SSoP Podcast Episode 16 — New Zealand: Kiwis, Majestic Scenery, and Māori Mythology

Head south to Australia and take a sharp turn east to arrive in New Zealand. It’s a landscape both magical and majestic, surrounded by the deep blue waters of the Tasman Sea and southwestern Pacific.

The country is divided between two primary landmasses — the North Island and the South Island — with about 600 smaller islands sprinkled about. Each delivers different landscapes and opportunities for adventure.

The warmer North Island is home to Auckland (the largest city) and Wellington (the capital). That’s also where you’ll find hot springs, volcanoes, and pristine beaches, as well as Hobbiton, the filming sets from The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The North Island is also the place to immerse yourself in Māori culture with dance performances and hangi feasts (traditional Māori dish cooked in a pit oven).

The South Island — with the cities of Queenstown and Christchurch — is the place for skiers and snowboarders, with snowy mountains, fjords carved by glaciers, and stunning views from the Southern Alps.

In this episode, we get curious about life in New Zealand, then recommend books that transported us there, including a moving essay collection, a memoir from an American woman who married a Māori man, a novel about the 1860 gold rush, a tale of Māori mythology, and a fantasy novel set in Wellington.

transcript

Read the full transcript of Episode 16: New Zealand.

recommended books

The Colour

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Come on Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All

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The Whale Rider

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Can You Tolerate This?

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The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep

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Colour Scheme

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other books we mentioned

• The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
• The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
• Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia by Christina Thompson
• The Garden Party and Other Stories by Katherine Mansfield
• The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
• David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
• Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
• The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
• The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy
• Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

other cool stuff we talked about

• Hobbiton: The sets from The Lord of the Rings film trilogy is preserved as an outdoor museum called Hobbiton. The guided tour takes about two hours, and it looks super-cute.

• Kiwi Birds: Kiwis are flightless birds native to New Zealand. They’re about the size of a chicken and are sometimes called honorary mammals because of some unusual characteristics. They build burrows like a badger, and they sleep standing up. Unlike most birds, the females have two ovaries (like mammals), and their chicks emerge from their very large eggs as mini-adults: fully feathered and able to feed themselves. The organization Kiwis for Kiwis has much more on these fascinating birds.

• Māori Haka: The haka is often described as a war dance, but there are various forms. It’s basically meant to be a celebration of life and was used before battle to pysch up warriors, but was also used in other ceremonies. The dancers use their hands, arms, legs, feet, voice, eyes, and tongues to express annoyance, joy, courage, and other feelings. Although it was traditionally only done by men, modern haka incorporates women and children, too.

• Transformation video: This is a joyous video of women sharing their transformation from ‘everyday’ to mighty wahine. Only available on Facebook, so click on over.

• The longest place name in the world: It’s on the North Island and is named after Tamatea, who was a legendary Maori explorer. To honor his exploits, the Maori people named a hill after him, and to show their true adoration, they used an entire sentence which translates into English as ‘the place where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, who slid, climbed and swallowed mountains, known as ‘landeater’, played his flute to his loved one.’ Locals simply call it Taumata Hill. Photos and more on Atlas Obscura. (Fun Fact: We use an online service to help us with transcriptions, and this is how it transcribed the audio of the town name: Oh Muthafucka Tony Hinako. Well, what on earth did he pick up to pick you the top?)

• The Golden Shears: The Golden Shears is the ‘world’s premier shearing and woolhandling championship.’ The official website is a treasure trove of info and really cute sheep.

• The Wizard of New Zealand: NZ’s fovernment-appointed national wizard is Ian Brackenbury Channell; he’s held his post since 1990. You will definitely want to fall face-first into his Wikipedia entry. This article from CNN is also quite good and includes awesome photos.

• Whanganui River: In March 2017, the Whanganui River became the first in the world to be awarded human rights status. The Māori people has been fighting for more than 160 years to get recognition for the river to acknowledge its spiritual importance. Learn more about the river here.

• West Coast Gold Rush: Gold was found near the Taramakau River in 1864. By the end of the year, the there 1800 prospectors on the West Coast. Just two years later, the town of Hokitika had a population of more than 25,000 people. Almost all of them greedy for gold. This website has a bunch of good historical photos.

• Christina Thompson and Seven: Christina is the author of the recommended book Come on Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All. This is her and Seven, early in their relationship which is described in sweet detail in the book:

• The Whale Rider: The author Witi Ihimaera was inspired to write his novel The Whale Rider by a sculpture of Paikea on top of the Māori meeting house in Whangara.

• Katherine Mansfield House & Garden: Katherine Mansfield is an acclaimed New Zealand writer. Her 1888 family home — a stellar example of what fashionable, colonial homes of the time were like — is now a museum.

• Wellington, NZ: Wellington is the capital of NZ and the setting for our recommended book The Unlikely of Uriah Heep.

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