Get right into rugby in New Zealand

by Stephanie - 17/03/2011 14:40:00

The haka is powerful stuff.
Image: Jo Caird/New Zealand Tourism

New Zealand will proudly host the Rugby World Cup in September and October this year, but if you don’t want to wait until then to see some rugby action there are plenty of games happening to tide you over.  

It doesn’t matter if it is a city, small town or in the countryside surrounded by paddocks, but New Zealand’s landscape isn’t quite right without a set of rugby goal posts. The game was introduced to New Zeland in 1870 by a young man called Charles Monro. Monro was born near Nelson, and spent some time studying in England before returning to his home country. He introduced the game of rugby to friends in Nelson, and the first rugby game in New Zealand was played at Nelson’s Botanical Reserve. A sign now stands on the ground to commemorate the game.

Rugby is New Zealand’s national sport, and when it is the national team, the All Blacks, on the field the whole country gets behind them.

One thing that is different about a rugby game with the All Blacks is the haka, a traditional Maori challenge dance which the All Blacks perform before playing an international team. The most famous haka used is "Ka Mate", originally composed by the Maori chief Te Rauparaha of Ngāti Toa to celebrate a narrow escape from death.

Here are the games coming up before the Rugby World Cup in September.

Rebel Sport Super 14

The Rebel Sport Super 14 between Australia, New Zealand and South Africa is the largest rugby championship in the southern hemisphere. A total of 14 teams play 13 games each to decide the best four teams. Then it is the semi-finals to decide the two finalists. The final is played at the highest ranked winner’s home ground. Games run from February until the end of May at venues in all three countries. New Zealand games are played in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch and Invercargill.

Tri Nations and Bledisloe Cup

New Zealand also competes annually with Australia (the Wallabies) and South Africa (the Springboks) in the Tri Nation Series, a tough competition that has been running since 1996. The games played between Australia and New Zealand also determine the winner of the Bledisloe Cup each year.

The Tri Nations rugby tournament kicks off with the All Blacks playing South Africa in Auckland on 10 July. Other New Zealand matches are scheduled for 17 July in Wellington (vs South Africa) and 7 August in Christchurch (vs Australia).

There are usually eight games in the Tri Nations, but because of the world cup being held in New Zealand the competition has been reduced to six.

Rugby World Cup

Twenty three centres are to host the teams in New Zealand - 16 in the North Island and seven in the South Island. If you’re going to be here for the entire time, you can do a grand tour of New Zealand while you follow your team!

The event is scheduled to be played over seven weekends from the weekend starting 10 September and culminating the weekend starting 22 October 2011.

-  Get a New Zealand Working Holiday Visa and travel the country!

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Doubtful Sound – New Zealand’s deepest fjord

by Stephanie - 03/03/2011 13:52:00

Watch out for dolphins in Doubtful Sound.

Doubtful Sound is the deepest (421 metres) and second longest (40 kilometres) of the South Island's fjords. It is quite untouched by the modern world – with rare corals, plants and sea animals calling the fjord their home. It is not as accessible as Milford Sound, but joining an overnight excursion onboard a boat will see you dine on fresh crayfish scouped out of the water in front of your eyes while passing ancient glacier carved valleys, high mountain peaks and spectacular waterfalls. 

According to Maori legend, the sounds in Fiordland in New Zealand were created by the god Tu-Te-Raki-Whanoa as a safe place from the stormy seas.

When he split open the earth to form Patea (Doubtful Sound) four young sea gods helped him by using their adzes to cut the four arms of the sound – Deep Cove, Hall Arm, Crooked Arm and First Arm. Doubtful Sound is 10 times the area of the more well-known Milford Sound, and is the playing ground of bottlenose dolphins, fat New Zealand fur seals and the Fiordland crested penguin to name a few.

The fiord was originally named Doubtful Harbour by Captain James Cook, who sailed past it in 1770. He didn’t sail into the inlet because he though it looked a bit tight for safe manoeuvring (hence the name). It was later named Doubtful Sound by whalers and sealers, although technically it is a fjord.

Like other fjords in the area, Doubtful Sound contains two distinct layers of water that don't mix: the top few meters is fresh water, fed by runoff from the mountains, and below is a layer of salt water from the sea.

The top layer is darkened by the forest tannins, which makes it difficult for light to penetrate. So many deep-sea species such as red and black coral, colourful sponges and sub-tropical fish live in quite shallow depths in the sound. The rare corals can be found 10 metres deep here instead of the usual 30 metres that you will find elsewhere.

Some 10,000 years ago a mighty ice-age glacier extended over the region, and its grinding power as it slid towards the sea sculpted the landscape’s deep valleys. As a consequence there are some amazing waterfalls in Doubtful Sound as rains on the piecing mountains plunge down to the sound, particularly during the wetter seasons. In the Hall Arm, the Browne Falls cascades 619 metres; Helena Falls at Deep Cove tumbles 220 metres.

Tours to Doubtful Sound depart from Manapouri and involve a very scenic bus trip across Wilmot Pass. When you reach the fjord, you can explore in a sea kayak or join a water cruise with one of the local operators.

-  Learn more about getting a New Zealand Working Holiday Visa.

Visa Bureau takes no responsibility and cannot be held accountable for action taken as a result of any information or comment provided on this blog, and we recommend that you always seek a number of opinions before making a decision regarding your migration or visa application. Please refer to the Visa Bureau terms of use for more information.

Kick back with the world’s largest Pacific festival: Pasifika

by Stephanie - 11/02/2011 12:18:00

Celebrate Pacific cultures this March.
Image: Auckland City Council

Next month is the one of the most significant cultural and community festivals in the South Pacific, celebrating New Zealand’s multicultural identity through music, drama, film, arts and food. So if you are on a New Zealand working holiday this is not one to miss.  

The Pasifika Festival is a chance for the Pacific Island communities in Auckland to showcase their traditions, heritage and to extend their hospitality – and they pull out all the stops!

Pasifika Festival runs for 7 days in March, kicking off on March 6 with opening night concert and culminates in the massive festival day on March 12, at Western Springs Park.

Throughout the week there will be various performances and exhibitions taking place around Auckland from the Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands, Fiji, Niue, Tahiti, Tokelau, Tuvalu, Kiribati and the tangata whenua (New Zealand Māori) communities.

On the big festival day, more than 200,000 people are expected to turn up to for all-day entertainment on three main stages and visit the 10 cultural villages spread throughout the park.
More than 350 stalls will be selling everything from fresh coconuts through to t-shirts, paintings, tapa (barkcloth) and weaving.

Chances are if you are on a working holiday in New Zealand you would have visited Auckland already (the secluded islands, sparkling waters and lush native rainforest nearby are also a big drawcard!).

If not, after the festival hang around for a little bit because the area is really amazing. In just half an hour you can be almost anywhere - sailing to an island, trekking through a rainforest, picnicking on a volcano, sampling wines at a vineyard or wandering a wild, black sand surf beach.

Pasifika Festival
6-12 March

Cost: FREE
w: www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz
Festival day is Saturday 12 March, 10am to 5pm, at Western Springs Park and sports fields, Auckland.
Other events will be held around Auckland during the week.

- Safe and happy travels on your New Zealand working holiday!

Visa Bureau takes no responsibility and cannot be held accountable for action taken as a result of any information or comment provided on this blog, and we recommend that you always seek a number of opinions before making a decision regarding your migration or visa application. Please refer to the Visa Bureau terms of use for more information.

The legend of New Zealand

by Stephanie - 25/01/2011 13:55:00

The Māori name for the North island,
Te Ika a Maui, means "The fish of Maui".

The legend of Māui, a clever, gifted demigod, pretty much sums up the South Pacific idea of a hero. After a miraculous birth and upbringing he won the affection of his supernatural parents, taught useful arts to mankind, snared the sun and tamed fire, and fished out of the sea the islands of New Zealand.  

There are numerous Polynesian legends of Māui fishing up new land, with Te Ika a Maui (the North Island of New Zealand) the largest.

Disliked by his four older brothers, Māui would be left behind when they went fishing. So one night, he secretly made a fishhook from a magical ancestral jawbone and crept into his brothers' canoe and hid under the floorboards.

It wasn't until the brothers were far out of sight of land, and they had filled the bottom of their canoe with fish that Maui jumped up, took out his magic fishhook and threw it over the side reciting magic incantations.

The hook went deeper into the sea until Māui felt the hook had touched something. He tugged gently and far below the hook caught and together with his brothers brought the fish to the surface.

Māui cautioned his brothers to wait until he had appeased Tangaroa the god of the sea before they cut into the fish, but the brothers grew tired of waiting and began to carve out pieces for themselves. These are now the many valleys, mountains, lakes and rocky coastlines of the North Island.

There are many places throughout New Zealand associated with this particular Māui legend including the South Island that is also known as Te Waka a Maui or the canoe of Māui and the Stewart Island or Rakiura also known as Te Punga a Maui or the anchor stone of Māui.

Aotearoa, New Zealand is one of three centres of Māui legends the others are Hawaii and Tahiti. Māui also features in the folklore of Tonga, Fiji, Samoa and Tokelau as well as many other South Pacific islands. Despite the geographic spread, the stories remain essentially the same today.

According to legend, Māui eventually met his death while attempting to kill the goddess of death, Hine nui-te-po.

- Take a year out with a New Zealand Working Holiday!

Visa Bureau takes no responsibility and cannot be held accountable for action taken as a result of any information or comment provided on this blog, and we recommend that you always seek a number of opinions before making a decision regarding your migration or visa application. Please refer to the Visa Bureau terms of use for more information.

Meaning of Ta Moko - Maori tattooing

by Stephanie - 31/07/2009 16:04:00

Copyright free image - Wikipedia

When I lived in Taupo on the North Island, our next door neighbours were a friendly and generous Maori family.

My Dad was a keen fisherman, and when he had caught more than we could eat we would barbecue the fish outside and invite the neighbours over for dinner.   

They were family that were proud of their heritage and had the traditional Maori tattoos; the Mum on her lips and chin, and the Dad on his cheeks.
The Dad also loved to scoop out the fish eyes and chew them thoughtfully, which made me both shudder and laugh. And then he would laugh at me.

The distinctive Maori tattoos have become increasingly popular with the average person; although most tattoo artists in the normal studio don't practice Ta Moko. Kirituhi, meaning skin art, is the new term being used to describe Maori-style tattoos. 

The traditional method of applying Ta Moko was with an albatross bone and natural dyes from dried and powdered caterpillars or a specially prepared tree resin.

The bone blade was dipped in the pigment and then tapped with a mallet to chisel deep incisions into the skin.

hmm, ouch.

But it was also accompanied by many rites and rituals, indicating a step from puberty into adulthood.

Some tattoo artists are reviving the traditional Ta Moko methods, but most tattoos are created using an electric machine and so the skin remains smooth. 

Ta Moko is a national and sacred treasure of the Maori people, a history of a person's achievements and a representation of their status in the tribe. Ta Moko is also a reminder about a man or woman's responsibility in life, and is a huge honour to wear.

It is applied on men to the face and buttocks, and on women to the chin, lips and shoulders and sometimes on their face depending on their ranking.

There are no set patterns to Ta Moko, although the left side of the face related to the father's history and the right to the mother's history.

I've always thought it was a beautiful expression of belonging and history.

Eating fish eyes though? Yeeeck!

Visa Bureau takes no responsibility and cannot be held accountable for action taken as a result of any information or comment provided on this blog, and we recommend that you always seek a number of opinions before making a decision regarding your migration or visa application. Please refer to the Visa Bureau terms of use for more information.

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