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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 OJ Scott
November 17th 2009

Franz Josef Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Franz Josef

Mt Cook from the skydiving plane
An aerial view of Mt Cook on the way up

Well I'm a good week or so behind writing this blog - I'm currently in Te Anau with no way to upload any photos so I'll add those later. I've skipped writing about a few places - after crossing the Cook Strait on a ferry between the two islands, we headed down the west coast of the South Island through what has been my favourite part of New Zealand so far: Franz Josef-Wanaka-Queenstown, just off the Fiordland National Park, which has some incredible scenery. We pulled into Franz Josef, a tiny resort for ice climbing and hiking on the Franz Josef [View Full Entry]

By laschicasenNZ
November 17th 2009

La llegada a NZ Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Auckland » Central

ACB HOSTEL

Estuvimos en Auckland por una semana aproximadamente. La ciudad nos encanto, era súper limpia, todo ordenado, todo nuevo. Las primeras 2 noches nos quedamos en el ACB Hostel que es el mas conocido (y el mas caro también). Había varios argentinos, chilenos, uruguayos, etc. En fin hablamos más en español que en ingles. Después decidimos mudarnos a uno más económico que quedaba a una cuadra. Estando en el Choice Plaza Hostel conocimos la vida nocturna de Auckland que si bien era divertida era bastante rara. Salimos desde el martes al sábado todas las noches a distintos bares. Nos llamaba la [View Full Entry]

By Stelson
November 17th 2009

Last Day in New Zealand... Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Queenstown

Thumbs up!

Today was our last day in New Zealand. Just before leaving, I completed my 15,000 foot sky dive in Queenstown! I had to wait 2 days because of the cloudy weather. Some of the people waited up to 9 days!! Crazy!! But today, I made it up to the highest peak and survived!!! I would have to say it was one of my best days in my life!! The jump didn't start until 9am. I was the first jumper out today which set the tone for the rest of the day! I can not even describe the amazing feeling I had [View Full Entry]

By Sunriseoversea
November 16th 2009

In the car with a Maori gang member... Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Gisborne

On the 12th of November Rodrigo was originally only supposed to be working from 10-1pm but he called in to help with renovations in the pizza bar he works and ended up working all day (12 hours or something stupid in total). I spent most of the day hanging out with Jon in town which was cool, I also made a significant start on my new book, '7 years in Tibet' which Sarah (One of Alex's housemates in Wanaka) kindly gave me. It's a great book so far! Jon cooked me a nice lunch in the staff quarters of the hostel [View Full Entry]

By Ferdi and Talita
November 16th 2009

Day 289-291: Karamea, New Zealand Oceania » New Zealand » South Island

Trio in the van

Wednesday, November 11th We slept late again, only crawling out of bed after 9:30. After breakfast we drove into town to help Bruce move. We found Bruce and Paddy sitting outside the shop on the public picnic benches. Bruce was in his element. His son, Matai Kiran Hallewell-Smith was born just before midnight last night. He was beaming and very proud. He was able to watch the birth on Skype and spent two hours afterward watching Amber and Matai. We packed his boat and the rest of his gear and drove out to Paddy’s, who’d offered Bruce his “guest house truck” [View Full Entry]

By Ferdi and Talita
November 16th 2009

Day 292-294: Karamea, New Zealand Oceania » New Zealand » South Island

The Guppy place

Saturday, November 14th We woke the morning very eager and continued working on the van. Neither of us had done this kind of thing before, so found it hard to make decisions. What’s right and what’s wrong? Common sense seemed to be our only guide. Also, in theory everything is easy. In practice, however, it’s really hard. For example, it’s impossible to cut a straight line with a jigsaw. We got a few tips from the net, but they didn’t help because the moment the blade got hot it would start veering off course. Hence we made much slower progress than [View Full Entry]

By et
November 16th 2009

Don't Pay The Ferryman! Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch

First meal at the house

The time has come, and it is indeed a rare occasion, for me to write a blog. I think the last time was in our fair city back in 2005. I remember hogging the one computer at a busy backpackers called Vagabonds..... Today, I sit contented in our home office looking out of the window at the blue skies of Canterbury, watching baby Monarch butterflies bouncing off one of our sunkissed swan plants beside the house.....bliss! We are now well and truly moved into our first NZ property and we love it here :-) The whirlwind couple of weeks of moving, [View Full Entry]

By CharMcF
November 15th 2009

New Plans for New Zealand Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Auckland » Central

Sky Tower (and a reverse bungee scaffold)

Hello! I've had a sort of busy time since I last posted. I think that was Wednesday, so quick summary since then. A group of us went up the Sky Tower in the evening, highest building in the southern hemisphere I'm told, think it's 192m high. Awesome views out over Auckland. Came back to the hostel and got Dominos pizza between about 9 of us, nice. Thursday was the first really nice day, we went to this small park and just hung about for a while. Hopefully the weather is going to keep that up. It's still just the end of [View Full Entry]

By Stelson
November 15th 2009

Queenstown Rocks & Stephen Jumps off a Cliff!! Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Queenstown

Stephen just before his Jump!

Well Adventure land it is...and today Stephen proved it!!! Check our Canyon Swing Pics & Videos!! This morning our helicopter ride was canceled due to the inclement weather, so we are on tentative plans for tomorrow morning. After checking out Joe's Garage for breakfast and The Cow for lunch, we took a walk around the Lake region and snapped some great pics! We needed to do some activity, so we both signed up for the Canyon Swing over Shotover Canyon. The trick is a combo of a freefall, bungy and swing! Stephen and I did this late in the afternoon, so [View Full Entry]

By Sushijas
November 14th 2009

Hometown Fun Plus Auckland Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Rotorua

Crazed Rugby Fans
We went to the rugby match with a group of Aaron's coworkers. Some of them painted their faces in our team's colors.

You know how, for the most part, you’d rather be travelling? Same with us. Yes, our entire New Zealand experience counts as travelling - but really, we like it best when we are sleeping somewhere other than our own bed. Not to say that we haven’t had some fun in our hometown lately. We’ve done some distinctly NZ things here and really enjoyed them. First, the rugby game. We knew we didn’t want to let our time here go by without catching a rugby match, and we ended up going to one with a big group from the hospital. Rugby is [View Full Entry]

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