Blake Inspire

"Blake Inspire was fantastic. I was so fortunate to be chosen out of thousands of applicants. They arranged flights for me from Timaru to Wellington to Auckland and then we drove to Cambridge where we were based at St Peters school. I spent 4 nights and 5 days with students chosen from around New Zealand. Each day was a different experience starting from 7.30 am finishing at 9pm. I was working with the Ministry of Environment as well as travelling to Maungatautari Sanctuary Mountain to learn about biodiversity and conservation. We visited beef and dairy farms to learn about sustainable agriculture and worked with corporate businesses on sustainability. There was a mock parliament created in the evening where we debated fishing issues for a small country. We went to lake Tikitapu to experience the geothermal valley along with the Maori arts and crafts centre. We went to Raglan to work with NIWA about freshwater monitoring and macroinvertebrates. While there we went on a kayak tour of the Raglan estuary. The week finished with us presenting an action plan for the environment based on our experiences."

Hannah Heffernan