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!

An Afternoon at the museum

The maritime museum downtown on the waterfront turned out to be a success, and I would definitely go back again. I was given a tour by an older gentleman from England, who was part of the British Navy and spent some time at port in Halifax as well as various other places up the St. Lawrence. He was very knowledgeable and had a friend (also a museum volunteer) that was familiar with Nova Scotia (he'd be in Pictou! as well as Cape Breton, to study some ship building.) He also is a familiar face at the museum in Waipu (that's the double migration settlement of Nova Scotians. He said I'll be a celebrity when I visit there with my accent!) Also my museum tour guide is a crew member on the Daldy! (That was the steamship I stoked coal on a while back) So we had plenty to talk about. Anyway all in all a good afternoon spent at the museum, and learned lots about the shipping past of New Zealand.

no news is good news.

Not much to update on as of late. I have had a hectic work schedule with days and nights all over the place so haven't had much time to do anything exciting! Soccer is keeping me busy. I found a place that sells good sushi for cheap at the end of the day at the bottom of my street, and joined the library. I have been getting together with some new friends which has been nice. Finally feel like I can do some shopping so I tspent an afternoon in Newmarket (the area of the city with all the nice downtown shops) and found some snowboards for browsing. Tomorrow is a true day off with no major plans so prehaps I will finally take a rainy afternoon tour of the maritime museum downtown. :)

A little trip to Mt. Eden

Things are beginning to feel normal here. I am in a routine/schedule now with work. Back to my regular 3-4 shifts a week, instead of all this 5-6 work days trying to make up enough hours with 8 hour days and 4 hour days. I no longer have a shadow at work either so that makes things nicer! I like being independent, and organizing things according to my priority levels. That was a big hint the nurse educator here gave me. "Don't change your nursing style to fit the others. Be the same nurse you have been, just make small changes in procedure." So I am setting my own timeline for documenting instead of at the end of the day like everyone else. There is no nursing flowchart here to do an assessment with so I am having to learn to cope without the shortcuts I was used to. But all in all I feel better about being a nurse here each day. Even though the small things like no dietary staff to deliver the trays drives me nuts!


On a lighter note here are some photos from an afternoon at Mt. Eden with two other Canadian gals Lisa and Britt.

Mt. Eden is one of many old volcanic cones within the city. Mt Eden or it's Maori name Maungawhau dates back 23000 years! This is the centre dotted with cows! (In most NZ parks and green spaces there are animals roaming freely, cows and sheep usually)

This is looking out toward the Western part of the city. You can see the Waitakere Ranges in the distance (that's toward the beautiful Piha beach, and where I took the photo in the frame a few weeks ago)

MOOOOOOO!

There I am!

The Volcanic crater looking east over Auckland toward the harbour and it's many outlying islands. Mt. Eden is the highest peak within the city of Auckland.

The weather is starting to get chilly now, no more shorts, I learned that lesson yesterday!