On the 8-10 March, five Year 11 Geography classes had a field trip to get an introduction to Geography and to investigate the tourism patterns of Queenstown. The data was then used in the internal assessment at the end of Term 1.

On the journey down we learnt a lot about the geographical patterns and features of the land, such as the plateau around Tekapo, man-made hydroelectric power plants in Twizel and the vineyards of Cromwell. In the afternoon after arriving in The Adventure Capital of NZ, we arranged ourselves in groups at the beach to compete in the friendly beach art competition to win first servings at dinner (a much sought after prize). The art had to be based around one of the seven BIGs (Big Ideas in Geography) that include perspectives, environments, processes, sustainability, interaction, patterns and change. The art also had to be inspired by one of the geographic features either in Queenstown or on the journey down. That evening we had mandatory study time for an hour before we could relax and hit the hay eager for a busy day on Thursday.

It was an early start on Thursday and the excitement was running high for a day full of new and enjoyable experiences. In Queenstown students were given a talk by Destination Queenstown and we conducted student-made surveys to investigate tourism patterns, such as continent of origin, age and purpose of the trip to Queenstown. We used this primary data to complete the internal assessment later on in the term.

But there was also fun to be had, including an urban orienteering challenge around Queenstown township which involved taking photos of significant landmarks, popular spots and even photos with tourists from a variety of countries of origin. Some bonus points were found by groups who knew to hunt for Geocaches and some groovy glasses were the prizes for the winning team. After completing our precis sketch from the Skyline Gondola students went luging before heading back to camp to start their assessments after dinner. Some incredible musical skills were heard at the camp and some great dessert was eaten and then a trip home, that proved to be a lot quieter than the trip there!