New Zealand Continued
Vega
Hugh and Annie
Wed 4 Apr 2018 22:15
There are some interesting contradictions here. From the time of colonisation and British governance this has been a country of immigration, which is celebrated in the national museum. There is a whole section on immigration by both economic migrants, largely from the UK, and refugees from all around the world. There are quotations from English immigrants in the 19th Century referring to the wonderful rural countryside and agriculture found here after urban life back home and the conditions of ‘slavery’ endured by the working class in England. The displaced Scottish and starving Irish seemed pretty pleased to be here also. The more rural and agricultural communities are likely to be descended from these early immigrants.
Immigration in the 20th Century became more selective; economic and educational criteria had to be met. You can run through these in the museum to see whether you would have met these criteria (I didn’t do this but, as I am writing, wish that I had. Annie did and would have failed under the age requirement, being a female over 40). Today there are stringent criteria in place. Annie and my ages would still count against us but if you can transfer your pension arrangements to over here that would help. When we flew back here from the UK in February the airline Emirates would not initially allow us onto the flight because we had no evidence of onward travel arrangements out of NZ. A copy of our boat registration document, hastily written sailing itinerary and a phone call to NZ customs to confirm that we had checked into their system back in November were required before we could board.
Immigration by refugees (as defined by the UN) is also strictly controlled and they go to great lengths here to deter or repatriate unauthorised economic migrants. Those who are allowed in may find it difficult to assimilate. Your taxi driver in Wellington could well be a refugee. Ours from the ferry terminal was from Kabul, in his 50’s with two degrees one of which was in hydrology, but he is unable to use these to gain employment. His five children however, having grown up through the NZ educational system, seem to have done extremely well academically and are working in NZ or Australia. Our driver back to the railway terminal was a former civil servant from Ethiopia and we hope his children do well also. Our fellow Airbnb guest in Nelson was from Iraq and despite having lived in and gained his degree in the US has been told that he needs to develop a NZ culture in order to get on. He is frustrated and bemused by this.
The influence of the British on life here is obvious and indeed we have met many who have come here from England and/or have relatives there. Apparently the NZ accent is one of the most readily adopted and you do have to listen carefully to pick out English intonations from those who have come here even fairly recently. The accent is stronger than we had expected, particularly in the South Island. Annie and I must get out of the habit of repeating some of the stronger pronunciations that amuse us; ‘yes’ becomes “yis”, ‘left’ is “lift”, ‘best’ is “bist” and for some reason ‘milk’ becomes “mulk”. At the same time we are superficially aware of the Maori ‘culture’. For example, the commentaries (in English and Mandarin) about the areas you pass through on the train (you get headphones and a moving map display) refer to Maori legends and many of the place names are Maori and pronounced accordingly. There is a Maori political party (that currently has no MP’s) and on the tourist trail you frequently come across references to Maori art, culture, sacred places and so on. And yet there is no mainstream Maori culture here, the Maori language is not taught in schools and for a period of 50 years it was forbidden to be used. The main archive of Maori objects in the national Museum is only there through acquisition of a private collection held by an early settler. As a Maori you may well find yourself in the lower socio economic groups and this may reflect some of the cultural conflicts we found in Tonga and we are told, will find on Fiji.
National identity is a big topic here (according to the museum). Initially NZ was keen to encompass Pacific islands within its jurisdiction for political and economic influence to counter that of the French and German. In doing so British culture was imposed over local culture both here and on islands such as Fiji. The precise meaning of the Waitanga treaty of 1840 under which Maori chiefs ceded power (but not their land according to the Maori version) to the UK is still disputed. The English and Maori translations of what was agreed verbally are significantly different. This led to the Maori wars in the 1860’s. There has been an official government apology for this that in itself was controversial for perhaps obvious reasons. There are ongoing court cases over land rights still and ownership of the land that includes the caves we are visiting and hotel we are staying in, has been given back to the Maori tribe that originally held it. More recently there has been a move towards a Pacific identity - ‘Kiwi’ - with close political and economic ties to island groups such as the Cook Islands, Fiji and Samoa. Trade is within the Pacific Rim economic area and the influence of China, Japan and the Far East generally is clear to see. Our two Airbnb hosts in Wellington were both born and bred New Zealanders - one from a conservative rural community and the other of Samoan descent but with a German/Swedish family ancestry through his great grandparents (the fact that Samoa had been colonised by Germany came as a surprise to us). Being both gay and mixed race you would think this couple would sit comfortably within the NZ ‘melting pot’ but they amusingly recount stories of their experiences; they are educated and sophisticated enough to deal with these philosophically. If you were born here but look Samoan you will be regarded by the European community as Samoan and through your Samoan parents officially classified as Samoan (islanders are referred to as Samoan etc Kiwis). One kindly older lady in a supermarket even welcomed our Samoan friend to NZ when enquiring where he was from. No different to any other country probably and reflective of conservative attitudes here and elsewhere but interesting in a country trying to develop a Pacific Identity.
Today we were met at the railway station at Ototohanga by a lady we initially took to be Indian. This reminded us that quite a few people here look and sound “Indian”. This just goes to show that we are as quick to ascribe racial identity as anyone else. It turns out that she is from Fiji and we had forgotten that there is a large community there of Indian descent and of course many have come to NZ to live. The urban communities here are quite diverse.
It would, however, be wrong to infer that the British connection is still strong enough to regard us as some kind of ‘motherland’ or that everyone is happy with being part of the Commonwealth. The Queen’s head is now only on the 20 dollar note and many first and second generation New Zealanders would question why it is there at all. Shockingly not everyone regards James Cook as the nautical hero that some yachties do. Islanders bristle at references to Cook’s wonderful navigation and consider their own feats to be greater. There were even celebrations on the 250th anniversary of his death. It is much more egalitarian here than in the UK and there is a resistance to elitism. The honours system has recently been re-introduced but that is apparently controversial. Through proportional representation the government is more representative of the wider community than ours in the UK and politicians and public figures are more likely to be from and still part of their local communities. In the 1950’s an English couple Susan and Eric Hiscock sailed around the world and wrote a wonderful account of their adventures. They made a filmed account of their 1959 circumnavigation and we were recently given a copy. The clipped tones of their commentary and superior attitude towards the people and countries they visited are jaw dropping! Some in the UK may be about to find out how much the rest of the world has moved on since the 1950’s.
One thing you cannot avoid here is Lord of the Rings. In the photos below you may recognise Doom Mountain where Bilbo Baggins was meant to throw the ring (or was it Frodo Baggins?). Actually you may not recognise it because, contrary to the films, the sun does shine here from time to time. Sadly we are now going to have to plough through the whole sequence of films to try and recognise some of the locations we have visited..............
Natural salt pans painted before they were covered during a volcanic eruption circa 1880