Our 'Kiwi' Tour Managers
Unlike many other tour operators, we don't just put you on a coach with a driver. We have a team of professional Kiwi's who are passionate about our country and trained in all aspects of tour management to ensure their group have an enjoyable and informative trip. Our people are capable, energetic and work hard to deliver ‘education through experience' in a fun and informal way.
Aidan Callaghan
Aidan is a gifted and natural leader with a wide range of abilities, including managing to combine IT skills with people skills. He's played rugby in the United States, trained as a chef in the army, has a degree in IT, and has trained as a teacher. Aidan's tours are never dull and his catering is delicious.
Hayley Hikairo
Hayley grew up in the Bay of Plenty region and spent 6 years overseas, living in London and Canada. Having returned to her hometown, she is now teaching Year 4 students and enjoying the kiwi lifestyle. Hayley is a keen snowboarder and enjoys the fun and adventure of NZET tours.
Sarah Holland
Sarah is an enthusiastic tour manager who enjoys getting to know her students and encouraging them to push their boundaries whilst on tour.
An adventure seeker, Sarah spent time teaching horse riding in the States, is a trained scuba diver and loves snowboarding. She now lives in her home town of Auckland, where she teaches year 8 students.
Vanessa Harmens
A traveller at heart, Vanessa lived abroad for 9 years and understands the importance of happy travellers. Full of life and energy, Vanessa enjoys an outdoor lifestyle and creates a fun and adventurous atmosphere on tour. On top of being a Tour Manager, Vanessa is also our NZET Marketing & Operations Manager.
Julie Andersen
Julie is from the beautiful city of Tauranga where she currently lives. She spent 6 years living in London travelling and teaching and now teaches at a country school looking after 10 and 11 year olds. Julie loves the adventure of being on tour and meeting students from all over the globe. It reminds her of her own travels and inspires her to visit new places. Julie looks forward to being on tour and facing some of her fears while encouraging others to face theirs.
Lee Steer
Lee was born and raised in sunny Nelson, New Zealand. He graduated with a bachelor of teaching and taught in both New Zealand and Australia. He was then awarded the position of principal of Mutijulu School (a remote aboriginal school in the Northern Territory). and was nominated for teacher of the year in 2006. Lee then found a balance between an exciting career, further enhancing his skills and seeing more of the world when he joined P&O Cruises in 2007. Now he wants to show you around his beautiful country.
Holly Yvette-Withington
From the sunny of Bay plenty, Holly is an Internationally trained chef and holds a degree in Earth Sciences. She is passionate about the NZ environment so brings a load of knowledge with her. She is well travelled, visiting over 29 countries and is very proud to be a NZET Tour Manager and show students our beautiful country.
Wayne Hunter
Wayne lives in the Bay of Plenty and is a sergeant in the NZ Police Force. He began his association with NZET when he went on a South Island tour as a chaperone. He loved being with the students and enjoyed the interaction he had with his group so much that he decided to join our team of Tour Managers. He is proud to be able to show students our beautiful country that he now takes leave from the Police Force to continue to go out on tour as a Tour Manager as often as he can!
Hayley Mudford
Hayley was born in Auckland and graduated from University with a Bachelor of Education degree. She has been teaching Year 7 students for 3 years and loves being a NZET Tour Manager and encouraging the students to try new things.
Annelies Naus
Annelies is an enthusiastic person with a get-up-and-go attitude! She is well travelled around New Zealand and has a vast knowledge of our culture, language, history and geography. She was a "Camp Teacher" for the EF Language & Culture Camps as well as a Camp Counsellor at an outdoor education camp in the United States for three months. Annelies lives in Auckland with her husband and works as a primary school teacher for most of the year and with NZET in the school holidays.
Megan Howells
Megan joined our team in 2011 as our Tour Administrator and Tour Manager. Born in Rotorua, Megan completed her Bachelor of Sports and Leisure, majoring in Tourism Management and entered the tourism industry by working at the Agrodome for three years and later at the Rotorua i-site.
Megan then travelled extensively through Europe before heading home and relocating in Waikato where she joined the University of Waikato team for three years before joining NZET.