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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 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]

By Ferdi and Talita
October 11th 2009

Day 258-260: Auckland, New Zealand Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Auckland » North Shore

This might be The One

Sunday, October 11th We woke to a gorgeous, sunny, Sunday morning. Nicol made a big egg, hashbrowns, bacon and toast breakfast. Afterwards we borrowed his car and drove to the far side of the city again. We were going to see a campervan that looked great on the website. Through some misunderstanding we ended up waiting for more than an hour for the owner to pitch up. When we saw the camper we were not impressed. It is ancient and has a weird column shifter for changing gears. It has a pop-top which is great cause you can stand upright inside [View Full Entry]

By SineadandPhilippeRTW
October 11th 2009

Pale green men and lush green landscapes: from Wellington to Wanaka. Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Wanaka

On the way to Abel Tasman National Park

Getting up in the early morning is never nice. Getting changed in a van with a cold wind blowing through it is even worse! At 6am we rolled out of bed, grabbed our clothes and began driving towards the ferry. In true Counet style we were quite early for the ferry, so having checked in we made our breakfast in the back of the van. I have a new appreciation for the common snail - it is really useful to have your house with you everywhere you go! When we got on the ferry we found a quiet corner and I [View Full Entry]

By Inspirado
October 11th 2009

What a Load of Old Riff Raff Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Hamilton

Churstle
Is it a church or a castle?

The last couple of weeks have seen a sudden onset of cold, wet weather just when we were starting to think spring was finally on its way. Then suddenly this morning the sun came out to play! Not wanting to waste the opportunity, we jumped in the car and headed south to Hamilton, about 1.5 hours from Auckland. Hamilton is one of NZ's major cities but with a population of around 130,000 it is small enough to explore on foot. We started our walkabout with a quick pitstop to Subway to buy our lunch and then made our way to Lake [View Full Entry]

By wordy
October 11th 2009

Lovely sunny day today Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Whangarei

Getting ready for the audience

Today we all met at Beach Road, Onerahi and went for a long walk along the sea front. Then back for morning tea at the lookout - beautiful weather and great company!! [View Full Entry]

By saranakash
October 11th 2009

Auckland day 3 - devonport and Rangitoto Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Auckland

Devonport

Having seen enough of Auckland central, it was time I made out to the outskirts of the city. A 12 minute ferry ride dropped me off at the small historic neighborhood of Devonport. I had 2 hours to wander about the quaint village, so I opted for a self-guided walking tour that I picked up at the visitors center. The walk led me along the ocean where hardened lava rocks rested ashore. These were the remnants of the Mt. Victoria volcanic eruption. It is also said, that this is where the Maori first settled after leaving their first homeland of Hawaiki. [View Full Entry]

By saranakash
October 10th 2009

Auckland, day 2 Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Auckland

Albert Park

Auckland isn’t anything special, but that one thing it does have is nice parks. So today I decided to a long walk to some of these beautiful parks. But before doing so, I wanted to check out some local art, so I headed to the Auckland Art Gallery. This free three floor gallery was more of an art museum than a gallery, but nonetheless I enjoyed it. Many of the paintings portrayed Maori culture and history; others were paintings of New Zealand landscape. It gave me a good idea of what I should expect to see in the coming months. As [View Full Entry]

By cleanpairofeyes
October 10th 2009

Peace Out Tekapo!!! Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Lake Tekapo

Welcome to Lake Tekapo

They are certain situations that you find yourself in when living on the road. One is the constant good byes that have to be said. And this is the situation that I find myself in once again. I have been in Lake Tekapo for nearly 4 months and have met some great people and have shared some great times with them. We kept each other occupied on boring days, road tripped and celebrated together. Not to mention the dinner parties, house parties, days on the slopes, movie nights, day hikes and even guitar sessions at the lake. Looking back at my [View Full Entry]

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New Zealand Travel Blogs, page 19

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