Why did you decide to volunteer abroad with ISV in New Zealand?
Sam: Some representatives from ISV came to one of our lectures and started talking about this amazing experience they had overseas, and about the difference ISV's involvement is making. I remember wishing that I could go and do something like that, then I realized 'why not?' I went to their info meeting on campus, where they explained everything that we'd be doing at the different locations. The stuff about New Zealand especially caught my attention: white water rafting, jet boats, glacier hiking, aaaaand we get to help restore the environment! It made me so excited I couldn't sleep the next night!
Describe your day to day activities as a volunteer.
Sam: We were in New Zealand for 4 weeks, 2 of which were for volunteering. My group (the luckiest as far as I'm concerned) were sent to Motuihe Island, just north of Auckland city. There were 8 volunteers including myself, plus one project leader working for ISV, and one Department of Conservation Ranger working for their government (both cool people). The ten of us were alone on this island for the most part, which was very cool, and everyone bonded instantly. We stayed at a house at the highest point on the island, where we took turns making meals and cutting wood for the fire.
We'd throw breakfast together and be out the door by 8:30 am. We'd stop at the nursery to hear our 'Maori word of the day' and plan what to do that morning, learning the names of any plants we were going to be using. Loading our supplies into a trailer, we'd all hop on the back of a tractor and head out to a part of the island, maybe to weed Ramnus (which quickly becomes a swear word since it seems like its everywhere), or to plant native trees (like kawa kawa, manuka, or caro). We'd all break for 'morning tea' (usually a muesli bar), sometimes joined by fantails. Fantail birds are always easy to recognize by their fan-like tails (original name, eh?). Then, we'd continue until lunch. After lunch, we'd do something else, like digging up old fence posts, or beach cleaning (the beach cleaning allowed us to completely surround the island by the end of the 2 weeks).
On rainy days, we'd do nursery work: plant seedlings into bigger containers and weed existing containers. After the working day was over, we'd all pile back onto the tractor and head home. On sunny days, we would all jump into ocean before dinner (it was their winter though, so not the warmest water you'd expect), someone would cut more wood and make a fire, and 2 people would be cooking. Once we were all curled around the fire, sometimes with a local treat our DoC Ranger would give us, our project leader would show us what the birds we saw that day were called and what they sounded like. After a day like that, rarely would anyone stay up past 9:00 pm though (I think our best was 10:00 pm). One night, we went out looking for a kiwi bird and found an old nest (no kiwi bird, but we did see a few morepork!).
We worked everyday (weekends too) except for 2 days off, where we went to Auckland. On one of those days, we detoured to Rangitoto for the first half of the day, it's a volcano! We got to explore lava caves and climb up to the rim of the dormant crater (reeeeally nice view from there), and we also got to see how our island compared to this one (we were doing pretty good too, we had much less Ramnus). By the time it was over, everyone was so attached to Motuihe that we stared at it as we left on the boat until it disappeared into the horizon.
What made this experience unique and special?
Sam: This experience was extremely special, to each of us. We had to keep reminding each other 'Guys, we're in New Zealand!', because it all felt so surreal. We were pretty much alone, on an island, on the other side of the world. We were starting to know more about their culture and fauna than we did our own. The scenery was so otherworldly and beautiful. The people we were with became like family (or 'whanoa'), we were from all over (Canada, US, England, Ireland) and no one knew each other beforehand. It was amazing! And this is all before the adventure tour part of it, the last two weeks where we got to travel the length of NZ by bus doing a lot of neat stuff.
How has this experience impacted your future?
Sam: After doing something like this, I can't wait to go travelling again, not as a tourist but as a traveller. Experiencing a country is so much different than just visiting one. It also makes you want to become more involved back home.