AN Okehampton teenager will meet the Maori people and tour Auckland after being selected to represent Britain on an exchange trip to New Zealand. Tim Stephens, 19, a member of the Okehampton ATC section, has been selected along with one other person from Britain to visit New Zealand on the two and a half week exchange. There he will be joined by other people from all around the world, including eight countries. Tim will stay in Auckland in the first week, where he will visit government centres and experience city life. The young people on the exchange will then travel to the South Island and stay with Maori people and learn about their culture. The other side of the world will not be an entirely new experience for Tim, who was born in Australia but has been living in England for nine years and in Okehampton for two. Tim said: ?I am really looking forward to visiting the Maori people and to the travelling. It is going to be brilliant.? Tim said the exchange students would be expected to give presentations to their New Zealand hosts on subjects such as life in their country or the town they come from. He said he would also be giving a presentation about the trip to members of the Youth Network in Okehampton when he returned. Tim said he wanted to stay involved with the ATC, where he is currently a cadet warrant officer. At the end of the summer, he is due to begin an adventure training apprenticeship on Dartmoor as part of a gap year before going to university.
