Raglan trip

We had a brilliant day at Raglan last week with Room 16.

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We went to Wainui (or Ngaranui)  beach and walked down the hill to the sea.

We looked at the black sand and learned that it is black because it is made from iron.
It is volcanic.
The iron sand  probably came from Mount Taranaki. when it erupted many centuries ago.
It has drifted all the way up the coast to Raglan.

The iron sand is never still. It will probably keep drifting further up the west coast of New Zealand.

We found shells, and stones and many interesting things on the beach. 

Miss Scott and Mrs M, our Masters student teachers came with us.

The iron sand sticks to our skin.

This piece of driftwood spent a long time in the sea. It is covered with barnacles.

The sand collects in big dunes then after a storm washes back into the sea.
The sand is  constantly moving.
We might even end up playing in the same sand next year in Auckland!

It was great fun playing in the creek.

We made rivers and canals.

There was a sandcastle competition.

Everyone enjoyed finding things to decorate their sandcastles.

We learned how important it is to look after our beaches and dispose of our rubbish carefully so it doesn't end up in the sea, where sea creatures might eat it thinking it might be food.
We picked up all the rubbish we found amongst the seaweed and shells.

Each sandcastle had to include something from the sea, something from the land and something man-made.

This one was made by Luke and his mother. It won an award for the best scultural use of materials on the beach.

After the beach we went back to Raglan and had hot chips.

Then we got to play in the playground by the chip shop before getting into the bus and returning to school.

It was a tiring day. ....
But lots of fun!