We made it!

Hi all!

After a busy two days of travel and activities already, and with no doubt minimal contact from your beloved Venturers themselves, we present our first blog update of NZV2013!

Thursday 27^th saw early starts across the country, with flights leaving throughout the day and the majority of Venturers eventually streaming through Auckland Customs and Immigration at the same time, thanks to slight changes to the Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane flights. We go through without a hitch though, all settled in to the Auckland Uni accommodation before a solid feed, a whole Contingent meeting and a good night’s rest.

Friday 28^th was another reasonably early start, with most (bar two sleeping beauties who missed the initial wakeup call by almost 2 hours!) ready and raring to go to Waitomo Caves.  A 2 hour drive was followed by a guided tour of the renowned glowworm caves, including a rendition of Advance Australia Fair to test the underground acoustics, and a underground-river boat ride – in the darkness!

The afternoon was on to Roturua, where the Contingent was split in two and sent off to either Agroventures or the Tamaki Maori Village.  With the place booked out, Group A had Agroventures all to themselves with most of your little tackers getting through 3, or even all 4, of the adrenaline stunts.  Group B soaked up the traditional Maori culture with a display of singing, dancing and storytelling after being greeted by a fearsome Haka.  As good as the Contingent-provided lunches are, we were resoundingly told that the tender lamb, spiced chicken, slow cooked vegies and mountains of food at the Hangi somehow superseded the rolls at lunchtime – go figure.

Excitement and adrenaline levels remain high, however the rooms fell strangely quiet immediately at lights out – almost as though these supposedly-tireless teenagers actually require sleep to function.  All good news for the welfare team.

Free-time in Auckland on New Year’s Eve presents the opportunity for Venturers to access the internet and/or payphones and contact home.  However, we make no promises and as Gaz and Phil said: “No news is good news.”

Until the next break in the schedule,

Rob and Kusi J