"WHAT WE'RE REALLY LIKE"

A SLICE OF NEW ZEALAND HISTORY. The first New Zealand immigrants arrived in canoes from a polynesian ancestral homeland. They came in several periods to settle the land as Tangata whenua, (people of the land). Because they had no written language their immigration stories were passed on orally. These people are known as the Maori and they signed a Treaty with Europeans in 1840. Later during the late 18th century and early 19th century many people came from Britain to settle in New Zealand. Dunedin for example was settled by Scots. Today we are a multicultural country with people from all over the world. New emigrants include people from Asia, Polynesia and also Europe. A lot of Dunedin streets are named after Scottish names. Our main streets are Princes Street and George Street. Also we have a big statue of Robbie Burns in the centre of town which is called the Octagon. Which funnily enough is shaped like an octagon! TANGATA WHENUA is the Maori name for people of the land. Tangata Whenua are the native Maori people of our land. The Maori name for New Zealand is Aeotearoa meaning land of the long white cloud. Written and researched with great pleasure by: Hannah, Anna S, Amber M, Lisa , Erin D, Kelly, Belinda,Grace and Rachel. WHAT WE ARE REALLY LIKE We don't have snakes or poisonous spiders in New Zealand. We are not Australians, and it is normal for us to have a reasonable size backyard. For breakfast we eat weetbix mainly, and other cereals, our houses are made of brick or wood, and because we live in the city they are fairly close together. There is also lots of countryside and bush and lakes and mountains, they are the highlight of New Zealand and are definitely worth seeing. We only have 3.5 million people in New Zealand. Our native animals are the Kea, Kakapo, Kiwi, Tui, Tuatara {lizard}, Giant Weta, Native Rat. Before settlers came to New Zealand it was inhabited mainly by birds. At school we play sports like Netball, Cricket and of course Rugby, which is our national game. New Zealand's official language is Maori and English. Most people speak English. In the weekend we like to go to the beach and to the movies and socialising and also playing Rugby. Our National costume is Maori. It is mostly made out of flax and feather-skirt and cloak. We are not very close to Australia geographically. In fact France is closer to you than we are to Australia. The Haka which you have probably seen before a rugby game, is a traditional Maori war dance, performed before going into battle. Maori art is also really neat, you should try to find some books with Maori art in it to look at. Haere Ra (good bye) Maxine, Jenna, Monique, Helen, Amber Mc, Olivia, Stacey, Natalie, Sarah R WHAT WE ARE REALLY LIKE KIA ORA, (hello), We had heaps of laughs when we read about what you thought New Zealand was like (you probably laughed when you read what we thought about Scotland). New Zealand only has 3.6 million people and we are NOT part of Australia, In fact it takes three and a half hours by plane to get to Australia. So we don't have Kangaroos, koalas, poisons snakes or hats with corks hanging down. Even though New Zealand has lots of sheep Farmers most people aren't. We're not sure where you got the idea that we paint our faces and dance, But we usually don't! We don't have any deserts, but we do have some dry areas. Not all of New Zealand is hot, we have a temperate climate which is semi-tropical in the far north and quite cold in the south - Dunedin's climate is rather like Scotland. We often experience 'four seasons in one day', Or so the song goes. (Crowded House, a New Zealand band). We speak New Zealand English, And we don't usually dress up as kiwis. Dunedin (Otepoti) was founded by Scottish people and you'll find we have lots of streets and places named after things in Edinburgh like George St. In the centre of Dunedin there is a statue of Robbie Burns. New Zealand has three main islands (not 2) the North and the South islands and Stewart Island, as well as the smaller Auckland Islands. We hope that this will give you a better idea of what New Zealand is really like Tena koe (bye) from Erin, Jenny, Emma, Nedra, Tracy, Jo-Anne, Anna, Sarah