TONYI TAMAKI, NEW ZEALANDER RESPECT FOR NATURE

Tonyi Tamaki, the new member of the group

Tonyi Tamaki was born in Rotorua, New Zealand. She's an expert in sea and terrestrial biodiversity and she's a great defender of the planet. She's a descendent of a Māori woman and an English man and she speaks her both native languages perfectly.

She is waiting for the arrival of Joseph de Ca'th Lon, Tina Picotes, Claire Fontaine and The Grandma who are now flying from Barcelona to Auckland in a flight of 26 hours via Dubai to spend some weeks in New Zealand, discover the most interesting places of the island and improve their English pronunciation thanks to the local English-spoken inhabitants.

The Grandma is studying the first lesson of her First Certificate Language Practice manual (Grammar 1).

The four friends are very happy to meet Tonyi Tamaki and they like the idea of having a new member of their selected group which only wants to learn and improve English travelling around the world and discovering interesting and amazing stories about history and culture.

More information: Past Time I, II & III

New Zealand, in Māori Aotearoa, is a sovereign island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses, the North Island or Te Ika-a-Māui, and the South Island or Te Waipounamu, and around 600 smaller islands.

New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. 

The Māori, the native inhabitants of New Zealand

Because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans. During its long period of isolation, New Zealand developed a distinct biodiversity of animal, fungal, and plant life.

The country's varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks, such as the Southern Alps, owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions. New Zealand's capital city is Wellington, while its most populous city is Auckland.

Sometime between 1250 and 1300, Polynesians settled in the islands that later were named New Zealand and developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight New Zealand.

In 1840, representatives of the United Kingdom and Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, which declared British sovereignty over the islands. In 1841, New Zealand became a colony within the British Empire and in 1907 it became a Dominion; it gained full independence in 1947, but the British monarch remained the head of state.

More information: New Zealand

 I love living in New Zealand.

Taika Waititi

Today, the majority of New Zealand's population of 4.7 million is of European descent; the indigenous Māori are the largest minority, followed by Asians and Pacific Islanders. Reflecting this, New Zealand's culture is mainly derived from Māori and early British settlers, with recent broadening arising from increased immigration. The official languages are English, Māori and NZ Sign Language, with English being very dominant.

New Zealand is a developed country and ranks highly in international comparisons of national performance, such as quality of life, health, education, and economic freedom.

The country underwent major economic changes during the 1980s, which transformed it from a protectionist to a liberalised free-trade economy. The service sector dominates the national economy, followed by the industrial sector, and agriculture. International tourism is a significant source of revenue.

Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sighted New Zealand in 1642 and named it Staten Land in honour of the States General, the Dutch parliament.

In 1645, Dutch cartographers renamed the land Nova Zeelandia after the Dutch province of Zeeland. British explorer James Cook subsequently anglicised the name to New Zealand.

More information: New Zealand History

Aotearoa, often translated as land of the long white cloud is the current Māori name for New Zealand. It is unknown whether Māori had a name for the whole country before the arrival of Europeans, with Aotearoa originally referring to just the North Island. Māori had several traditional names for the two main islands, including Te Ika-a-Māui, the fish of Māui, for the North Island and Te Waipounamu, the waters of greenstone, or Te Waka o Aoraki, the canoe of Aoraki, for the South Island. For each island, either its English or Māori name can be used, or both can be used together.

James Cook

New Zealand was first settled by Eastern Polynesians between 1250 and 1300, concluding a long series of voyages through the southern Pacific islands.

The first Europeans known to have reached New Zealand were Dutch explorer Abel Tasman and his crew in 1642. Europeans did not revisit New Zealand until 1769 when British explorer James Cook mapped almost the entire coastline.

In 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip assumed the position of Governor of the new British colony of New South Wales which according to his commission included New Zealand.

In 1907, at the request of the New Zealand Parliament, King Edward VII proclaimed New Zealand a Dominion within the British Empire, reflecting its self-governing status. 

In 1947 the country adopted the Statute of Westminster, confirming that the British Parliament could no longer legislate for New Zealand without the consent of New Zealand.

Early in the 20th century, New Zealand was involved in world affairs, fighting in the First and Second World Wars and suffering through the Great Depression. The depression led to the election of the First Labour Government and the establishment of a comprehensive welfare state and a protectionist economy.

More information: New Zealand Government

New Zealand experienced increasing prosperity following the Second World War and Māori began to leave their traditional rural life and move to the cities in search of work. A Māori protest movement developed, which criticised Eurocentrism and worked for greater recognition of Māori culture and of the Treaty of Waitangi.

In 1975, a Waitangi Tribunal was set up to investigate alleged breaches of the Treaty, and it was enabled to investigate historic grievances in 1985.

New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy, although its constitution is not codified. Elizabeth II is the Queen of New Zealand and thus the head of state. The powers of the Queen and the Governor-General are limited by constitutional constraints and they cannot normally be exercised without the advice of ministers.

 

More information: Backpacker Guide

English is the predominant language in New Zealand, spoken by 96.1% of the population. New Zealand English is similar to Australian English and many speakers from the Northern Hemisphere are unable to tell the accents apart. 

The most prominent differences between the New Zealand English dialect and other English dialects are the shifts in the short front vowels.

After the Second World War, Māori were discouraged from speaking their own language , te reo Māori, in schools and workplaces and it existed as a community language only in a few remote areas.

It has recently undergone a process of revitalisation, being declared one of New Zealand's official languages in 1987, and is spoken by 3.7% of the population. There are now Māori language immersion schools and two television channels that broadcast predominantly in Māori. Many places have both their Māori and English names officially recognised.

More information: Tourism New Zealand

 

Living in New Zealand, it's like a different world. 

It is a different world. It's very, very cool. 

Luke Evans