Club Info
Official Club
Name:- The Friendship Force of Howick.
Name of President:- Peter Blackman.... Ph (09) 299-7774....
E-mail pblackman@orcon.net.nz....Fax (09) 299-7797....
Closest Major Airport:- Auckland International Airport
Cost of Transport by Bus:- NZ $10 travelling as a group.
Maximum Numbers for hosting = 30
About the Club
The club has approximately 90 members, most of whom are retired.
While many of our members are married couples, we have several
single ladies, and a few single men. Mainly these are people who
have lost their partner. We like to host two incoming exchanges
each year, though often host three. In addition we have inter
club visits both to and from other New Zealand clubs. Each year
we try to have one outbound exchange. There is a very active
social programme in addition to the exchanges. The Board meets bi-monthly
and all are welcome to atten. We have at least one other club activity of a purely social nature
each month. Although some of our member live 30 minutes drive
away, most live within a five kilometre radius of the clubrooms,
which makes social
activity easy to organise.
About the Region
Auckland is the largest urban region in New Zealand with about
one point three million people. It is also a very rapidly
expanding area, growing by 40000 each year. For administrative
purposes the region is divided into four cities. Our club is
based in one of these - Manukau City which is part of the Auckland region.
Because Auckland is built on a narrow isthmus nobody lives more
than a few minutes from the sea. In addition there are 50 extinct
volcanic cones in the area, many of which have been preserved as
public parks. The large number of parks, combined with the
beautiful beaches makes Auckland a very lovely area. There is a
wide range of activities, and places of natural beauty
surrounding us. The climate is very mild all year. Temperatures
range mainly between highs of only 13 C in the winter, to 26 C in
the summer. It is probably wise to avoid visits during the winter
months of July and August, as although it is not very cold the
weather is unsettled with quite a lot of rain. The best months
are February through April when you can expect warm dry
weather.
About Exchanges
Auckland International airport is about 25 minutes drive from our club rooms. Normally the exchange director meets our ambassadors at the airport and they are transported by bus to the club rooms where they meet their hosts. The format of this varies considerably depending on the time of arrival and the distance the ambassadors have travelled. We try to arrange a formal Mayoral reception and the primary aim is for people to meet people, we do organise a fairly full programme of activities, Beside the mayor's reception we have at least one bus trip, and an official dinner. In addition there are informal get togethers such as barbecues, or pot luck dinners depending on the time of the year, and visits to places of interest where several members will arrive at a site at the same time. Members also tend to have informal gatherings in private homes where groups of perhaps eight will gather for a meal. The exchange committee tries to work out a programme which fully occupies the exchange while balancing the budget, and allows a balance between activities, sight seeing and interpersonal exchanges. Some ambassador clubs ask us to arrange other visits, and we are happy to do this at an extra cost to the ambassadors, after the normal seven days of the exchange has finished.
