ottawa River Local Keegan Grady.

By Keegan Grady

On Friday of last week New River Academy went to a museum in Rotorua. This gave students the chance to discover the culture and history of New Zealand and it’s native people. Our tour guide, Brian McEntee was impressively enthusiastic (being an older man) and kept every student and teacher interested and inquisitive throughout the entire tour. He gracefully led us from one room to the other as we learned about everything from the native, Maori people to the museum itself. The MAOri people are mysterious in the sense that historians and scientists are unsure of exactly where they derive from. Just like the Natives of other Polynesian islands, the MAori came to their homeland on unique crafts of the ocean composed of two wooden canoes lashed together with a mast and sail similar to that of the European explorers on the other side of the world.
    The museum itself was originally built in 1908 to serve as a spa. The building is situated directly above one of the largest geothermic areas in the entire world. Hot mineral water was directly harvested and used to help people relax or recover from an illness. After this business diminished the building only survived to become a dance hall throughout most of the twentieth century. And now, as it existed once on MAori land, it is a well rounded replica of New Zealand’s history.
    This is just one of many unique things we will do outside of the “classroom” to serve as school for this quarter. Through plenty of good paddling and a bearable amount of schoolwork, the spirits of the group have been lively and optimistic since our arrival in this beautiful country.

by David Gorski, student leader