By Bob Van Leer

  (TAURANGA, New Zealand, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2002) - In the past several days, we visited three small New Zealand cities and the capital of the country, Wellington.

  Today we went on a tour to Rotorua, New Zealand's version of Yellowstone Park. There are several geyser areas and we were taken on a tour of one that included steam, bubbling mud pots and a sulfur smell. Pohuta geyser, which erupts occasionally, put on a demonstration of almost continuing eruptions while we were there. At the geyser area was a display house to show New Zealand's national bird, the kiwi. It is a nocturnal bird and the house was dark with a glass window to a kiwi living area. A guide in the house pointed to a round-feathered ball in the corner and said it was a kiwi sleeping so I had to take her word for it.

  We were treated to a concert of Maori dancing and singing after lunch put on by a very professional group. Maoris are the native New Zealanders numbering some 16% of the population and they are Polynesian, not related to the aborigines of Australia.

  Polynesians were able to navigate long distances in outrigger canoes and colonized the vast triangle of Hawaii to the north, New Zealand to the southwest and Easter Island, off Chile in South America to the southeast. 

  Some of the Maori songs sound remarkably similar to Hawaiian music. There appears to be a tension between the Maori and the European settlers. The British wrote a treaty with the Maoris, the Treaty of Waitongi, in1840 in which the Maori chiefs ceded sovereignty to the Queen and, in turn, Maoris were granted full rights of British subjects. The treaty is only three articles long. But the second article, concerning property disposition, is so ambiguous it can keep generations of lawyers employed.

  New Zealand has a population of 3,829,600 (2000) and is growing at a slow rate. The increase is a surplus of births over deaths. I read in the local papers that outmigration exceeds immigration. Much of the migration is to Australia for economic opportunity.
The economy is not doing well. New Zealand's dollar is worth about 42 cents U. S. Of the 3.8 million, 1.8 million live in Auckland, the largest city. Most of the population lives in the smaller North Island. Only about 760,000 people live on South Island.

  Forestry is big here and the predominant logging tree is radiata pine, a native of Monterrey, CA. These pines can be grown to 18-24 inches in 20-30 years. Some is milled locally but most seems to be for export. Logging is by clearcut and planted back. Pines are pruned to 20 feet up. There is one native pine, Norfolk Island Pine, which gets to logging size but I was told it doesn't make good lumber.

  New Zealand is sheep country. The estimates of sheep numbers I received varied wildly from 45 million to 66 million, but either figure is a lot of sheep.

  Our first stop after Milford Sound was Picton, still on South Island, but at the very top. It is a town of about 3500 whose main occupation is the terminus of ferry service with North Island. New Zealand has a gorse problem for the same reason Curry county has one. Gorse was also introduced here from Scotland.

  Wellington, the capital, is the other end of the ferry run. We spent some time there in the National Museum, Te Papa in Maori. It is an excellent museum and one interesting display is the royal yellow and red feathered Hawaiian cloak presented to Capt. James Cook in Hawaii (before he was murdered there).

  Napier, our last stop before Tauranga, is a city of about 35,000 that was leveled by an earthquake in 1931. New Zealand is on a major fault line and is unstable. There is volcanic activity all over the country. Napier has a pleasant downtown with lots of small shops. Big Box retailing hasn't hit this section of the world yet.

  Tomorrow we will dock in Auckland and will disembark the ship.