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Residential Students
 Environment |
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The Academy is in a remote river valley, surrounded by mountains and native bush in the far south of New Zealand. It is a very peaceful, healthy environment with fresh air, pure water and wonderful views. We are about 35 minutes drive from Te Anau, a small town with shops, post and lots of tourist attractions. The nearest larger towns are Invercargill and Queenstown, both a little more than two hours drive away.
We are a certified organic property with Biogro, with over 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres) of farmland and native scrub and bush.
This is a place for people who love nature and want to learn in peace, away from the pressures of normal life. We create our own entertainment, take care of our environment and encourage a healthy lifestyle.
| Accommodation |
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All accommodation is provided by the Academy on-site at Takaro Lodge. Accommodation consists of:
Single rooms with communal showers and toilets
2 bedroom chalets, with four students in each chalet. Each chalet has a bathroom with shower, bath and toilet and a separate wash basin.
Bedding is provided by the Academy. There is a coin-operated laundry and indoor and outdoor drying facilities.
Please contact the Director if you have any questions about accommodation or pastoral care. 03 249 0161 or contact us.
| Eating |
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Food at Phenomena Academy is home produced as much as possible. We have our own farm with cows, chickens, sheep and other animals. We produce our own milk, cheese and yoghurt. We make soya milk, tofu and other soy products. Our organic gardens produce most of our vegetables.
Our kitchen combines healthy western and Asian cooking styles, with vegetarian options for every meal. We sometimes produce special health dishes according to the situation – special soup for cooling down on a hot day; warming teas in winter; a dessert for calming nervousness; health drinks and soups when someone has a cold. These are all based on knowledge from Traditional Chinese Medicine
| Facilities |
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We teach in an informal way, with a strong emphasis on being relaxed, comfortable and practical. We have a number of classrooms of different sizes, but they are not like traditional classrooms. There are no desks and no black/whiteboards. We arrange rooms in the best way to suit the topic, activity and group.
We have professional style offices with computers, printers and all the usual office equipment, for those who need to work on computers. We have a recording studio and a range of audio and video recording and editing equipment and software.
We have our own cinema, audio and video conferencing, plenty of workshop space for creative projects, a spa and a huge range of materials and machinery that can be used for projects and presentations.
Outdoors you can walk, run and cycle anywhere. We have a sand volleyball court, plenty of space for sports, basketball and table tennis. Our premises are flexible, so new ideas are often being developed.
| Location |
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| Driving time |
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 From Te Anau to Queenstown - 2h 30m (166 km)
From Te Anau to Invercargill - 2h 15m (157 km)
From Te Anau to Dunedin - 4h (289 km)
From Te Anau to Christchurch - 9 h (641 km)
| Directions to the Academy |
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From Queenstown or Invercargill take highway 6.
Follow highway 94 via Mossburn in the direction of Te Anau. Approximately 5 km before Te Anau turn right onto Kakapo Road. There is a small wooden house on the corner of Kakapo Road which is a replica of one of our chalets.
Kakapo Road turns into a gravel road. Follow the signposts to TAKARO. 1.5km after the start of the gravel take the second left turning, onto Takaro Road. Follow this road to Takaro’s main gate. The gate is usually closed, but not locked. After another 7km you will reach Takaro.
The total drive is about 28 km from the beginning of Kakapo Road. Please allow at least 35 minutes driving time and be careful driving on the gravel road which is quite narrow and partly winds through forest.
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