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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
September 30th 2009

Another rain day, booooo Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Taupo

Hole in one place
You stand on the edge of the lake and try to get a hole in one for a prize

Well it's another rainy day here in gorgeous New Zealand, although it feels more like i'm in Ireland at the moment. New Zealand is also very green for a reason it would seem. We had to move rooms so we moved our stuff and made some breakfast. The rain lightened up a bit so we went for a walk down to the lake but couldn't see much thanks to the clouds so we walked back in to town and found a small movie theatre just as it really started to pour so we ran in and paid to see the only [View Full Entry]

By broondog
September 29th 2009

Day 10 - Hawkes Bay (Napier) to Wellington Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Wellington

Black Beaches
Black sand at Napier

Tue 29th September 2009 Give me that blog back crazy woman… only joking - good job Mrs B. We’re up early and down for reasonable breakfast - Claire feeling better although not perfect so still manoeuvring for a little moan mid morning I think! We looked outside and then were totally confused with what we’d seen - in fact - we could not believe it. Yes, it was SUNNY and there was NO RAIN! For now! We drove around Napier for about 20 minutes - the buildings are well cool, and this place went from zero to hero with daylight and [View Full Entry]

By bullocan
September 29th 2009

Krith and Vin's Visit Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » New Plymouth

Photo 2
Mt. Egmont

Hello! It's been awhile but thats mainly because we haven't done any more exploring lately! But we did have Krithia and Melvin come and visit us so I thought I'd put the pictures up of that weekend. I also got a new tattoo! Its on my foot, of a pohutukawa flower. It's the New Zealand "Christmas Tree" because the flowers are red and the leaves are very dark green. The trees are beautiful especially when they are in bloom (which is right about now!) Not much else is new, but I would like to say Happy Birthday to my niece Bella [View Full Entry]

By LoYo
September 29th 2009

The Catlins Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Otago » Catlins

Catlins
McClean Falls

A few weekends ago I went to the Catlins national park with my friends Clara and Jenny. We drove to Invercargill on Friday and then spent saturday and sunday driving around the catlins and getting out to do short walks, see look out points, and see waterfalls. It was such a fun and relaxing weekend with those girls. We all really enjoyed ourselves and got an entire hostel to ourselves on saturday night which was really nice. The Catlins is so beautiful. I guess everybody will have to get used to me saying this about everywhere I go, but New Zealand [View Full Entry]

By SineadandPhilippeRTW
September 29th 2009

An unfamiliar land with a few familiar faces : Auckland, New Zealand. Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Auckland

Our home away from home...

Never underestimate the value of seeing a familiar face. We certainly won't after this trip! South America was an amazing experience, but we were definitely ready for a change and for a few weeks of speaking the same language as the locals. After getting nice New Zealand stamps in our passports, the first 'local' that we had the pleasure of conversing with was a pleasant lady on the customs desk. As we declared to be in possession of some hiking boots, she checked our soles and then as us if we had a tint. This did little to sooth my paranoia [View Full Entry]

This is how far away from home we are...

By Laurene
September 29th 2009

Off to Taupo Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Taupo

Flower bridge

Meike and I walked over to the geothermal park in the city but we were both so tired from the night before that neither of us had the energy to really walk around so we ended up going for a coffee, ate some lunch and then waited for our stray bus to pick us up. We were happy to see a small bus pull up to pick us up. We hopped on and met a variety of interesting people haha. We got in to Taupo and went to the skydiving place to watch a video and anyone who wanted to skydive [View Full Entry]

By LoYo
September 29th 2009

Doubtful Sound Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Fiordland National Park » Doubtful Sound

Doubtful sound

Last weekend I went on a cruise with my program to Doubtful Sound. I had already been on a cruise there with my mom but it is still just as impressive the second time around. We did an overnight cruise. The first day we cruised around for a while, and then went kayaking for about an hour, and then jumped off the cruise ship into the water. It felt like you jumped into an ice bath.....burrr. Later that day we saw tons of dolphins swimming and jumping out of the water. They would also ride the waves at the front of [View Full Entry]

By broondog
September 28th 2009

Day 9 - TRAVEL - Rain, Rain and more Rain!!!! Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Rotorua

Hot Springs
Waimangu Volcanic Valley

Mon 28th September 2009 Disastrous start to the day since we slept in following a mix up with not putting the clock forward on our alarm clock and we missed saying bye to Aunt Yvonne before she headed off to work - Sorry again Aunt Yvonne! Not really much to see on our drive south, so much rain - we were struggling to see Auckland city from the harbour bridge, but we continue in valiant hope that it will brighten up as the day goes. Our route was primarily via Hamilton, Cambridge, Rotorua, Lake Taupo then Napier - all today. First [View Full Entry]

By Sunriseoversea
September 28th 2009

Guest at a Maori Party... Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Raglan

The tour to Cape Reigna (Sept 25th) was pretty good actually. We drove all the way there on the 90 mile beach despite the fact all other bus companies turned around as they thought the tide was too high! We nearly got ourselves stuck a couple of times but we made it. It's the first time I've ever had the experience of driving on a beach, and it just seemed endless (it is more like 90km than 90 miles though). Cape Reigna was absolutely breathtaking, one of those places where you have to force yourself to put the camera away because [View Full Entry]

By BobClick
September 28th 2009

Onward Northward Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Rotorua

I was a nervous wreck behing the wheel of the largest vehicle I'd ever driven for about 20 minutes. Bumble B is in fact a very easy drive. It helps that, unlike the UK, here pretty much every tourist route, sealed road, roundabout and parking space is designed for vehicles larger than a Smartcar. So after a few dodgy left hand turns and a couple of hub-scrapes, we were cruising out of Auckland on State Highway One at a clipping 100kmh. It was sunny, the traffic faded away after we crossed Auckland Bridge, and gradually a bit of real Kiwi countryside [View Full Entry]

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