history of kapiti island

30/11/2016

Pre-1840 New Zealand attracted a polyglot mix of adventurers and entrepreneurs, the sealers, whalers, stowaways and their Maori agents forming what historical geographer Alan Grey called a ‘robber economy’. The early industries, sex excluded, were extractive: flax, timber, seals and most important of all, whales. Pelagic or ocean whalers entered the Bay of Islands from the early 1800s. Shore whaling began 20 years later and mostly happened further south, around Cook Strait and the along the east coast of the South Island.

These European ships drew Ngāti Toa chief Te Rauparaha to Kapiti Island. His tribe had fared badly in the Musket Wars but the treacherous and violent Te Rauparaha was also very intelligent and adaptable, a true cultural border-crosser. He knew that the European ships passing through Cook Strait were the key to getting trade goods such as guns. In 1823 Ngāti Toa seized Kapiti Island, which they defended next year in the bloody Battle of Waiorua. Kapiti, centre of a canoe-crafted empire, gave Te Rauparaha both a fortress and a trading base.

Vessels began calling in 1827 and, by the time the trade peaked in the mid-1830s, there were five whaling stations on the island: Waiorua, Rangatira, Taepiro, Wharekohu and Te Kahe Te Rau O Te Rangi. Te Rauparaha encouraged traders and whalers, providing land, houses, pigs, potatoes, dressed flax and women in return for guns, tobacco and alcohol. Island historian Chris Maclean describes 1830s Kapiti as ‘a wild frontier, a meeting point of two cultures without the restraints of laws or government’ but, despite occasional acts of thuggery, two cultures united in greed got along surprisingly well. Europeans and Māori lived side by side and trader and whaler John Niccol followed age-old practice by marrying into the local real estate, wedding Kahe Te Rau O Te Rangi, daughter of Ngāti Toa chief Te Matoha.

The whaling trade faded away in the 1840s and Te Rauparaha, his influence waning, moved back to the mainland. Whalers and Te Rauparaha are just part of Kapiti’s history. It has also been a farm and a pioneering site for conservation. The government acquired most of it in 1897 and Richard Henry, whom we will meet in entry 69, was one of the earliest keepers. Now predator-free, Kapiti is an important bird sanctuary. Nature is reclaiming the village site, but boats take visitors out to Kapiti and at Te Kahe Te Rau O Te Rangi you can still see terraces, a stand for a trypot (in which whale blubber was rendered down) and the grave of a whaler, as well as Māori middens.

Kapiti in My Own Words

Creative Writing Exercise

to record your new understanding and experience of Kāpiti Island

You have a choice of:

a)      developing a series of Haiku (at least three) and adding them to your blog

Haiku poems date from 9th century Japan to the present day. Haiku is more than a type of poem; it is a way of looking at the physical world and seeing something deeper, like the very nature of existence.

The structure of a Haiku is 5, 7, 5

Here are two examples of the haiku of Basho Matsuo, the first great poet of haiku in the 1600s:

An old silent pond...                                         5 syllables                   Autumn moonlight—

A frog jumps into the pond,                             7 syllables                   a worm digs silently

splash! Silence again.                                      5 syllables                   into the chestnut.

                                                                                   

PLUS

b)      Creating a piece of art work to go with your haiku (we’ll talk about this).

OR

c)       Writing a story from the perspective of someone who lived on the island. This can be fact or fiction. You could choose to write about someone from the history of the island, dating back to Te Rauparaha and the Ngāti Toa people in the early 1800s right up to the present time. This might be in the form of a diary or might be a story from a third person perspective. It might be from the perspective of a native bird or a species that is now extinct; it might be a historical viewpoint from someone involved in the battles on the island; it might be a factual description of life on the island at any time in its history. You choose!

In your narrative, think about conditions for those who lived on the island: isolation, food sources, amenities (cooking, toilet facilities, hygiene) animals, bird life, dangers, medical emergencies etc. (You can also do art to accompany this, if you wish to.)

Video outlining the predation of our Kea by possums and stoats

Kea Predation

Pest traps/trackers being placed outside

Students are placing their pest trackers around the school, what will we find????

More pest track making pics

Groups of students at different stages in their pest trap making.

Pest Tracker Making

Students are making these pest traps to see if we can identify what pests might be lurking around Kapiti College. Will we find Rats, Mice, Stoats or Hedgehogs?

Kapiti island

28/11/2016
session:
This morning, Mr Maxwell introduced us the history of the kapiti island. We learnt  about arrival of Ngati Toa , the Musket Wars and island sanctuary. We also know the meaning  of  kapiti . At the third period . We saw a lot of pictures about wild animals. And we know the 18th and 19th centuries Māori settled on the island. Te Rauparaha formed a base here, and his Ngāti Toa tribe regularly sailed in canoes on raiding journeys up to the Whanganui River and down to Marlborough.


30/11/2016
session:
This morning we knew some animal pests . They are harming our native flora and fauna.It is surprises me that  the cats are also one of the native animal.
After that we also knew some footprints of the animals. Some of them are really similar. So we can't  distinguish them.
tracking tunnel:
First, we cut both ends of the bottle and  stick the end of two bottle . Next we put a black plastic bag and stick it on the bottle . We put a white papper in the bottom of the bottle. And then we  put sponge with ink in a small box . We also put some peanut butter in the lid and put it on the sponge. That's all . We finished it.
Finally we put them in a concealed place. Hope we can find some things interesting tomorrow.


1/12/2016
We have a great day in the kapiti island.

Kapiti Island Blog

About Us:

Mahina &Taine

Hello, we are group 4. We are a group of two that include Taine Hata and Mahina Cullinan. We are both involved with the Kapiti Island course that is happening this week. This week our learning intention is to focus on pests and pest management in NZ/Kapiti Island. We have chosen this learning intention because we both find it interesting. It is really important to know about pests and the damage they create to our wildlife. Learning about this will help us learn what we can do to prevent it and help keep the endagered species alive.

Kapiti Island

Our first morning session was with Mr Maxwell, we did a quick introduction about Kapiti Island and some of the history about it. We learnt about the arrivals on Kapiti Island and also what happened when these people arrived and the outcomes that include war. We have already learnt that Kapiti Island is a sacred place and has a lot meaning behind it. We are both excited to be learning more about the history near our community and are both excited to have the opportunity to do this.

PEST FOOTPRINTS

30.11.16

This mornings session today, we learnt how to make a tracking tunnel. We used plastic bottles, peanut butter, die and sponges. We placed them outside to monitor the pest activity around Kapiti College. If a small pest goes to eat the peanut butter it will stand on the die aswel and leave footprints on the white paper so we can identify which kind of pest it is.


https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1DFKJ01ujdhkW7VQl7CFzyNcdJtlw9XJkJd-DMb02-Oc/edit#slide=id.p - this is the link to our Name the Pest, Pick the Native slide where we talk about Stoats and the damage they do and Kakapo a vary indangered species.

 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Fl_EFX6qLeeHdvJM7-zrCDOpQjehst40SRfPtLHTS4o/edit- Pros and Cons of different pest control methods.




1/12/16

At the top of Kapiti Isalnd. Mahina, Taine and Mr Brannigan.

Today was the first day of december and the summer has just started. Today was the day we went to Kapiti Island. We arrived at the Kapiti Boating Club at 8:40, checked our gear for rats, ants and seeds. We cleaned our shoes to get rid of mud and we boarded the boat to Kapiti Island. We arrived at the island at about 9:15 and landed at  the Southern end. We looked at the whale pots and went inside the visitors shelter and learnt about birds and we saw some weka. Some of us decided to walk the Wilkinsons Track but a small group decided they would take the steeper and harder track which was the Trig Track. The walk my group did was the Wilkinsons Tack and our walk was 3.8km to the top and it was around 2 hours to reach the top. The walk had many birds along the track and it wasn't too hard. Both of us really enjoyed the walk and made lots of memories while doing it. It was a great experience and we learnt heaps along the way. 

2.12.16
One of the most enjoyable things we learnt along the way was about the different bird species, invasive species and how pest life affects New Zealands native life. Our Kapiti Island course was a great experience and was amazing doing these fun activities with the rest of the groups in our class. I would deffinately do this again.

introduction

28/11/2016
Yi: Hi ! My name is Yi.I am 14 years old. I come from east of China and I live in paraparaumu beach now. I chose this course cause I have never been to kapiti island and I want to learn about it. I am interested that there are many different kinds of birds in the island.














Hi everybody,My name is suiao.I am 14 years old.I come from China.My first visit to New Zealand.I am interested I can go to the kapiti island.Because I have never been to these.I want to learn everything about it.

Kapiti Island

28/11/16
Intro:
Hi my name is Akari and I'm 15 years old. Im from Whitby and I took this course because I have never been to Kapiti island before. I am also interested in the culture and history of the island.
Hi my names Millie, i am originally from England but over here 8 years ago. i took this course because i wanted to learn more about it, and i would really like to go to Kapiti island again.
LI:I am learning about Native species on Kapiti Island: Identify 1-2 to focus on. Think about: endangered, breeding, physical and biological features, habitat etc.
Doc has spent millions of dollars to get all predetors such as rats and possums out of the island. The last rodent was captured in 1996. This makes Kapiti island predator free and a safe place for our native animals to live on.

29/11/16

Today we learnt history about Te Rauparaha and European settlers. At lunchtime, we walked down to the local beach and we heard a story about Kahe and her swim. This was story was very inspiring that she put herself in so much danger to save her tribe. When we came back we learnt a bit about pets and conservation . We found out that 25 million native animals die from pests and that the government spends 3.3 billion on pest control.

30/11/16

We made a pest tracker. Which we placed under a10. We are hoping that some rodents will walk through, and make footprints on the paper. We are doing this so we can find out if small pests live at our college.

Haiku poem

Millies poem: Kahe and her swim

The wind whips my hair...

I see the land emerging,

I’m just about there.

~

I see her running

Determined with each foot step,

Deep fear in her eyes.

Akari’s Haiku: blue bird losing eggs

Steps outside the nest…

Pounce, all around me is black,

Snatched, my hard work gone

The little spotted kiwi

The introduction to Kapiti island in the early 1900’s saved the kiwi from extinction.

~These kiwis live in offshore island’s, mostly Kapiti island. Kapiti island is a perfect place for these kiwi’s to live because it is completely predator free and has nice vegetation.

~They mostly eat invertebrates like earthworms, flies, cicadas, spiders, adult beetles and fallen fruit or leaves.

~The little spotted kiwi population is just over 1500, with growing numbers.

~The little spotted kiwi died out from the North island in late 1800’s. As a result of predation from cats and dogs. Luckily a few kiwis were transported to Kapiti island where the population flourished. Transfers to large to predator free sites have been very successful.

~They lay one white egg from January to July in a burrow, hollow logs or thick vegetation. The male incubates the chick alone for 65 to 75 days, until the chick hatches.  

~It is the smallest kiwi species with a male weighing 1150 g and a female 1325 g.

Cats

~ cats were introduced to NZ in the 19th century by European settlers

~they were introduced to help keep the rising number of rabbits down, but soon the cats joined the rats and stoats as a predictor

~ as of 2011 there was estimated 1.419 million domestic cats in NZ

~ it is estimated that feral cats have been responsible for the extinction of 6 endemic bird species, and over 70 localized sub species. They have also lowered the population of many bird and lizard species.

~ they eat mostly young rabbits, rats and mice, but also eat native birds, lizards, and large insects such as weta, cicadas and dragonflies

~it is estimated that cats kill up to 100 million birds each year. Many of them being native species such as, tuis and kukupa

~and average male cat weighs between two and seven kilograms, while females weigh between 1.6 and 4.6 kilograms.

1/12/16

Today we went on a class trip to Kapiti island. First we took a 20 minute ferry ride to the island.  We went on the Wilkinson track which took us 1 and a half hours to get to the top. On the way we saw many native birds that live on the island. We saw Tui, Weka, Kaka, Hihi, Saddleback and a Kereru. You could also hear many birds chirping throughout the walk. The track overall was a great experience and would definitely do again. It was great to see all the native birds that are able to live in an predator free environment.

	Pros	Cons
Trapping	~the animals die instantly	~you can't trap in a place you can’t walk to and place the trap
Hunting	~The animal usually dies instantly with no suffering	~Sometimes you will hit the wrong animal and possibly hit a native animal
Poisoning	~It is an effective way of killing possums and reduce the population ~track records in possum control ~biodegradable in the environment	~no effective antidote ~secondary poisoning for animals that eat carcass ~the animals suffer for a while before they die

Kapiti Island

28/11/16
Intro:
Hi my name is Akari and I'm 15 years old. Im from Whitby and I took this course because I have never been to Kapiti island before. I am also interested in the culture and history of the island.
Hi my names Millie, i am originally from England but over here 8 years ago. i took this course because i wanted to learn more about it, and i would really like to go to Kapiti island again.
LI:I am learning about Native species on Kapiti Island: Identify 1-2 to focus on. Think about: endangered, breeding, physical and biological features, habitat etc.
Doc has spent millions of dollars to get all predetors such as rats and possums out of the island. The last rodent was captured in 1996. This makes Kapiti island predator free and a safe place for our native animals to live on.

Welcome to Course week

Greetings and welcome to Kapiti Island junior course week. We hope you have an enjoyable, fairly relaxing learning experience this week.

Intro's:

Hi I'm Mrs Lisa Magill. I have taught at Kapiti College for 3 years, I teach Junior Maths, Senior English and Literacy. I co-ordinate Debating and Duke of Edinburgh. I really enjoy working near the beach and with the friendly - energetic  students at Kapiti College.

Kapiti Island Blog

Introduction:

We're Group 2, and consist of Ruby Hayvice, Pippa McCormack Wolf, and Troy Baker. We are all year 10 students at Kapiti College, and are in the Kapiti Island course for course week this term. Course week is a week where you get to study a topic of interest, ours includes the history and ecology of Kapiti Island, as well as learning how to blog as a way of documenting our learning and trips. Our group has two learning intentions to look into during the week, and are what our work will be relating back to. Our learning intentions are 'I am learning about the conservation that is taking place on Kapiti Island: Who, What, Why & How', and 'I am learning about Native species on Kapiti Island: Where, When, Who, What, Why & How.' Many dedicated teachers are involved with this course, and our class is a fun and happy environment. This means that we are all excited for the week that awaits, and will be blogging daily about our experiences. 



28/11/16 

Today we were introduced to the history of Kapiti Island by Mr Maxwell, and how the human life impacted the island by Mr Brannigan. The history of the island included Te Rauparahas life. He was the war leader and one of the chiefs of the Ngati Toa tribe, he was brutal, cunning, and fearless, and his life continues to cause controversy. He saved his tribe that was on the verge of extinction, by occupying Kapiti Island and using it as a fortress for war, and as a trading place for the Pakeha whalers, because of this, Ngati Toa thrived and became very powerful. Many events took place on Kapiti Island and the near places on the mainland, making NZ rich with Maori history that many don't know. The inhabitants of the island, including the pakeha and Ngati Toa, turned the island into farming land. The Europeans introduced many pests, including sheep, cattle, and goats for eating, possum for the fur trade, rats from the boats, and stoats to control pests which had gotten out of hand. These pests ate the native land and animals and have since been fully rid from the island, allowing the native flora and fauna to rejuvenate naturally.



29/11/16

Today we learnt about the history of Kapiti Island in depth by Mr Maxwell. It included many of Te Rauparahas stories and the actions of the Ngati Toa tribe. We also learnt about the wars, including the musket wars, conflict in the Waikato, the Wairau incident, and the battle of Wairoa. He took many lives cruelly but consequently saved his tribe, this is why he was so controversial. In the end, he was captured and arrested, he returned an old man and died 6 months later. 

Our class then went for a beach walk, onto Paraparaumu beach where you can see the island clearly and is close to area's that experienced conflict. Here we were told stories of the happenings at the island by Mr Maxwell and Ms Magill. It again dawned on our group how little we knew of a place we had grown up in.After this, we bought a big bunch of hot chips, bread, and drinks, and had lunch with the class.
 
We were then introduced to the native and invasive species by Ms Symonds. We learnt about different species that lived or live in New Zealand, what they look like, how they behave, and how they affected or affect one another.

30/11/16


Today we learnt more about native and invasive species in depth and were introduced to conservation and what people are doing to keep NZ wildlife sustainable. We found out that our government wants to get rid of all pests by 2050, that's a huge claim but is necessary to save native species. It's extremely significant we remove pests like possums, rats, ferrets, mice, and stoats in New Zealand, as the damage done by them by killing and harming our native birds is very detrimental to our native species and native culture. Birds like Wekas and Kakas who's eggs are being taken by pests are dying out, their offsprings being taken by pests before they can be born and continue the cycle of reproduction themselves. This way, countless native species including the Kakapo and Kea are dying out, and becoming extinct.  As a group, we researched 3 invasive species and 3 native species to find out more about the animals.

Native species:

New Zealand Pigeon - Also known as the Kereru, this bird is native to New Zealand. They are commonly referred to as Wood Pigeons; although they share the name with the Wood Pigeons in the northern hemisphere, they have many distinctive features that separate them from these birds. Wood Pigeons weigh about 550-850 grammes. Wood Pigeons are widely spread throughout New Zealand, residing in native forests and both rural and urban habitats. Their eyes, feet, and beaks are red, and their bodies are bluish green, and their bellies are white. Pigeons eat berries, and they contain alcohol that can actually cause Kereru to become drunk and fall out of trees. They are prey to animals such as cats and stoats, and their eggs are vulnerable to rats, possums, stoats, ferrets, and weasels. Kereru breed all year round, but they most commonly mate in September-April. Kereru can fly, but not very well. 

Tui - Tuis are a non-endangered native species to New Zealand. One of the Tui’s most distinctive feature is their white, feather tuft beard. Tuis have brown eyes and a mix of green and brown feathers. Another distinctive trait of the Tui is that throughout songs, they stop to screech. Tuis can be very aggressive and stake out their territory. They live in the bush and suburban areas. Tuis are monogamous, and one pair of Tuis reproduce about 2-4 eggs every year. Tuis live for around 12 years overall and start breeding at about 2 years old. The chicks are fed at first by the female Tui and are later cared for by the male. Tuis are herbivores, and eat plants like nectar and honeydew, and are the most common pollinators of flowering plants. Some predators of the Tui include possums, rats, cats, stoats and ferrets. 

Tomtit - Tomtits are small birds with black bodies, and some have yellow underbellies. They also have patches of white on their wings and tails. Tomtits let out short tweets and may tweet up to five times in quick succession. They can be found throughout all of New Zealand, and their main predator is ship rats, and also other introduced mammalian predators. Tomtits typically breed from September to February. Tomtits are vigorous in territorial defence, both males and females will try and scare off invasive birds or predators. Tomtits eat small invertebrates, such as spiders, beetles, and flies. They also occasionally eat small fruits, swallowing them whole.

Invasive species:

Cat - Cats were first introduced when they were brought onto boats to control the rats. Cats eat cat food. They are a predator that like to eat many endangered birds such as Kereru. They are a domesticated species that mainly live with humans, but some cats are feral, homeless, or otherwise not living with humans. Cats may live together in a household peacefully, but generally do not get along in the wild, and two domesticated cats meeting each other may fight. They move around by walking on four legs, and they have paws. Cats come in varying colours, such as black, white, brown, tabby, ginger, etc.

Rat - The first rats were carried to New Zealand 1250 AD by Polynesians, these are called Kiore rats. Kiore rats eat seeds, fruit, eggs, insects and lizards, and feed at night. They spend the daytime in burrows, and have been removed from all government-administered islands, however still live on the mainland. They have not been eradicated from the mainland due to cultural and scientific reasons, but the Kiore rats are not a protected species. 

Stoat - Stoats were introduced to New Zealand in the 1880’s to help decrease our population of rabbits however, this plan backfired as the stoats found it was much easier to kill and eat native birds eggs, and they became predators and a threat to many of New Zealand’s species. Some of the other foods they eat include but is not limited to rodents, birds, rabbits, hares, possums, insects like wetas, lizards, crayfish, birds, fish and hedgehogs. Stoats can climb, swim and walk, which is a large part of why they’re such a big problem. Stoats can live practically anywhere, from forests to farms, to beaches and high altitude country. Stoats have become such a problem, the New Zealand government has put aside $6.6m in order to research them in the hopes of permanently eradicating stoats in New Zealand for good.

As a group, we built pest trackers after learning about the tracks of different pests. We built them out of plastic bottles, sellotape, black plastic bags, a sponge, paper, cardboard, dye, a bottle cap, and peanut butter as bait. The pests would smell the peanut butter, enter the tunnel and tread on the dye, then leave their tracks on the paper. We set them up around the school to see if we could find any animal tracks.

We also wrote haikus about the island as a creative writing exercise.


Gazing from on top
An isolated image
Nature's landscape

Te Rauparaha’s home
Built with conflict and respect
Wars left forgotten

From the grounds of sand
I stare past the flat water
In awe of the view 

Breezing past are birds
Their sanctuary is still
The scream of tui shrill

1/12/16

Today was the first day of summer, and we travelled to Kapiti Island with the class. It was a beautiful day and we saw the sun come out as travelled by boat. We arrived on the beach and the water was so clean and blue, we saw penguins, black gulls, Tui, and jellyfish here. We went to the visitor's house and were introduced to the island by people who worked here, and were told about the many native species that lived here. We then hiked up the island for nearly two hours, spotting Kereru, Kaka, saddleback, Hihi, and Weka. It was hard at first but was an amazing walk. When we arrived at the summit it was a relief. The ocean was flat and stretched further than we could see, where it merged with the blue sky. We had lunch then made our way back down, running down the island in 35 minutes. Hot, sweaty, and tired, we dove into the sea and lay on the hot rocks. It was truly beautiful and was a great way to see where and what we had been actually studying. 

Type of killing	Pros	Cons
Trapping	Moderately effective Easy to use	A dog died
Hunting	Easy to measure See where animals come from	Guns aren’t cool Takes time/effort Not very effective Could shoot wrong animal
Poisoning	Animals can be attracted to the poison, making it an efficient form of pest control	An animal that was not intended to ingest the poison may eat it
Chemical Castration	Not necessarily killing Getting rid of root cause	Won't stop first generation from killing
Biological Warfare	Efficient	Could potentially harm other things/animals
1080	Harmless Mike Joy’s (esteemed scientist) validation	Collateral damage Tom Tit don’t respond well

We believe that we have learnt a successful amount about our two learning intentions, which we have presented in this blog. This week has been great, and we are more than happy about taking this course.