Hi everyone! We have been enjoying our first few days in New Zealand but brrr, it’s cold! Especially compared to the warm, tropical climate of Fiji. However, New Zealand does not disappoint. All of the green rolling hills, Southern Alps off in the distance, beautiful farms, and gorgeous flora has us mesmerized.

We spent our first day in Christchurch where we were greeted by our guide, Carl, a Christchurch native and driver of a double decker bus. He shared his knowledge and love of Christchurch as we drove around learning about the city’s history and the effect of the 2011 earthquake, causing much destruction, which has led to years of rebuilding that is still a work in progress. Sadly, around 200 people died in the earthquake and there is a memorial in the form of white chairs which are all unique and different, each representing a person who passed.

After seeing the city, we ate lunch at a hip pop-up food court and then played around at the Margaret Mahy Playground, which is the largest in the Southern Hemisphere and, apparently, designed by kids telling the design/engineer team what they wanted in a playground. Pretty cool!

After our day and night in Christchurch, we headed three hours south to the town of Oamaru to meet our homestay families. Everyone was excited to meet their new Kiwi families for the next five days. Many students are living on farms while some are living closer to town. We (Stephen and Jaimie) are on a big sheep farm where the students will visit on Monday to learn to shear and herd sheep. Today, we saw some students at the local rugby game and all are reporting they’re having a good timel! Stay tuned to hear about homestay experiences!

— Stephen & Jaimie