What Queenstown can offer your students

Queenstown, located in the lower half of New Zealand’s South Island, is the world’s best adventure destination. Surrounded by stunning snow-capped mountains and the pristine waters of Lake Wakatipu, it offers an abundance of outdoor activities for student groups – from skiing and bungee jumping, to jet boating and cave tours. 

But it’s not all adrenalin. Queenstown is also the perfect base for student groups to develop strong insight into New Zealand’s history, geography, national identity and Māori culture. Here are just some the topics you can weave into a Queenstown educational itinerary. 

Queenstown didn’t emerge from geographical isolation overnight. To discover how this place became one of the most recognised destinations in the world, it’s best to start with a Māori history lesson.  

Your students will step back 200 years to a time when Māori people searched for greenstone. They’ll learn about the walking trails carved during seasonal hunting expeditions to the region and come to understand how Māori overcame the challenging weather and rough terrain. 

Next, engage your students in Queenstown’s 1850s-era. This is the period when British colonisers arrived, and pioneer settlers began looking for pastoral lands around Queenstown. Take your students on cruise on Lake Wakatipu’s iconic TSS Earnslaw steamship to encounter the region’s pioneer history. Or visit a high country farm to learn about pastoralists’ lifestyles and see sheep shearers at work. 

There’s no better place to study New Zealand’s gold rush than in the historic village of Arrowtown. A one-hour drive from Queenstown, Arrowtown’s main street is lined with well-preserved 19th Century heritage buildings that evoke everyday life during ‘gold fever’. In the 1860s, over 7,000 hardy gold miners sought their fortunes here. Your students will explore the village on foot, stopping by the site of an old Chinese settlement, before visiting a local museum to see gold rush era relics up close. 

Queenstown’s natural beauty meant it was only a matter of time before a thriving tourism industry emerged. Today, the town is central to New Zealand’s successful tourism marketing campaign, 100% Pure New Zealand, and attracts international tourists in large numbers. 

Why not explore the characteristics of tourism through a unique Queenstown case study? Your students will start on the ski field, and finish in a film studio! 

First, they’ll learn how Queenstown’s ski fields established the area as a winter tourism destination. They’ll hear how New Zealand invented the now-famous jet boat, ideal for travelling Queenstown’s braided rivers at speed, and how white-water rafting followed soon after. They’ll also find out about the famous AJ Hackett bungee jump, launched in Queenstown in 1988 and the first of its type in the world. 

Finish your students’ tourism study with behind-the-scenes access to New Zealand’s film industry. Learn why film shoots began flourishing in Queenstown in the mid-1990s, then visit a location where Mission Impossible 6, Vertical Limit and X-Men Origins: Wolverine movies were filmed. Those who like to be scared can even join a trip to Queenstown’s unique ‘fear factory’ experience – featuring live actors, special effects and horror themes. 

Queenstown’s natural wonders offer amazing learning opportunities for students interested in physical geography and renewable energy. As you travel through the great outdoors, your students will get a firsthand understanding of the benefits of forward-thinking environmental policies, sustainable tourism practices and effective long-term planning. 

Begin by taking them on an overnight trip to Fiordland National Park to explore Doubtful Sound by boat. Humbling in size and beauty and carved by glaciers, Doubtful Sound means ‘place of silence’ in the Māori language. Nearby, students will see a hydropower dam and consider the success of hydropower in powering New Zealand’s homes, towns and cities. 

More beauty awaits below the fiord’s surface. Fiordland National Park is home to bottlenose dolphins, fur seals and penguins, as well as humpback, minke and sperm whales, which students can view from on the water. Complement your wildlife discoveries with a visit to a sanctuary on land, where you’ll learn about New Zealand’s ongoing conservation efforts to protect the famous nocturnal kiwi. 

Need more natural beauty? New Zealand’s stunning Milford Sound, with its cascading waterfalls and glass mirror landscapes, is only two hours from Queenstown and will impress even the most seasoned geographer. 

Of course, Queenstown’s unique geography also makes it a year-round destination for outdoor pursuits. If your students have energy to burn, be sure to add extra action to your itinerary. 

You can choose from outdoor adventures like: 

• Skiing and snowboarding: Hit the slopes within an hour’s drive of Queenstown, where you’ll have your pick of ski fields for first-time skiers and snowboarders.
• Jet boating: Send your students speeding through gullies, gorges and across wide shingled riverbeds, spinning 360 degrees and accelerating up to 90kmph in a thrilling jet boat ride.
• White water rafting: Feel the exhilaration as your students go white water rafting or river kayaking down grade 2, 3 or 4 river rapids.
• Bungee jumping: Defy gravity with a quintessential Queenstown bungee jump, whose platforms offer rope lengths of 134 metres.
• Luge: Descend the surrounding hills in a luge – a light toboggan for two people. During the descent, your students will be challenged to navigate corners, tunnels and dips in the track.
• Bike trails: Take students of all experience levels cycling down Queenstown’s world-class mountain bike trails, which travel through farmland, country lanes and rugged terrain.
• Kayaking and maze-solving: Take a short drive across a mountain range to the township of Wanaka, where students can enjoy leisurely lake kayaking, or get lost in a maze.
• Cave touring: Explore the famous glow-worm caves of Te Anau, two hours southwest of Queenstown.

With so many incredible learning experiences on offer, Queenstown is a must-see, must-do destination for any educational tour to New Zealand. When it’s time to depart, your group will have the option to fly directly out of Queenstown’s international airport to Australia, or via international airports in Christchurch or Auckland to reach other parts of Australia and beyond. 

Check out our sample itineraries for more information about our educational tours to New Zealand.