Auckland February 19

February 20, 2023

Hello from tomorrow. As there is an 18 hr. time difference, it is Sunday right now in Auckland while you are still on Saturday. I can predict that Sunday will be a fine day (in Auckland). Our trip turned out to be anti-climactic, which is a good thing. The flight we were to be on had been canceled for two days before we were to depart because of the cyclone and then there was an earthquake on the day we did leave. Despite that we were on time for the 6 hr flight to San Francisco, the 3 hr layover and then the 13 hr flight to Auckland. We learned today that another Air New Zealand flight that was to go to Kennedy airport in NYC was diverted back to Auckland after it was half-way across the Pacific, giving them a 16 hr flight for nothing. The joys of travel!

Auckland feels very much like other British Commonwealth cities. I have posted some pictures below that include: 1) a public garden named after Prince Albert (Victoria's consort), 2) a speakers platform in the park so that rabblerousers can have their say, 3) a telephone booth, an extinct item in the States, 4) a men's club (which just recently started to accept women), 5) barrister's chambers, 6) information including what you can bring on a train-no balloons!, and 7) CCTV cameras everywhere on the streets so Big Brother can watch you.

Auckland rests on about 50 volcanoes, most extinct. The hills made by their eruptions are everywhere. The geology of New Zealand is fascinating. Proto New Zealand was attached to Australia, which itself was attached to Antarctica on one side and India on the other about 200 million years ago. Over time New Zealand emigrated 2,500 miles and grew with hot spot volcanic activity which is still ongoing. The most recent accretion of land resulted from an eruption on the North Island about 800 years ago.

Culturally it appears that the Maori and British cultures have merged much more easily in recent years that indigenous populations in other developed nations. Signs are often in both languages for example. I show a picture from the War and History Museum with a translation. This museum itself is quite interesting in that one floor is dedicated to a war memorial for WWI and WWII ANZAC troops (Australia and New Zealand) while the other floor is a history museum focused primarily on the Maori culture.

You can see in the photo I attached of the globe that New Zealand is quite isolated-nothing within about 2,000 miles but Pacific Ocean. As a result it was settled much later than its much larger neighbor Australia. Australia can trace its Aboriginal culture to 5,000 years ago while in New Zealand the Maori have been around only about 700 years, but both come originally from Polynesia and their languages are quite similar despite their having been separated so long ago. Women played a major role in their society, is depicted in the statue of the Goddess Kave. Her consort is identified as a large stone and had little purpose other than to breed. Sometimes my wife might well draw me in a similar fashion.

New Zealand being so isolated also meant that until populated there were no mammals but incredible diversity of birds who laid their nests on the ground as there were no predators. That changed with rats and dogs coming on colonizing vessels, especially after the 1700s. This led to major extinctions of birds. Their largest bird, now among the extinct, was the Moa which I have pictured and looks somewhat like Big Bird but was called a large chicken (about 9 feet tall). The kiwi is another unique flightless bird which has become the symbol of New Zealand. New Zealanders call themselves Kiwis.

Human Kiwis love extreme sports. As an example, they bungee jump from any high building, bridge etc. We saw them come from the very high needle shaped sky tower.