Greetings from sunny New Zealand!

After some travel delays, we have finally made it to New Zealand and are settled into homestay life in Oamaru.

When we arrived in Christchurch, Craig, our lovely guide, greeted us and scooted us out quickly so we could make it to the Marae (meeting house) by sundown so we could be greeted by the Maori community. The invitation ceremony changes if you arrive after sundown, which is around 6 PM here in wintery New Zealand. After a couple hours of driving, we were welcomed into the Marae with a ceremony in which the head male welcomed us, sang a song, and then the rest of the community joined in. Then our Putney group leader, Seano, responded with a greeting and the whole group joined in to sing ¨Blackbird¨ by The Beatles in response — and we must say, we crushed it!  We had a delicious home-cooked meal and stayed up and played lots of card games before hitting the hay, spreading out to sleep on mattresses in the meeting room. The community was very welcoming and taught us a lot about their culture — it was such a warm welcome to the country.

We headed out to Oamaru the next morning, where we visited a historical farm that was the first in New Zealand to export mutton to English meat markets, visited the Steam Punk museum, and had a go at penny farthing bicycles. Everyone then went their separate ways to stay with their homestay families, which is where we all are now.

Stay tuned for more blog posts about the homestay, including rugby games, conversations with blue penguins, and colorful details of living the Kiwi life.

‘Til then!

– Heather & Seano