Photography Index>New Zealand

Here is an index to some of my Kiwi souvenirs. Each section contains thumbnail photos and commentary. You can click on the thumbnails to view a "slide show" for the section you're in.

Vistas (mountains sweep into oceans, macro florals)
- North Island
- South Island
Animals (farm, dolphin, penguin)
Maori Culture

In October 2003, I made the long trek to New Zealand to see the country and visit my friend who'd been living there for 16 months yet was preparing to return to the States. Quite a manageable country that is more or less geared for tourists, New Zealand presents a lot to see and experience.

900 miles south east of Australia, New Zealand is in the British Commonwealth. It was populated by Europeans (primarily Brits, Irish, and Scots) beginning in the early 1800s. White folk found native Maori (understandably) hostile. Yet in the best interest of all involved, Queen Victoria and many of the Maori Chiefs signed a treaty in 1840, interpretation of which is disputed to this day.

Today New Zealand has approximately 4 million residents: 3 million on the North Island, 1 million on the South Island. Aukland is its largest city but Wellington is its capital and purported culture heart; they are respectively situated at the north and south ends of the North Island. Agriculture is NZ's primary industry, specifically dairy , wool , meat products, and (I think) logging.

An island society, Kiwis are sensitive to nuclear accident threats as a by-product of nuclear propulsion in ... for instance ... U.S. Navy ships, atom bomb testing in the Pacific, and more. Related, they are also quite concerned about protecting their ancient, fragile, and unusual ecosystem. Therefore, genetically modified ("GM") food products, seeds, etc. are quite controversial. As a result, U.S. foreign and trade policy is a topic to avoid if you can. Kiwis are a rugby sport crazy society. I was there during the World Cup, held this year in Australia, in which New Zealand is a perennial favorite. In fact, the Auckland airport is plastered with murals of their national team, All Blacks.

My travels represent a fairly typical first-timer's trip to the rugged, volcanically active country. My personal findings?

Beautiful vistas and unusual combination of volcanoes, sea, glaciers, fjords, and more. The view almost everywhere you look is so outstanding that I found myself taking it for granted after a couple of weeks.
Generally speaking, all of the tourism industry people a typical visitor like myself comes across are quite helpful and friendly. However, given the chance they will try to engage you in a conversation about why the U.S. is a bad "big brother." If you are not a conspicuous American, you will hear an undercurrent of ill-will towards the U.S. I'm sure that's the same globally yet sad nonetheless.
New Zealand has no native mammals! Until Europeans introduced farm animals, the only land mammals were bats. So weather and volcano activity are the only threats while hiking (no bears, no big cats, no mad elks or cows).
There are apparently issues between Maori and "white" folk. It's not racial because the races are so intermingled. It's cultural and related to rights and retribution the Maori are gaining due to the argument about the Treaty. Recently increasing immigration by Asians is also a new root of contention.
It's true; there are a lot of sheep. I was there during lambing season -- adorable!

A rough depiction of my travels: