Christchurch

So here we are. The final blog entry of the tour. I sit here in the airport writing this entry and technically the tour is now finished and we are sadly on our way home. The experience is really one we will remember for ever - we have all grown in our own way, but most importantly we have grown as a choir. We all have our own experiences, but also some truly fantastic group experiences which I know I will certainly never forget.

The last entry finished in Dunedin and since then we’ve seen some truly magnificent sights. The bus journey to Christchurch, was extremely long, but all together worth it as we saw some of the most amazing sights New Zealand has to offer. Mt Cook, known to the Maoris as “cloud piercer”, was one of the highlights, if not for the overcast weather playing against us once more. The journey continued to our main stop-off at Lake Tekapo, in which the choir was to do a short informal concert at the Church of the Good Shepard. Now this church you must understand, is the smallest church I think it is possible to have. It could not have been bigger than my room back in England, and fit a maximum of 50 people. Now, considering that there are 43 people in the choir, which pretty much filled the church, the audience was forced to be as small as possible. Though it was a full house! The semi chorus performed The Lamb and If ye love me, as well as an even further reduced Ave Verum Corpus, which apart from a couple of intimate tuning issues went exactly as one would expect. The full choir then got up and performed Steal Away and Hamba Lulu, which, considering the size of the church, must have seemed very impressive. Another thing I must note is however small the church was, the setting looking out on to Lake Tekapo is probably unmatched by any church in the world. The lake was beautifully clear and reflected the green hills behind it. I shan’t go into details, as there will be a picture posted, and it can sure do a better job of describing the lake’s beauty than me!

Following the short concert, the Bus was once again loaded with the choir and off it went on the rest of the journey to Christchurch. The scenery passing was constantly jaw dropping and anyone who missed out on the oppertunity to look at this scenery has missed a truly amazing part of the tour. Personally, however long the journey is, the best way to pass the time is simply to put on the Ipod and watch the scenery slide by as every single moment seemed to take your breath away. The journey did not seem very long as it was cleverly broken up with enough stops so as to not get too tedious. So suddenly we were there, being greated outside the oddly English Christ's College by our hosts for the rest of our stay in New Zealand.

Christchurch was a most intriguing town. The buildings in the centre of town were very English in style, but the atmosphere was distinctly New Zealand. People seemed to be entirely content with sitting and watching the various performers or look at the stalls that were there every day. My favourite part of the city had to be the Arts centre, in which it had many cafes and shops to look at, and even a fudge shop, which seemed to be lifted straight out of a dream, with lovely old ladies handing you delicious pieces of fudge as they talked to you lovingly about your day. Some of us were more than happy to sing a reduced riu riu chiu (in exchange for some more fudge of course), but for the whole weekend they were distinctly accommodating as we all made a trip to bring back fudge for our family. I must remind the family at home that lots of fudge went .....missing.... throughout the stay there, so don’t get your hopes up. Christ's College itself also seemed to be lifted out of a dream. It came across to me as though this school was like the OC (tv show) of New Zealand, except without Misha Barton. Saying that though, everyone from the choir were always very nice to us, and making sure we were always feeling at home. They always made a point to talk to us, and include us in whatever they were doing.

The following morning we were all droppped of by our hosts at school bright and early, ready for an early morning rehearsal for the upcoming concert in Christ Church Cathedral. After this two hour rehearsal we were introduced to the Arts centre and then to the Botanical gardens right next to Christs college. These were beautiful indeed but I won't go into detail about it as it pales in comparison to Kew Gardens back home. After this we were led into the centre of town, in which we were to spend our free time. The shopping around the area was very touristy, with stalls as I’ve already described, and then all the types of shops you would want in every direction. The one thing that was not easy to find was somewhere to eat that wasn’t fast food or a cafe! Standing at a set of traffic lights, I could see a Burger King, Mcdonald’s, Subway, KFC, and a Starbucks. No doubt every treble's dream, but most of the ATB had to search a little harder to find a restaurant with a little more sophistication. Eventually we found a nice little Japanese which catered very well to our rumbling stomachs at a very good price. After that we explored the city in our own groups, trying to find the best deals and what not, but a small group of us was drawn towards the park, in which we threw a frisbee. I must admit here, that in an attempt to take a shortcut back to Christ's College, I accidentally lead myself and another innocent bystander of the choir on the longest possible route back to the college. Something I do not regret, as we most definately saw areas of Christchurch which others did not - especially the council-run Hagley Park, which hosted various sports and activities for people to enjoy at their leisure. Upon arriving we were treated to a quick dinner and a rehearsal with the college’s choir and a great performance of O magnum mysterium by their chamber choir.

That night most of the choir was treated to the Super 14 rugby match at the Westpack Stadium where the local team, the Crusaders, were hosting Wellington’s Hurricanes. I sadly did not go, but watched on my host’s TV as the Crusaders lost to the Hurricanes for the first time in a fair few years. Good thing I had already chosen the Hurricanes as my team after seeing them in Wellington with my other host!

The next day we were left to our own devices with our hosts until 2.30. I was delighted to be given the opportunity to go sailing with David at Lyttleton Harbour. The wind started off quite soft, but by the end it was very strong, and the waves had grown very high. Needless to say that by the end of the time on water, we had all capsized, some more than others... After this it was straight off to rehearsal at the Cathedral, which would turn out to be our best concert of the tour. Featuring in this concert was the Chichester Psalms, The Tippett Spirituals, Ave Verum Corpus, Salvator Mundi, and Rejoice in the Lamb. Sadly I was ill for this concert, but watching from the sidelines was a great experience to here the truly incredible sound that is now being produced from the choir. After this concert very little happened as the storm that had been growing all day finally hit Christchurch, with gale-force winds, and buckets of rain, meaning that we were all grounded.

The next day, was our last full day in New Zealand, and I had the amazing opportunity to go and see a spotted Kiwi in at Westfield centre. I thoroughly enjoyed this morning - I got to see many animals that I have never seen before, including an Alpaca, which I was personally very excited about (largely down to the Emperor's New Groove, but none the less, love those animals!). But the highlight was definitely seeing these Kiwis up close. We went into this room where it was dark during our daytime, and light during the night, so that we can see them actually moving around and generally enjoying themselves. These Kiwis were really big as well, it was so amazing to see these endangoured in their “natural” environment. After this we had to quickly move on to the Cathedral for the evensong rehearsal, which I was able to sing in, and which went very well. It was great to have our last two concerts in the most prestigous place we could sing in New Zealand, and also perform better than we have for the entire tour.

So sadly on Monday morning we had to depart from our hosts in Christ's College after singing in their morning service at Chapel. We then drove out of the city to Akeroae, where they had a “beach”. To be honest, this beach was more something that you would see in Wales. Not really much sand, mostly rocky and uneven, so generally unuseful in every way. But the weather was really incredible, and the views on to the Lake at Akakura was really magnificent. A couple of the guys had the opportunity to go kayaking, but most spent their time trying to fit in one last meal before getting onto the plane and not eating properly for the next 30 hours. At two, we were all back on the bus and heading back to Christchurch to the Antarctic Centre just outside the airport. The main attractions here were seeing the cutest of small blue penguins which have been rescued from the wild either because they are blind or have broken wings, so unable to survive in the wild. The other interesting attraction was the storm room. We were dressed up in big coats and all went into this room which was a simulation of a typical summers day in the arctic. Starting off at a mild -8 degrees, it gradually lowered with the winds picking up, making it down to about minus sixteen with windchill. Some of the boys were stupid - I mean brave enough - to go through the entire thing with just their shorts and t-shirt. Parents, you are forewarned. The final attraction was the Hagland ride, in which you were taken around an offroad course in which the vehicle’s features were put to great effect as we went up and down hills, over gaps, and even waded through chest deep water!

So then we are back to where we started this somewhat long blog entry. Back in the airport, the tour all but over and the last note of riu riu chiu still ringing in our ears. It really has been a once in a life time experience which I have enjoyed massively. New Zealand has been very kind to us and everyone has been exceptionally welcoming to us all. Everyone has loved their hosts who have all been amazing towards us and we can’t even begin to thank them for all the things they have done for us. Most especially all of the boys would like to thank the members of staff who made this possible: Mrs Foden, Mrs White, Mr Ferris, and especially Mr Toyne, for giving us the experiance of a lifetime. We really do owe all of you so much thanks.

From the plane above Los Angeles

Matthew Parker (U6)

Dunedin

After our stay in Wellington, we were off to the South Island, renowned for its beautiful rural landsacpes. To get there we had to take a three hour trip on the “InterIslander” ferry; we were okay though – the ferry had lounges, a games arcade, a food court, a gift shop and, for the older boys (and Jack Hawkins Yr8), ‘Speed-dating’....

Once we had arrived in the South Island, we then took a five hour train journey to a motel in Christchurch where we were to stay for the night. After the plane journey which we took to get to Auckland from home, five hours seems like five minutes. We then woke up at about 6:30 or in some cases, even earlier in order to have breakfast in time to get the coach to Dunedin.
When we finally arrived in Dunedin, we had no time for sight-seeing as we had a rehearsal for a concert which was taking place in Dunedin Cathedral that night. The cathedral itself was a fantastic building, with a strangely modern organ. Once the rehearsal ended, our host families picked us up for dinner, unless you were an ATB, in which case you stayed in a hotel and went off for your meal in a fancy restaurant!

That night, coming out of the cathedral with my hosts, seemed like walking out into a dull morning in England – the weather wasn’t fantastic, but it kind of reminded me of home. Another thing that was reminiscent of home was the buildings. Apparently, the city is based on Edinburgh, Scotland: Dunedin was Edinburgh’s old name.
Fortunately, the choir was a hit with the locals, the concert having gone extremely well, with the 250 people who were there thoroughly enjoying themselves.

The next day, we woke up bright and early to get on the Taeiri Gorge Train which would take us on a scenic trip trough the countryside. The train ride was nice and smooth, and the landscapes on the journey spectacular. After we got back to the beautiful Dunedin Station (listed as one of the “two-hundred places to see before you die”), we had a school assembly in the Otago Boys High School. We then spent the rest of the afternoon with our host families. I went out to the rugby/cricket stadium, the world’s steepest road and finally the beach. I also know that some of my friends went to see penguins and others went out to see the town.

Euan Carter (Year 7)

Christchurch - a Year 8 view

After our time in the southern lakes we came to Christchurch and at about 6:30 we were met by our host families. They took us back to their home to sleep after a long day of travelling. The next day we had about 5 hours of free time; which most people used to buy presents for their families back in England. There was an excellent market with lots of Maori bone and greenstone carvings. There was also a giant chess set to watch, and tons of souvenir shops. At 5 O’clock we met in the Cathedral Square and went to Christ’s College for dinner in the Great Hall with Christ’s College Choir, our hosts, and after this there was a rehearsal with the Christ’s College Choir. At the end of this the Choir taught us their Haka. This was confusing and scary. Ed Spragg was noticed by the leaders of this Haka and made to join in their leadership of the Haka. Our hosts picked us up and thus ended our first day in our last town.

The next day we were at leisure with our host families up until 2.30 when we had a rehearsal for the concert that evening. This rehearsal was mainly made up of Tom Gaynor getting used to the organ (superbly – ed.) and rehearsing the Chichester Psalms. We went back to our host families and got changed into our school uniform and had dinner. Host families then escorted us to the cathedral for the concert at 7.30 PM.

The concert started with a bang. We walked out of the vestry and to the east end and began Chichester Psalms, or as some year 7s call it, the Mental Piece. The rest of the concert went similarly to all the other concerts - very well, that is. At the end of the concert we sang Riu Riu Chiu as an encore. Our hosts took us home then, and we all went to bed.

The next day was mostly free, again. Today we had a very successful evensong, as it was Sunday. We also had lots of free time with our hosts. The evensong was excellent, and everyone there said they really enjoyed it and that they thought the singing was beautiful. Again our hosts took us home.

Monday is our last day and we’ve been to Akaroa, a French town on the east coast. Here we had ice cream on Mr Toyne. We are now going back to Christchurch and to go to the Antarctic Centre which simulates conditions in the Antarctic. Then we will check in to the airport and fly off to Auckland for our return trip.

Thomas Rushton (Year 8)

Wellington (concert and evensong)

After arriving in Wellington, we joined the Kotuku choir for the first time for a small rehearsal, which included teaching them Riu riu chiu, learning The Wellington Song and a counter melody to You Raise Me Up which was sung by Zane Te Wiramu Jarvis as well as running through a piece called Dry Your Tears Africa. It was a great way to start introductions between the two choirs. After the rehearsal boys were collected by host families from the Kotuku choir and the wellington cathedral choir.

Two days later was the day of the concert at the Michael Fowler Centre. We arrived fairly early in the morning for a short rehearsal on the stage to decide what music we would be singing. We were then joined by the Kotuku choir again and I rehearsed a piece to open the concert called Kotuku Rising with them in which I had a small solo. We were then joined by about 200 primary school children who were going to sing the chorus to Dry Your Tears Africa and sing with us in the Spanish round that we learnt in the hotel a few nights before.

After what we would sing was decided (in this case Salvator Mundi, The First Three Spirituals and Hear My Prayer) and a bit of free time in Wellington, it was time to perform.

In front of a crowd of 700 people, everything ran very well, and there were some outstanding moments such as Hear My Prayer (if I do say so myself), and the hope stomp was truly spectacular to watch. The concert as a whole went really well and we had some brilliant feedback from the audience.

We spent the next morning with our host families before having a rehearsal for evensong in Wellington Cathedral. For this evensong we would be singing Psalm 2, The Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis by Stanford and Song For Athene, which would be conducted by either Mr Toyne or Michael Fulcher, the director of music at the cathedral. There was a really great congregation at the evensong and the acoustic of the cathedral made everything, especially Song For Athene sound amazing.

The musical side of Wellington went really well and everybody hoped that this would be kept up and improved as the tour progressed.

Tom Batstone (Year 10)

Dunedin

http://www.odt.co.nz/your-town/dunedin/44992/voices-london-grace-dunedin-cathedral

A preliminary report and photo of a successful concert on Tuesday night. More details to follow!

Wellington

First of all I’d like to say a quick hello to any Spragg/Direens who might be reading this and, of course, the rest of you choir-folk!

Thursday spelt the end of our brief, yet enjoyable, stay in Taupo and meant another coach trip courtesy of the knowledgable and entertaining Chris. This journey involved heading up and away from Taupo, gaining altitude until we reached the ‘desert road’, a carriage-way passing through the Tongariro National Park, a beautifully volcanic region. This part of our voyage made for great photography, especially on stopping briefly to take digital-memories of Mount Ruapehu, an active volcano, and Mount Ngauruhoe or as some younger generations might know it, Mount Doom. That’s from ‘The Lord of the Rings’ if you didn’t already know!

Shortly after this brief stop we arrived at the NZ National Army Museum that gave the somewhat sleepy group an interesting insight into New Zealand’s involvement in the World Wars. And, importantly, gave lunch. Our mars bars contained a ‘see inside to win another free mars bar’ offer, to the delight of the trebles but to the consternation of the cafe workers who spent the next twenty minutes or so handing out free mars bar after free mars bar as probability worked its magic.

Some more driving and some more magnificent views and we arrived in windy Wellington where we had a brief rehearsal with the Kotuku Choir, had some afternoon tea and then met our host families. Wellington was to be the first of few home stays on our adventure and was entered into by many with a degree of trepidation, which by all accounts transpired to be unnecessary. Dan D’Souza and I were to stay with one of the Kotuku Choir, whom we had met briefly on Kotuku’s trip to England. Collected by her father, we made the brief trip back to her house where we shortly realised that we had struck gold in staying with them. Walking through the front door the rich smell of home-cooking struck my nostrils which, in retrospect, was the first signifier of fantastic hosts. Dinner was a delicious affair in which myself and Dan did our best to make smalltalk, aided by a younger brother who seemed keen to get involved. The family were extremely welcoming and I’m sure I speak for Dan as well when I say that we were immediately put at ease.

On Friday morning we were met with heavy rain which did not dampen our spirits as we were both feeling very pleased with how things had turned out with the first home stay. On going down for breakfast we were once again met with the smell of cooking, this time of muffins, and the sight of our host's mother bustling around the kitchen ensuring that all the children present were to be well fed at breakfast and throughout the day. We most definitely were. Today we had scheduled another brief rehearsal with Kotuku, followed by a brief photoshoot with the Mayor of Lower Hutt before the two choirs split, with us going on to the Te Papa museum. I am told that the museum was extremely interesting, and informative, but I personally did not experience much of it as it was here that I had my first familial encounter of the tour. As a half-kiwi I have been greatly excited on this tour by the prospect of visiting and meeting up with family so, at Te Papa, instead of checking out the exhibits I spent most of my time catching up with my cousin Matt.

After Te Papa we made our way to the ‘Weta Caves’ which thankfully were not full of bugs and was in fact a Miramar studios exhibition. Here we were met once again by Kotuku, so little time was spent viewing the exhibits and our energies became focussed on getting to know the choir AKA flirting. After this we departed for Wellington Airport for a photoshoot and quick sing-song with Kotuku. We then returned home for dinner at the home and a short walk around town before an interesting cultural experience – a kiwi house party. Much fun ensued.

Roll on Saturday, the day of the Kotuku Rising concert at the Michael Fowler Centre and a morning spent in our host families. Our host's father is the proud owner of a 4x4 that, unlike British 4x4s, is not simply for show and the school run. As such, on Saturday morning he took myself, Dan D, Dan T and Charlie K on an off-road adventure to ‘Red Rocks’ on the coast near Wellington. It’s important to note here that even if New Zealand is very British in its culture and cities (I would argue otherwise), it is completely foreign in its landscapes, which are truly magnificent. Driving around the coast I could help but imagine what it would have been like to arrive in New Zealand several hundred years ago, experiencing the wonder of thie new land. In the afternoon we had rehearsal and then concert, the details of which will be gone into by somebody else.

After the concert we were lucky enough to have the Cuba St. Carnival, an event that could be compared to Notting Hill, just much smaller. We were treated to dancing girls, live bands, ferriswheels and general festivities in what made for a fantastically lively evening before returning home and having our nightly gossip with our host who has very quickly become a close friend.

Sunday, and our final day in Wellington. In a rare occurrence we were at liberty for the whole of the morning and into the early afternoon with our hosts. This allowed for more sight-seeing and experience of the Wellington landscape. Dan and I spent the first hour venturing up to Wellington’s wind turbine which, although being mostly for show, does take you up to a fantastic vantage point looking over Wellington and is also alongside the nature reserve situated here. We then took a coast-hugging drive, once again soaking up the pure difference of New Zealand compared to Europe. A brief stop to enjoy some Goody-goody gum drop and hokey-pokey ice cream and then up to Mount Victoria where we experienced first hand why Welington has the nickname that it does, with highspeed winds that could easily take you off-balance if you weren’t paying attention. After this I left the main group (I believe that endulged in some retail therapy) to have a Chinese brunch with my aunty and five of my cousins, lovely for me as I had not seen most of them for closing down on seven years.

It was then time for another rehearsal, this time with the Wellington Cathedral choir before singing evensong and having our final evening with our hosts. After the evensong we took the cablecar up the hill, with yet more breathtaking views and finally on home to chowdown on steak, chops, potato and kumara, pavlova and fine wine. A final late night gossip with our fantastic host and it was time for bed, an early start necessary the next day.

That was Wellington!

Ed Spragg (U6)

Taupo

On Tuesday 17th we departed for the little of Taupo located on the famous lake. On the way we stopped off at the Huka Falls. Everyone took plenty of photos and we watched a speed boat drive around at the bottom of the falls. After that groups split up and went to explore the surrounding areas. After about an hour we got on the bus again to complete the journey to Taupo. We arrived at the beautiful town about 5 hours after we departed. We then checked into our accommodation the rather swanky “Flash packers”... Groups of about 6 or 7 were put in each dorm. We then had showers and left for dinner at the world famous restaraunt “the Shed”. We all enjoyed a delicious buffet consiting of lasagne, steaks, chips spring rolls and much more... After dinner we watched the ATB play a bit of pool. Next on the agenda was the thermal springs. We hopped on the bus, picked up our swimming gear and drove to the near-by springs, which were unbelievable. We stayed until their closing time – we all felt very relaxed and ready for bed but the year 7s couldn’t control their excitement and pillow fights broke out in the hotel. The year 9 and 10 room didn't want to miss out on any fun so we decided to join in...The next few minutes were great fun until Mrs Foden was forced to control the hyper year 7s. (and a few Year 9s and 10s too... -ed.!) A quick telling off was enough to send them to bed.

We needed all the sleep we could get as the next day would be a busy one. We woke up early and congregated down stairs to walk to cafe for breakfast. The on the way to the cafe we enjoyed the stunning view of the lake. Then we enjoyed a buffet breakfast but the best part was definately the hashbrowns. After that we rushed off to the harbour to board the “Cruise Cat”. The Cruise Cat took us on a scenic tour of the lake. We saw some beautiful Maori carvings in the rock. After the stunning 3 hour journey we arrived back at the harbour and got on the coach. We then drove to the “Craters of the Earth” park. This was a picturesque thermal walk which took us right up to some huge geysers. After that we got back on the coach and went back to the main town and had free time for lunch. We split off into groups and had time to do what we wanted. The weather was amazing but after an hour in the sun everyone realised how burnt they were. The free time passed really quickly and the deadline to be at the hotel was approaching. Then we walked through the sweltering heat to the Church for our big concert.

Mr Toyne described how important the concert was as so many people from miles out were coming. There was even an Old Tiffinian attending the concert. Before the concert he had called Bentalls and order the material for the Tiffin blazer. They shipped the materials and he made the blazer himself just for the concert! After the long rehearsal everyone was knackered. The heat was taking its toll and the concert was only minutes away. Some cool refreshments kindly provided by the church helped to cool down the boys. We then entered the concert nicely refreshed and ready to sing. Mr Toyne introduced the choir with some of his usual lines much to the appreciation of the audience... The concert went really well, especially “Hear my Prayer” with a beautiful solo sung by Tom Batstone. At the end of the concert we enjoyed rapturous applause from the audiance. We were all relieved that it went well after a long, tiring day. After the concert ended we jumped on the coach to travel into the town for dinner. We had celebratory dinner in a nice Italian restaurant where, it’s fair to say, we all stuffed our faces with pizza!

Charlie Harrison (Year 9)