AOTEAROA
The Land of the Long White Cloud
General:
Aotearoa is the Maori word for New Zealand. It means The Land of the Long White Cloud. Ao = cloud, tea = white and roa = long. According to oral tradition, the daughter of explorer Kupe saw white on the horizon and called "He ao! He ao!" ("a cloud! a cloud!"). The first land sighted was accordingly named Aotea (White Cloud) and is now commonly known as Great Barrier Island. When a much larger land mass was found beyond Aotea, it was called Aotea-roa: Long Aotea.Thus Aotearoa is a traditional name only of the North Island, though it now commonly refers to the whole country.
Easy Facts:
New Zealand is situated in the South Pacific, the same distance eastwards from Australia as London is to Moscow.
It is a little bigger than Connecticut.
There are two main islands - The North Island and The South Island. And several small islands, the biggest of which is Stewart island at the very bottom of NZ.
The largest city in New Zealand is Auckland which has a population of approximately 1,500,000 people, a third of the popuation of the whole country.
The capital is Wellington, which is sometimes known as windy Wellington.
The official languages are English and Maori.
Local currency is the New Zealand Dollar (NZD),
Local time is GMT +12 (GMT +13 from the last Sunday in October to the last Sunday in March).
Lake Taupo is situated in the centre of the North Island as is thermal Rotorua, the home of boiling mud and steaming lakes. NZ is volcanic land in a southern termperate zone. Neither excessively hot nor cold. Raincoat essential. Warm clothing suitable most of year. The seasons are reversed from the N. Hemisphere. And at night the star system is different showing the Southern Hemisphere with the Southern Cross and other constellations. No big dipper!
NZ was the first western democracy to give women the vote
NZer Edmund Hillary was the first person to climb Mt Everest
Team New Zealand holder of the America's Cup 1995-2003
All Blacks winner of 2001 Rugby World Cup
New Zealand has won more Olympic gold medals, per capita, than any other country.
Note* Driving is on the opposite side of the road from USA
History
While New Zealand is a relatively young country, it has a rich and fascinating history, reflecting both Maori and European heritage.
Over a thousand years ago, Maori tribes migrated to New Zealand from their Polynesian homeland of Hawaiki. Bravely voyaging across the Pacific from their ancestral homeland hundreds of years ago, Maori made New Zealand their home, becoming the tangata whenua—people of the land. There are amazing Maori historic sites and taonga (treasures), some dating back almost a thousand years.
Though a Dutchman was the first European to sight the land, it was the British who settled in New Zealand.
Treaty of Waitangi: An 1840 treaty between Maori and the British Crown
Australia and NZ
Some people get the 2 mixed up, although it's like mixing up USA and Canada. The Tasman ocean separates the 2 countries and it takes about 2 and a half hours by plane from one to the other, the most common route being from Auckland to Sydney.
Two distinctly different indigenous countries: Completely different indigenous peoples, flora and fauna and animals. NZ have the Maoris and Australia have the aborigines.
Australia have koalas, kangaroos, kookaburros, dingoes, wombats, poisonous snakes of which NZ has none. NZ has the kiwi bird, kiwi fruit, keas, tuis and pukekos which aren't found in Australia.
Australia is one of the flattest land masses on the planet, its highest point rising 7,310 feet above sea level. New Zealand, especially the South Island, is extremely mountainous and volcanic, with Mount Cook towering over 12,000 feet.
I love Australia as well as NZ. I'm half Australian, although born and raised in NZ, and I loved my time living in Australia.
How could one not enjoy these down under countries and all they have to offer!
