1.
New Zealand
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New Zealand /njuːˈziːlənd/ is an island nation in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses—the North Island, or Te Ika-a-Māui, and the South Island, or Te Waipounamu—and around 600 smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia, Fiji, because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans. During its long period of isolation, New Zealand developed a distinct biodiversity of animal, fungal, the countrys varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks, such as the Southern Alps, owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions. New Zealands capital city is Wellington, while its most populous city is Auckland, sometime between 1250 and 1300 CE, Polynesians settled in the islands that later were named New Zealand and developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight New Zealand, in 1840, representatives of Britain and Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, which declared British sovereignty over the islands. In 1841, New Zealand became a colony within the British Empire, today, the majority of New Zealands population of 4.7 million is of European descent, the indigenous Māori are the largest minority, followed by Asians and Pacific Islanders. Reflecting this, New Zealands culture is derived from Māori and early British settlers. The official languages are English, Māori and New Zealand Sign Language, New Zealand is a developed country and ranks highly in international comparisons of national performance, such as health, education, economic freedom and quality of life. Since the 1980s, New Zealand has transformed from an agrarian, Queen Elizabeth II is the countrys head of state and is represented by a governor-general. In addition, New Zealand is organised into 11 regional councils and 67 territorial authorities for local government purposes, the Realm of New Zealand also includes Tokelau, the Cook Islands and Niue, and the Ross Dependency, which is New Zealands territorial claim in Antarctica. New Zealand is a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Pacific Islands Forum, and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sighted New Zealand in 1642 and called it Staten Landt, in 1645, Dutch cartographers renamed the land Nova Zeelandia after the Dutch province of Zeeland. British explorer James Cook subsequently anglicised the name to New Zealand, Aotearoa is the current Māori name for New Zealand. It is unknown whether Māori had a name for the country before the arrival of Europeans. Māori had several names for the two main islands, including Te Ika-a-Māui for the North Island and Te Waipounamu or Te Waka o Aoraki for the South Island. Early European maps labelled the islands North, Middle and South, in 1830, maps began to use North and South to distinguish the two largest islands and by 1907, this was the accepted norm. The New Zealand Geographic Board discovered in 2009 that the names of the North Island and South Island had never been formalised and this set the names as North Island or Te Ika-a-Māui, and South Island or Te Waipounamu
2.
South Island
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The South Island or Te Waipounamu is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, the South Island covers 150,437 square kilometres and has a temperate climate. In the early stages of European settlement of the country, the South Island had the majority of the European population, in prose, the two main islands of New Zealand are called the North Island and the South Island, with the definite article. Charcoal drawings can be found on rock shelters in the centre of the South Island. The drawings are estimated to be between 500 and 800 years old, and portray animals, people and fantastic creatures, possibly stylised reptiles, some of the birds pictured are long extinct, including moa and Haasts eagles. They were drawn by early Māori, but by the time Europeans arrived, early inhabitants of the South Island were the Waitaha. They were largely absorbed via marriage and conquest by the Kāti Mamoe in the 16th century, Kāti Mamoe were in turn largely absorbed via marriage and conquest by the Kāi Tahu who migrated south in the 17th century. While today there is no distinct Kāti Mamoe organisation, many Kāi Tahu have Kāti Mamoe links in their whakapapa and, a notable feature of the Moriori culture, an emphasis on pacifism, proved disadvantageous when Māori warriors arrived in the 1830s aboard a chartered European ship. In the early 18th century, Kāi Tahu, a Māori tribe who originated on the east coast of the North Island, There they and Kāti Mamoe fought Ngāi Tara and Rangitāne in the Wairau Valley. Ngāti Māmoe then ceded the east coast regions north of the Clarence River to Kāi Tahu, Kāi Tahu continued to push south, conquering Kaikoura. By the 1730s, Kāi Tahu had settled in Canterbury, including Banks Peninsula, from there they spread further south and into the West Coast. In 1827-1828 Ngāti Toa under the leadership of Te Rauparaha successfully attacked Kāi Tahu at Kaikoura, Ngāti Toa then visited Kaiapoi, ostensibly to trade. When they attacked their hosts, the well-prepared Kāi Tahu killed all the leading Ngāti Toa chiefs except Te Rauparaha, Te Rauparaha returned to his Kapiti Island stronghold. After destroying Te Maiharanuis village they took their captives to Kapiti, John Stewart, though arrested and sent to trial in Sydney as an accomplice to murder, nevertheless escaped conviction. In the summer of 1831–32 Te Rauparaha attacked the Kaiapoi pā, Kaiapoi was engaged in a three-month siege by Te Rauparaha, during which his men successfully sapped the pā. They then attacked Kāi Tahu on Banks Peninsula and took the pā at Onawe, in 1832-33 Kāi Tahu retaliated under the leadership of Tūhawaiki and others, attacking Ngāti Toa at Lake Grassmere. Kāi Tahu prevailed, and killed many Ngāti Toa, although Te Rauparaha again escaped, fighting continued for a year or so, with Kāi Tahu maintaining the upper hand. Ngāti Toa never again made an incursion into Kāi Tahu territory
3.
Oxford, New Zealand
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Oxford is a small town of around 2,100 people serving the farming community of North Canterbury, New Zealand. It is part of the Waimakariri District and is a linear town, originally, it was served by the Oxford Branch railway, and had two stations, East Oxford and West Oxford. The line closed in 1959 and was dismantled, some railway signs and the remnants of railway platforms can still be seen along Oxford Road on the way to Rangiora. It was originally a town, trees were felled from forests in the area. A mural depicting life from that era is painted on the wall of the butchers shop. Oxford has won awards for the most beautiful village and the most beautiful toilet, Oxford is located at the inland edge of the Canterbury Plains, approximately 50 km northwest of Christchurch. The township is about 30 km from Rangiora to the East, and it was named by the chief surveyor of the Canterbury Association, Joseph Thomas, in 1849. The town of Tirau in the North Island was originally also named Oxford, owing to confusion between the two towns, the North Island town was later renamed Oxford North before adopting its current name in 1895. The town has one school, Oxford Area School and it is a state composite school with a role of 517 students. The community saved hard during 2005 and 2006 to raise funds for such as the Oxford Community Pool, a community-based swimming pool in Burnett Street. The town prides itself on its ability to self-fund community projects through organizations such as the Lions, the branch stretched from Rangiora through Bennetts Junction, Oxford and Sheffield. This necessitated a high bridge across the Waimakariri Gorge. From Oxford to Sheffield closed in 1931 along with the Eyreton Branch and it lost its passenger service in the 1940s. Due to declining revenue, the branch closed on 31 May 1959 and the track was sold to Scotts Engineering of Christchurch, the line was latterly worked by the A and AB class 4-6-2 and C class 2-6-2 tender locomotives. No diesel locomotives or railcars are known to have used the branch, the OB&I was formed during World War I to provide charitable support to war widows. To raise money, it showed films in the old Oxford Town Hall and it provides charitable support to the citizens of Oxford. Movies are screened in the Town Hall approximately every other Saturday during the winter, the heyday of the OB&I movies was the middle of the 20th century, when three or four films would be shown every week and queues often extended around the building. This was before private car became popular, as the nearest cinema was in Christchurch
4.
Christchurch
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Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. The Christchurch urban area lies on the South Islands east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula and it is home to 389,700 residents, making it New Zealands third most-populous urban area behind Auckland and Wellington. The city was named by the Canterbury Association, which settled the province of Canterbury. The name of Christchurch was agreed on at the first meeting of the association on 27 March 1848 and it was suggested by John Robert Godley, who had attended Christ Church, Oxford. Some early writers called the town Christ Church, but it was recorded as Christchurch in the minutes of the management committee of the association, Christchurch became a city by Royal Charter on 31 July 1856, making it officially the oldest established city in New Zealand. The Avon River flows through the centre of the city, with a park located along its banks. At the request of the Deans brothers, the river was named after the River Avon in Scotland, the usual Māori name for Christchurch is Ōtautahi. This was originally the name of a site by the Avon River near present-day Kilmore Street. The site was a dwelling of Ngāi Tahu chief Te Potiki Tautahi. The Ōtautahi name was adopted in the 1930s, prior to that the Ngāi Tahu generally referred to the Christchurch area as Karaitiana, a transliteration of the English word Christian. The citys name is abbreviated by New Zealanders to Chch. In New Zealand Sign Language, the name is the fingerspelled letter C signed twice, with the second to the right of the first. Archaeological evidence found in a cave at Redcliffs in 1876 has indicated that the Christchurch area was first settled by moa-hunting tribes about 1250 CE. These first inhabitants were thought to have followed by the Waitaha tribe. Following tribal warfare, the Waitaha were dispossessed by the Ngati Mamoe tribe and they were in turn subjugated by the Ngāi Tahu tribe, who remained in control until the arrival of European settlers. Their abandoned holdings were taken over by the Deans brothers in 1843 who stayed, the First Four Ships were chartered by the Canterbury Association and brought the first 792 of the Canterbury Pilgrims to Lyttelton Harbour. These sailing vessels were the Randolph, Charlotte Jane, Sir George Seymour, the Charlotte Jane was the first to arrive on 16 December 1850. The Canterbury Pilgrims had aspirations of building a city around a cathedral and college, the name Christ Church was decided prior to the ships arrival, at the Associations first meeting, on 27 March 1848
5.
European New Zealanders
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European New Zealanders, or White New Zealanders, are New Zealanders of European descent. The term European New Zealander also includes people who are of indirect European descent, such as Americans, Canadians. The Māori term Pākehā is sometimes used as a synonym for European New Zealander, Cook claimed New Zealand for Britain on his arrival in 1769. The establishment of British colonies in Australia from 1788 and the boom in whaling and sealing in the Southern Ocean brought many Europeans to the vicinity of New Zealand. Whalers and sealers were often itinerant and the first real settlers were missionaries, some of the early visitors stayed and lived with Māori tribes as Pākehā Māori. Often whalers and traders married Māori women of status which served to cement trade and political alliances as well as bringing wealth. By 1830 there was a population of about 800 non Māori which included a total of about 200 runaway convicts, the seamen often lived in New Zealand for a short time before joining another ship a few months later. In 1839 there were 1100 Europeans living in the North Island, by this time, many Māori, especially in the north, could read and write Māori and to a lesser extent English. European migration has resulted in a deep legacy being left on the social and political structures of New Zealand, early visitors to New Zealand included whalers, sealers, missionaries, mariners, and merchants, attracted to natural resources in abundance. They came from the Australian colonies, Great Britain and Ireland, Germany, France, Portugal, the Netherlands, Denmark, The United States, British sovereignty was then proclaimed over New Zealand in May 1840. Some would later argue that the proclamation of sovereignty was in conflict with the treaty which in its Maori version had guaranteed sovereignty to the Maori who signed it. By the end of the 1850s the European and Mäori populations were of a size as immigration. Following the formalising of British sovereignty, the organised and structured flow of migrants from Great Britain, government-chartered ships like the clipper Gananoque and the Glentanner carried immigrants to New Zealand. Ships would then head north once in the vicinity of New Zealand, the Glentanner migrant ship of 610 tonnes made two runs to New Zealand and several to Australia carrying 400 tonne of passengers and cargo. Travel time was about 3 to 3 1/2 months to New Zealand, cargo carried on the Glentanner for New Zealand included coal, slate, lead sheet, wine, beer, cart components, salt, soap and passengers personal goods. On the 1857 passage the ship carried 163 official passengers, most of government assisted. On the return trip the ship carried a cargo worth 45,000 pounds. In the 1860s discovery of gold started a rush in Otago
6.
Canterbury, New Zealand
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Canterbury is a region of New Zealand, located in the central-eastern South Island. The region covers an area of 44,508 square kilometres, the region in its current form was established in 1989 during nationwide local government reforms. The Kaikoura District joined the region in 1992 following the abolition of the Nelson-Marlborough Regional Council, Christchurch, the South Islands largest city and the countrys third-largest urban area, is the seat of the region and home to 65 percent of the regions population. Other major towns and cities include Timaru, Ashburton, Rangiora, in 1848, Edward Gibbon Wakefield, a Briton, and John Robert Godley, an Anglo-Irish aristocrat, founded the Canterbury Association to establish an Anglican colony in the South Island. The colony was based upon theories developed by Wakefield while in prison for eloping with a woman not-of-age, due to ties to the prestigious Oxford University, the Canterbury Association succeeded in raising sufficient funds and recruiting middle-class and upper-class settlers. In April 1850, a group led by Godley landed at Port Cooper—modern-day Lyttelton Harbour—and established a port, housing. In December 1850, the first wave of 750 settlers arrived at Lyttelton in a fleet of four ships, following 1850, the provinces economy developed with the introduction of sheep farming. The Canterbury regions tussock plains in particular were suitable for sheep farming. Since they were valued by settlers for their meat and wool. By the 1860s, this figure had risen to three million, during this period, the architect Benjamin Mountfort designed many civic and ecclesiastical buildings in the Gothic Revival style. The Canterbury Province was formed in 1853 following the passing of the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 and it was formed from part of New Munster Province and covered the middle part of the South Island, stretching from the east coast to the west coast. The province was abolished, along with provinces of New Zealand. The modern Canterbury Region has slightly different boundaries, particularly in the north and it is New Zealands largest region by area, with an area of 45,346 km2. Canterbury was traditionally bounded in the north by the Conway River, to the west by the Southern Alps, the area is commonly divided into North Canterbury, Mid Canterbury, South Canterbury and Christchurch City. Canterbury is home to 600,100 people according to Statistics New Zealands June 2016,13 percent of New Zealands population and it the most populous in the South Island and the second most populous region in New Zealand. The median age of Canterburys population is 39.9 years, around 15.5 percent of the population is aged 65 or over while 18.7 percent is aged under 15. There are 97.5 males for every hundred females in Canterbury, just under 20 percent of Canterburys population was born overseas, compared to 25 percent for New Zealand as a whole. The British Isles remains the largest region of origin, accounting for 36.5 percent of the population in Canterbury
7.
Waimakariri River
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The Waimakariri River, formerly briefly known as the Courtenay River, is one of the largest of the North Canterbury rivers, in the South Island of New Zealand. It flows for 151 kilometres in a southeastward direction from the Southern Alps across the Canterbury Plains to the Pacific Ocean. In Māori, Waimakariri has several meanings, one of which is river of cold rushing water, the river is known colloquially in Canterbury as The Waimak. The river rises on the flanks of the Southern Alps. For much of its reaches, the river is braided. As the river approaches the Canterbury Plains, it passes through a belt of mountains and it finally enters the Pacific north of Christchurch, near the town of Kaiapoi. In 1849, the surveyor of the Canterbury Association, Joseph Thomas, gave the river the name Courtenay River after Lord Courtenay. Instead of being unoccupied crown land as are most New Zealand river beds, chinook salmon were introduced from California in the 1900s and persist today. In 1923 the river was investigated for a hydroelectric dam to supply electricity to Christchurch. It received support from the community but the dam was never built since the Government offered inexpensive electricity from the Lake Coleridge scheme. The Central Plains Water Trust is proposing to take 40 cubic metres per second of water from two points on the Waimakariri River as part of the Central Plains Water enhancement scheme. In 2007 the Waimakariri was ranked as one of the ten most polluted of the rivers in New Zealand. Some of the pollution was caused by liquid wastes from industries such as a processing plant. The wastes were discharged directly into it but as of 2012 it was piped to the sewage treatment plant. There had been some issues with the resource consents for water discharge. Waimakariri River Regional Plan at Environment Canterbury
8.
Statistics New Zealand
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Statistics New Zealand is the public service department of New Zealand charged with collecting and producing information of a statistical nature. Standards and Methods studies statistical methods, statistical education and research, solutions and capabilities, information management, there is one general manager in Christchurch and one in Auckland. It develops products and services, manages publishing and customer services, industry and Labour Statistics studies business indicators, finance and performance, agriculture, energy and work knowledge and skills. Many of the powers, duties, and responsibilities are governed by acts of the New Zealand Parliament. The agency is a state organisation of New Zealand operating under the authority of the Statistics Act 1975. The department conducts the census five years. The census is officially done on one day, the most recent census was on 5 March 2013. This information is helpful for business purposes, government decision making, media purposes, foreign policy, journalism, public information, planning, the department supplies a wide variety of information. In addition, it analyzes trends and publishes forecasts, the agency does not involve itself with political polling generally. The agency provides information to the public, many surveys and reports are available free of charge on its website, users can download spreadsheets electronically. Information from demographers is used as material by journalists for articles. Sometimes statistics can influence public policy, for example, Statistics New Zealand demographers in 2008 spotted a trend of fewer women having children and wrote, Deciding not to have children happens as a consequence of other life events. Education, career, mortgages, changes in family and partners for many couples and their report was picked up by journalists at the Sunday Star-Times to form the basis of an article with the headline New Zealand women stop having babies. The article discussed ramifications, such as possible workforce shortages and increased cost of elderly care, newspaper headlines can influence public opinion which may impact policy decisions. Statistics New Zealand information is used by government to explore tough problems, agency data is quoted by a wide variety of sources, even in the footnotes of books. For example, in Connecting the Clouds - the Internet in New Zealand, author Keith Newman cites agency statistics regarding telecommunications cost decreases, data is used to help retailers spot trends and act accordingly. A newspaper article on decreased do-it-yourself retail spending in 2008 quoted an agency source and this information helps businesses adjust to new realities. Radio programmes such as Radio New Zealand National have quoted agency data, some agency policies result in controversy
9.
Rangiora
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Rangiora is the largest town and seat of the Waimakariri District, in Canterbury, New Zealand. It is 29 kilometres north of Christchurch, and is considered a town of the city. With a population of 17,350, Rangiora is the 25th largest urban area in New Zealand, Rangiora is 29 kilometres north of Christchurchs Cathedral Square or 20 minutes drive north of the Christchurch International Airport. It is close to the end of Canterburys Inland Scenic Route. The Ashley River is just to the north of the town, as of the 2006 census the population of the urban area was 11,871. There were approximately 4,500 more people living in the rural area. The urban area has seen a rate of over 10% in the last five years. The highest official temperature recorded in New Zealand was 42.4 °C at Rangiora on 7 February 1973. The town has primary schools and two secondary schools. They are, Ashgrove School, a full primary school in the north-west of the town with a roll of 488 students. The current principal is Christine Chadwick, Rangiora Borough School, a state full primary school in the centre of the town with a roll of 571 students. The current principal is Alan Sutton, St Josephs School, a state-integrated Catholic full primary school in the centre of the town with a roll of 158 students. The school opened in 1887 as a school and integrated into the state education system in the early 1980s. The current principal is Ben Gormen, Rangiora High School, a state co-educational secondary school, which serves Rangiora and the surrounding area, with a roll of 1768 students. The school opened in 1884, and the current acting principal is Julia Malcolm, Rangiora New Life School, a state-integrated Christian Area School situated in the Rangiora suburb of Southbrook. The school opened in 1979 as a school and integrated into the state education system in the early 1990s. A school roll of apx.400 students and growing, the current principal is Stephen Walters. Population growth in the Rangiora area since the mid-2000s, especially following the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, has seen the towns primary schools start to approach capacity
New Zealand
