Kia ora to New Zealand! This
is the typical greeting by New Zealanders and it means “hello” as a greeting or
“go well” as a goodbye. We are now
beginning our tour of New Zealand.
New Zealand, a land diverse, stunning beauty, is composed of two large
islands – the North Island, known for its geothermal activity, and the South
Island, famed for its glaciers and majestic fjords. It is located about 990 miles east of
Australia across the Tasman Sea. Its
capital is Wellington (also known as Welly or The Windy City) and it sits on
the southern coast of the North Island. New
Zealand’s most famous and cosmopolitan city is Auckland which sits on the north
shore of the North Island. To the
ancient Maori, New Zealand was known as Aotearoa, “the land of the long white
cloud,” as their first view was of a long, white cloud hanging over the peaks
of the Southern Alps. As it lies on the
International Date Line (opposite the Greenwich Meridian of zero degrees), New
Zealanders claim that they are the first to see the sun rise.
And unlike Australia, New Zealand has no native snakes or venomous
insects. Occasionally, a yellow-bellied
sea snake or a banded sea krait will wash up on its beaches, but New Zealand
wildlife officials are quick to eliminate the it. It is illegal to own a snake in New Zealand,
and this even includes zoos. So
hopefully, I will not have to spend most of my time looking for those
slithering, sneaky reptiles like I did in Australia. Wahoo!!!!
Some other interesting facts about New Zealand
·
2/3rd of New Zealand’s population of
about 4.8 million people live on the North Island
·
It has approximately 29.3 million sheep
·
3 times they have won the America’s Cup (they
will host the 2021 America’s Cup in Auckland)
·
$5.8 billion worldwide box-office gross of Peter
Jackson’s 6 New Zealand-filmed J.R. Tolkien films (Hobbit and Lord of the Rings
Trilogy)
·
48 volcanoes are in the Auckland area
·
74.2 miles the greatest distance from the sea
you can be in New Zealand
·
Auckland has the highest ratio of people to boats
in the world (hence its nickname of “City of Sails”)
·
There are only two species (both bats) of
indigenous animals in New Zealand.
When the Maori paddled their canoes from Polynesia about 700-800 years
ago, New Zealand was the last major land mass to be populated by humans. When the Maori arrived, it was still almost
prehistoric, ruled over by the now extinct moa birds – a flightless bird that
towered over 12’ tall. The Maori brought
with them plants (taro, yams, and sweet potatoes) and animals (dogs and
rats). This led to an agricultural
society with villages that revolved around the marae (village courtyard) and whare
runanga (meetinghouse).
It was not until December 1642 that the first European, Abel Tasman, a
scout for the Dutch East India Company, first laid eyes on New Zealand. He described it as a “large land uplifted
high.” What he actually discovered was
the South Island with its Southern Alps.
Anchored off the west coast of the island, his ship was attacked by Maori
and Tasman quickly left the area. In
fact, during this early period of exploration and discovery by the Europeans,
most of the encounters with the Maori were contentious and warlike. In 1768, Captain James Cook was given orders
by King George II to find the land that Tasman had reported. If found, he was to claim it in the name of
the British crown (with or without the consent of the indigenous
population). On October 7, 1769, Cook
and his party sailed into a bay (in what today is the Gisborne area on the east
coast of the North Island), and unable to make a peaceful agreement with the
Maori, claimed the land for Britain. In
the late 18th century, commercial British whaling fleets began
exploring the coast of New Zealand for whales and seals. These people were the first to establish both
settlements and a lasting contact with the Maori.
The arrival of the European settlers had a devastating effect on the
Maori culture with the introduction of guns, alcohol and disease. Beginning in 1829, the officials back in
England sent emissaries to buy up Maori-held land and between 1839-1843, sent
19,000 settlers to establish a British stronghold in the new land. To try and sort out Maori concerns over the
buying of their land, Captain William Hobson met with Maori tribal leaders in
1839 in Waitangi in the Bay of Islands.
On February 6, 1840, the Treaty of Waitangi was signed that guaranteed
Maori all the rights and privileges of British citizens in return for their
acknowledgment of British sovereignty and the granting of exclusive right to
the Crown to buy land from the Maori. While
the two groups lived peacefully for some years, in 1860 a disagreement over a
land sale erupted into some of the bloodiest battles in New Zealand’s
history. Although the British would
eventually win, the question of the land buyout from the Maori would continue
until the present day. In 1987, a
tribunal was set up to address Maori issues over their loss of land during the
period from 1839-43. A portion of that
land has already been returned to Maori ownership.
In 1861, gold was discovered in the South Island that resulted in a
large influx of settlers seeking to find their fortunes in the gold mines. This resulted in advances in transportation
(especially rail), communications (telegraph), and industry. The latter part of the 19-century saw great
economic growth in both the North and South Islands. Wool became the dominate export in the 1870s and
would continue as the mainstay of the New Zealand economy for the next 100
years. And in 1893, New Zealand became
the first country to extend the right to vote to women.
During World War I, New Zealand and Australia joined forces as the
Australia-New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) to fight along side the British. The war was not kind to New Zealand – out of
110,000 troops, 16,697 were killed and 41,262 were wounded. April 25th is Anzac Day – a
national holiday to remember the sacrifices of the soldiers who perished during
the war. Again, during World War II, New
Zealand soldiers saw action both in Europe with the British, and after Pearl
Harbor, along side American soldiers. As
a result of the ties forged with the Americans during the war, New Zealand,
Australia, and the US signed the ANZUS military pact of 1951.
Once a leading exporter of goods (55 %) to Great Britain, when Great
Britain joined the EU in 1973, New Zealand saw their exports drop to 6%. New markets were found in Asia, and wine
became a leading export. Today New
Zealand is known as an expert wine producer of white wine (namely Chardonnay
and Sauvignon Blanc), and exports millions of gallons from over 700 wineries.
New Zealand’s independence from Great Britain has been an evolving
process over the past 100 years. In
1907, its status as a colony of Great Britain was changed to a dominion* of
Great Britain, but this did not grant them complete autonomy over their foreign
affairs. With the passage of the Statute
of Westminster Adoption Act of 1947, New Zealand gained legal and formal
independence from Great Britain for the conduct of external affairs. And in 1986, New Zealand passed the
Constitution Act of 1986 that “unilaterally revoked all residual United Kingdom
legislative power.” As of 1 January
1987, New Zealand became a free-standing constitutional monarchy whose
parliament has unlimited sovereign power.
* In a dominion the land is owned by another, but has a government of its
own; whereas, a colony is both owned and governed by parent state.
With this brief history of New Zealand behind us, we are beginning our
journey through New Zealand. After a 2 ½
flight from Sydney on Qantas Airlines, we have arrived in the North Island city
of Wellington, the capital of New Zealand.
Although we will spend 2 days in Wellington, the first part of our tour
of New Zealand will take place in the South Island. The North Island will get its turn at the end
of our trip. The scenery around
Wellington is just stunning. The city is
built around a large harbor with mountains in the background.
At the airport we were met by our New Zealand trip leader, Lindsay, who
is part Maori. I will have more on
Wellington in my next blog as it is now past 9 PM and we had a very early start
today. Time for some much needed sleep.
|
Sydney to
Christchurch
(via
Wellington)
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Queenstown to
Rotoura
(North Island)
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1
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2
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3
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4
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5
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6
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South
Island Itinerary
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1 Sydney
to Christchurch 4 Fox Glacier to Queenstown
2
Christchurch to Hokitika 5 Queenstown to Milford Sound and back
3
Hokitika to Fox Glacier 6 Queenstown to Rotorua
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