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When you're traveling around, you perceive a lot of the local history, not only when visiting museums and such, but also from monuments, buildings and even street names. The names of the local historical figures will naturally be evident. Every place and each own names. However, during my travels there were two names that kept turning up, wherever I went, in New-Zealand or Australia.
Captain Cook was the first European practically on every coast I visited, excluding south Australia. The maps he charted of New-Zealand were still used hundreds of years later, and most of the coast was named by him. And it's not just a matter of designation - where he charted, the settlers followed. As I understand it, that's the reason Australia's east coast is more popular than the west - although the west coast was known to the Dutch, Cook arrived to Australia from the pacific, the British colonization followed him there and so Sydney and New South Wales were founded. Methodic and scientific, he set the way for all other explorers who opened up those land.
But if Cook planted the seeds, the trees had actually grown during Queen Victoria's reign. She's everywhere here. Every city has a Victoria street, square or building, and some have a Queen street as well. Australia has two states named after her! Both New-Zealand and Australia have evolved from penal colonies and trade posts into prospering countries during the 19th century and they are evidently products of the Victorian era, in the architecture, city layouts, railways, folk tales and more.
And finally, the third element that was practically everywhere - war memorials. Memorials for World War I, commonly referred to as the Great War, are in every city and town, no matter how small. Instead of an independents day, Australia and New-Zealand both hold ANZAC day (Australia and New-Zealand Army Corps) on the day of the battle of Gallipolli, and refer to it as their nations birthday. There's nothing like patriotism to make a country.
From exploration through colonization to war. So that's how nations are made.
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arny
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enjoying
Hi Yuval, only now I give comment to all your writing. I enjoyed the way how you descrbed your travel very much . also the pictures of as well New Zealand and Australia were great .Hope to see you again one day in Amsterdam , many greetings and love from Turkey, Bodrum where we are now.