Thursday, September 1, 2016

Minjae's last day

Today we sadly say goodbye to Minjae. He has been with us for 6 weeks from Korea. We have loved having him and we will all miss him. At a special assembly he read out a speech.

Friday, August 5, 2016

Queenstown rocks!

The students and teachers enjoyed panning for gold at Arrowtown an old historical village just out of Queenstown.


The view from the top of the cable car overlooking Queenstown. 



Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Wellington Day 2

Today the Chinese students visited the Parliament buildings. 
There are four buildings in Wellington that house New Zealand's Parliament. They are Parliament House, the Parliamentary Library, the Beehive (also known as the Executive Wing), and Bowen House. These buildings are the centre of our democracy and a "must see" when in Wellington.



Eating at a Mexican restaurant.  Loved it!!
 
The students also visited Zealandia.  ZEALANDIA is the world’s first fully-fenced urban ecosanctuary, with an extraordinary 500-year vision to restore a Wellington valley’s forest and freshwater ecosystems as closely as possible to their pre-human state. The 225 hectare ecosanctuary is a groundbreaking conservation project that has reintroduced 18 species of native wildlife back into the area, 6 of which were previously absent from mainland New Zealand for over 100 years. 

Monday, August 1, 2016

Last day at Oropi School 01.08.16

Today we said "goodbye" to our Chinese students and teachers as they go off to explore Wellington and Queenstown this week, before flying back home.

In the morning, the students practiced their farewell speech before we had a special school assembly to say "goodbye" and present the students and teachers/parent with a gift to remember Oropi School and Tauranga. 

During morning tea time, they spent time with their class and their buddies playing.

Oropi school hosted a farewell lunch as we said our final goodbyes before boarding the mini van to see Comvita.   Then it is off to Wellington this afternoon :) 

Thanks for the fun times we have all experienced at Oropi School and hope you have all enjoyed the experience of New Zealand and a rural school. 








The Oropi students all sang a traditional Maori song to the Chinese students.
 



Rotorua Day 31.07.16

On Sunday the students and teachers went to Rotorua for some sight seeing. 
The "Luge" Part go-cart, part toboggan, offers a truly unique outdoor experience.  Have fun racing each other down the hill through the beautiful forest scenery. 
They also took the 900 metre long cable car (Gondola) up to the top to enjoy 180 degree views of Rotorua. 
Rainbow Springs was another attraction they all went to explore.  Getting up close and personal with a kiwi. 
Afterwards it was onto Agro Dome to see some different types of sheep and working dogs on the farm.   




















Friday, July 29, 2016

Hobbiton visit 29.07.16

Today we went over to Matamata for a Hobbiton visit.  This is where "The Lord of the Rings" movies were filmed.  The day was a bit windy and rainy in parts, but they still managed to have a great time!


Outside the Hobbiton sign in Matamata
 

 
One of the Hobbiton houses in the background



Inside one of the Hobbiton houses resting!
 



We then stopped for lunch before we drove back to school to be picked up by our host families.  The end of week 1.



Thursday, July 28, 2016

A day at Oropi School. 28.07.16

Today we will enjoyed a kiwi experience at Oropi School


 We were writing our farewell speech


 Playing dodge ball.

 Eating our pancakes

 Our kiwi birds that we made


Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Farm visit in Oropi 27th July 2016.

Today we visited Peter Hodges farm in Oropi.   We started with a walk to see the dogs and calves with their cows.  The weather was very overcast and raining a little bit in the morning.



The students with Mount Maunganui in the background
 


Peter brought over some hay for the students to feed the cows!  The boys loved this :)
 



The students got to hand feed the pet sheep.  The loved pats on the head!
 





Then we took a tractor ride to the start of our walk down to the "Bach" for some lunch.  The students enjoyed the tractor ride! 
 



Time to cook the BBQ with our sausages for our lunch! Yum Yum.  The boys did a great job. Well done!
 




Time to eat!  Hungry work on the farm.
 


Down the river we all went to feed the friendly eels.  We gave them our left over sausages to eat.  They were hungry too!
 




After lunch the students decided to have a go at the "go-cart" riding down the hill.  Lots of laughs were had.  Great fun.
 

Tracey decided to have a go too!  Looked like she enjoyed herself.