I want to go there for my 10th Anniversary of marriage :P
2003
Have you ever heard of New Zealand before? Although it is off the beaten path, New
Zealand is a charming place to visit. Located
about 1,100 miles southeast of Australia, New Zealand has a mild and rainy
climate. Many natural wonders appear within
its 103,738 square miles of land. Over
three and one-half million New Zealanders, live on North Island where their capital
city of Wellington is located.
New Zealand’s land consists of mountains,
valleys, and volcanic landscapes.
In
certain parks and other regions, you can experience volcanoes, explore
volcanic
terraces, see mud boils, hot springs, and geysers. There are also
lush
rainforests, incredible fjords, impressive craters, large plains, and huge
waterfalls. On the southern island, you may see low
tablelands as well.
Throughout the countryside are large
farms. Farmers grow a variety of
things. Many grow apples and kiwifruit, especially in
Kerikeri, New Zealand’s
largest
kiwifruit producer. Farmers also produce
fodder, trees for timber, and
silage.
In the cities, factories manufacture food,
aluminum, wood, paper and paper
products,
and textiles. These products are then
exported to other countries.
Although tourism is not a very big
business, there are a number of amazing
places
to visit. For example, Fjordland
National Park located in the Southland
region
is a wonderful place to visit. Besides
the park’s steep mountains, lush
rainforests,
and excellent examples of fjords, Fjordland National Park contains
some of the highest waterfalls in the
world. Milford Track, a well-known
attraction located in the park, has been billed as the finest walk in the
world. In addition to this, Fjordland may be one of the wettest places in the
world, but it is the water itself that shapes the land to make it so beautiful.
Another great place to visit is
Queenstown, the busiest and fastest growing
city
in New Zealand. Maybe you are wondering
why Queenstown grows so
quickly when all its neighbors do
not. The key is tourist based
activities. First of all, it is the home
of bungee jumping and jet boating.
Another big activity is white water rafting down the roaring
rivers. Queenstown has a few good places
to go snow skiing. For the sightseers,
there are breathtaking mountain views.
These activities create jobs for New Zealanders and bring people to the
area that would not have discovered
otherwise that they want to live here.
Since few waterways are used in New Zealand, New Zealanders use
railways, highways, and airplanes for transportation. Of the one hundred eleven airports, only
forty-four have paved runways. This
means most of New Zealand’s airplanes are small.
Have you ever eaten titi, mutton bird?
Or how about rewena, a bread similar to fried doughnuts? How about kina, sea egg? These and other foods like shellfish, eel,
dried shark, and fermented corn are a few of the traditional Maori foods.
As in England, some favorite New Zealand pastimes are rugby and
cricket. Hockey is played as well. In the mountains, snow skiing is a popular
sport. New Zealand is also a wonderful
place to go hiking, and because of this there are many trails to explore.
Almost all of the people of New Zealand consider themselves Christians;
81% to be more precise. To me, this
means that more people say they accept Christ as the Son of God, than have
asked Him to forgive them for their sins and have become born again Christians. Only 18% claim to have no religion, or do not
specify an affiliation. Only 1% claim to
be Hindu, Confucian, or other.
Among New Zealand’s most famous modern writers is Janet Frame. Presently, she is a novelist for the magazine
Landfall. She has written three
autobiographies so far. The names of
these books are To the Island, An Angel at My Table, and The
Envoy from Mirror City.
Some of New Zealand’s painters and sculptors are quite interesting. One man, Colin McCahon, is perhaps the most
contentious painter in New Zealand. Some
people think of his paintings as gods and seem to worship them.
Len Lye is a kinetic sculptor. He
is known internationally as a pioneer of direct film techniques. That is, he scratches images directly onto
celluloid, or photographic film.
There are many Maori woman painters in New Zealand. Robyn Kahukiwa, Kura Te Waru Rewiri, and
Shona Rapira Davies show through their paintings a concern for land, whanau or family, anti-sexism, and
anti-racism. They also reflect Maori
pride and values.
New Zealand has had a very exciting history. Captain James Cook, the first white explorer
to claim the land, discovered New Zealand in 1769 for England. In a skirmish with the locals of Kealakekua
Bay, Hawaii, Cook was killed, only nine years after his discovery.
It was the Maori who settled New Zealand first. They arrived from Polynesia in the ninth
century and have lived there ever since.
Today, only about nine percent of New Zealand’s population is Maori.
In 1814, the first British missionaries arrived and the Treaty of
Waitangi, in 1840, recognized Queen Victoria as the protector head of New
Zealand. By 1841, New Zealand was a
full-fledged colony. Bloody wars between
the Maori and the English resulted in the loss of lands for the Maori people in
the year 1870.
Of the many reasons to visit New Zealand, there are some that really
stand out. Besides the already mentioned
items about Queenstown, there is a vintage vehicle museum, a kiwi and birdlife
park, and a spectacular underwater world.
There are also two radio stations just for tourists.
An amazing mountain located in Fjordland National Park, is Mitre Peak which
stands one mile high straight out of the water.
Fjordland has lots of record-breaking sights, and the park itself is one
of the largest in the world.
Rotorua and the volcanic plates which are located just south of the Bay
of Plenty on North Island are perfect places to study volcanic activity. Rotorua is very famous for its volcanic sites,
geysers, boiling pools, hot springs, boiling mud, volcanic terraces, and
craters. Pohuto, or splashing, is a geyser located on Geyser Flat. It shoots over one hundred feet into the
air. If you think Pohuto looks like soap suds, you are right. Soap is added to the water through an underwater
process to make it more spectacular.
At Rainbow and Fairy Springs, you can handfeed deer, rainbow trout,
brown trout, and brook trout, besides many native birds, and Captain Cooker wild
pigs. These pigs are named after the man who introduced them to New Zealand, Captain
James Cook.
Bay of Islands has over one hundred fifty islands to explore. Marine life is very abundant here. For all the golfers, you have just found an
excellent place to go golfing. Many
visitors enjoy playing this sport in the sunny, warm, climate.
Mount Cook National Park has the word’s largest ski park. It is another place full of records; Mount
Cook is New Zealand’s biggest mountain.
New Zealand has many historical places.
The National Museum and Art Gallery, which is just full of history,
collects everything from Maori artifacts to items from Captain Cook. Along with them are objects from colonial
life.
Dunedin is not only New Zealand’s Scottish city, but it is also its
Victorian city. Dunedin contains Saint
Paul’s Cathedral, a church with gothic pillars.
The church owns an impressive organ that has three thousand, five hundred
pipes.
Dunedin Railway Station is perhaps the finest stone structure in the
country. Three huge clock faces stare at
the people under the covered carriageway.
Many had admired the original floor, which had 725,760 half-inch Royal
Dalton porcelain squares on its surface.
As you can probably tell by now, Rotorua, Queenstown, Fjordland National
Park, and New Zealand as a whole, contains incredible sights, thrilling
activities, and memorable experiences to enjoy. There seems to be something to
interest about anyone. If you are
planning take a vacation to another country, New Zealand is a great place to
go!
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