By Bob Van Leer

  (AUCKALND, NEW ZEALAND, March 5, 2003) - As our ship, Amsterdam, approached New Zealand, the country was subjected to what was to them a devastating blow. New Zealand lost the America's Cup to, of all countries, landlocked Switzerland.

  In a best out of nine series the Swiss boat won the first five. There is some bitterness over the outcome because the winning Swiss team was actually composed of New Zealanders, the team under Russell Coutts that successfully won for New Zealand in the last challenge in 2000.

  The syndicate that put up the Swiss boat, Alinghi, wanted a winning team so they put up enough money to hire the winning New Zealand team.  The mood in the newspapers is "let's get on with it". In the Herald, "This should be a time for marveling at the benefits of the Cup, not regretting its loss, says Jim Eagles". New Zealand has benefited from holding the cup since 1995.

  One area of Auckland harbor near where we were docked has been transformed from decaying tank farms and warehouses to a vibrant neighborhood of new apartments, restaurants and shops. This area is adjacent to the dock sections devoted to America's Cup teams.

  This is not a sport for the fainthearted. From what we were told, the minimum price to mount a serious challenge was $50 million, and more was better. And this was all outgo. There is no income.

  The new village will suffer some now that the money is moving out, but is well enough done and it should survive.

  We went on a tour of Auckland, which is New Zealand's largest city with a population of 1,090,000 (2000). This is in a country with a total population of 3,829,600. The population is 75% European, 14.5% Maori and 5.6% other Polynesian (2000). New Zealand is composed of two major islands, North and South, with South Island by far the larger but with 75% of the population living on North Island.

  The Maori were the natives populating the island before European arrival. Maoris were fairly well developed when the Europeans arrived and were not completely overwhelmed as were indigenous natives in other areas. The Maoris had not been in new Zealand that long before the Europeans came. Tradition has their arrival date as between 952 and 1150 A.D.

This is not a third world country. Per capita income is $14,008 (1999), life expectancy (1996) was 73 for males and 79 for females and literacy is 99%. A feature of the Auckland skyline is a communication tower with an observation deck. Our guide said it is 1076 feet high and is the tallest structure in the southern hemisphere (although I recall a guide in Melbourne, Australia, saying the same thing about a structure there).

  Much of the economy of the country is raising livestock. Sheep numbers are down substantially, but a news report said sheep still outnumber New Zealanders by 10-1. And dairy cows are catching up. A newspaper story said there are now 3.7 million dairy cows in the country. They are expected to outnumber people soon.

  Another major export is raw logs, especially radiata pine. These are shipped to Asia and the U. S. Our next port of call is Christchurch, the largest city on South Island, which is far enough away that we have a day at sea to get there.