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Astrid Terras

Dreaming of Downunder


Table of Contents

[ Overview | Mike Brooker's New Zealand | Keywords ]
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Overview
Astrid Terras, dreaming of a journey to Australia and New Zealand,
here shares a few thoughts for the lands Downunder.
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A Brief History of [New Zealand] Time by Mike Brooker

Fiery Astrid presents Mike Brooker's Brief History of [New Zealand] Time.
mikebro@voyager.co.nz
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Mike Brooker's People and Places of New Zealand

Kiwi (the bird, not the fruit) is our national symbol and well as New Zealanders are happy to be called "Kiwi's."

Aotearoa is the Maori name for NZ. Supposedly named by the original Maori when they landed from their mythical homeland of "Hawaiiki". Not be confused with Hawaii this is now considered to be the Cook Islands. ("Maori" is [like sheep] both singular and plural. No apostrophes to be added.

Mt.Egmont in Taranaki is on the west coast of the North Island. Ruapehu, Ngaruahoe and Tongariro are on the Central Volcanic Plateau of the North Island. Lake Taupo is the largest and deepest lake in NZ. Rotorua is the thermal center of NZ. The Southern Alps run the length of the South Island, with Mt.Cook as the highest peak. Queenstown is a place where a vast number of overseas tourists come to stay. Fiordand is a beautiful, rugged, uninhabited part of The West Coast. I like to separate The West Coast and Coasters [of the S.Is.] from the ordinary west coast of the North. The West Coasters are a people apart -- so they like to think -- generally they are a very friendly bunch of independent people. Not a contradiction of terms but, really, they have a totally different outlook to the rest of us Kiwi's. In regard to Maori: they are now pretty well pale and distant relations from the old time Maori as there are no full Maori left here.

Abel Jantzoon TASMAN is remembered here with, of course, Tasmania and the Tasman Sea, the Tasman Glacier on The West Coast and the Abel Tasman National Park close to Nelson. This particular Park must be well advertised overseas for its is a very popular tourist backpackin' area. Canadians especially seem to be very fond of it.
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Keywords
"travel, journey, trips, English, British Commonwealth, Downunder, mate, Tasman Sea, James Cook, Abel J. Tasman, Charles Wilkes, International Date Line, South Pacific Ocean, Timor Sea, Arafura Sea, Gulf of Carpentaria, Tropic of Capricorn, Australia, Aussie, Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane, Queensland, Perth, Aboriginals, Tasmania, Coral Sea, Great Sandy Desert, Great Barrier Reef, Western Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, Adelaide, Kangaroo, Koala Bear, Northern Territories, Mt. Ziel, Alice Springs, Great Dividing Range, South Australia, Mt. Gambier, Great Australian Bight, North West Cape, Lake Amadeus, Murray River, Darling River, Toowoomba, Flinders River, Osprey Reef, Gold Coast, Cape York, Thursday Island, Bridgewater, Carnarvon, Mt. Meharry, Nullarbor Plain, Ayers Rock, Outback, New Zealand, kiwi, Auckland, Brightwater, Three Kings, North Cape, Whangarei, Hamilton, New Plymouth, Cook Strait, Christchurch, Nelson, Wellington, Greymouth, Mt. Cook, rain, mountains, Timaru, Maori, Dunedin, Invercargill, Stewart, North and South Island, 45 degrees, Bounty Island, Chatham Island, Charles Wilkes, Kermadec Island, Takahe, Tuatara, Greenstone and Pounamu, Moriori, Chatham Islands."
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This day's favorites Downunder quote:


"Kiwiland AKA Godzown, is a beautiful place to live, especially in the South Island where we don't have the number of towns and much less and widely scattered population. But most of us are aware that life does exist outside these lovely coastal waters and that we are on the end of the chain of technology. Early this year I asked our local member of parliament for an email address for the prime minister and he did not know what I was asking."
(quoting keypal from New Zealand, hopefully with his future permission.)
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CONTINUE HERE


Updated 2002 Nov 20 by terras@vianet.on.ca
http://www.oocities.org/~fiery/downunder.html
Copyright © 1996-2002 - fiery Astrid Terras and Mike Brooker.

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