Auckland Airport

Have arrived safely in Auckland. The flight on Air New Zealand was excellent - very comfortable, good service and good food. Also, the flight was smooth - no turbulence at all. Here in Auckland it's not so cold but the weather is overcast and rainy. Now have a 4 hour wait for our next flight to Queenstown. All students have been as good as gold.

It's cold down there, very cold!

It seems as if the whole world is having crazy weather and that includes New Zealand. The past week has seen temperatures dropping to as low as minus 10 celsius and heavy snow has fallen. In fact, Queenstown was cut off by snow for one day. It'll be great fun for our students who have never seen snow beofore. I am looking forward to plenty of snowball fights :-) Poor Mr Man is worried he might feel too cold - time to eat more hot porridge oats, John!! It's only a few days till we leave and the good news on the weather front is that although it's cold, the skies are clear. It will be a fantastic experience flying in on Sunday over the snow covered mountains.

Views of Queenstown

Look at that lovely BLUE sky

The lakeside - we won't be sunbathing for sure!

But we will go up into the mountains and play with snow

Such clear, fresh air!

Not long till we go

As you all know, a group of our students and two teachers will soon head south to New Zealand for two weeks of study and fun. There will be English lessons in the mornings, and exciting activities in the afternoon. I imagine many of the students are counting down the days till they leave, I know I am. However, there's the end-of-year exams to take first :-) Our flight to New Zealand will be long and tiring. It's about 12 hours flying to Auckland, then we have a long transit at Auckland Airport before we continue our journey to Queenstown. I am sure by the time we arrive, all of us will be looking forward to a nice shower and then a big, soft, comfy bed. Queenstown is a resort town in Otago in the south-west of New Zealand's South Island. The town is built around an inlet on Lake Wakatipu, a long thin lake shaped like a lightning bolt, and has spectactular views of nearby mountains. The town is very popular with young international and New Zealand travellers alike, who come for adventure and ski tourism.
Our students will study at The Southern Lakes English College. The college is situated on the banks of the famous Shotover River and the classrooms are only metres away from the recreational activities that are readily available. The college has a good mix of international students, so there will be plenty of opportunities for our students to get to know young people from other countries.
Nationality Mix: Swiss 16% Other European 18% Korean 12% Thai 8% Japanese 20% Chinese-speaking 7% Brazilian 15% Other 4%
I plan to update this blog daily while in New Zealand, so please log in regularly, catch up with what we are doing, and add your comments.