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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 Richard Cranium
October 7th 2009

"YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Wellington

Kia Ora Bro (hello) from Aotearoa; the land of the long white cloud. "Everything here is more magnificent. The landscape is familiar in the sense it has been formed by rain, but the vegetation is unusual and the mountains seem so much sharper. If you're looking for what the poets used to call 'the awful' - a sense of awe - that is what you find in New Zealand. And its wild in a way that England isn't wild." - Sir Ian Mckellen Gandalf is right, it beats the shit out of England and despite having only 4 million people there [View Full Entry]

By Laurene
October 7th 2009

Windy Welly Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Wellington

Climbing wall

If anyone has ever told you that Wellington is a also known as Windy Welly, they were right! It's SOOO windy here. All the time too, not just some days, everyday. It's ridiculous. Meike and I did a town walk to check out the town and ended up at the Beehive (their parliament building). It's called the beehive because that's exactly what it looks like. Wellington is the capital of NZ so all the government buildings are there. We stopped for lunch before walking up the famous Cuba Street. It's a street with a bunch of cafes and shops and is [View Full Entry]

By Deirdre and Diarmuid
October 7th 2009

Roturua - Gateway to Geyserland Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Rotorua

Pohutu Geyser, Te Puia

Hi, Well we arrived in Rotorua in the evening of Friday 22nd May. As soon as we drove into the town a strong smell of sulphur hit us and it took a few minutes for us to figure out what it was until we saw all the steam rising from various cracks in the footpaths and other sulphur pools around the town. Tired we drove around for a long time looking for somewhere to camp for the night, but arriving by dark to a new place always proves difficult, we eventually found a spot by Lake Rotorua to camp for the [View Full Entry]

By roesweld
October 7th 2009

Rotorua and New Plymouth Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Te Aroha

On the way to Rotorua

Sorry to be so long in writing. We haven't frozen, but it was the worst snowstorm that the North Island had seen in 25 years. They closed quite a few highways just a little south of us and there was snow on the mountain in front of Kenneth and Dianne's which they hadn't seen in the 20 years that they have lived here. We just stayed inside for two days close to the fire and trying to make ourselves go into the rest of the house where we could see our breath. Going to bed was quite an experience until the [View Full Entry]

By Leanne and Simon
October 7th 2009

Hitting the road in our Spaceship Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Coromandel

Cathedral Cove

Sept, 13 - Sept, 27 Hiring a campervan and hitting the open road is kind of obligatory when in New Zealand so we found the cheapest possible deal ($30 a day) and picked up a bright orange converted people carrier that is now known as a Spaceship called Ray. We took Ray to a town called Hahei from there we would explore the Coromandel Peninsula (the top right part of the north island). We parked up at a site on a farm and ended up getting loads of bites on our legs. We hoped this was from insects in the long [View Full Entry]

By Laurene
October 6th 2009

SNOW SNOW SNOW Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Tongariro National Park

snow at our hostel

Woke up to more snow and it was REALLY COLD. Ok, not as cold as Canada but when all you have are tshirts, a hoodie and a rainjacket...it's cold!! Due to the weather our bus couldn't leave at 9 am as planned. We were able to leave by 10 am though. One thing i've noticed about New Zealand is that each town loves to have a big statue of something that represents the town. So, i've seen the giant kiwi, and the giant Lemon and Peoria bottle and a giant apple. But today I got to see a giant carrot and [View Full Entry]

By saltandpepper
October 6th 2009

Queenstown - Wanaka - Lake Tepako - Ticked! Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Lake Tekapo

The road to Shooter Valley

Speed & Water!! Day 5: The day was perfect - crisp and cold with fresh snow on the Remarkables. We rug up and join a happy noisy netball team from Canberrra for a jetboat ride in the upper Shooter Valley. We climb past the ski fields at Coronet Peak (still open) and on a road that is SCARY - six years in building the road is a gravel rollercoaster that hugs the sides of the mountains winding about an hour to the Shooter Valley - once a thriving gold town. The netball team screams the whole way. The jet boats are [View Full Entry]

By ANDREAandKERSTINroundTHEworld
October 6th 2009

Maehaehaehaehnsch ist das kalt hier... Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Wellington

ein neues Land- eine neue Erkenntnis: wir sind keine Schafe, was traurig ist, die haben naemlich ein unglaublich wuscheliges und sicherlich sehr sehr warmes fell...wir leider nicht, deshalb muessen wir auch bitterlich frieren! Ansonsten sind wir gut angekommen in Neuseeland.Windy Wellington meinte es gut mit uns und war gar nicht so windy - was fuer die Landung von Vorteil war. Aber das wahre Gesicht konnte es nicht lange verbergen (es hat durch aus Aehnlichkeit mit Gollum), schon am naechsten Tag hat es gewindet was das Zeug haelt. Zwei schon erfahrende Neuseelandreisende aus Deutschland habe [View Full Entry]

By Leanne and Simon
October 5th 2009

We jumped out of a plane!!! Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Bay of Islands » Paihia

Skydive

Auckland, Sept 1 - Sept 4 Bay of Islands, Sept 5 - Sept 13 Jumping out of a plane at 12,000ft is probably one of the most terrifiyng things we have ever done. Actually it is the most terrifying thing we have ever done. You may be wondering how Simon, who is afraid of heights, managed to do this extraordinary feat. The fact is he didn't really have a choice. Within 15 minutes of inquiring about the possibility of maybe doing a skydive in Paihia we were en route to the airfield where we were met by the tiniest plane you [View Full Entry]

By SineadandPhilippeRTW
October 5th 2009

North Island: Kiwi's, Glowworms, Rotten Eggs and Rotten Weather! Oceania » New Zealand » North Island

The Kiwi House

We left Auckland in Bitsy armed with a list of the places we would like to visit (thanks to Elisha) but with no clear schedule of where we would stay. We had booked the ferry for early on the morning of the 6th, but that was our only deadline. We headed south. Our first scheduled stop was at the Waitomo Caves however en route we passed by the Kiwi House in Otorohanga. We shrugged at each other and said why not? We are not bird lovers, but the Kiwi bird only comes out at night, so we were unlikely to see [View Full Entry]

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