Day 47: New Zealand!! Bay Of Islands

Day 47: We made it to New Zealand. This country has been at the top of our bucket list for a long time. Researching this blog caused me to lose many misconceptions about the country's history. Starting with the fact that New Zealand was the last major land mass to be discovered and populated by humans. There's a little debate about the exact date, but sometime between 1250 and 1320, Kupe, a Polynesian explorer, landed on NZ. The Maori culture says it was forty generations ago, which equates to about 1000 AD. Archeologists say the discovery was caused by people fleeing a large Indonesian volcano eruption in 1257. No matter how you look at it, humans have been treading the landscape for less than 1,000 years. 

In 1642, Dutch explorer Abel Tasman "discovered" New Zealand from the
European viewpoint. Cartographers labeled his discovery Nova Zeelandia after the Dutch province of Zeeland - and the name was later anglicized to New Zealand. The Maori name is Aotearoa, meaning "land of the long white cloud." Europeans didn't return to NZ until Cook visited in 1769. After that, it was the usual story of traders and well-meaning missionaries until the Treaty of Waitangi (part of the Bay Of Islands) between the Maori and the English in 1840. The islands were declared a British colony in 1841; many disputes followed about the treaty, armed conflict, and the general confiscation of native land. 

The NZ government really got going in the later Victorian era and came up with some groundbreaking ideas. They were the first country to allow women to vote (in 1893), and they declared a minimum wage in 1894. Today, the country is recognized as one of the most stable and democratic countries, with low corruption and high transparency. 

OK, politics and history are over - Allison and I split up today. Allison cruised around the Bay of Islands and visited the Grand Cathedral Cave at Cape Brett. The wind and tides were just right, and the boat actually passed through the cave. Quite a sight. You also get an idea of the magnitude of the cliffs and surrounding hills. 

 

I toured Glow Worm Caves, Baroque toilets, Kawakawa - a cute NZ town, and the Puketi Kauri forest. 1200 year old trees! They grow at a rate of about 150 feet per linear foot of width. The biggest on the North Island is over 2,000 years old. These trees were massive before anyone even stepped foot on the island. The Kauri trees are protected, and you cannot cut them, even on your own property. When Cook visited the islands, he noted they'd be great for ship masts and instructed the British Navy to grab as many as possible. 

The Glow Worms were fascinating. They are
actually Glow Maggots, although the marketing people rejected that terminology. With about a one-year lifespan, they go from eggs to worms, pupae, and adults (looking like mosquitoes). The worms attached to the tops and sides of the cave and put out tendrils (known as fishing lines). Anything that comes into contact with these tendrils gets stuck and eventually consumed as food. The bioluminescence is used to attract food towards the tendrils. Ironically, once the adults hatch, they have no digestive system, so they basically mate and then die within a few days - usually getting stuck in the tendrils of other worms - the cycle of life.

I also visited Kawakawa, a small town known for some baroque toilets. They're brightly tiled and porcelain-lined. The ladies are far more artistic than the gents and obviously couldn't get a photo without being kicked out of the country. So, these are borrowed from the local website.

The overall landscape very much reminded me of “home-home” - the Downs in Southern England. Green fields, rolling hills, sheep, cattle, and tiny roads. 

Additional photos below show ..

1/ Wide angle view of the Grand Cathedral Cave

2/ Haruru Horseshoe Falls

3/ Me in front of very old trees

4/ Small outcrop on the beach, a local artist painted a cliff face. 

5/ Bay Of Islands from above