4 posts tagged “new zealand”
My other half's family originally settled in Norsewood in New Zealand, not far from Dannevirke, so of course we had to visit those towns for the sake of family history!
Oh sweet Polynesian Spa, with it's "Lake Spa Retreat", totally worth the little extra to get clear of the crowd. We went after dusk, and watched the sun set as we sunk down into the warm mineral hot spring pools surrounded by stones and one even with a 'grotto' (a la the Playboy Mansion)...soooo relaxing...
We had our own spa at our Motel too, only may have slightly overdone the bubble mix...
And who would have thought there would be a redwood forest just a few minutes from the main part of the town!
A little holiday reading while in between sight seeing/adventures in New Zealand....interesting perspective on the possible/actual experiences of white women captured by Maori in the 1800s, based on rather scant source material, but interesting as also explains the cultural clashes between visiting traders, sealers, whalers and other Europeans/English that surrounded these captures, the slaughter (and subsequent consumption) of those white men (women and children too) and those that were spared to be taken as slaves/adoptees of the Whanau, some women in their twenties being taken as wives of chiefs, of course there were clashes, captures and casualties on both sides.
Ah New Zealand, the ancient fern forests..
The bubbling geothermal activity underfoot...
The beaches, white sand or black volcanic rock...
The art deco city of Napier...
Can't wait to get back there again in just a few months...
