Sea Week visit to Butlers Point Whaling Station.

We are learning to write a recount of an event using the correct structure. Orientation which introduces who, what, where and when. A body - or sequence of events and a personal comment or reflection. Our group is trying to improve by adding more detail to our ideas in each paragraph.

Butlers Point!!!

WOW! What an amazing day Room7 had at Butlers Point Whaling Station in Hihi. We learnt all about how they caught whales, how long it would take, what they used and much more all from an amazing lady named Terry and also from Shirley and Jan.

We started with rescuing a whale. We got to save a killer whale or orca (it was an inflatable one!) I was the person that had to lead the group and to warn people not to get too close to the tail in case they got slapped by it. I was called the tail man. We had to dig an imaginary ditch underneath the whale to lead it to the sea. Then we had to slide a soaked sheet under it but really gently so that the whale didn’t get hurt. Once that was done we picked up the sides of the sheet and lifted it into the water (knee deep) and lowered it.



Next we ran down the hill to the museum and we stopped to look at a real life whaling boat. It was all broken up so it was no longer stable. Terry told us all about what they would do out at sea. We were told that they went out to sea for five years and every three months they would go back to shore for about three months and get food and water then go back out. There would be six people in a boat. A man at the back, four in the middle and one in the front (spear man).

On we went into the museum where all the learning really began. We learnt that the baleen from baleen whales is more expensive than the oil from any other whale. There was heaps of displays of guns and accessories and even a very old letter. Then we watched a movie about whales and people catching them.

Later we carried on to a house, it was no ordinary house but a house made very long ago. We were told that the parents had thirteen children. Wow! That’s a lot of kids. Each child had a chore to do like getting water from the well and carrying it back to the house. When we walked through the house we saw every single detail about what they had to do in the house. It was a wonderful house.

Next we headed outside and had a look at the garden. It was so amazing because there was all sorts of flowers, tall trees and small trees, it was like paradise! That trip was an experience of a lifetime.


Ezra Jepsen Cross