At the Chelsea Sugar Factory in Birkenhead, Auckland, New Zealand on the 2nd of November 2020 TWP 5 went with two parent teacher helpers to bake, have a factory tour and play in the Interactive Zone to get experience for a new skill and to learn about it.
When we got there we were split into two groups. One group was called Orange and one was called Pink. Orange went into the baking room and Pink went on tour. We ran into the baking room and listened to the baking teacher Jo. It smelt like vanilla essence and was making my nose tingly. She told us to wash our hands and put our aprons on. She called us to the table for a demonstration. She asked Amihuti, my baking partner to help as a demo. Huti and Jo showed us what we had on our table and how to use it. When they finished we collected our little glass bowl and went to our table. We were at the same table as Monique and Kamaea. We started baking. First we added the butter mixture and then the sugar. By the time we finished measuring the sugar Monique and Kamaea were already finished! I was amazed but not surprised. Monique’s mum is a baker and I think a cook so Monique would have a lot of experience. We added all of the ingredients and we started rolling them onto the tray. The dough felt yuck and squishy.. Once we were finished we lined them up and ate the rest that couldn't fit on the tray. It was so yummy. Jo said to wash the dishes and dry them and then we could start colouring in our little gift box. Amihuti didn’t even help me with the dishes. Once I was done I went to grab a gift box and then some colours. I think that mine looked pretty but casual afterwards. Monique set the countdown timer and Jo pulled the cookies out. Mine and Huti’s looked like a caterpillar so we had to separate them. We took nine each and then we ran back to the visitor room. We sat and waited for the pink group to come.
Now it was our turn to go on the tour. We waited for Tatum, the tour guide. She took a while so Lauren, the tour helper, said to put on the safety gear. First we needed to put a hairnet on and then the helmet. I needed help so Lauren helped me. Tatum finally came and then we watched a video. When the video was finished Graham hopped in the driver's seat of the train and we hopped on. The first place we stopped was the boat. Did you know that it comes every six weeks and it takes five whole days to unload. They used a grabber and put it in a cauldron and then it went up a conveyor belt and went up to a part of the factory. That was our next stop. I called it the mountain of heavenly goodness. There were cones on the ground because some spilt and NO ONE is allowed to touch it or else people might have you germs. Just saying. On the other side there was another conveyor belt holding the sugar. We looked up at the conveyor belt that came from the ship pouring into the mountain of sugar! Tatum said that they find weird things in the pile of sugar. They even found a LUNCHBOX! Free lunch, yummy (Unless it’s mouldy, ewww). Tatum also said that they have birds laying nests in there which is quite sad if one of the eggs falls into a pile of sugar. The next stop was the actual factory. When we got inside we had to put glasses on and watch a video. The video was finished and then we went up the stairs. First we went into the first part of the sugar. We met a man called Alex. Tatum showed us the cycle and then we went to the second part where we met Josh and Key. They showed us on microscopic cameras in one of the tubs, where the sugar was. It looked kind of gross. After that we went into the syrup room. She said we could try as many syrups as we like. My favorite was the Vanilla one. Then the molasses. Everyone else said “Eww, how do you like that.” I said, “I get used to it. I always had it at my house when I was little. Tatum said that we needed to go. We drank a cup of water and hopped back in the train. The next stop was the history room. She showed us what they used to use. Fun Fact- There were bags that they hold sugar in that they could make like 10 in one minute. How fascinating. We hopped back in the train and we headed back to the visitor room.
Now we were about to head into the Interactive Zone. The Interactive Zone is a place where you can do colouring, pretend baking and reading about Chelsea. Another fun fact- Chelsea and Edmond's work together. Who could have known. Two of the best baking products are collaborating! The pink group came in and we headed to the Interactive Zone where we were given a paper. There were questions about Chelsea and Edmond's. We had to fill in the gaps by reading paragraphs on the walls. I needed Krystal's help. She showed me where to find everything instead of actually telling me the answers. Now that is a way of finding it yourself. A good way was helping one another and not doing it for them. I gave my paper to Lauren after I finished. I went to the pretend baking station and I waited for Kamaea to finish. A while later Aisake finished before Kamaea and Kamaea told me to go where Aisake was. I finished and then it was time to go to lunch. We said our prayer and then ate. I had two cookies. They were yummy as always. I ate my lunch and then we took selfies with the selfie booth. I took a boomerang of me doing a dolphin but it didn’t turn out as well as I expected. I was so bored so I asked Miss Nees Kairua if we can go to the park. She said, “Only with the permission and adviser of an adult.” We asked Angeline’s mum Maria if we can go. She said yes. The rest of the class ran outside leaving me, Maria and a few more kids as well. Miss Nees-Kairua told them to wait for Maria. We went outside and started playing. Some people were crowding the park and not many kids were allowed on it so we had to get off. Another thing was that the playground was only for under eight year olds which was a bummer. It was the end of lunch so we had to go inside.
We said our goodbyes to Lauren and her team and then we sat down. Monique said a thank you on behalf of the class. I felt quite sad but I knew that it had to end. We hopped in the bus and sang songs and talked.
That day was really fun. I hope we can go there another time. Accept this time with only a little amount of people.
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