NZ MUSIC TOUR
New Zealand Music Tour
Over the school holidays, 42 music students travelled overseas for the New Zealand Senior Music Tour, taking part in the Rhapsody Rotorua Music Festival.
We had 5 bands participate – include Wind Symphony, String Orchestra, Senior Stage band and two of our rock bands. We stayed in Rotorua, otherwise known as “Sulphur City”, on New Zealand’s north island, travelling with the WorldStrides tour group. Three other Australian schools travelled with us which included students from Yarra Valley Grammar (Melbourne), Corpus Christi College (Perth) and Canon Hill Anglican College (Brisbane) which was great fun.
We performed at two primary schools – which was very rewarding. The kids clapped along to our rock bands and it was incredibly heart-warming to hear the kids singing along to the concert band’s medley of Moana then sing Happy Birthday to Tyler for her 18th birthday in Maori. The Festival culminated in two public concerts, the first with each individual school band performing for the others and the second with mixed bands of students from both Australia and New Zealand. These bands gave us the opportunity to extend our performance skills to a group of new like-minded peers. After a mere three rehearsals with these new bands and new music plus some incredible conductors, we performed our second concert, topping it off with a fun finale combining everyone in the program.
Despite only going for a week, thanks to Chief Dean, we managed to fit in many activities throughout the trip; such as Polynesian Spa, Hells Gate geothermal pools, the sheep show at the Agrodome and an evening at Tamaki Maori village, just to name a few. We were exposed to the Maori culture and traditions, and we were even taught a Maori song and had an amazing Hangi feast.
Our last weekend was spent enjoying ourselves and having lots of fun with some exhilarating activities. We visited Velocity Valley, with daring activities like The Swoop (a giant swing), a jet boat and a freefall simulator. We also got to ride in the OGO balls, which are giant inflated plastic spheres that roll down a large hill with us inside. And if that wasn’t enough for one day, we took a gondola ride up to Skyline Rotorua, getting the chance to race our friends down a luge track.
On the last night, we enjoyed a celebratory buffet dinner with the other Australian schools and ended the night with a dance party.
And of course, no trip to that part of New Zealand would be complete without visiting Hobitton. We took a guided tour around the serene little village that was built for the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films, enjoying our ginger beers, and pies and muffins at the Green Dragon pub.
Huge thank you goes out to the teachers that came along with us: Mrs Howes, Mr Dillon, Mr Brodie, Ms Zannis and to Mr Dean who made this trip possible. Also thank you and well done to all the students that came along. I’m sure we all gained something from it and made some unforgettable memories.
Kelly W. 12H and Jordan B. 10J
Rhapsody Rotorua
It was music to Rotorua's ears as students performed and honed their musical skills during the premier youth musician festival from 2 July to 8 July. Over 600 students from New Zealand and Australian schools, including our talented music students, congregated for Rhapsody Rotorua, where they were given the unique opportunity to showcase their talent. Some of our students' shared their experiences in an article featured in the Rotorua Weekender.