The Maori

Seeing the Maori collections in the museums of Auckland and Wellington really brought home what an amazing culture that was.

Like other Polynesians, the Maori lacked metal, the wheel and writing. Their main raw materials were reeds, wood, cloth made out of pounded bark, and volcanic stone, but only from some of the islands.

Sounds primitive, right? But look at what they created:




Most interestingly to an American, the Maori creation myth has them arriving in New Zealand from an ancient homeland called Havaiki -- clearly the same place (mythical or real) for which our 50th state was named.

All Hail the Bungalow

You see them in the former British Honduras (now Belize), the former Malaya (now Malaysia), all over West Africa: the ornate wooden, corrugated-roofed British colonial tropical house.

I didn't quite expect to see them in New Zealand, which doesn't have the same climate. But there they were, and (so we were told) they are quite in demand by yuppies looking to gentrify:


More elaborate examples of the style also dot the city, though this one is a foundation or something like that, not a private home:


Again, let me repeat: New Zealand is a modern country. Auckland has a real skyline:


But it also has much more in common with Belize City than I would have thought.

Dancing on a Volcano

Auckland is perhaps the largest and most modern city in the world to be built in the mouth of an active volcano.

Volcanic cones dot the city:


The most recent to erupt, only 600 years ago, created a brand-new island in the harbor, called Rangitoto:


The most active volcano in New Zealand at the moment is called White Island. It is a couple hundred miles southeast of Auckland, just off the North Island coast:


But although the volcanic activity is here at the moment and not in Auckland, you cannot count out a re-emergence there. New Zealand is among the most geologically active places on earth.

So go see it while it is still there ...

The Barn Dance

They've got an interesting way of handling pedestrians in New Zealand, especially in Auckland.

Vehicular traffic moves in one direction, then another. And then everything comes to a halt, so pedestrians can cross -- the main street, the side street, or both at the same time, diagonally across the intersection. Watch:




You can see that the intersection is even marked with a diagonal crosswalk, or at least the start of one.

It's very efficient once the light changes, but pedestrians have to wait a long time before it does. For that reason, this would probably not work in New York.

We saw this at one intersection in Sydney, but it doesn't seem to be nearly as prevalent in Australia.

The Harbour Bridge

Auckland has a Harbour Bridge too, just like Sydney. Well, not quite just like Sydney:


But they're proud of it anyway.

Frozen in Time

The first thing you notice about Auckland is the frontier-style architecture, with roofs and arcades over the street:


The second is the stores underneath those arcades. It feels like you've truly reached the ends of the earth. They are small, local, bric-a-brac of all kinds. If I were looking for a truly one-of-a-kind antique, I'd look for it here.

New Zealand is a modern country, don't get me wrong. But they've also got an awful lot of stores that we in the United States hardly ever see anymore, like travel agents ...


... tobacconists ...


... and even record stores, selling genuine vinyl records:


If you really, truly need it, I bet you can find it in New Zealand.

Auckland to Sydney!

Welcome back, everyone! I'm starting to put up the posts from our Auckland-to-Sydney trip. They'll be roughly in the order in which we visited the places, but as always, thematically grouped. Loved this part of the world; this won't be our last trip there ...