Our stay in Timaru got off to a great start with an official welcome at Ara Institute for all the new Year 1 students. It started with a Maori “whakatau” welcome, during which our students performed the “hongi” – a traditional greeting where noses are pressed together while shaking hands.
At lunchtime, we joined a celebration of the upcoming Chinese New Year with lots of wonderful food. After lunch, we took a trip down to Timaru’s museum and learned much about the history of the region.
Wednesday started off wet and rainy, but it cleared in the afternoon, allowing us to walk to Timaru’s Botanical Gardens to enjoy the flowers and trees, followed by a walk down to the beach. Enjoy some of our pictures!
We also featured in a local newspaper story – [click the link]
