.gif)
People & Places
South Pacific Motorcycle Tours will be pleased to tell you about New Zealand's cultural and historical background during your New Zealand motorcycle Tour.
The Maori were New Zealand's first settlers. They made an epic journey from legendary Hawaiiki, probably in Polynesia, to the north of New Zealand, about 800 years ago. The great explorer Kupe, who legend says, first discovered New Zealand, named the new land Aotearoa - Land of the Long White Cloud.
The first documented European to discover New Zealand was Dutch navigator Abel Tasman who came here in 1642 in search of the fabled great southern continent. Over a century and a quarter later, Captain James Cook claimed it for Britain in 1769 and produced the first map of New Zealand.
The Treaty of Waitangi is New Zealand's founding history document and established the country as a nation. It was signed in 1840 between leading Maori chiefs, and representatives of the British Crown. The location, at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands, is now one of the country's most historic sites. The signing of the treaty began on 6 February 1840, and is now New Zealand's national day known as 'Waitangi Day' and etched in New Zealand History.
New Zealand's first settlers, the Maori, named the kiwi bird for the sound of its chirp - kiwi, kiwi, kiwi! This flightless bird, about the size of a domestic hen, has an extremely long beak and plumage more like hair than feathers. New Zealanders have adopted this nocturnal, flightless and endearing creature as their national emblem. Referring to New Zealanders as Kiwis probably dates back to the First World War, when New Zealand soldiers acquired this nickname.
New Zealand is a modern country with a well-developed economy and a government structure based on the British parliamentary system. New Zealand has long been a sovereign nation in its own right, with only tenuous ties to Britain through New Zealand's membership of the British Commonwealth. We have a diverse multi-cultural population of just under 4 million. The majority of New Zealanders are of British descent, and the largest minority is New Zealand's indigenous Maori, who make up around 14 percent of the population.
Both North and South islands are hilly and mountainous. The west coast of South Island is backed by the high Southern Alps with Mount Cook, the highest peak, rising to over 3,700 metres. There are also extensive snowfields and glaciers.
South Pacific Motorcycle Tours is ideally situated just north of Christchurch on the east coast of the South Island, taking you immediately onto the Inland Scenic route towards Mount Cook or the west coast, or north on State Highway One towards Picton and the North Island.
 |
 |
 |