New Zealand

 New Zealand are two islands east of Australia inhabited by sailors from Polynesia since the Middle Ages in three different phases in which they adapted to form small villages and cultivated crops. The Geography in the two islands is diverse with alpine forests, glaciers, deserts, geysers, tropical forests and beaches, the northern island has tropical weather whilst in the south island is falls to -0 in winter, there are many rivers and mountains, lakes, forests and more than eighty volcanoes because it is located in "the Ring of Fire". The Northern island is smaller though it is more populated, Wellington is its capital city and Auckland, the most populated. There is a volcanic plateau on the side of lake Taupo , on the east there are mountain ranges and rivers and farmlands of sheep in the Taranaki region. The South Island has mountain ranges as the Southern Alps, cliffs looking to the Tasman Sea and valleys with crops and farms. History says that the first Europeans arrived in 1642 a Dutch explorer named Abel Tasman, this Maoris inspect the big ships and confronted the Dutch sailors with loud trumpet sounds and the Dutch fired their cannons killing a Maori warrior then they attacked the Dutch killing four sailors. Dutch scientists called the islands Nova Zeelandia after the Dutch province and Europeans stayed away for more than a century. Then English captain James Cook arrived to establish friendly commercial relations with the natives but it turned out unfortunate and violent as the English killed several Maori leaders because they mistook a ceremonial ritual. Captain Cook used an interpreter to convince the Maoris they wanted to coexist peacefully in the next visits in 1769, 1773 and 1777 during these years Captain Cook wrote and published diaries about this land and its inhabitants so many Europeans wanted to travel and settle there. The British established the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 which established the colonial officer William Hobson as British Governor and gave Maoris same rights as British, but they realised they could sell or buy their land so Maoris went to fight the English in 1845 and 1872 and British troops had many loses, at the end the Maori received their lands or money for it and there was harmony between Maoris and British.

Landmarks such as Aoraki or Mount Cook National PArk on the South Island has the highest mountain and the longest glacier with impressive sceneries for hiking, climbing or swimming, the Miflord Sound is a magnificent fjord in Fjordland National Park which has great waterfalls, seal colonies, dolphins, rainforests, alpine lakes and black corals. The Bay of Islands are beautiful and ideal for swimming, sailing or scuba diving and sightseeing the city of Russell the first permanent European colony. The Waitomo Glow-worm caves have a galaxy of glow-worms among stalactities and stalagmites, the geotermal landscape of Rotorua with geysers, steaming vents and cauldrons and the Tongariro National Park with active volcanoes, waterfalls, lava flows, wild forests and desert-like plateaus. Cities like Auckland, the city of sails, Wellington  with its creative community known as Wellywook a.k.a. windy welly or the coolest little capital in the world. Queenstown on the shores of Lake Wakatipu, it was a gold mining town that now offers impressive landscapes of red, oranges and gold in its hills and the practise of sports like white-water rafting, paragliding, bungee jumping and skydiving named the "adventure capital of the world". Christchurch is called the "garden city" or "the most English city outside England" though it has a lot of seismic activity its people have rebuilt it beautifully after each earthquake. Gastronomy is influenced by Maori culture, for example cooking on hot stones on earth, the food used such as a sea urchin named kina, sea snails called paua, meat dishes named kiwi burgers, jaffa candies and manuka honey. Maori culture is ubiquitous, the Maori which are the native people make up 15% population , the first people to use tattooing, the Maori warriors are famous for their bravery and dances such as haka, they have a strong sense of respect and preservation and hospitality. They greet visitors kindly with dances and presents and their kiss named hongi, they put their forehead and nose together. Maoris are great artists, storytellers and orators and Maori language is taught along with English. Sports like cricket, football, horse-racing, basketball and mainly rugby are loved by New Zealanders and its rugby national team, the All Blacks is the most successful in world history, every national team perform Maori dances before the competition to bring good luck which delights the spectators worldwide. Zorbing and extreme sports like ziplining, skydiving, paragliding, mountain climbing, kayaking and rafting are popular in the nation and zorbing and bungee jumping began officially here. Wildlife is unique because the islands have been isolated for many centuries and the climates are diverse so there penguins, parrots, birds that can´t fly because of absence of predators like moa, giant flightless birds that are extinct six hundred years ago, kakapos are in extinction because these flightless birds can live more than one century, kiwis are small flightless bird relative of the ostrich, the prehistoric enormous insect named weta, the tuatara the last small survivor of Jurassic age reptiles and the glow-worms. Famous New Zealanders are singers Lorde, actor Russell Crowe, climber Sir Edmund Hillary and film director Peter Jackson who made the trilogy of the "Lord of the Rings" in New Zealand with so stunning locations that made the country a destiny film location for other productions such as "The Whale Rider" or "The Chronicles of Narnia" and other adventure films.