New Zealand -Norh Island

New Zealand is only about 3 hours from Sydney by plane, but the difference between the two countries is remarkable. They speak the same language, but the cultural divide is immense and they pronounce their vowels differently The climatic atmosphere in New Zealand is challenged by a break in the ozone layer, so they advise you to wear lots of sun block. The air is incredibly clear and fresh and absent any smog or pollution. It has been described as the the 'little green garden at the bottom of the world' and I think that suits this relative new comer to the world stage.

New Zealand is one country, but two islands divided by the Cook Straight. It take about 3 hours to cross over this divide by ferry. This land and the aboriginal people are, comparatively speaking, new comers to the world stage. We are told that the Maori people were originally from what is known as French Indonesia and they migrated due to what is believed was over population on their islands. Compared to the 'bommi' indigenous people of Australia who have a history of 53,000 years they are a recent civilization.

We spent some time getting out of Wellington. They measure travel distances in hours to drive rather than km to get somewhere. Wellington reminds me a little of Halifax. We drove to an area with a lake called Levin and discovered a small lake with many black swans. The black swans were a recurring theme we observed here -outliers. It seems fitting that black swans are predominate in this land - that is a result of volcanic eruption. The land parallels the 'black swan theory' - its very existence was the result of an occurrence of high-impact, hard-to-predict, and rare events that are beyond the realm of normal expectations.

It is the middle of summer here and the weather is a relief after the stifling heat in Sydney, but the rain followed us into the mountains. We visited the national park in Tongariro where we encountered heavy rain. The mountains are beautiful and wild in the national park. The volcanic base creates interesting features. the scilica river was interesting. This area is the land of 'Lord of the Rings'. Peter Jackson, the director of the trilogy, was from Wellington and shot the movie at various locations around New Zealand. They offer various tours of the remaining sets.

We took in a dinner/concert with the Maori in Rortorua which was very informative. The focus of their entertain displays their skills as fierce warriors and traditions of celebrating athletic rowers and swimmers. The country celebrates the signing of the treaties with 43 Maori chiefs as their national heritage day. They challenge all strangers with a fierce face grimace that is part of their cultural norm . They have modernized with gas and metal oven their traditional cooking style of making food by slow cooking with hot rocks and steam. This process, the 'Hangi', was used to cook a feast for the tribe. After visiting a number of geothermal sites today, you can imagine the Hangi was a naturally cooking method available due to the volcanic activity. In the area around Taupo and Rotorua there are 'hell pots' and steam troughs everywhere hissing and boiling the earth around them. This is a hot bed for volcanic and earthquake activity. Sitting on two of the earth's tectonic plates (Pacific and Asia) and joining the Pacific 'ring of fire', this land is changing and moving daily. The fresh lakes and warm thermal springs brought the polynesians and led to the first geothermal electric plant in 1958.

The New Zealand accent is slightly differnet from the Austrailian and they like to emphasize their differneces. This country is much smaller in geographical size and population compared to their Australian neighbors.

We pushed on to Napier and visited some of the Hawkes Bay wineries having dinner at the Mission Hill Estates. It's on the east coast with lovely beaches combined with rich farm land and fruit orchards.