Our Year 11 Geographers headed into the girls to look at resource use in the context of Gold Mining at Macraes Flat and Dairy Farming on the Taieri Plains.

Part of our Level One Geography programme is looking at the different way people use the environment and the measures they take to ensure sustainability.  We look at two contrasting environments, visiting Oceana Gold mine and the Aitken's dairy farm on the Taieri Plains.

Fortunately, the weather cleared for the first time in the week and we were able to firstly visit Oceana Gold.  We were very grateful for the time spent by Debbie and Duncan who work as Environmental Scientists at the mine.  The scale of the operation was a real eye-opener to many of the girls as well as the lengths that Oceana Gold Mine go to to ensure the land is rehabilitated.

From Macraes, we travelled via Middlemarch to the Aitken's Dairy Farm in Outram.  We have been fortunate to have a long-lasting relationship with the Aitken's, dating back to Columba's first trip in 1989.  Students were all able to experience farming first hand, getting to see a cow starting to calve, milking in operation and some close contact with the young calves.  For many of our students, this was their first experience on a farm.  We all enjoyed learning about the changing regulations and requirements for farmers in today's environment that ensures ongoing use in the future.

We are very grateful to Oceana Gold along with Andrew & Sonya Aitken for accommodating us and sharing their valuable knowledge.