For the past few weeks I'd been exchanging e-mail with ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.2){kind=small}
simonfunk about New Zealand as a potential place for him to live. After he asked that question, a plan emerged to make my way out there for two weeks of his month-long trip to explore kiwi lands and life.Part of the geographical area sometimes called Oceania, New Zealand is located about 1,000 miles east of Australia. It consists of two islands, creatively named North Island and South Island, and is one of the most isolated major land masses on the planet. Its inhabitants are known as Kiwis, as are the native brown flightless kiwi birds and the brown fuzzy kiwi fruits.
1,200 years ago Polynesians made New Zealand the last major land mass to be settled by humans. The Maori (normal or not distinctive) were the sole inhabitants until white Europeans, mostly British, colonized the islands in the late 1700's. The Maori referred to the newcomers as Pakeha (foreign). In 1840 the Treaty of Waitangi founded New Zealand, while guaranteeing Maori rights, rights that were not really upheld. The clash of cultures has created many racial issues and integration was promoted for many years, almost destroying Maoritanga (the Maori way). More recently, Maori grievances have started to be addressed and the policy has changed to one of promoting two different cultures side by side with interaction between them.Recently made famous as the filming location of the Lord of the Rings trilogy (and previously The Piano), New Zealand holds great natural beauty. Two-thirds the size of California, its amazingly varied geology includes just about everything -- volcanoes, mountains, glaciers, beaches, lakes, rivers, geysers, hot pools, rolling hills and flat farmland. Geologically, New Zealand split off of Gondwanaland early. This allowed the flora and fauna developed independently, giving it a range of exotic plants and animals.
Also present are a number of non-natives, most notably sheep and possums. With a human population of under four million, the 40 million sheep make for a sheep:human ratio of 11:1, down from 20:1 in the early 80's. However, the cute but invasive Australian brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) easily beat that ratio with their population of over 70 million.
That information covers most of what I knew about the place before I left. Yep, despite my having had a copy of the exceptionally thorough Rough Guide to New Zealand for many weeks before going on the trip, I hadn't gotten around to reading much of it and knew next to nothing about the place. Ah well, some things are best left as surprises...
Other info:
- CIA Factbook: New Zealand
- New Zealand Embassy
- New Zealand Immigration Service
- New Zealand Tourism Board
- The New Zealand Herald
April 13 2003, 21:58:38 UTC 9 years ago
Parallel Journal Entries.
Because I went on this trip withI'd also recommend that you read the rest of his NZ entries too.