NEW ZEALAND

OCTOBER 7 – 10, 2023

I had an overnight layover in Vancouver. One of the flight attendants told me to lie down near gate 74.  It was quieter, she said.  Within minutes the night staff started vacuuming.  Reasonable.  Good time to do it.  Then the steam cleaner came through.  Ok. All cleaned. We’re good, right?  Nope!  Let’s run a fire alarm test, too.  UGH!!!  

Had another long layover in San Francisco.  It was during the day so at least the shops were open and I could wander around. Finally boarded for Auckland at 11p.m.  I was dead tired and slept most of the 13 hours.  All good.  The meals were amazing too. 

I got to Auckland but my bag didn’t.  Sigh….  I spent most of the day calling my credit card to apply for my delayed baggage insurance.  I was told I have $500 to get what I need.  But she also told me to put in a claim with the airline.  (They didn’t tell me that when I was filling out all the paperwork for the missing bag.)  So I called the airline. Yup! $200 USD.  Now I’m actually happy.  I wanted to get some merino wool clothing while I was here anyway, now the insurance can pay for it!  I went shopping that same day and got 2 t-shirts, some socks and a jacket.  Everything was on sale so I made out like a bandit.  The jacket was regular $200 but on sale for $100.  Plus some toiletries – and a cute little manicure set that I absolutely “needed”. Wink wink.

The next day the airline called to say it was delayed another day.  Perfect!  I went shopping again and got a $230 pair of pants for $69, more socks and a belt. Plus a small inflatable air mattress for the next time I have to sleep in an airport.  Lol

I did manage to go to Waitangi Treaty Grounds ,a cultural center that is considered the birthplace of New Zealand.  The Treaty was signed there with the Maori.  The chief was a smart bugger had learned to read and write.  So he had the Treaty written in Maori as well as English.  The two documents don’t match.  Oops.  No wampum belts that the English don’t know how to read.

Over many doorways is a figure of a woman, legs spread with her vagina being prominent.   The story is of the daughter of a high ranking man being kidnapped by a rival tribe and made to be the wife of another important man.  This sounds horrible, but she was actually treated very well and was happy.  Years later (1822) her new tribe decided to attack her home tribe in retaliation for some of their men being killed.  It didn’t matter that the new tribe had been on a killing spree with their British supplied guns against the gunless home tribe.

Aokapurangi begged her husband to not attack her home tribe.  He wasn’t keen on giving in, but she wept so loud he finally talked to the leader.  He had absolutely desire to let those people live,  so he made her a deal.  He would permit her to save any of her people who passed between her legs – meaning her children.  Considering she was kidnapped as a child, that was highly unlikely.  She ran to her home village meeting house and stood on the carving over the door and called out to her people, “Come inside your home and you will be saved.” She managed to save many of her home tribe.  The warring leader had no choice but to let them live – he was boxed in by his own words.  She then orchestrated a meeting between the leaders that resulted in a Peace Treaty.  To this day, when a meeting house is full of people, they will say ” This is like the crowded house of Aokapurangi.”  True story!

There was a theatre group that put on a very good Maori performance.  It was entertaining and educational.  One of the performers was hilarious!  

The waka (canoe) taua (war party) were the largest and most prestigious of Maori canoes – no women or transport of common goods.  It is a ceremonial canoe.  The one at Waitangi Treaty Grounds is 37.5  meters  (120 ft) long, 2 metres (6 ft) wide and needs a minimum of 76 paddlers to handle it safely.  It usually has 80 paddlers and can hold 150 people.  It weighs 6 tonnes dry and 12 tonnes wet.

Three giant Kauri trees were felled to make the war canoe. It took 24 oxen and many men three weeks to haul one log out of the forest. It is estimated that the trees were 800 years old. Ngatokimatawhaorua (the name of this canoe) is launched once a year, in February,  as part of the Waitangi Day celebrations.

After the Queen’s voyage on the waka in 1974, she designated it ‘Her Majesty’s Ship’, which makes it part of her Royal Navy.

There was a story about the face on the bow of the canoe. If you put your face forehead to forehead and nose to nose with the face, it was symbolic of breathing in the same breath and thinking the same thoughts. Or something along those lines. I could never find the story on-line, it was only through the guide.

We stopped in the Price of Citizenship Museum. The Maori felt it was their civic duty to serve in the various military campaigns. Very much like many indigenous people around the world, their contributions were not recognized as highly as the colonialist’s. They served, they volunteered, they did everything possible to be accepted as equal citizens, but it was at a high price, and not altogether successful.

On the way back to Auckland we stopped at an oyster place along the road. We spotted the mountain of shells on the drive up. The owner said the pile of shells was only this year’s shells. People continuously bought them for gravel and chicken feed. We bought some oysters and carried on.

The landscape of New Zealand was breathtaking!

We spent a half day at the Auckland War Memorial Museum. It was more a regular museum than war museum. It had a lot of Mauri artifacts such as a kiwi cloak – made of feathers

a food basket made from bark

a shark’s tooth knife, used for cutting up whales, sharks and dogs

tattoo instruments

huge fish hooks

Their cooking methods were quite ingenious. Large stones of a certain type, that could withstand heat without shattering, were selected. Then a large hole was dug and filled with kindling and hard, slow burning wood placed in such a way that as they burned the large stones that were placed on top, would fall into the centre of the burning wood. The heat would sterilize the soil. Once the wood was burned up, the ashes were removed. Fresh fish were placed directly onto the hot stones to cook. The steam from the salt water would cook the fish as well as add flavor. Working quickly, mats of wrapped vegetables were placed on top. The vegetables were wrapped in different kind of leaves to impart specific flavors. More mats were added and covered with top soil to prevent the steam from escaping. 

On the last day in Auckland, we had a few hours to spend before our flight so we went to Sea Life. It is not a huge aquarium, but it had some unique qualities. Firstly, we had to walk through a rotating tunnel that looked and felt like we were walking through an ice tunnel. The rotating walls gave me a bad sense of vertigo and I had to hold the hand rails to make my way through. Very cleverly done. That was the entrance to the penguin enclosure, and who doesn’t love penguins​? They are so cute.

From there we walked through another tunnel that was through a massive aquarium filled with sharks, rays, and other fish. It was amazing. It was like diving, but without the gear. I loved it.

From there we entered an area of smaller aquariums with smaller fish and crustaceans. There were lobsters and sea horses. Again, I enjoyed it because it is so rare to see these creatures while diving.

We had just enough time to return our rental car and make our flight. We will return in 3 weeks when the weather clears up.

SIDE NOTES: narrow bridges have signs that shows who has the right of way.

Most houses are made of brick

merging lanes have lights, that change very quickly, to allow merging traffic to slip into line, like a zipper.

I want to go back….