Flight to New Zealand

• Arrive at Auckland International airport . Transfer to Hotel .
• Introduction to Auckland : New Zealand’s largest city, situated between the sparkling waters of the Waitemata and Manukau Harbours. Known locally as the City of Sails, Auckland offers a wide range of experiences from trips to islands of the Hauraki Gulf, climbing one of its iconic volcanic cones to exploring the rugged and beautiful wild west coast with its black sand beaches and dense rainforest.
• Auckland sightseeing: Mt. Eden Volcano, Auckland Museum, Mission Bay, Devonport.
• Overnight Auckland

• Volcanic processes : extreme natural events Maori have lived in the Auckland area for around 800 years, attracted by its rich supply of sea food, natural harbours, fertile volcanic soils and the vantage points provided by 50 or so volcanoes. European settlement of the area began in 1840 after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi with Maori.
• Take a day trip by ferry to Rangitoto Island volcano to understand how it was formed, how the bare lava is gradually being reforested and the island functions as a sanctuary for endangered wildlife. Take a one hour hike to the summit for fabulous views of the Hauraki Gulf and surrounding islands and explore the lava caves.
• Meet homestay families and accompany them home. Overnight homestay

• NZ School experience : Spend the day at an Auckland secondary school. This is both a chance to experience education New Zealand style and to make new friends.
• Overnight Auckland (Homestay)

• River processes; Geothermal activity; Maori culture:Waitomo Caves village and cave system are major tourist attractions. The caves are noted for their stunning stalactite and stalagmite displays, and for their glowworms (the fungus gnat Arachnocampa luminosa).The word Waitomo comes from the Māori language wai meaning water and tomo meaning a sinkhole. • • These Caves are believed to be over two million years old and have been the centre of increasingly popular commercial caving tourism since 1900.
• Visit the famous glow worm caves (Cave ecology/Tourism)
• Take a guided walk in Ruakuri valley, a collapsed cave system (Karst landscapes) OR visit the Discovery centre. Increase your understanding of solution caves and their ecology through the interactive exhibition and or a presentation from the education officer.
• Drive to Rotorua.
• Te Puia is Rotorua’s most spectacular geothermal Park, the location of New Zealand’s biggest and most active geysers, as well as spectacular mud pools and boiling hot springs. See the famous kiwi bird and Explore pre and post European Maori communities…Enjoy a Maori Cultural show and experience a glimpse of the way of life of Maori.
• Overnight Rotorua

• Volcanoes; Tourism as a cultural process; Geothermal chemistry Rotorua is our oldest tourist resort, because of the bizarre geothermal features spread through and around the city, including geysers, mud pools and hot springs. In the 1800s visitors travelled around the world to see the famous Pink and White Terraces, unfortunately destroyed by Mount Tarawera volcano in 1886. The city is still a thermal resort, as well as the heart of Maori culture but now also has a great range of adventure and cultural activities to keep the visitors there a bit longer.
• Rotorua museum provides a great introduction to volcanism in New Zealand OR Agrodome Farm tour.
• Carry out qualitative (and quantitative if desired) analysis of hot spring water samples to understand the nature of geothermal activity and its benefits and dangers to the inhabitants of Rotorua.
• Afternoon flight to Christchurch.
• Overnight Christchurch

• Extreme natural events and their effects on people and places The Christchurch area was first settled by moa-hunting tribes about 1250 CE. Following the purchase of land by whalers, a party of European settlers established themselves in what is now Christchurch in the 1840s. In December 1850, four ships brought to the area 792 settlers with aspirations of building a city around a cathedral and college like Christ Church in Oxford. Christchurch was hit by a huge earthquake in February 2011. Much of the central city with its classic neo-gothic architecture was destroyed. However, it remains beautiful: the buildings may have been damaged but the soul of the city and the welcoming spirit of the people remain very much intact.
• City tour and Earthquake Museum visit.
• Visit to the Antarctic Centre in the heart of a working Antarctic campus at Christchurch International Airport. It is from here that many Antarctic missions are organised. The Antarctic Attraction brings a powerful and memorable experience of Antarctica to visitors in an exciting and informative way. Your visit includes a presentation on Antarctic biology and geography.
• Overnight Christchurch

• Tectonic Processes :The Southern Alps would be growing upwards at a rate of one centimetre a year if it wasn’t for the forces of erosion. Driving west, you go back in time geologically, meeting the oldest rocks in New Zealand, remnants of the super -continent, Gondwanaland, along the west coast. Here also is an opportunity to see glaciers extending down into rainforest. They begin as from snowfields high in the Southern Alps, but Maori legend explains them more poetically. It is said that a beautiful girl named Hinehukatere loved the mountains in this park and encouraged her lover, Tawe, to climb them with her. He slipped and fell to his death and Hinehukatere’s tears formed the glaciers.
• Drive west across the Alps today, stopping several times en route.
• Explore the stunning limestone formations at Castle Hill.
• Meet kea, our mischievous alpine parrot species at the summit of Arthur’s pass.
• Visit a jade (pounamu) factory in Hokitika and relate the formation of this metamorphic rock to NZ’s latest mountain building phase.
• Enjoy an evening soak in the hot pools of the alpine spa and, time permitting; take a short walk into the rainforest after dark to see glow worms.
• Overnight Franz Josef

Franz Josef to Wanaka (262km)
• Coastal ecology and processes; Glacial processes and landforms: vegetation patterns (zonation, succession) The West Coast glaciers are among the fastest moving in the world, up to 4 metres a day, because of their large catchments and this is why they extend down into the forest. During the last Ice Age, they reached far beyond the current coastline, with the result that glacial land forms feature prominently along the west coast of the South Island. For many, the Fox and Franz Josef glaciers are the main reason to visit but between the glaciers and the sea is also a bird watcher’s paradise. Rainforest and large areas of wetland shelter rare species such as the Okarito Brown Kiwi and White Heron (kotuku).
• Take a walk to the terminal of the Franz Josef Glacier (succession study) this morning, then drive south and through the Haast Pass to Wanaka.
• Along this highly scenic route, see glacial land forms and zonation of vegetation inland of beach and dune systems. Vegetation transect(s)
• Visit beech forest to compare its ecology with coastal temperate rain forest.
• Enjoy a jet boat ride on the Haast River.
• Overnight Wanaka

• Tourism as a cultural process; the physics of motion; Central Otago is a powerful landscape, sunny, dry and brown with weathered ancient mountains, alpine herb fields and fast flowing rivers. In the 1860’s this was a place of gold; you can still pan for it, in amongst the miners’ old trails, stone cottages and relics of mine machinery. However the gold in Central Otago is wine, especially Pinot Noir, which does really well in these southernmost vineyards
• Enjoy the maze, holograms, Ames Room and other illusions at Puzzling World this morning before setting off for Queenstown.
• On the way, watch (or try) bungy jumping from the Kawerau Bridge. Bungy jumping is an optional extra)
• Explore historic Arrowtown. Pan for gold and visit the former Chinese miners’ village.
• Arrive in Queenstown in time to travel high above the town by cable car to enjoy a luge ride before an all-you-can-eat dinner in the Skyline Restaurant. Time permitting, collect data to calculate velocities and energy transformations.
• Overnight Queenstown

• Tourism : Queenstown is a resort town on Lake Wakatipu with spectacular views of nearby mountains. The area was first known to Māori who probably visited en route to collect jade (pounamu). Explorers William Gilbert Rees and Nicholas von Tunzelmann were the first Europeans to settle the area. Rees established a high country sheep farm in 1860 until the discovery of gold nearby encouraged him to convert his wool shed into a hotel. Queenstown now offers more than 200 adventure tourism activities, including skiing, jet boating, whitewater rafting, bungy jumping, sky -diving and fly-fishing. It is also close to a small wine producing region and the surrounding area is often used in making movies, including of the Lord of the Rings.
• Free time in Queenstown
• Kiwi Park: an opportunity to see and learn more about New Zealand’s unique wildlife. And/Or adventure activity options: Shotover Jet; Lord of the Rings 4WD tour; horse trekking; zip-lining (flying fox ecotour); tandem sky-diving; white water rafting;
• Overnight Queenstown

• Sustainable use of resources – hydro-electric power generation; astronomy The last ice-age 15,000 to 18,000 years ago saw huge glaciers, longer than the lake, depositing large volumes of rock, damming of the valley to form Lake Tekapo.The glaciers have since retreated to the valleys at the head of the lake. The Mackenzie Basin was free of humans until with the arrival of the Maori several hundred years ago. In 1857 the first sheep farm was established, a hotel appeared in 1861 and in the1930s, work began on Tekapo power station. Hydro-electricity has become New Zealand’s main source of energy, supplemented by geothermal and wind. Unsustainable sources like coal and gas now account for only 30% of electricity generated. Today beautiful Lake Tekapo has become a popular tourist destination.
• Visit the famous Church of the Good Shepherd.
• Drive to Tekapo. Overnight Stay.

Airport transfer for flight home