Here we are in NZ!

Our mascot Chimp at Penrith station

Just time for a quick post from Hamilton where we arrived at lunchtime yesterday, apparently, although our body clocks were all over the place so they could have been fobbing us off.

Waiting for our first flight from Manchester to Dubai - we did plenty of waiting!

This was our first plane of many

Our flight was thankfully uneventful but so long that even the huge selection of films, music and games on offer began to lose its fascination towards the end. We stopped at Dubai (where the range of Duty Free shops boggled our minds) and Melbourne briefly, so we can say we touched (metaphorical) Australian soil. The overnight flight between Dubai and Melbourne was mostly over sea and according to the flight information (which I found fascinating), we flew at altitudes of almost 37,000ft at over 500mph and the temperature outside was -49 degrees!

Taking off from Dubai where it was 34 degrees at 7am

Dawn probably somewhere over the Indian Ocean... or it might be over Australia!

The last leg of the flight, from Melbourne to Auckland, seemed the longest. I was under the misapprehension that New Zealand and Australia were quite close together (well, look at them on the atlas, nestling down there in the middle of all that ocean - they do look close together!) but in fact 1500 miles separates them which equates to 3 hours flying time. However, we arrived 15 mins late which is incredible considering how far we'd come. Everyone was remarkably alert and we drove down to Hamilton, getting our first glimpse of the New Zealand countryside. I can see why Brits love it so much - it's quite like home from home. It isn't very mountainous here but is volcanic on the South Island (we aren't going there).

We're staying in a boarding school so the boys are in one dormitory and the girls in another with the members of the other teams - Canada, South Africa and Bristol at the moment and we'll be joined on Monday by the NZ team.

The boarding house where we're sleeping, with the dining room on the right

The view from the boarding house towards the chapel

The chapel with a magnificent magnolia tree in flower beside it

I couldn't resist this photo of the magnolia

We all went to bed really early (lights out at 9pm) to try & catch up on some sleep. NZ is 11 hours ahead of the UK so when you in the UK are starting school at 8.40am it is 7.40pm of the same day over here. Quite a time difference for us and a big change for sleeping patterns and our stomachs (we get hungry at inappropriate times such as the middle of the night - 1pm lunch time for you is midnight here - time for a midnight feast, perhaps!).

This building houses the school library - more photos inside it later

Soon we're off to catch the bus into Hamilton to shop, lunch & see the new Harry Potter film in 3D so I need to go & make sure everyone is ready to go.