While senior Tauranga Girls' College pupils spent Tuesday at ‘Work Day', the college's home stay students spent the day at the beach – planting sand dunes.

'Every year we have work day, but for the international students at Tauranga Girls College we get them to do community service instead,” says homestay manager Toni Bieleski.

'One, it's a good way of giving back to the community, and two, some of them have never done anything like this before.

'One of the girls actually said last Tuesday, ‘This is the first time I have ever dug,' because most of them live in city apartments, and she had never dug in a garden before. She thought it was awesome.”

Twenty five of the international home stay students spent the day planting 624 grasses – spinifex and pinau to repair sand dunes between the Omanu shops and Concorde Avenue. The plants were provided through Coastcare.

'We see it as a great way for our international students to put back into the community,” says Toni.

A German agent told her recently that one of the reasons for choosing New Zealand, and particularly Tauranga, for homestay experiences is because of the active and outdoor lifestyle.