May we please leave
the Asian countries with intense humidity for a while and go straight to New
Zealand??? It’s like leaving the instant mashed potatoes and overcooked
broccoli and going straight to the dessert.
I’ll write about Sydney
when we go back there in a few days.
I awoke as we glided
past islands and rocks large and small, sprinkled in the bay. What a glorious day – brilliant sunshine, a
breeze and cool enough to warrant a light jacket. We anchored off the coast and could see small
settlements around the bay.
The first
announcement was that we had been given clearance to leave the ship and that
customs officers would be waiting to check our bags for vegetation which might
harm the delicate ecosystem of New Zealand – no food, not even cooked, only
sealed bottles of water.
The next announcement
was that the Chart Room and Sir Samuel’s bar were overflowing with passengers
waiting for the tenders. Oh, oh –
tickets. By the time I got a ticket, it
was for tender number 34 and they had just called 18. So I went back up to deck 7 and walked around
the deck. There I met Christine and
Keith, English but living in Australia, for about the same amount of time as I
have been in Europe.
I judged the time correctly
– it helped that I could count the tenders leaving – and got back when they
were calling 31. For a change, I sat in
the open top of the tender and it was very smooth until we crossed the wake of
a speed boat. Then we rocked and rolled
for about 30 seconds – wonderful!
If you remember last
year, there is a Bay of Islands in Australia and while there, I went to Airlie
Beach. It reminded me of a small California beach community. New
Zealand’s Bay of Islands is even more
beautiful. Of course it helped that the
weather has been perfect since Sydney.
Any rain fell in the middle of the night.
New Zealand – made up
of 3 main islands - was the last land mass to be inhabited. Polynesians first came to NZ before AD 1,000
and settled mainly on the North Island.
They probably numbered more than 200,000 until the arrival of European
diseases and weapons.
Abel Tasman visited briefly
in 1642 but was chased away by the Maoris but not before donating his name to
Tasmania and the Tasman Sea. James Cook
visited also and apparently got along with the Maoris better than Tasman had.
Unfortunately for the
Maoris, whaling was very profitable for the Europeans and a whaling station was
the first noteworthy European settlement.
But, unfortunately for the moas, giant wingless birds (how dumb is
that?), the Maoris like to hunt them, apparently to extinction.
Then, in 1840 there was
the Treaty of Waitangi, or rather the treaties, between the British and 12
Maori clans: one version in English and
one in Maori. In all probability, some things
got lost in translation as fighting continued.
Despite occasional
and some continuing disputes, Waitangi Day is celebrated in February and there
is a memorial park, which is near the wharf where the tender docked at
Paihia.
The village was open
for the tourists, even though it was a Sunday and the Post Office, which was
not open, had a sign in the window telling us that we could get stamps at the
stationary shop across the street. And everyone
I have encountered since then has been as friendly and helpful as that sign.
I bought postcards
and sat in the sun writing some of them and licking the stamps from the
stationary store and then dropping them in the box for overseas mail. They should be there soon.
Paihia is a village
strung around the bay, charming and friendly.
I bought earring from Penny Ryan (www.pennyryan.co.nz)
who uses facebook to keep the “Chinese” from stealing her designs. Good for
her! And the earrings are
beautiful. Her stand was part of a local
market, equally charming.
The Waitangi National
Reserve has a collection of Maori weapons including a gun which belonged to
Hone Heke Pokai, one of the signers of the treaty. There is a magnificent Whare Runanga –meeting
house – with carvings to represent the main Maori clans.
There is also an
enormous canoe – 120 feet long, about 40 , which can carry 150 warriors – named
Ngatokimatawhaorua. Try saying that
fast! That was the name of the canoe in
which Kupe discovered Aotearoa – the Land of the Long Cloud – New Zealand.
I had signed up for a
tour, The Maori Adventure, which I assumed would involve watching a hake, a
traditional greeting, perhaps some singing.
“Hello”, she said. “My name is
Judi and I am going to show you how to get your life vests on.”
Life vests?? Then, 3 semi-naked men appeared and pointed
to paddles on the ground and the very long canoes being pushed up onto the
shore. Shades of Norway and the King
Crab Safari.
The clan chief told
us about the legends of the gods, that the word “Maori” mean “almost human” and
that they call themselves te papa – the people.
He then had us form lines and tried to get one or 2 men into each line
and handed each of us paddles. One by
one, we climbed into the canoes and, after a prayer by the chief, we tried to
establish a cadence for paddling – “paddle and tap, paddle and tap, paddle and
tap”. That didn’t work at all but
somehow we managed to leave the shore and travel more or less straight. On the way we learned about some of the
trees, shrubs and wildlife along the shore.
And, I managed to paddle the entire way to the waterfall – about 4
km. We had the benefit of an outboard
motor on the way back. Another amazing
adventure!
Then the chief asked
if one of us would be willing to say a prayer.
Had I had the chance, I would have recited a poem/song learned years
ago:
I am the mountain, I am the sky, I am the swallow, I fly and fly
I am the river, I nurse the land, I am the mountain, I
am, I am
We’re bound together, this world and me, I am a part of all that I see
I am the river, I nurse the land, I am the mountain, I am, I am.
A most wonderful day followed by an evening (3 + hours) of dancing: line dancing, sequence dancing, barn dances,
English country dances and regular ballroom dancing.
Sometimes, it’s a lot of fun being me!
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