Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Heading to Bay of Plenty today

Hello,

Travel day today heading to Mount Maunganui where the tournament will be held.

Today's blog is just some trivia and history:

The owners of the hotel where I am currently staying are originally from Fiji.  They have lived in NZ for the past 10 years and love it.  I didn't realize this, but Fiji is just a 3-hour flight from here.  Tempting...

Brief History of New Zealand:

  • The original inhabitants of NZ are the Maori and are thought to have arrived around 1,000 years ago after traveling by canoe from a South Pacific homeland known as Hawaiki.  
  • They named their new home, "Aotearoa", Land of the Long White Cloud.
  • They developed a thriving successful society raising sweet potatoes and gathering birds, fish, and shellfish
  • The first European to discover NZ was Abel Talsman, a Dutch explorer, in 1642.
  • In 1769, British Captain James Cook circumnavigated and mapped the country.
  • In 1840 the Treaty of Waitangi (its founding document) was signed with Maori chiefs giving Britain sovereignty.
  • 1947 Independence from Britain was formally proclaimed.
  • Between 1970 - 1990, there were large numbers of Pacific Island and Asian immigrants who settled in NZ.
  • New Zealand today has its own culture - a mix of those who have settled in the country.

Bye for now.

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