1981 School Magazine

Trivia: All tours are memorable lor the trivia that mean something special to those involved. Our list is endless - pinky bars and pebbles (New Zealand equivalent to Smarties); Beatles Ballads and Mr. Tambourine Man; boy locked in motel cup- board and key missing; leal and snow fights; terror ol sway- ing suspension bridges; Cathy's birthday with good wishes lrom all signed on a roll of toilet tissue; bus breakdown with boys packed scrum-fashion behind pushing; and James W's Rrrrrhonda calls. Less trivial was our contribution to the New Zealand fund-raising telethon for the disabled - $126 collected by the 'marshall' (mysell) imposing fines for anything and everything and handed over at the bank to the accompaniment of the telethon theme tune, 'Thankyou very much lor your kind donation', conducted by Carey. Our special thanks go to Mr. Flint and Bruce Wootton (B.G.S. staff), Mrs. Flint, our drivers froni Bonnici Coachlines (particularly Nick and Laurie) and to those parents who accompanied us. Julie Bryant l2H

North Island: An inter-island ferry brought us from Nelson (South Island) to New Zealand's capital Wellington (North Island). Wanganui, further north, impressed us with its very im- aginative children's park (Kowhai), all playground equip- ment being in the shape ol nursery rhyme or other appealing characters, objects and animal figures. New Zealand is geologically unstable and our impressions of the North Island were dominated by volcanoes, volcanic lakes, bubbling mudpools, geysers and geothermal bores, pipelines and power stations. The overpowering odcur of sul- phur hung all over Rotorua, but there were compensations like the Agrodome, a permanent agriculture and pasture ex- hibition where many breeds of sheep, well trained sheep dogs and shearing skills were on show. The pressure ol tourism has helped retain some ol the elements ol the Maori way of life, like the hangi, pasture and poi dances, colourful costumes, art and replicas of Maori villages, that we became familiar with in the North Island. However, the best artifacts were housed in museums and we sometimes had mixed reactions to the commercialization of a once rich culture. St. Paul's Memorial Church, built in 1937, near Wanganui gave the impression of a successful blend of Polynesian and European elements - an outward expression ol Christian beliefs, but with traditional Maori carvings, wall panels and rafter designs. Two flights out of Auckland on successive days saw the group split and the tour end.

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