Aotearoa classics

Slight history reviews on the Kiwis. Aotearoa is Maori for NZ. It means the land of the long white cloud. Maori is the indigeneous tribe of NZ. Their ancestors are presumably came from Hawaii long before the Europeans came shore to NZ. Hence, the nativity claim for the Maories.

The South Island is like a secluded island, it's almost intoxicating. The place is surrounded with the Southern Alps and in winter, nothing can top the views! Well, some said it's somewhat similar with the hills and mountains in Wales, Ireland, and even Swedes. Due to my lack of travelling, I jes nod and ooh-ahhs when they began to do comparisons. LOL.

What interest me most was the fact that this one european country still hold greatly its' country indigenous culture. It's so bizarre, it's almost shocking! (in a good way kinda thing). A word in Maori, Kia Ora (red: keeora) means greetings. We went to Ko Tane performance, which basically the maori culture's performance of dances, singing, and traditional powhiri (greeting). There's no word to describe the beauty of their singing and dances. It's simply sensational!

On our last day tour, we were taken to this west side of south island called Hokitika where we know about the greenstone or pounamu. It's a jadelike stone, I suppose. There are alot of pounamu with maori carvings on it, with many different hidden meanings from each symbol. Although most of them prolly more interesting for the ladies since the pounamu is made into neck pendants.

Hokitika is just a small township on the west side near the tasman sea. Whereas 2-3 hours from the town we'd find Christchurch. The biggest city in the south island, the 2nd biggest in NZ. You'd expect to see the crazy metro city such as in Jakarta, Sydney or Melbourne, wudnt ya? WRONG! The city is crammed with nothingness, silent noises and eerie darkness at night. It's a dead city, literally. I almost die of excitement to find KFC and Mickey-Dee there! LOL the multinational corporates don't really nail the country do they? Almost as if it's the developed country who is isolated from the big brothers. you know what i mean?

Queenstown is another slightly bigger township in south island. It's the vacation town! Almost like Queensland but remove the beach and replace it with mountains and lakes. They said bungy is A-MUST! LOTR tour is FAMOUS! Skydiving must be on TO-DO LIST! Unfortunately, out of three, I did only the middle. LOL. Skydiving is cancelled due to unpredictable weather. There's always an option of Fly by Wire, which you don't need the mental prep prior the fly. It's unlike skydiving or Bungy. It's more on the fun side. You'd be flying a plane-ish. =D

Why I said Bungy is a must... cos there are options that slightly like bungy, called swings. Instead of just jumping to your death, this time it includes swinging... you know, for fun sake. The height is pretty much the same as the bungy. Oh again, when you think of bungy jumping, think jumping off a cliff. Cos thats what exactly you'd be doing in NZ. Jumping from a bridge above Kawarau river, jumping off the ledge of a hill where you need a gondola to go up there but going down you'd be jumping, and the last one is the nevis bungy. It's the ultimate bungy challenge! Actually, I dunno how it looks like. LOL. but Paul (hehe) said the trip to the nevis takes long hours and already an experience itself. Can't imagine go for nevis! *shivers*

But all in all, Q-town is the place for scenery, adrenalin-fuelled adventures, snow-lovin sports, and LOTR fans.

Out of curiousity, wonder why the tourists townships always start with the word QUEEN? Aussie has its own QUEENSland and NZ has QUEENStown. coincidence?

The difference was the night life. Night life in Q-town is pretty much like in Christchurch. Dead. Not totally though, since they have bars and pubs in the city. But hey, still no night life for me, then? *sigh*

I still love the town though. Don't mind going there for drop offs 12,000 ft, you know, for tackling fear sake.

Next destination: Queenstown, NZ.
Sweet As!