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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 Leanne and Simon
October 12th 2009

A very splendid wine tour Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Picton

Picton

The ferry crossing to the south was a bit more scenic than crossing the Channel as the boat crosses through the Marlborough Sounds for the last hour of the journey so all around there were huge green hills. It was too windy to stay out on deck though - my sunglasses nearly blew off my head. The rain and wind followed us from the north island so our first two days in Picton were spent wrapped up in the hostel. Unfortunately we had picked another dive of a hostel and this one had a very strange tenant who seemed to work [View Full Entry]

By Laurene
October 12th 2009

Shopping is so hard to do Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Wellington

Fountain at sunset

Ate some breakfast and then headed out to find some dress pants for job interviews. I went into about 6 different stores. Clothes here are expensive! I found one pair of pants I liked but they were $205 NZD, yikes! I found another pair for $80 NZD and bought them since I was sick of shopping! Had to call Langham and talk to mom’s side of the family for Thanksgiving. Mom was visiting my grandma and my aunt. Was good to talk to everyone there. Then I called my dad at my Favorite cousins house haha. Was to hear from everyone. [View Full Entry]

By Leanne and Simon
October 12th 2009

Tramping in Abel Tasman Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Abel Tasman National Park

Abel Tasman

We thought we would organise a trip into the Abel Tasman National Park from Nelson so caught a bus there but after discovering a lot of the trips charge $30 each to pick up from the city we thought we'd be better off going to Motueka where there is no extra charge. We did stay in Nelson for three nights at Tasman Bay Backpackers which provided free chocolate pudding and ice cream every evening. Unfortunately the hostel was also a base for an under-13s female hockey team. Who knew 13-year-old girls would be so noisy? So it wasn't quite the relaxing [View Full Entry]

By Richard Cranium
October 12th 2009

"One Ring To Rule Them All" Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch

They say that the south island is more spectacular than the north, its certainly bigger and got less people and with so few people in such a vast expanse ominously the locals have apparently 'adapted' to become a "rugged" and "individual" breed. Our plan was to travel down the length of the west coast on State Hwy 6 as far south as Queenstown and then double back crossing over to the east coast to finish in Christchurch; and in another 16 days and 2000 kilometres thats exactly what we did. Across the Cook Strait the ferry winds its way through the [View Full Entry]

By saranakash
October 12th 2009

Bay of Islands - Paihia - day 1 Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Bay of Islands » Paihia

Today was more relaxing than my last 3 days in Auckland. Woke up at 6am to catch the 7:50 am bus to Paihia in the Bay of Islands on the northern end of North Island. (Auckland is in the Center of North Island). I used Stray bus to get to Paihia. Along the way we hugged a very large Kauri tree for good luck, passed “strawberry” sheep, and photographed a tree house café. Once we arrived to Paihia, we received our free passes to go on a dolphin watching cruise. What I thought would be a 45 minute or so [View Full Entry]

By Leanne and Simon
October 12th 2009

Who owns those pants? Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Wellington

Wellington

The 12-hour bus journey to Wellington was not the most comfortable experience so it would've been nice to check into a decent hostel and relax. Unfortunately we had booked Base hostel which is geared towards teenagers who want to party. Now this wouldn't have been a problem if said teenagers had the ability to clear up after themselves.... The 6-bed dorm we checked into stank of BO. I found the source of this stench stuffed down the side of my bunk, a t-shirt left behind by some smelly backpacker with an aversion to showers. I chucked it in the bin but [View Full Entry]

By CN Travels
October 12th 2009

Waiheke Island Adventures Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Auckland » Waiheke Island

Nick All Geared Up
We packed too much. Seriously this bag is heavy already.

Waiheke Ferry Across Hauraki Gulf Monday morning Jeremy gave us a ride into Auckland on his way to work. We stopped by New Zealand Telecom to pick up a cell phone and then headed down to the wharf to grab the ferry. We loaded up our backpacks and got our tickets and climbed up on the top deck to get a view of the different islands in the gulf along the way. We passed Rangitoto Island which one of the last volcanoes to erupt in New Zealand. It's now a preserve and you are limited to day trips or very limited [View Full Entry]

By Laurene
October 11th 2009

Goodbye to Meike :( Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Wellington

Me and Meike

We both packed up all of our stuff, had some breakfast and left the Base hostel. I hated the hostel so I decided to move to a different hostel. My new hostel was on the way to the ferry terminal where Meike was going. So we walked together and I dropped my bags at Nomads. I helped her carry her stuff over to the ferry terminal. I waited there with her until she boarded the ferry. It was sad to see her go. We had some good fun times together! Since it was Thanksgiving back home I had a few people [View Full Entry]

By McHearns
October 11th 2009

boats Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Whangarei

Look - Its easy Oma!

We had visitors this afternoon (Sunday 11th. October). It was lovely to see them. Jason and Anita took their Oma for a boat ride! Michael and Catherine (and Grandad!) stayed on terra firma. [View Full Entry]

By Eluned
October 11th 2009

Queenstown - for the last time Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Queenstown

The Nevis Arc
Moments before plummeting towards the ground

As the title says, I won't be coming to Queenstown again! Well, I probably will at some time within my lifetime, but I can't see it being on this trip. I'm aiming to leave the South Island now, and make my way up to the North Island for the summer. Woohoo, Christmas on the beach! Decided I had to get round to doing at least one of the activities things here, so we decided to do the Nevis Arc. It's like a massive swing that drops you about 200m before you swing over the river towards the cliffs opposite. That was [View Full Entry]

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