On a Taniwha Hunt

This week for reading we are sharing a book about a taniwha. A taniwha is a supernatural creature that takes a form similar to a dragon, snake or even a shark. They live in water or sometimes caves. They appear in Maori myths and legends. Today we decided to go for a taniwha hunt and headed out to Riccarton to the beautiful Dean's Bush to see what we could see.

We parked the van and walked past the stunning Riccarton House. 

Here is the entrance to the bush.

When you enter the bush you have to go through two gates. The bush is very special and the gates help to keep predators out. There are lots of native birds living in the bush.

We followed the path through the trees. It was lovely and cool. The cicadas were making lots of noise.

In the middle of the bush there is a place to take a rest and enjoy a little bit of peace away from the busy world. Alex checked out the informative signs.

Aimee-Lee had a wee lie down.

Back to business! Taniwha spotting. First we saw these twisted tree roots with a hole in the middle. Could a taniwha be hiding there?

These tangled branches looked supernatural.

Could this be a taniwha nest?

We looked up the tallest trees. Anyone home?

Don't taniwha sometimes live in caves? This looks like a nest with a cave in the middle.

What about hiding in the ferns?

Or under the little bridge?

In the end the only taniwha we saw (or heard) was Aimee-Lee, who got right into the spirit of the adventure. She loves acting and pretended she was a big, fierce taniwha as she walked through the bush. If there was a real taniwha, Aimee probably scared it away!

In the end it didn't matter that we didn't find a real taniwha because we had so much fun going for a walk together. In the afternoon we got busy and started creating our very own taniwha for the wall of our classroom. It will be the most beautiful taniwha ever seen.