Auckland, Northland, New Zealand's Kauri Coast & the Bay of Islands

By Bette Flagler

Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand and the main port of entry for international visitors. It is a sprawling, modern, busy city but not nearly so densely populated as other global cities of its same geographic size. The 60 square kilometers (23 sq

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hunter Publishing
• Release date: Jul 22, 2012
• ISBN: 9781556500480

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Auckland, Northland, New Zealand's Kauri Coast & the Bay of Islands

Bette Flagler

HUNTER PUBLISHING, INC.

[e-mail]

www.hunterpublishing.com

© 2012 Hunter Publishing, Inc.

Introduction 

This is based on my larger Adventure Guide and Pocket Adventure Guide, also published by Hunter, that cover all of New Zealand. Here we zero in on Auckland and the northern peninsula of New Zealand's North Island. Included, however, is the complete introduction covering all of New Zealand in depth, which I hope you will find useful as well.

The islands that make up New Zealand are mere dots on the bottom of the globe – there is no doubt, this is a small place, far from the rest of the world. But what a delightful small place it is! Traveling around New Zealand, I often feel like the very best bits and pieces of the world were put together and all the extra land and people were removed. It’s a gentle place and traveling here is easy: the language is English, the food is familiar and the people are friendly. There are mountains and rivers, wineries and farmers’ markets. You can find walking tracks that will take five minutes or two weeks and you’ll find kayaks, horses and helicopters, all ready to carry you off to spectacular places.

When I first arrived in New Zealand in 1999, I bought an old Honda Accord, filled it to the brim with my stuff and took off. I drove around for seven months and still that wasn’t long enough. After immigrating the following year, I traveled as much as possible – and when, a few years later, I had the opportunity to research my first guide book, I still had a mile-long list of places to see for the first time.

The best time to come to New Zealand is from October to April and my favorite months are February and March. Try to avoid Christmas – that’s when most Kiwi families take their holiday; places get filled up and often accommodation rates increase.

Activities You Should Not Miss: 

Splurge on a helicopter trip. My favorite is from Wanaka.

Kayak the Queen Charlotte Sound or Abel Tasman.

Swim with the dolphins in Kaikoura.

Eat a lot of fresh produce and drink a lot of New Zealand wine.

Go on a multi-day tramp (backpacking trip) and stay in a hut.

Do a full-day guided tour on Franz Josef glacier.

Go to Milford Sound. Preferably in a kayak.

Ride a bike to Macetown or a horse into the high country.

From the sandy beaches of Northland to the snowy Southern Alps, New Zealand is a country of eye candy. When New Zealand was designed, it’s as if all the greatest places on earth were put together in one compact little land mass and most of the people were removed. Luckily for travelers, New Zealand is also a user-friendly kind of place, combining the laid-back attitudes of an island with the conveniences and lifestyle of the first world. New Zealanders, or Kiwis, are honest-to-goodness nice folks. It’s like living in a country full of labrador retrievers.

When I first arrived in New Zealand it was on a friend’s sailboat at the end of two years traveling. As the sun began to brighten the morning sky, what was to become my adopted home literally presented itself as Aotearoa, the Maori word for New Zealand meaning land of the long white cloud. We sailed closer to Opua, our landfall in the Bay of Islands, and the cloud cover burned off to reveal a green land underneath a startling blue sky. Sailors who had arrived before us said, the people just keep getting friendlier the farther south you travel. We couldn’t imagine how this would be possible, but it proved true. As the landscape gets more dramatic, the people are nicer, more welcoming, have more time to share. Interested not only in who you are, Kiwis look to visitors for approval and love to ask So, how do you like New Zealand? When I’m asked why I chose to move here, just look around is my answer.

New Zealanders are great walkers and the country is bursting with tracks, from local strolls in the park, to full-on mountaineering. The woods are called the bush and hiking is called tramping. Funny turns of phrase, but you’ll get used to the idea of tramping in the bush. You can’t go far without seeing water and many activities are sea- , river- or lake-based. One of the most amazing things about New Zealand is the proximity of places – you can be climbing on a glacier in the morning and hanging out at the beach in the afternoon.

As if the natural grandeur of the place isn’t enough to inspire a visit, consider this: New Zealand has no snakes, no rabies, only one poisonous spider that’s so reclusive virtually no one ever sees it, and there is very little violent crime. Robust with bird and marine life, its only native mammal is a small bat. For me, it all adds up to a paradise where I can hike, bike or sail without much to worry about. Plus, there is great fresh produce, piles of fish, and wine just about everywhere you look – what could be better? If I had to fault New Zealand, it would be twofold: the total lack of understanding what makes a proper chocolate chip cookie and the belief that instant coffee is an acceptable drink. The coffee issue is changing, but I’ve yet to find a Toll House morsel.

New Zealanders are nuts for sport, but there is art and culture, as well. Never have I seen so many avid gardeners and the creativity of the artisans is astounding. While listening to the radio, you may get a chuckle hearing a song that you thought (and maybe even hoped) never to hear again, but music is alive and well in the city centers and the opera, ballet and orchestras are well-respected. New Zealand is the birthplace of many world famous performers, filmmakers, directors, singers, authors, photographers, painters... you get the picture.

I wrote this book with my friends in mind – for people who travel like Peggy and Jeff, Mark and Amy; people who appreciate fine wine and goose-down duvets, but who are just as happy and comfortable when barreling down a muddy mountain on their bike or strapping a pack of camping gear to their backs. The America’s Cup, and the movies Lord of the Rings and Whale Rider have, in a few short years, taken New Zealand from the bottom of the world to the front of the minds of people all over the planet. And fair enough, too. It’s a great place and, while there is no paradise, if you’re a traveler in search of a destination where exploration is part of the adventure, then New Zealand is pretty darned close. I hope you enjoy your trip and that this book helps in your travels. Feel free to drop me a line at [e-mail] and let me know what you did and didn’t like (both about the book and New Zealand!).

History 

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Apart from Antarctica, New Zealand was the last major land mass to be settled by man and the land that we call New Zealand evolved following the separation of the Rangitata Land Mass from the ancient super continent Gondwanaland – some 80 million years ago. Separation forces continued for 20 million years until the Tasman Sea reached its current width and the land mass continued to experience changes until as little as five million years ago, when the current shape of the two islands began to take form. During this time of development, New Zealand lived in isolation and, as recently as 7,000 years ago, most of New Zealand was covered in rainforest. Protected by the sea, New Zealand developed unique flora and fauna and, within the perfectly safe forest, birds even lost their ability to fly. Sadly, the discovery of New Zealand by man – first the Maori and the Moriori, and then the Europeans – changed everything. The Maori were skilled hunters and fishermen and brought rats, dogs, fire and stone age weapons. The Europeans brought disease, agriculture, more weapons, intrusive flora and more fauna. The New Zealand we know today, while beautiful, is a shadow of what it must have been only 1,000 years ago.

Pre-European History 

The Maori 

While the exact date of Maori settlement in Aotearoa/New Zealand is unknown, current belief points to the arrival of the Maori people sometime around 1000 AD on double-hulled waka hourua (voyaging canoes) from their homeland in Hawaiki. It is believed that migrations took place over several generations, with some to-ing and fro-ing to Hawaiki.

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While similar in sound and spelling to Hawaii, Hawaiki is not the same island nor in the same island chain. Hawaiki is probably in the Society Islands, perhaps the island of Rangitea.

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Tatooed Maori

Evidence shows that long before Maori landed in Aotearoa/New Zealand, their forebears lived in what is now China. From there, about 15,000 years ago, they migrated through Taiwan and the Philippines to Indonesia, where they stayed until about 6,000 to 9,000 years ago, when another migration took them through Melanesia. Eastward migration about 3,500 years ago brought them to Fiji; the migration pattern continued through to Samoa and the Marquesas, from where, it is believed, they sailed south to Tahiti (and the rest of the Society Islands) to the Cook Islands, and to Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Maori history begins with the arrival of the great explorer Kupe sometime around 900 AD, but it is his wife, Hine-te-aparangi, who is credited for the name Aotearoa – Land of the Long White Cloud. After visiting both the North and South Islands, Kupe, his wife, and crew left Hokianga Harbour and returned to Hawaiki.

Ancient Maori history is unwritten, but many legends and stories explain the journeys to Aotearoa. Each waka (voyaging canoe) and each tribe has its own story and, to make the history easier to understand, non-Maori historians of the past melded some stories together. For instance, it was taught that a Great Fleet arrived in New Zealand around 1350 – but this massive Polynesian migration theory is currently being disputed. The boats included in the migration include the Aotea, Arawa, Tainui, Kurahaupo, Takitimu, Horouata, Tokomaru and Mataatua and, while it is not doubted that the boats existed, it is questioned whether they came in a fleet.

Regardless of whether a fleet arrived on one particular day or not, the first Maori settled on the North Island and, in particular, around its eastern coast – where the temperate climate was more hospitable than farther south. (Imagine, though, coming from a tropical Pacific island where you rarely wore clothes to New Zealand!) The Maori set up a thriving society based on the iwi (tribe). Today, most Maori can trace their origins from their whanau (extended family) to their iwi (tribe); and their whakapapa (geneology) to a particular waka hourua (ocean-going canoe).

The Maori brought dogs and rats – the first four-legged animals to set foot on the land – and fire. And so began the devastation of previously untouched flora and fauna. The Maori settlers were great hunters and fishermen and lived a stone age existence until the arrival of the Europeans; they used bird, whale, dog and human bones, ivory teeth, and stone for tool making. Pounamu or greenstone, was an especially prized possession and was used for weapons, tools and adornments. Maori traveled long distances in search of pounamu and many of the settlements of the South Island (many of the walking tracks, too) owe their existence to the search for this stone.

The Maori hunted the native birds, many of which were flightless, including on the South Island, the spectacular moa, the world’s largest bird. There were over 20 species, ranging from the size of a turkey to the giant, which stood 3.7 meters (12 feet) high and weighed up to 200 kg (440 pounds). So heavily hunted was the moa (and the moa eggs) that it became extinct approximately 400 years ago (you can see a fabulous display of Moa bones in the Southern Lands, Southern People exhibit at the Otago Museum). Along with the flightless moa, Maori hunted and ate kereru (wood pigeon) and tui, or parsons bird. In addition to hunting, Maori were keen fishermen and tribes on the South Island hunted penguins, seals and muttonbirds. The lifestyle of the early Maori during this Archaic period was a transient one – campsites were used short-term while they hunted and fished in a particular area.

A Maori today

Widespread agriculture wasn’t prevalent during the Archaic period of Maori settlement – possibly because the crops that had been grown in Hawaiki couldn’t survive the colder conditions of the new land, or, equally likely, the crops arrived not on the first landings, but with successive migrations. When crops did arrive they were primarily root crops; the kumara (sweet potato) was the most heavily cultivated, growing successfully on north-facing gardens of the milder North Island. As gardens became established, Maori history moved into what is referred to as the Classic Period – punctuated by widespread agricultural systems that protected crops from frost, the formation of kainga (villages) near the gardens, and the specialization of tasks. It was during this era of increased leisure time that carving, weaving and, unfortunately, inter-tribal warfare began to flourish.

Many tribes were annihilated through conquest and enslavement and cannibalism became prevalent. Pa (fortified villages) containing a series of stockades and trenches, were established at strategic locations to protect villages from invasion. Only men fought and Maori men were proven to be fierce warriors. Intricately carved weapons such as the spear-like taiaha and the mere (club) were prized possessions and warriors often had a full-face ta moko (tattoo). Ta Moko (facial tatoo) is considered a taonga (treasure) and every tatoo tells the story of the wearer’s family and tribal affiliations.

European Arrival 

On December 13, 1642, Dutchman Abel Tasman became the first European to visit New Zealand. Hired by the Dutch East India Company, Tasman was sent off to find the mysterious and rich Southern Continent, known as Terra australis incognita, believed to stretch across most of the Pacific and balance the huge continents of the Northern Hemisphere. The land Tasman first spotted was on the West Coast of the South Island – somewhere between Hokitika and Okarito. He named the land Staten Landt referring to the Land of the Dutch States-General, and, while he wasn’t sure, he believed that he had found the southern continent. Five days later, in need of fresh water and in hopes of exploring the land, Tasman and his crews anchored off the coast of Taitapu Bay (now Golden Bay).

Tasman and his two boats were spotted and met by two canoes of Maori who attempted communication. Neither group could understand the other, but Tasman recorded that the Maori seemed friendly. They paddled away and the following morning another canoe approached. Communication was still impossible and seven more canoes came to the anchored ships. One of the Maori canoes paddled toward a small Dutch boat that was being rowed between the two Dutch ships, ramming into it and killing four of the Dutch sailors. Three other sailors swam to the ship and they were plucked from the sea. Anchors were weighed and by the time the Dutch had set sail, 22 canoes were on shore and 11 more were paddling toward the ships. When the canoes were at close range, Tasman fired and hit one Maori; the canoes retreated to shore.

Tasman named the area Murderer’s Bay and never set foot on land. Before leaving the New Zealand coast, he passed and named Three Kings Islands at the northern tip of the North Island, and Cape Marie van Diemen, the northwest tip of the North Island after the wife of the Dutch Governor General to Batavia.

Following Tasman’s first sightings, no Europeans explored New Zealand until Captain James Cook arrived