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Background: The Polynesian Maori reached New Zealand in about A.D. 800. In 1840, their chieftains entered into a compact with Britain, the Treaty of Waitangi, in which they ceded sovereignty to Queen Victoria while retaining territorial rights. In that same year, the British began the first organized colonial settlement. A series of land wars between 1843 and 1872 ended with the defeat of the native peoples. The British colony of New Zealand became an independent dominion in 1907 and supported the UK militarily in both World Wars. New Zealand's full participation in a number of defense alliances lapsed by the 1980s. In recent years, the government has sought to address longstanding Maori grievances.

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By Fu
June 5th 2006

Wild Boar and Blue Cod

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Marlborough » Queen Charlotte Sounds

The Marlborough Sounds

Leaving Blenheim Team NZ, that's Markus, Georgina and myself headed down the road to Picton. Our first adventure was to be the Queen Charlotte Track. A 2 day walking track running through the Marlborough Sounds. It was late autumn, winter approaching and the track apparently was boggy so we decided just an overnight stay and days trek. Packed plenty of Ham & Cheese and took the mid-morning water taxi to Torea Bay. Our plush hostel for the night, The Portage was only a short walk from the Torea jetty. A glorious day and with an avo to kill we rented a [View Full Entry]

By pummel
April 22nd 2006

Diving The Marlborough Sounds

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Marlborough » Picton

Leaving Picton

Diving. Those who have been reading my blog will know that this sport that I favour has somewhat eluded me of late. Not any more. At least not entirely. I had booked myself on a trip to go out to dive the Mikhail Lermontov, said to be one of the worlds largest divable cruise ship wrecks. However my luck just aint that great. I didn't get out to the Lermontov due to high winds, but I did get to dive. The trip out to the dive site was one of the most beautiful ever. An hour of motoring through a deep [View Full Entry]

By farrell
April 17th 2006

Wilson does Queen Charlotte

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Marlborough » Queen Charlotte Sounds

Dynamic Duo

After meeting Mike Wilson at the ferry terminal we sat down to a lunch of lobster tails and L&P and a discussion of what to do with Mike’s week in New Zealand. There was whitewater kayaking in Murchison, sightseeing everywhere, sea kayaking in Abel Tasman and Marlborough Sounds, mountain biking, hiking. You name it, we could do it. In the end we decided to start the week off with a 3+ day sea kayaking trip up Queen Charlotte sound. We would leave Anikiwa at the head of the sound early Sunday morning and return to Picton with the water taxi Wednesday [View Full Entry]

By Gldngirl
April 12th 2006

On the road again...

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Marlborough » Blenheim

Savignon Blanc
A nice bunch of grapes, held by the dirty, sticky hands of yours truly

My grape harvesting days have come to a close. Yes, a much more pleasant experience then apples, but I feel the stirrings to move south before it gets too late. I know for a fact that they do not maintain the roads here like they do in Canada, so I'm feeling like I either decide to see the south island in a whirlwind tour, or try to settle in Queenstown if there a job available. I have purchased 2 wool sweaters because it is getting quite chilly, even frosty, but not at the freezing mark yet. My boss Tony, makes fun [View Full Entry]

By Benji and Abby
April 9th 2006

Autumn daze

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Marlborough

Us and the Crums
Bob and jenny Crum, best WWOOF hosts ever. We had a great time working with the Crums and we still keep in touch.

Now this is the life... We've been living at the Windsong Orchard in Renwick , and we've been having a ball! Windsong Orchard is a small Organic Farm in the heart of the Marlborough Region of Southern NZ which is famous for its wine. The farm is owned and run by our now dear friends Bob and Jennie Crum. Jennie is a Kiwi through and through, and Bob is an American Kiwi convert born and raised in LA. We've been having fun geting to know them and learning about growing plums, bluberries and grapes (and eating plenty of them too!)We've also [View Full Entry]

By phartell
April 8th 2006

Wine Tasting - hick-up

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Marlborough » Queen Charlotte Sounds

Our intention was to dive to Havelock and walk some of the Queen Charlotte Track. This was billed as one of the nicest walks in the country. The weather however didn't fit with our plans. By the time we got to Havelock the clouds had closed in and it was raining hard. We got to the hostel which was a lovely house overlooking the lake. Apart from an American man with his son that was staying in the chalet behind the house we had the place to ourselves. It was like having your own holiday home for the evening. We managed [View Full Entry]

By Gldngirl
April 6th 2006

Montana Winery

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Marlborough » Blenheim

Oak Barrels
Just a small sampling of the nice oak barrels imported from France.

I worked half the day today. Sadly harvest is coming to an end. I will probably only be working a couple more days, but only if the rain holds off. It's sad to see the grapes rotting and shrivelling. I have a new passion for fruit. So what? Apples are ruined, I'm so glad grapes are not! I managed to cut myself today while harvesting. I mean, it's not a big deal, but there was a lot of blood. So much they pulled me off harvesting and made me sit down while I had my hand cleaned and bandaged. I guess [View Full Entry]

By Slim4l
April 6th 2006

The South Island

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Marlborough » Blenheim

So I'm in Blenhiem now, which is basically where I started my trip of the south island. Over the last month I have driven around the entire south island, I have been to the most northern point (Cape farewell) and the most southern point (slope point/Curio bay). I have been to both the glaciers ( Frans Joseph and Fox) and to Milford sound, which was beautiful. It was interesting traveling with two girls how's first language is French ( it would have helped if I had tried a little hard in high school French) and sharing the van's small space for [View Full Entry]

By Gldngirl
April 2nd 2006

My time in Blenheim comes to a close

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Marlborough » Blenheim

A Marlborough Sunset
I find the sunsets here are really beautiful.

I wanted to just do a little update since nothing much has been happening, except for the grape harvest. It seems that I have one more week of work here, and then the grape harvest is officially over. My boss is then going to throw an end of harvest party which includes a hangi (meal cooked in the ground). I'm looking forward to that, but I will miss the nice people Í've met here in Blenheim. My harvest partner Corin is a fellow Canadian, and attended Guelph University for BioChemistry. I haven't had any bouts of homesickness because it seems we [View Full Entry]

By showmekiwi
March 29th 2006

News from Blenheim

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Marlborough

Sarah in the Edwin Fox Hull
This ship transported convicts from the UK to Australia

Hi Everyone- This week we’re in Marlborough District and have visited Havelock, Picton and Blenheim. The weekend brought a 4WD track ride to Havelock where we met with the Blenheim club who hosted our weekend in the Marlborough Sounds. The club president, Neil, took us sailing on Saturday afternoon. It was amazing! I was stationed at the Hull—steering was tough when the boat is almost completely tipped over! The crew was certainly thrown around the boat and it was really exhilarating! Cindy and I are staying in the town of Blenheim with Trevor Ferguson. Trevor lives adjacent [View Full Entry]

Team and Jo Huntley at Picton Maori Center

Travel Blog » Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Marlborough