Xave in the Polynesian Spa

Land of the Long Black Coffee

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February 28th 2010
It had been a long time between visits to my beloved home country, but I still managed to take Ursula to New Zealand in the same decade I left... just. We arrived at Auckland airport on the morning of December 31st 2009. We immediately made a bee-line to Auckland's one universal spiritual focal point: the café. We managed to stop for breakfast 500 metres short of my mother's house - who I haven ... read more

Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Auckland » Waitakere

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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... ... read more