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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 Ferdi and Talita
October 16th 2009

Day 262-264: Auckland, New Zealand Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Auckland » North Shore

This filthy Boesman needs a good cleaning

Wednesday, October 14th We had to wait till noon before we could withdraw the rest of the cash that we needed to buy our van. With the strange inconsistency of available funds in the last few days we were worried that we would not be able to get the amount we needed. Luckily our fears were unfounded and after getting the cash we set off to collect our van in Papakura. Finally! We bought our own van! We had been waiting for this day for three weeks. We are now the proud owners of a black 1995 Nissan Caravan we named [View Full Entry]

By saranakash
October 16th 2009

Oct 15-16 Paihia Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Bay of Islands » Paihia

So, I’ve been really bad at writing in my blog. It’s been a month since I last wrote anything down, so I’ll try and recap what I’ve done in the past month. So on the day of the last entry (back on Thursday October 15th), it turned out to be a really nice afternoon weather-wise. So my roommate and I had decided to take a hike over to the nearby waterfall. It took up about 30 minutes to get to the trailhead and from there the trail was about 1 ½ hours to the waterfall. We passed plenty of NZ native [View Full Entry]

By cleanpairofeyes
October 16th 2009

The Campervan Chronicles.. Part Two Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Abel Tasman National Park

The Tasman Sea from Quad Bike Tour

Where did we leave off? I believe it was at the farm where we parked for the night. So the next morning we enjoyed some hot showers, packed up Lucy in the Sky and started driving out Kenburu Sounds. I recently had gotten a job out at a resort and had told my boss that I would drop in for a visit. When I said this I did know that this place was out of the way and was ready for it, or so I thought. It was Raphaels day to drive so here we were manouvering around endless sharp turns [View Full Entry]

By Eluned
October 16th 2009

Fox Glacier Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Fox Glacier

The sea!
Stopped here on the way to Fox Glacier. Apparently the most Western point in NZ.

On my way up the West Coast decided to stop in Fox Glacier for a day. It's a natural but it sounds great! Fox Glacier the village is a tiny place, it's basically just one short street with a lot of confused looking hikers wandering about. To get on the glacier itself you'd have to pay at least $100, so we decided to just do a gentle walk to the look-out point to admire from a distance. Ended up being through a jungle, and miles down a road, but it was still nice. Once we got to the look-out, and admired [View Full Entry]

By Feral Mike
October 16th 2009

CYCLE TOUR - BEAST OF BURDEN & RIDER PUT TO TEST Oceania » New Zealand » North Island

The old Tomarata Hall
On the road to Mangawhai, I came across the Tomarata Hall where my old schoolmate Howard and i used to attend country dances. Most of the action took place outside the hall, where we would try to enti... [more]

Testing Time The time for talking was over. Time to put feet to the pedals, bum to the seat etc and go for it. The goal was straightforward - from Parakai near Helensville to Warkworth via Highway 16, then north for a few k before turning right to Mangawhai. My guidebook ("Pedallers Paradise") describes the route using phrases such as: "There starts a 2 and a half kilometre climb, undulates and rolls, occasional steeper hills, quite a steep climb". You get the idea. My tent was a soggy mess after being camped in a lake at Parakai, the bike was [View Full Entry]

By SineadandPhilippeRTW
October 15th 2009

Feel the fear and do it anyway! Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Queenstown

Lake Wanaka

A lovely DOC camp site at the northern edge of Lake Wanaka was our home for one night. After an afternoon in the sun Philippe turned cub scout on me and made a camp fire out of twigs and a cornflakes box. We cooked a simple meal on our little gas burner and baked potatoes in the heat of the camp fire. Occasionally Philippe would disappear to collect driftwood from the beach to keep it burning. As the stunning evening views of the lake disappeared into the night sky we were able to pick out the stars we had seen in [View Full Entry]

By degit
October 15th 2009

Raus aus Australien Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Auckland

Hallo, habe Australien verlassen und mich nach Neuseeland begeben. Werde heute ein Auto mieten und anschliessend die Nordinsel erforschen. Anschliessend geht es auf die Suedinsel. Hoffe das ich euch bald ein paar Bilder presentieren kann. Werde fuenfzehn anstrengende und eventuell schoene Tage haben, pennen im Auto usw. :) Alles Gute Dim [View Full Entry]

By Feral Mike
October 15th 2009

Cycle Tour - Of Swallows and Contemplation Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Auckland

Old Helensville Post Office
These days it's the offices of Heartland Services - a one-stop shop for Government and community agencies.

"It's a private pool", the elderly woman said as she and her husband passed me on my arrival. The pool wasn't private but she was right all the same. The pool at Parakai was empty, not a soul, and I lay back and let the warm, thermal waters wash over me. My only companions were two swallows which flitted in through the open roof and swooped over the pool before one did a poop in the water and they both flew off. I was left contemplating how many swallow poops would constitute a health hazard. Probably squadrons of them, all [View Full Entry]

By Laurene
October 15th 2009

First day of "work" Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Picton

I woke up and grabbed some free breakfast (toast, jam and cereal) and waited until 10 am to start my new ‘job”. Peter is the owner of the hostel and gives each of us certain jobs to do that day. I was on odd jobs for my first day. Since there was a lot of people leaving I helped Audrey with making beds. We have to strip the beds first of their old bedding and then put the new stuff on. Pretty simple. Audrey is from Paris, France and has a cute french accent. After I made the beds I vacuumed [View Full Entry]

By CN Travels
October 15th 2009

Campervan Shopping Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Auckland

Backpacker's Car Exchange Friday morning, we took the train into Auckland city to find the Backpackers Car Exchange. The train ride to Auckland was very smooth and the trains here are very spacious and clean. Once we found the car exchange, we were somewhat disappointed as we didn't find anything that was worthwhile to buy. Most campervans were very old and very pricey and the cars were just as expensive. So we hung out a bit in Auckland and took the scenic route back to the main train station which was luckily down hill . Along the way, we saw [View Full Entry]

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