Back in Hong Kong

Everyone is now safely back in Hong Kong. I hope you all enjoyed the tour - I certainly did.

SUKI, GIGI, JACK, STEVEN, SCORPIO, IVY WONG, LITTLE IVY, OLD LADY, NATALIE, KELLY, MARCO, CUTEY LAU, FLORA, IRISSA, VANESSA, JESSICA


You have been wonderful students and I have loved spending two weeks with you. We did so much over the past two weeks and I was always impressed by how positive, enthusiastic and well-behaved you all were.

Also, a big thank you to John Man for helping me with this study tour. He may have been very cold throughout the two weeks but he didn't complain..............much :-)

Keep looking at this blog over the next few days because I am going to try to add some video clips. Also, please add your comments to let me know what you thought of the tour and how you feel now. And don't forget the webpage competition - two prizes totalling $8,000 dollars each. Send me your completed web page by September 1st.

My email address is ozspur@gmail.com

Have a great holiday, folks.

John C

Prepare for take off

Ok, so the plan is we go as fast as we can and hope we can clear those mountains at the end of the runway!
Last view of The Remarkables
I love this photo
Last of the Southern Alps
Bye bye New Zealand

Leaving NZ :-(

The view on the way to the airport
Getting ready to leave
Scorpio doing something - what - I don't know
Just before going through security check
Suki and Gigi about to board the plane

Maori Evening

We all had a lovely and funny time at the Maori Cultural Show. We looked around their village houses, listened to their singing and watched their dancing. Then it was our turn to take part and learn the famous Maori Haka (the men) and the Poi (the girls). It was a wonderful way to end a fantastic trip to New Zealand.

Chief John accepting the welcome offer from the Maori Chief


Jack entertaining everyone with his anti-Arsenal song
The reaction to Jack's singing :-)

Yummy Hot Chocolate
Shop shop shop
Frozen Cars
Ice Crystals
Stunning views each day

Blaise presenting certifcates
Sarah's class
Last lunch at school
Steven practising for tonight's Haka
Our lovely bus driver Ba Ba

Graduation

A touching last day at the school. We had a simple, informal graduation ceremony which was very enjoyable and brought tears to the eyes of several students. I can't praise the school highly enough and I am absolutely certain that this has been the best study tour so far. Tonight we have our farewell dinner and then tomorrow it's the long journey home. Thank you to everyone who has added comments to this blog. It's always nice to get some sort of feedback! It is a time-consuming task writing the daily reports and adding the photos, so I really hope more people have looked at the blog than those who commented on it. Time to get ready for the Maori show and dinner now.

Making jewellery

Beading

Minus 9 degrees celsius this morning – a bit chilly but quite simply beautiful! You can see for miles and miles and everything looks so clean and beautiful.

Just two more days to go now and I am sure everyone is starting to look forward to returning home to HK to show their photos to friends and family and to tell everyone about all the things they have done in wonderful New Zealand. This afternoon the students had a chance to make their own jewellery at The Bead Shop, and many of them made presents for their mothers, grandmothers or friends. After that, they had a chance to do some shopping but tomorrow, no doubt will be the big shopping day. Also, tomorrow will be quite a sad day because we will have to say goodbye to the wonderful staff at the school, as well as our amazing driver, Ba Ba. Doubtless there will be millions of photos taken during the morning and possibly even a few tears. Everyone in NZ has been so friendly and helpful and I am sure the students will have very fond memories of their time here.

In the evening we will have dinner together and then enjoy a Maori cultural show in which I am sure our students will become active participants. It promises to be a great night out :-)

Classroom photos

Arrowtown

A much quieter day, today, but an interesting one nonetheless. For starters, the weather is still glorious – freezing cold (minus 5 degrees this morning) but crystal clear. Our afternoon activity involved a trip to nearby Arrowtown – an historic mining town at the heart of New Zealand's gold rush back in the 1860s. We visited the very interesting local museum and were given an informative talk on the local history. After that it was down to the river to pan for gold. It was freezing down there and, of course, we found no gold :-) Finally we headed over the famous A J Hackett Bungy jump and watched some brave souls jump from a great height into the icy waters of the Shotover River.

So, just a few more days left. It's been a great tour and one I feel all students have enjoyed. I have enjoyed watching the smiling faces of our students and feel that all the effort has been worthwhile. Tomorrow the students will have a chance to make their own jewellery and on Friday we will have dinner out and enjoy a Maori show. It should be fun.

Old house in Arrowtown
Learning about the history of gold mining in Arrowtown
The old classroom
Panning for gold
At the famous bungy jump bridge

The traditional photo of Suki with food in her mouth :-)

Tuesday

Another perfect day in wonderful Queenstown. The morning started with John Man and I using our credit cards ................. to scrape the ice off the windscreen of our car. The overnight temperature for the last few nights has been well below freezing so each morning there has been a thick layer of ice covering the car.

The afternoon activity was parasailing on Lake Wakatipi. The weather could not have been more perfect. Visibility was something we can only dream about in HK. It's time Donald Tsang and the other government leaders in Hong Kong woke up to how bad the pollution is and start taking some strong action to control it. Meanwhile, here in New Zealand we continue to enjoy the freshest air imaginable and enjoy views that are simply amazing.

Bye bye girls :-)

Really, I'm not scared........I just look it :-)