Thailand to New Zealand

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The flight from Northern Thailand through Bangkok onto Sydney, across the Tasman Sea to New Zealand took 22 hours and 15 hours flying. Before I even started flying I had felt dizzy and sick which left me a bit rough on arrival in Wellington now another 5 hours ahead, which is why I have not been filing my reports.


I was staying a week with my cousin Judith and her history loving husband Kevin, they planned to show me the North Island and ways of New Zealand. Apart from it was great to be with them they had a lot to share as their families went back to those original settlers.

Its worth giving a small history lesson on NZ because the contrast is so extreme between Thailand/Burma.

Maoris have lived here for 1000 years. For the Europeans The Dutch discovered it, did not land but gave it its name of New Zealand ( Nieuw Zeeland )in 1542. Captain Cook landed with the French in 1769 and Britain negotiated with the Maori a joint constitution and turned it into a colony in 1840, just 170 years ago, with 2000 Brits setting up in the shanty town called Russell.

Today the population is 4.3 million with 7% being Maori and the rest being made up of British and Irish decent with a splattering of other Northern Europeans and Asians. The mountainous South Island with its Alps is far less populated with both Islands covering a land mass of slightly larger in Britain, interestingly if you went straight down from Wellington the capital in the middle of the country you would hit Madrid.


They call it Windy Wellington and I and Prince William (on his first state visit) arrived into just that with lashing rain only to be replaced with fog.


When you add in the lovely English speaking New Zealanders, a whole way of life that feels like 1950’s Britain without the yop/Nuevo factor........ one can only say this is the most delightful place and is home from home.


So my second adventure begun

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