Challenge Week 2010

New Zealand Experience
The rugged beauty of the North Island is simply jaw-dropping making it one of the world's most stunning regions. Here is a taste of what you may be doing.

After a long flight we will have perfect opportunity to stretch your legs and breath in some great New Zealand fresh air on Day 1. We will visit ‘Buttermilk Farm’ with all the favourite New Zealand farm animals and then visit one of New Zealand’s largest collections of butterflies in the ‘Tropical Butterfly House and Aquaria’.

The next day could be spent on the beautiful Coromandel Peninsular, a rugged coastline cloaked in native Pohutukawa trees on one side and breathtaking golden sandy beaches on the other. Here we will challenge ourselves in the High Zone. This is one of New Zealand’s best high rope courses; here we will find our personal comfort zone and then step out of it. Each person is challenged to complete the course, but all that is required is a desire to try. After we’ve mastered the Rickety Bridge, Beam and Trapeze it’s time to really test our nerves on the High Swing. . After lunch we will spend the afternoon at a Bone Carving School and learn the Maori art of bone carving.

Day 3 is Service Day! In the morning we travel to a New Zealand Kiwi sanctuary and assist the Department of Conservation with trap checking and clearing to ensure Kiwi predators are kept away. In addition, we will add to the already established native trees by planting over 200 new trees, so when you return to New Zealand in 10-20 years time you will be able to show your kids the trees that you planted. Our final activity is a luxurious soak in natural hot pools on the beach; all you have to do is walk down the beautiful white sandy ‘Hot Water’ beach.

Day 4 could include a visit to an Agrodome, home to the world famous NZ Sheep show where we get the chance to enjoy a live show which includes a display of New Zealand’s 19 most popular sheep breeds, working sheep dogs, sheep shearing and cow milking demonstration. There's also a chance to feed baby lambs and take part in a New Zealand sheep auction. Later we can Experience the Zorb, Freefall Extreme and if you’re up for it, the Swoop. These activities are sure to bring a smile to our faces and send a shiver down our spines. The Zorb is a 170metre bounce down a natural NZ hill inside a 3 metre ball. Wet, Dry or ZigZag options are available. Freefall Extreme lifts you off the earth with a 180kph column of wind that simulates a parachute fall, just without the parachute. The Swoop is a cross between a swing and a bungy that propels you 100metres at 130km per hour

There is yet more action to come on Day 5. We will ride the gondola to the top of Mt Ngongotaha enjoying spectacular views on the way up. On the way down we’ll ride the world’s first Luge on a fast concrete track. We will then going White Water Rafting. After a short trip on the coach we will arrive at the Rangitaiki River and prepare for our rafting trip.

We will enjoy a mixture of action and culture on Day 6. We start with an early morning walk around the shore of Lake Taupo before riding the HukaJet! Later, we will cross the Waikato River then tour a world of gushing geysers, hot springs, boiling mud pools and some of the largest silica terraces in the world – an activity not to be missed. We have a variety of walks to enjoy and we even visit a huge cave caused by an eruption

thousands of years ago. Accommodation on Day 6 will be Tokoroa Marae. At the Marae we will be

welcomed with a cultural performance that we then have to respond to with our own song. A Marae

is a very important place to Maori people and indeed all New Zealanders. It is like a hall that is used

for meetings and gatherings and cultural activities. In a Marae there are many carvings that tell stories

about the peoples history.

We farewell the Marae on Day 7 and travel to Waitomo Caves, home of a labyrinth of cave, grottos, stalactites and stalagmites and of course millions of glow worms. Here we will have the opportunity to enter the caves and experience black water rafting before enjoying a celebration dinner and preparing to fly back to Hong Kong on Day 8.

This itinerary is subject to change, although we will try to offer as many of the outlined activities as possible. It is proposed that this trip will run from the evening of Friday 8^th October, with students returning early on Sunday 17^th October.

ACTIVITIES OUTLINE

Creativity: Bone carving

Action: High ropes course, Hiking, Hot Water Beach, Zorbing, Free-fall Extreme, Luging, White-water rafting, Huka jet-boat, Caving, Farm visits

Service:   New Zealand Kiwi Sanctuary and Tree Planting

Cost Per Student	$20,000 Approx
Number of places available	50
Open to which year groups	9 – 13

For enquiries, please contact Miss Howard ( sarah.howard@kgv.edu.hk )

Final cost is subject to number of participants. In case of under-subscription, cost may be increased.