Happy Holidays from New Zealand!

My first kiwi Christmas was a success!

2 weeks ago the Christmas festivities began, when I spent the weekend with the Parkers down in Beachlands, the boys had a great time with their new kites!
Here I am hanging out with Liam (5) and Nathan (3) just after we finished reading our pirate stories!

Jump ahead to Christmas Day!!!

I Spent some time on the beach playing Rugby, football and floating in the Pacific Ocean out at Long Bay.

Then headed down to Devonport where I helped to prepare Christmas dinner with some friends. Didn't get to enjoy the goods though, as I had to head to work for a nightshift, but was looked after as we had a potluck with all the emergency department staff!

Glad I was able to have a webcam Christmas with everyone at home! :)

Here is a photo of our Christmas tree at my flat, followed by a New Zealand Pohutakawa tree, which is also known as the kiwi Christmas tree because it is in bloom during December.

Off to Great Barrier Island for a week of camping and ringing in the New Year!

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Parade in Auckland!

November has been slow, not much time between the nightshifts, but I made it out on Sunday afternoon for the Auckland Santa parade!

Rotorua!

Spent the Labour Day weekend down in Rotorua (about 4 hours south of Aucks) The area is a majour NZ tourist destination known for it's geothermic activity. There are tons of hot bubbling pools around every corner and in every park, and big, beautiful lakes.

We spent the weekend in a lake house, enjoying the time away from the city. Found a river with some rapids! Here's some photos:

Goodbye City livin'

Well I've moved across the harbour, and now live "on the shore" doesn't it sound lovely. Getting used to driving on the wrong side of the road, and finding my way around over here. Today I found a bed! :) Hopefully I'll have a proper good night sleep tonight.
It's nice having roomies around, and one girl has a mixed up schedule with days off through the middle of the week like me! :) And now that I have a car, getting out on days off and doing some exploring is going to be much easier.

Soccer is over for the season, hopefully beach weather will be just around the corner!

Bluebird Days on the Mountain :)

The last couple of weeks I have finally made use of my season pass to Mt. Rupheau in the middle of the north island. Got some wonderful days in on the spring snow, and a sunburn to boot! *Always worth it though for the smile on my face as I carve down the slopes!* Here's some photos from the trip to the snow!

Spring has sprung!

The days are getting longer! It's almost light now when I go to work :) Yesterday the skies were blue for a change and the flowers are in bloom. We took a walk through Albert Park in the central city. Can't wait until the weather gets a bit warmer! (But first I need to get some more time in on the slopes as the stakes are reading over 4meters of snow at the north island mountain!!)

South Island Snow Adventure

Winter in New Zealand isn't quite has harsh as what I am used to, even all the way down in the heart of the south island the snow doesn't stick or create snowbanks that cars can't see over!

I've just been on a 4 day trip for some mid winter snowboarding, met up with my friend Rob from 5 years ago at summer camp and hit the snow, and the scenery in Wanaka.

Here's a shot as we are flying over the southern alps.

POTHOLE... we can't land as scheduled in Queenstown so we were re routed to Invercargill
View Larger Map and then bussed it north 2.5 hours, where we grabbed a rental and completed the journey through to Wanaka.

Fast forward to the scenic snow shots from Wanaka & Treble Cone.

Incredible views, especially when we hiked it up to the summit on the 3rd day...

Couldn't have asked for better weather during our 3 bluebird days on the snow.

Favorite run was definitely the 1 hour roundabout route after our hike up to 2088m, found some fresh powder stashes way up along the top as we wound around and down past "Far Out".

Can't wait to hit the slopes again, hopefully down to Mt. Raupheau sooner than later before the season is done!

Volcanic Island

Finally had the chance to get over to Rangitoto Island, a dormant volcano in the middle of the harbour. The volcano erupted about 600-700 years ago, and left a beautiful almost symmetrical volcanic cone. No people live on the island, and it has developed it's own ecosystem. The rugged terrain is really interesting and it's incredible that trees have been able to grow in this environment.


My friend Julie and I took a hike up Rangitoto last week, it is about an hour to the top, and the view overlooks Auckland and the around the harbour. In the photo below you can see Auckland's Sky tower, on the peninsula in front is the north shore, towns of Takapuna and Devonport and the hill in the middle is Mt. Victoria (another old volcano).







There are also some pretty cool Lava Caves which we took the opportunity to explore.

Clean Windsheilds!

I drove on the wrong side of the road today! Weirdest experience I've had in a while. Old habits die hard, trying to make a turn, with the windsheild wipers going full steam because the signal lever is on the right instead of the left.... hahaha. Thanks to my soccer teammate Lisha for throwing me into the drivers seat!

You really have to pay attention, and there's a weird depth perception thing about looking to the left and seeing that you still have all that car over there!

New Zealand also has a strange driving rule, about "giving way" to the left, so if you are turning left across the traffic you have the right of way. Luckily I did not encounter this during my driving time today, as I am sure I would have caused a mishap!

History Lesson: Treaty of Waitangi

No new/exciting adventutres to report so I figured I'd tell you about some important history regarding New Zealand:

Last week I went to a conference day about the Treaty of Waitangi, it was lead by a Maori woman. Basically the treaty was a doument signed between the Maori people and the British explorers/settlers agreeing to reach a compromise over the land, culture and spirituality of New Zealand. Signed on February 6th, 1840, in the Bay of Islands region (the place of my last roadtrip, toward the northern tip of New Zealand.) Commonly seen as the founding document of New Zealand, it has 2 versions, both of which are legal; an Enlish one, and a Maori one. These were signed by British Governers, and all the Maori tribe cheifs present (approx 40) and then taken around the country for the rest to sign (540 in all!).

There are 3 main clauses within the Treaty of Waitangi:

English version grants the Queen of the United Kingdom (Victoria at the time) sovereignty over New Zealand. The second article guarantees to the chiefs full "exclusive and undisturbed possession of their Lands and Estates Forests Fisheries and other properties." It also specifies that Māori will sell land only to the Crown. The third article guarantees to all Māori the same rights as all other British "subjects".

But the Māori translation has an extra clause regarding the Spirituality and Culture of both sets of people. As well the Māori used some different words suggesting a different understanding of this agreement with the British goverment....

The first main difference being the use of the word sovereignty; The Māori translated this word as kāwanatanga which at the time was likely to mean authority or prestige, and felt they were sharing this role not giving up their rights.
In the second article they use the words "taonga" meaning treasures or precious things, which in Maori could be used to describe a broad selection of things not just physical possessions but traditions and language. There is also the word "tino rangatiratanga" or chieftainship. The Maori version promises much broader rights for Maori in regard to possession of their existing ‘taonga’ (treasures). The English version gives Maori control over their lands, forests, fisheries, and other properties. But the Maori version, with its use of the word ‘taonga’, implies possession and protection of things such as language and culture. The third Article promises Maori the rights of all British subjects, while protecting traditional and customary rights.


This day I spent at this "study day" was interesting, I learned a lot about the history of New Zealand and it's policies around the Maori people. It's interesting that there is a lot of the same issues between the goverment here and in Canada with our own First Nations People. When I went to a historical museum when I first arrived I was quite surprised at the artifacts that are shown belonging to the Maori, it was so similar to things you would see in Canada. All the tools and spears and such made out of similar objects and resemeble those from Canada. It's intersting that these people could all live so far apart but humans from all over the world have created the same basic tools.

The woman that was the leader for the day is a Maori midwife, she is hoping someday that the govement in NZ will make a commitment to the Maori people the way the Canadian goverment has. I think that is interesting too, as in Canada, it seems as though we are just begining.

Anyway that's your history lesson for the day!
Happy Canada Day Everyone!

Northland New Zealand

Just got back from a 3 day adventure to the Northland of NZ. Finally had a chance to get out of the city, and remind myself why it was that I came to New Zealand in the first place --To travel and see the country! It felt good to get into travel mindset.


Started off in Paihia (pie-hee-a) which is a busy little town in the Bay of Islands on the far northeast coast. This is the birthplace of New Zealand, where Kupe (a Polynesian explorer) is thought to have visited back in the 10th century, and then followed by his descendant Toi about 200 years later. This is also where Captain James Cook and the early Europeans had their first contact with the Maori people, and later where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed. (more about that another day, as I have an upcoming conference about it) At Paihia, I took a boat tour of the harbour and some of the surrounding islands. We saw the lighthouse at Cape Brett, the hole in the rock at Piercy Island, and some dolphins swam along side the boat.

Day two, Off to the tip of New Zealand; bus tour of the far north.

We stopped off at a Kauri swamp tree restoring and carving factory, these are the largest trees in New Zealand, and the oldest timber on earth! The trees have been preserved in swampland, and are dug up and turned into beautiful crafts and furniture. The wood is a fantastic colour, the trees are massive, one large piece of trunk has even been carved into a staircase with a chainsaw!

We drove up 90 Mile Beach while the tide was coming in, the very rough Tasman sea on the left and the many special tribal meeting grounds and forest preservation areas inland on the right. Stopped off at the giant sand dunes for some Sand-boarding!





Then it was off to Cape Reinga, the northernmost point of New Zealand. In Maori mythology, Cape Reinga is the place where the spirits of the dead depart the land, as they return to their ancestral land of Hawaiki. This is also where the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean collide.



We stopped on the way home at a great fish and chips shop and one of the Kauri Forest Preserves. *Sidenote: There is a bigger and better Kauri Tree Forset to be explored on my next adventure northward!*





The scenery was fantastic all day on the bus, the hills, mountains, forests and greenery were incredible!



This morning before heading back to Auckland I went "horse trekin". We went UP to the top of a volcano: Mount Te Puke. From here, we were able to look out over the Pacific and the Bay of Islands below, and then took the horses for a walk in the ocean on the way back.





The Northland was beautiful, I can't wait to go back to do all the things I missed!