LaSER trip to New Zealand - 2008

"Team Kiwi's Awesome Adventure"

After many months of planning and fund-raising, the 14 girls and 4 leaders that made up "Team Kiwi" set off on their "awesome" adventure.  We left the UK on 4th August heading for a short stop-over in Hong Kong, and we like to say we brought Hong Kong to a standstill (but actually it was a T8 typhoon that did that!).  Despite the wind and rain it was still exceptionally hot - so t-shirts, shorts and very fetching plastic rain capes were the order of the day.  Despite ½ of Hong Kong "battening down the hatches", we did manage to get around to see some of the sights - thanks to the valiant efforts of "our girl in Hong Kong" - a friend of one of the girls on the trip.  This included the hustle and bustle of the street markets, the views from the Peak and enjoying the cuisine from dim sum breakfasts to Chinese banquets where you thought they would never stop bringing you food.  We also visited Guide HQ, where we made origami guide badges with the Rangers and looked in on the brownie cookery class.

We then travelled to Auckland, and we really did notice the change in temperature!  During our stay here the group enjoyed a trip up the Sky Tower, giving us night views over the city, and straight down when you stood on the glass floor panels! We visited the Auckland Museum, where we had our first experience of the culture and history of New Zealand.  We also took a trip over to Rangitoto Island with its walk up to the top of the dormant volcano.

From here we flew down to Christchurch, staying at Cracroft House, a lovely 150 year old guide house in the Cashmere district of the city - only problem with 150 year old houses, very little heating and it had snowed before we arrived.  The girls lived in about 6 layers of clothing all week - it really wasn't that cold - honest! 

During this week we did our service project at the Cholmondeley Children's Home.  The aim of the home is to provide a safe, short-term haven for children between the ages of 3 and 12 whose parents are unable to look after them.  Its mission is to provide quality short-term residential care for children in need and support for their families.  The project had been arranged for us by Volunteering Canterbury (part of Volunteering New Zealand).

The home is situated on the shore of the beautiful Governors Bay - which afforded it with some wonderful views from the playground!  It also gave us the daily journey "over the hill" with its very winding roads!  However it was worth it to be able to see the panoramic views of Christchurch stretching out in front of us, then this changing to the tranquillity of the bay.

During our time at Cholmondeley the girls and leaders split into groups and helped cook, sort out the home's many store rooms, sorted toys, books and jigsaws, helped with the gardening and when the children returned from school played and sang with them, joining them for supper each evening.  Some of the leaders got even more "exclusive" jobs we ripped up carpets and laid lino, along with the help of two very inquisitive little boys who had befriended us.  More importantly we became "waste disposal experts" - the "waste" in question rat (or possibly possum) poo in one of the outside storage buildings - we certainly surprised ourselves !!

Following our trip we have made donations to Volunteering Canterbury, Cracroft Guide Centre, which will be used towards the renovation of the upstairs bathroom, and also Cholmondeley Children's home.  This money will be used to refurbish the entrance room/play area.

During our week we had a joint birthday party for the 3 girls with birthdays on the trip, and were joined for this by Trisha, from Volunteering Canterbury who had been instrumental in setting up our project and arranging things for us during our stay in Christchurch.  We had a visit from the local Rangers, who provided food for us, and introduced us to L&P (Lemon & Paeroa drink - a staple Kiwi soft drink, and one which became a firm favourite with the group).  Also our first introduction to the "Woozle" a character which is the mascot of the Ranger programme.  We also bought Guiding biscuits from the Pippins, visited guide HQ, went on the Gondola and trams and of course shopped.  Some of us also visited the Antarctic exhibition experiencing a simulated Antarctic storm and seeing the little blue penguins.

At the end of our week we had an early morning start for the Tranz Scenic train journey to Picton, with some spectacular views of the coast line and seals and penguins on the beaches.  From Picton it was over on the Ferry to the North Island and Wellington.

Our whirlwind tour of Wellington included some of the group going mountain biking and some visiting the Zoo where Team Kiwi adopted a brown kiwi.  After which we took the cable car up to the Botanical Gardens, with its views over Wellington.

On from there to Rotorua - home of the thermal pools and the delightful smell of sulphur!  Our hostel even had its own thermal pool.  We were invited to the local brownie meeting, helping them with their centenary challenges.  The following evening we visited the Rangers, and once again was re-acquainted with the "woozle" -this time being "woozled" - which involved stepping through the middle of a rather large woozle. 

We visited Whakarewarewa thermal village (not easy to spell and even harder to say!) experiencing a Maori cultural show, they made using the poi seem so easy!  We saw the geyser - Pohutu - blow, watched the thermal mud bubbling in the pools, and occasionally were shrouded in the mist created by the hot water.  For lunch we enjoyed a traditional "hangi" meal cooked underground in special boxes.  A visit to the Polynesian Spa for some of us was a relaxing way to end the day, although some chose to go to the gondola and luge.

Nearing the end of our adventure we flew back to Auckland on our own private jet - no we had not blown the budget!  It was a 19 seat internal flight - Team Kiwi and one brave member of the public.  So small was the plane that some of our luggage had to travel on a later flight to us!  Our last day in Auckland was spent doing final shopping, having our farewell meal and the presentation of gifts.

We then headed home via Los Angeles.  During the whole trip we travelled 40,768.98km and have flown around the world - AWESOME!

Carole Summers & Team 

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