Future Auckland - Botany Downs Bound!

JANUARY 14th 2014

Otahuhu - Botany

Dear Diary,

It was 'haere ra' to Hannah and Irene at Otahuhu, thank-you both for my awesome tour and especially my new shoes! 

My supervisor assured me that we were heading to somewhere a little different to our other destinations so far. We were going to Botany Library to meet up with Priya. 

We were heading to one of Auckland's newer, very modern suburbs. Just take a look at the aerial map below - if I were a seagull flying in from the coast I'd look down on this modern masterpiece of carefully placed houses in awe!

East Auckland - Botany Downs Google Maps

Here I am finding Botany Library!

It was easy to find a space to park the car. Then we raced off to check out the mall and locate the library.

Botany Library is located in Botany Town Centre - a shopping mall with 200 stores and restaurants. Aha! Found it! Wow, just like a store!

"Hey, there's Priya and the team!" 

The Super Cool Botany Team!

I felt a little under-dressed like I needed my national costume on too! I don't know if they'd appreciate my gumboots in the library though? If I borrowed a sheep from Wellsford or Helensville as an accessory it might make a bit too much mess? 

It is great to see that everyone at Botany takes dress up day really seriously! Don't they look fabulous?

It was time to explore the library! Priya showed me around. It is so cool! It's not one of those fusty places where they tell the kids to BE QUIET! In fact there's always music playing in this library. We headed off upstairs to the children's hangout. That's where I met some Botany stars! I met fellow explorers Kerry-Anne, Brad-Lee and Dean-James. 

Priya gets very excited when she see us kids 'lost' in a book in the library! 

KA, BL & DJ reading from the booklists in front of the
'Seven Wonders of the World' display!

Just because I was there, and it was kind of special to see, Priya presented Brad-Lee with his certificate of completion. He had been so busy he'd completed all six sets of challenges! I know Lani, Tama and the rest of the crew will be excited about that also!

Priya says, 'Ka pai! Brad Lee!'

Need something off the booklists?

I met Ethan and Atoy at the photo booth,
 Ethan has been busy collecting lots of new stamps on his passport too!

Another part of the rich fabric of Auckland society is the Asian community. Botany has a large population of people of Asian ethnicity, that is one of it's special features!

You may have thought that the Asian community is new to New Zealand but you'd be wrong! Chinese first came to New Zealand in the 1800s. Many of them coming to live and work during the South Island gold rush. So there are some Chinese families around that are 7th or 8th generation New Zealander's like me.

I remember reading about this in a School Journal (published by Learning Media, NZ). I learnt that the Chinese miners were extremely hard workers, they endured the harsh climate and dislike of the immigrants of other ethnicities who regarded them as a threat, they were always very family orientated sending their earnings home to China. The workers remained true to their own culture positioning their roughly made stone huts in a particular layout to favour good feng shui and prosperity. This also kept bad demons away! Those who passed away here in New Zealand were sent home for burial in China. 

You could try searching yourself? Maybe with the keywords, 'Chinese immigrants to New Zealand' or you could visit your local children's librarian if you would like some help? It is very interesting learning about new cultures!

Below is a photograph of some early miners, typical of the ones I've just been talking about.

Manying Ip. 'Chinese - The first immigrants', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 15-Nov-12
URL: http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/504/two-chinese-gold-miners-otago-about-1900

At Botany, the library is fortunate to have people in the community who are willing to come and share their talents with everyone. Check out these beautiful images!

Learning an ancient art-form at Botany
with members of the Chinese community.

Wow! These ladies are amazing artists don't you think?

I got to see some amazing Chinese calligraphy. I even had a chance to try some...It must take years of practice to become as talented as this! The ladies tried to teach me how to write my name in Mandarin. My work was a bit wobbly, but I still gave it a try. Do you have an adventurous spirit too? I think that 'doing' stuff is a great way to learn about it! 

This image belongs to www.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz

Something I have learnt about China is that it is a very large country because of this traditions and languages vary across the land. Some Chinese follow a form of Chinese belief  relating to twelve animals coming before Buddah each with it's own qualities and characteristics. Following this twelve year cycle it is believed that these tendencies are carried through into the New Year of the attributed animal servant. 2014 is the year of the Horse. If you were born in 2002 you were born under the horse year - so this will be your year, as you will turn twelve this year. Your next special year will come when you are twenty-four, 36, 48 and so forth in a twelve year cycle. It is fun to see what sort of predictions are made based on your birth year!

You might want to check if your local library have any events related to Chinese New Year so you can try something new?

In the showcase room I found lots of kids helping to build the HMS Botany! Cool! I don't know if she'll make it down the Tamaki River to the Waitemata just yet but that doesn't matter just look at how much fun we're all having using our imaginations! What a team effort this was!

The crew hard at work - we'll get her seaworthy yet mate!

Fantasy at the helm!

Man the cannons, pirates are attacking!

Priya had more fun in store for me! She was taking me to the movies next door. We went to see 'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2'. What a crazy theme! There was a machine that transformed water into cheeseburger rain and spaghetti tornadoes!

Fun! A photo booth!

I got soooo hungry watching it that I begged Priya to take me to the food court straightaway afterwards!

Off to the cinema and foodcourt with Priya.

Following this we wandered along through the pavillion, I discovered a secret shire hidden in the garden. While I didn't see any hobbits, I did get a chance to take a picture outside the house of Bilbo Baggins. A very famous hobbit!

Hobbit hidey!

Giant Snakes and Ladders.

Priya asked me if I wanted to go to Xtreme entertainment to try bowling, laser tag and arcade games after the movie...graciously declining, I said, 'I think I'd just like to go and read a good book in the kids area!' Hopefully we will have time to investigate this tomorrow before I head off to meet Karon at Manukau Library.

My challenge questions:

I guess you've all found out about when school starts back, thought about what else you really wanted to do these holidays and organised your stationary list?

- What does HMS stand for? Can any vessel use this acronym?

- If you were born in 2005 what would your animal in the Chinese Hororscope be?

- Which part of the South Island was mined during the 1800s for gold?

- What languages are spoken in China?

- Which neighbouring suburb (with an historic village) boasts the oldest church in New Zealand?

Get your thinking cap on! 

Catch you soon, Tyler ;)