The Magical North Island Tour (by Lucy Zou, Yoyo Chen and Olivia Zhao) In the middle of January, nine international students went on a trip of the central North Island for seven days. It was a great trip with many unforgettable memories.

By Lucy Zou

We were very lucky on our trip. On a sunny day, we went to the Tamaki Maori village. With the singing of Maori women and men, we stepped into this village full of Maori culture. First, we were led to the place where Maori burgers were made. This was the first time I have seen and heard of Maori burgers. We made the dough by ourselves and packed all the ingredients inside. While waiting for the Maori burgers to cook, we were led into the depths of the forest. We enjoyed a traditional Maori Hāngī, and then watched an interesting and exhilarating Maori performance. After that, we tasted our Maori burgers; I can honestly say they were delicious. 

By Olivia Zhao

Then we went to a resort called the Top 10 Hotel where we could see the starry sky at night. It was much cooler compared with the previous hot days. It was quieter and more comfortable as well. At the resort we could enjoy swimming in the swimming pool and playing golf. When we went here, we couldn't wait to enter the swimming pool and enjoy the coolness of summer. We played games in the swimming pool with our friends and we had lots of fun. The tour leaders organized a delicious kiwi BBQ. After the meal, we organized a rock pile competition and after that, we chatted with friends under the stars, which made me enjoy this moment very much. The next day we visited the Glow Worm Cave; the scenery there is very unforgettable.

By Yoyo Chen

We also went to the Hobbiton movie set after the holiday park. The guide introduced the movie background to us, and how the director Peter Jackson finished the movie. It was interesting to learn how the director tried his best to make the movie to appear very realistic, Hobbiton was set up like a real village. The path we walked was really narrow, and we could notice the little details around the place, like the little cloths hanging on the washing lines. It was so interesting to know that Peter Jackson decided to turn this story into movies and they were all made here in New Zealand. After the guide showed us around Hobbiton, we went to have ginger beers. The ginger beer is very thirst quenching on a hot summer’s day. 

Auckland Shopping, Food and Friends by Himari Harada and Koh Miyamichi 

After our Central North Island trip, we spent five days exploring Auckland, in particular the shopping and restaurants around the city.

We went to Sylvia Park, Westfield Newmarket and Westfield St Lukes for our shopping. The size of the shopping malls were amazing. They have lots of different shops, Asian supermarkets and restaurants. We made sure to enjoy lots of yummy snacks, try on lots of fashionable clothes, and we also bought souvenirs for our host families. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed the good shopping.

We also went to the night market for dinner in Mt Wellington. They had lots of different types of food and they were all from different countries such as China, Japan, Korea, Thailand and India. We bought Korean rice cakes, Kimchi fried rice, and Japanese traditional food called Okonomiyaki. All of them tasted amazing - we also bought some sweets, and we had popcorn and churros. It was such an amazing experience going to the night market for the first time.

Another great experience was having dinner with some Columba College old girls who work or study up in Auckland. Twenty-one of us gathered together at a popular Thai restaurant for a meal. It was interesting to hear about their time at Columba College, but they also shared lots of stories about studying and working in New Zealand.

Auckland Zoo by Kalyaporn Maicharoen and Noa Kuroki

We went to the Auckland Zoo which was a wonderful place. There were so many kinds of animals and we found them to be very lovely and interesting. First we went inside and we saw a huge elephant statue for us to take a picture with. Then we met the animal with a long neck, the giraffe! They didn’t pay us much attention because they were only interested in eating. In the meantime, we also saw some zebras and emus all in the same corral. We were very surprised that these different species of animals could stay together without fighting. It was very cool!

We were at the zoo just in time to hear the elephant talk. The zookeepers' talked about the two elephants that still live at the zoo and how they care for these beautiful creatures. They are so smart. The zookeepers' told us that the two elephants will be sent to another zoo so they can have baby elephants. We were lucky to see them.

We also saw rhinos, deer, flamingo, serval, baboons and many more exotic animals. Some of them were very talented as well, especially the elephants. They were amazing! We are very grateful to be there, we have such great memories. We would also like to thank Ms Medary and Ms Stirling for taking us there and looking after us throughout the trip.