Today, saw both the Geography and Tourism classes from Waimate High hear two seperate presentations about tourism in the Queenstown area.

The geography class was in Queenstown to complete one of their Unit Standards and heard about the spatial and temporal changes in tourism and the effects of tourism on the QT area. While the tourism students talk was focused around preparing for a presentation back at school about "why tourists come to Queenstown".

Both presentations also included information about the role of DQ (Destination Queenstown). DQ is concerned with marketing and managing tourism for Queenstown and positioning Queenstown as a 'four season tourist resort'.

We hope you found the visit valuable and wish you well for the rest of your year!

Today saw the Year 7&8 class from St Mary's (Mosgiel) experience life in the past. Firstly they went back in time in Miss Grey's classroom before visiting the Miner's cottages, Old Gaol and Saint Mary MacKillop's cottage. The Old Gaol built in 1875 to replace the wooden two cell gaol is still standing strong today - minus the criminals! We did have some for a couple of miuntes as the students experienced a 'lock-up'!

After lunch they explored the museum before heading out the Chinese village and seeing first hand the harsh conditions faced by these miners. Then it was on to panning and what a perfect day for it! Nearly everyone was very lucky and went home with a small flake of alluvial gold!!

We hope you enjoyed your visit to us and look forward to hearing some comments on this blog!

Tdoay, saw the Year 13 Geography students from Timaru Boys' hear our tourism presentation. Here to complete Geography Unit Standard 5096: Describe and explain a cultural process within a geographic setting they all recorded notes and annonated maps showing the spatial and temporal changes over time.

They also heard about the effects and changes tourism has had on the Queenstown area and the opportunities for the future. What do you think the future holds for QT?

We hope you found the information useful and wish you all the best for the rest of your year!

Today saw the Year 7 & 8s from Remarkables Primary visit the museum as part of their GOLD 150 inquiry. They participated in three activities - life as a miner, detective work in the museum and an historic walk down Arrowtown's main street.

What can you remember.....Who first discovered gold in Arrowtown? What are the three types of gold found in NZ? How many mining methods can you name? Where on the main street might a miner leave his horse for a night? How do you make butter?

We hope you enjoyed your day with us and would love to hear your comments on this blog!!

It was great to see the St Peter's Geography class on Friday.The presentation on the development and future of tourism in the Wakatipu Basin was detailed and it took us two hours to get through. Throughout the students were focused and responsive. I was asked great questions and a number of students make interesting comments. It is a fascinating topic as Queenstown has often led the way with innovative and original tourism developments, but how are these developments balanced with the needs of the local people? Well done for writing detailed notes and  spending time to label their maps carefully. I hope the presentation will prove useful for your final exams. Good luck with your mock exams and best wishes for the finals.

Today saw the Year 13 History and Geography students from Otago Girls' make a quick stop to the musem to learn about the history of tourism in the area and explore our archives!

Here to help with their preparation for external exams at the end of the year the history girls were looking for information on early pastrolism and gold mining and the geographers the temporal and spatial changes in tourism.

We hope you enjoyed your visit and wish you all the best for the rest of your year!

Today saw the Year 5 & 6 students from St Mary's in Milton take time out from their skiing and step back 130 years!!

They completed many activities during their time at the museum....surviving a class with Miss Grey, retracing Saint Mary MacKillop's footsteps, being locked up in Gaol, exploring the museum, squeezing into tiny Chinese huts and trying their luck at panning on the river!

Can you remember what year gold was first found in Arrowtown? or who found it? What did forms of transport were there? Why is gold precious?

We hope you had a good time! and look forward to hearing some of your comments on this blog!!

Today saw the Year 13 Geography classes from James Hargest College in Invercargill hear all about tourism in the Queenstown area.

They tracked tourim's progression in the area using maps....from period 1 - the 'passive' nature watching tourists of the 1880s to period 2 - the adventurous 1970s to finally period 3 and the extreme tourists of the late 1990s.

We hope you garthered some useful information and wish you well for the rest of the year!

They arrived as 2012 Year 8 students but soon changed.....into.....girls with bonnets from the 1880s and into Miss Grey's classroom!! Sitting through recitation, hand-writing, arithmetic and spelling the girls coped extremely well!

Then it was off to explore the museum and the array of things from the past...what was your favourite thing? could you have lived without electricity?

Lastly, the girls walked through the Chinese village and felt just how COLD it was for these miners. What were some of the common building materials the miners used? How were these huts different from your house!!?

We hope you enjoyed your visit and look forward to hearing about your visit on this blog!

Today...St Kevin's Year 13 Geography class learnt about tourism in the Queenstown area. After managing to 'squueze' into the 1880s schoolroom they tracked tourism from the first 'eco-tourists' of the 1880s to the adventure seeking tourists of today.

Using maps they plotted the spatial variation and changes over time. They also heard about DQ's(Destination Queenstown) role in promoting and monitoring tourism in the area.

We hope you found the information valuable and wish you well for your exams at the end of the year!

Today saw the youngest students from Cromwell Primary experience the Lakes District Museum's education programme. The sun shone and it was a lovely day for exploring! Firstly, the museum and hunting for things from the past, then the Chinese village..can you remember what some of the buildings where used for? And finally Miss Grey!!! Would you like her as a teacher?! were you scared!

We hope you had a good time! Tell us about it on this blog.

Today the sun shone and it was a great outing for the third group of students from Cromwell Primary. At the museum to learn about life in the past the students completed a series of acitvities all looking at life over 100 years ago.

Students were really keen and hopefully have gone home with lots of interesting facts to use in the classroom. Can you remember why the Chinese huts were so small? or an advanced method of gold mining? what sort of clothes did children wear in the past? how are they different from your clothes today?

We hope you had a good time - tell us all about it on this blog!