First off, all Auckland pictures are up. Tomorrow night we
leave New Zealand for Brisbane.
Our Sunday started off at 4:30AM. Andrea and I decided to “run”
(I wont over exaggerate here) down 13 flights of stairs in our pjs without
jackets (mind you it is winter here). Why, you may ask. Oh that was because
there was a fire drill…New Zealand lost points there.
Later on Sunday…we went on an all day tour with a Maori
guide. I was really looking forward to this tour and I was not disappointed.
First of all, for once the weather stayed nice all day long. We were picked up
outside our hotel in a nice Mercedes Benz van. We joined a German family of
four so it was a small personal tour. The tour guide/driver was a lady of Irish
and Maori background who was also part owner of the business.
First stop was the tallest point in Auckland which happens
to be a dormant volcano. The Auckland area has around 50 volcanoes so there are
a quite a few. Auckland has 1.5 million residents which is basically a third of
the population here.Auckland used to be 4 cities and they amalgamated
them into one super city. Auckland was once the capital of New Zealand but that
changed to Wellington so that the capital was in a more centralized location.
There were some beautiful views of the city from the volcano but boy was it
windy…
The visitors center we then went to was a huge park that had
a lot of Maori carvings at the welcome center. We were also able to see the
silver fern which is the symbol of New Zealand. It looks like a normal fern but
underneath the leaves are silver. Apparently, kiwis (that is what New Zealanders
are called…back to that in a minute) use these ferns as like a Hansel and Gretel
trail. That was just in case any of you ever get lost in the New Zealand bush.
Oh and also, bush walking or hiking is called tramping. We went and looked
around the welcome center which was interesting because it had two birds which
are now extinct here. One looked like a dinosaur crossed with an emu and the
other looked like a griffin. The Maoris hunted them to extinction. Even now the
Kiwi bird is low in numbers and they might lose them.
This picture is a real Kodak moment from far away...up close, well let's just say don't zoom
After the visitors center we went to the beach. It is a
sister beach to Bondi in Sydney because the waves are so good there but it also
dangerous. The sand was fine and black with sparkles in it. Apparently it is
black from the volcanic ash. There is a rock that is supposed to look like a
lion in the water but that was pretty abstract overall unless you were heavily
medicated. Anyway we had morning tea there. It consisted of New Zealand Anzac
biscuits (they have honey), kiwi juice, L&P “pop”, some different candy and
some honeys to try. Now this L&P drink is a carbonated lemon drink that is
excellent. It is “world famous in New Zealand”, more popular than Coke here,
and now owned by the Coca Cola company.
While we were having morning tea, the guide went over some New
Zealand things. One was biz-e-bee which is a wooden toy very popular for small
children here. The thing that I thought was the most interesting was the Kiwi
shoe polish. New Zealanders were not give the nickname because of the bird or
the fruit but rather the shoe polish. Apparently, the New Zealand soldiers used
to carry the Kiwi tin in their shirt pockets and the brand name “Kiwi” was all
that stuck out so the other soldiers would say “Oh here comes that Kiwi”. I thought
that was really interesting.
We then went to see the Kauri (pronounced Kody) tree which
is the second biggest tree in the world. This tree was between 800-1000 years
old. It is one slow growing tree as it only grows the width of a fingernail in
one year. The root system is really strong so it is able to withstand a lot of
wind. Of course they used to be forested so many old homes and ships were made
out of their wood. Now though it is illegal to cut them down so repairs must come
from salvaged wood. Apparently, the movie Avatar was based around the Kauri
tree and the Mauri people. The New Zealand government gave 6 million dollars to
the film which grossed like 600 million. James Cameron is moving to NZ to work
on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th installments of the
film. I didnt care for it but as you guessed I am going to rewatch it and I bet I like
it more now. Oh and to go see the tree we had to clean our shoes because there
is some sort of fungus killing them.
In the afternoon we went to the Museum of Auckland (which is
a top 20 in the world museum) to watch an authentic Maori experience. There
were 3 male performers and 2 female performers who did a really good job. They
talked about different aspects of their culture like instruments, weapons, and
games. They were quite the performers and not camera shy at all. Maoris used
the intimidation factor and therefore they are pretty scary. Their rule was
that you were an enemy before a friend. The men would stick their tongues out
while the women bulged their eyes out. Then they stomped their feet and made
less than cuddly sounds. Quite unsettling, I can tell you from firsthand experience.
After that we went out and explored the Maori part of the museum.
There were some beautiful wooden carvings there. And we got to go in a meeting
house which was a really cool experience. We had to take our shoes off but it
was worth it. Maori meeting houses are sacred and very ornate inside. The
weaving and carvings tell a story. It is basically the center of life for them.
Like they have funerals, town meetings, weddings, and general get togethers
there. We also chatted with a guy who was working on some carvings as well.
Maori people touch noises when meeting and how many times
depends on where you come from. There are many different Maori tribes all over
New Zealand. There are more in the north island than the south because the climate
is better here. The strongest tribes took over in the Auckland area because it
is the best of all with good soil, two harbors, and a more gentle climate. When
meeting each other they ask three questions: 1) What is your body of water, 2)
What is your mountain and 3) What was your canoe. From that they know all sorts
of things like where you come from and who your family is. The Maori people are
really big on facial tattoos especially in men but women can have them as well.
This experience was much different than I expected to be
honest. I was quite prejudiced against the Maori before coming here because of
similarities between two other native people. I was fascinated by their culture
because I had been told numerous things about cannibalism, violence against the
European settlers, the Maori gangs, sacred places where white people are not
allowed, their intelligence, etc. Although, the tour guide did not mention
violence against the white settlers, it existed (not saying they didn’t deserve
it). In the end we got trench warfare from the Maori people and they were the
first native people to have a signed contract with white people-brilliant! As
far as the sacred places where white people cant go, I was surprised to find
out that a person from one tribe isn’t even welcome in another tribe’s meeting
house. They also need to get permission to do things such as fish in the waters
of another tribe. I didn’t have the heart to ask about cannibalism and of
course I wanted a ride home.
I have a major problem with affirmative action so I had to ask
if Maori’s were given special treatment here. The tour guide went on about how
fiercely independent they are and how they make it to be judges and such. But
then she admitted that yes if there were two candidates with about the same
credentials, the Maori one would be chosen. She said they want more Maoris to
study… Anyway they have their own courts and their own laws and special
exceptions.
The thing I think I found the most interesting was that the
tour guide said that the Maori people are different from Native Americans and
Aboriginals because they have been integrated. New Zealanders welcome foreign people
and want them to stay. She said that in New Zealand they ask how long a person
has been here rather than when a person is leaving and consider you a local
after just three days. She made it a point to say that Maoris have fought in
many wars side by side white New Zealanders and many times were important in
victories. From my perspective, I saw the difference in the answer when I asked
if Maoris identified as New Zealanders first before their Maori heritage. The
answer was yes. I think the Aboriginal answer can be found in the fact that
they have their own flag which is displayed alongside the Australian flag. But
alas, it takes two to tango. I wont get going on this. I just thought it was interesting.
After we left the museum we toured around Auckland and
Davenport (a restored area) and then had some ice cream. They have a national
ice cream here called Hokey Pokey which is caramel bits in vanilla ice cream.
It was awesome. At this point in the tour we were the only passengers so it was
really personal. We had the tour lady drop us off at a souvenir place where we
loaded up…
On the way home we stopped and had an Italian guy do a
caricature of us. I have always wanted to do that. He was an interesting guy
who loved to make people happy. I wouldn’t say that I thought it looked like us
but I will take the rendering from the neck down…hahaha.
On a funny note (but not really) Andrea and I went to a 24
hour convenience store when we arrived last Sunday. It was 2AM…it was closed…not
very convenient for a 24 hour convenience store as Andrea put it. Oh and on
another note, McDonalds here is called the American Embassy…
