Blog

Take a bunch of senior Hagley students to Vietnam and what do you get? - TK, Casey and Annie leaping and dancing in a Hanoi downpour, much to the amusement of the locals - Alison wearing an incredibly glamorous banana leaf hat on the trek in Sapa - Jules, managing..somehow..to get himself locked in the bus at a toilet stop, all the while dying to do number 2 - Evy discovering her life's calling as a street vendor - Michelle using her expert bargaining skills t… Read more

We were finally in Vietnam. The doors of the bus swing open, and within seconds we were befriended by the local women of Sapa. Doesn't that sound nice...more like bombarded! And when we say bombarded we mean 10..no 20...might have been 30 women and little girls all vying for your undivided attention to buy things from them. They weren't afraid to be ruthless. One of these little girls, Jew , took a shine to Mick. And when someone takes a shine don't expect to be walking … Read more

Our new Thailand summer program has just been launched and registration is open for July 2010. It will be an amazing month in the 'Land of Smiles' with two fantastic volunteer projects as well as a ton of adventures and cultural immersion. Participants spend a week at the Elephant Nature Foundation caring for elephants and learning an enormous amount about elephant care and conservation. This is followed by a week at Chiang Mai's Migrant Learning Centre, a non-profit e… Read more

Hey all, This is Alex Woodcock and I am currently on the Vietnam summer trip and having the time of my life! Been avoiding getting hit by crazy little vietnamese dudes on motos, jumping off junks, and making friends for life! Just some amazing memories to talk about: 1. Night trains (you really don't sleep on them) - a sleeping pill is advised. 2. Hannah got stung by a JELLYFISH in Halong bay - CRAZY stuff. 3. "You buy from her, but why don't you by from me." -… Read more

This week started off with some free time in Auckland. Diana joined us from Australia, and a few of us went out to the airport to meet her. The next day we travelled from Auckland to Waitomo. In Waitomo we went on a very adventurous caving expedition. We spent about five or six hours in the caves, climbing, repelling, and crawling. After that we went to Castle Rock where we spent the next two days mountain biking and rock climbing, followed by soaking in the hot tub in… Read more

Kia Ora! New Zealand is awesome. Here's the breakdown of what we're done so far... The group met up on Friday and had a great time getting to know each other with a scavenger hunt throughout Auckland before heading north of the Bay of Islands. We started heading to the Bay of Islands on Saturday and stopped at a couple places along the way. One place we went was the Waitangi National Reserve which is where New Zealand's Founding Document was signed. We also got to see … Read more

Thought I'd better do another blog entry because it may be the last chance I get. Ever. We're just heading out to a Karaoke bar across the road from our guesthouse and I'm not sure that we'll be allowed out alive. If only more parents sent their children to singing lessons... Here are a few noteworthy morsels. Alex: As the tracks got steeper and muddier and the weather became muggier and muggier, and litre after litre of sweat rolled down our faces, her grin just g… Read more

Our group have just returned from the muddiest trek they've ever done, from near Sapa (northern hill town) down to the little village of Thanh Phu. Unfortunately the much looked forward to swim in a warm spring In Ban Ho, our lunch stop on the way, was thwarted by an earlier landslide. But at least the monsoon rain was warm !! And to think that some people pay a great deal of money for health-enhancing mud wraps..we could enjoy head to toe mud for hours on end at no ex… Read more

Melissa is stepping down from leading our Southeast Asia Semester Program after five years and here shares some thoughts and experiences. Enjoy! Cooling off while trekking in Laos Now in the role of a trip leader for the Pacific Discovery Southeast Asia program, I often re-visit my first experience as a participant. I am forever questioning what exactly made the two months of memories and relationships so monumental? What changed in my deeper understanding of the world… Read more

100% pure unbridled nature. That's what we got trekking through the beautiful Nam Ha Valley in northern Laos. Two full days of rigorous trekking (most of it seeming to be uphill) brought our group through three Lanten villages and up, down and across more hills and jungles than I can count. But with natures glory bursting with joy out from the ground, and beautiful mountain vistas awaiting at the top of every hill, things weren't so bad. The end of the firs… Read more