Last week, Level 2 and 3 Geography students visited Wellington to conduct geographic research.

Students worked in groups to collect primary data on a variety of research topics, such as: the impact of street orientation and building height on wind speeds at ground level, the spatial variation of hospitality and clothing retail outlets in the CBD, public use of the waterfront precincts, popularity of tourism facilities and attractions in Wellington, and assessing the effectiveness of a recycling trial being run by the Wellington City Council. 

As part of their research, one group visited Wellington Zoo and another Weta Workshop, highlighting the diversity of geographic research that was conducted. Some students even hired Onzo bikes to transport themselves between research sites! 

As well as collecting primary research data, all students visited Te Papa, experiencing the ground-breaking exhibition, Gallipoli: The scale of our war, and exploring the range of exhibitions in our national museum. 

We also took in, Semiconductor: The technological sublime, at City Gallery Wellington. Semiconductor, an artistic duo, produce spectacular, large-scale moving-image works. The show’s central installation Earthworks (2016) uses data from real-world volcanoes, glaciers, and earthquakes—including the 2016 Kaikōura quake. 

Windy Wellington lived up to its name with strong northerlies adding some meteorological excitement to the trip. It was great to bump into some ex-Nayland College geographers in Te Papa and reminiscence about field trips from years gone by. As always, Nayland students were fantastic ambassadors for our College, exhibiting the SOAR values throughout the entirety of the field trip.

Mr Glenn Cheyne, Ms Shannen Banks and Mr Nathan Gargiulo – Geography