Week 1

Well, since this is a landscape and culture blog, first I’m going to talk some about landscapes, then culture, then maybe some landscape culture interaction. My first impression of the landscape of New Zealand after the first day was almost sub real. I’ve never seen a place quite like it, with the abundance of beauty New Zealand has. Our first stop was Mt Eden and Rangitoto in Auckland. It was a new experience to see a volcanically active area up close, and I really enjoyed it. Rangitoto was beautiful with the bay surrounding it, and it really gave a hands on example of the processes of succession, which I had never encountered before. The next day we headed for the bay of islands, stopping at Kauri tree museum and forest on the way over. The museum, though bizarre, was actually really interesting, and it was incredible to see how big the trees get. When we finally arrived at the bay of islands, like the rest of New Zealand, it was an amazing site. On our third day we headed for one of the most northern most points, Cape Reinga. By this time in the trip I was beginning to realize that nothing in New Zealand is flat, and almost vomited on the way there. The Cape was great, It was really fun to stand at the top of the bluffs and enjoy the view. Next we headed for a different environment and coast only 20 minutes away, the dunes. They were a lot taller than I ever expected and sand boarding was a blast. 90 mile beach itself was unimpressive to me as we have those types of environments back Jersey. The trip the next day was to the hole in the rock. I really enjoy getting out on the water, so this was a nice trip. The rock itself was amazing and really interesting. For one, it was beautiful by anybodies standards, and two, it was an excellent example of the different stages of erosion from cracks to caves. Finally we are here at the University of Waikato, were the landscape is surprisingly flat compared to the other areas. Culturally there are many things that really made an impression on me. First off, the people are incredibly friendly. I’ve talked to many of the locals and they are were polite and helpful. When we visited the treaty grounds at the bay of islands, I was also impressed with the Maori people and culture. I’ve never really respected the religions and beliefs of native tribes and indigenous people basically because I thought they were crazy, but when Will explained the Maori beliefs, it really made a lot of sense to me. I also really was impressed how humble and generous they were. First, they had no problem sharing the land with the Europeans, which is very uncommon of indigenous tribes. Second, Will never even mentioned that he was the descended of a Chief, which to me is a huge deal, until the end of the trip. As for landscape culture interaction, mankind has left a clear handprint on the island. Most of the land has been cleared for farming, and many of the things that used to be in abundance are not anymore. On the other hand, I’ve never seen a greater conservation effort by a country than in New Zealand. They really understand the importance of nature and they protect everything, preserving its beauty for future generations. The only exception they make is for the Maori people, which compared to the treatment of the indigenous people of our country, shows tremendous respect for cultural values.