Team Kea students have been embarking on adventures across Christchurch as part of our "Belonging" topic this term. This also ties in to our healthy living programme and participating in physical activity.

So far we have visited three sites:

• Riccarton Bush - In the heart of Christchurch is a wild forest, home to over 400 mighty kahikatea trees that are 600 years old, with their impressive buttress roots. We saw the oldest remaining building in Canterbury, followed the map looking for geckos and piwakawaka (fantail) and tuned our ears to the sounds of the bush.

• Ōruapaeroa/Travis Wetland - The Travis Wetlands are an inner city adventure, with a tower to climb, bird hides to spy from and wetlands alive with birds. We were able to imagine the Ōtautahi of long ago, as this landscape transforms from farmland back to wetland. Some of us were brave enough to touch the eels!

• Otukaikino - This amazing wetland used to be known as Wilson’s Swamp, and hosts many important native birds like pūkeko, kuruwhengu (shoveller), tete (grey teal) and the secretive koitareke (marsh crake).  The water also hosts other kinds of natives like plants, eels and snails. The Easter Bunny had also visited and left us some coded eggs to decipher when we returned to school.

The DOC Kiwi Guardian programme is for kids to learn about nature and earn cool rewards. We are having so much fun following the adventure maps and exploring the Kiwi Guardian sites around Christchurch, and we are looking forward to receiving our medals for finding all the secret codes.