New Zealand
The State is New Zealand, often called NZ. It is south-west in
Pacific Ocean. The structure is constitutional monarchy. Almost al of people speaks English, 95.9%, and the others are Maori (4.2%) and New Zealand sign language (0.6%).
Also, in
ethnic groups, the European has the majority (78.0%). There are also Maori
(14.6%), Asian (9.2%) and Pacific people (6.9%). The great number of European
is derived from its history, immigration from UK.
Then, I
tell you the transition of its position. After reaching of
And turn to its culture. The
culture is mixed one. As I write above, there are a number of immigrants from
European countries, Asian country and the many other countries. Accordingly,
the native Maori culture had been blended with exotic one. The hybrid culture has
developed in such special environment, and has become distinct one.
Moreover,
I focus on food and sport here. Do you think of dishes of New Zealand? Maybe
many don’t. Actually, there is no characteristic in the food culture. 
Some say
“It is why the country has been largely influenced by UK. (It is often said
that people in UK are less interested in the food than the other countries in
the world.)” In the other hand, the ingredients grown in New Zealand are very
good, including kiwi fruit, meat, milk and honey. These are important exported
goods for the country. 
Though
the actual results are splendid, the performance before game is more fascinating
for me. The performance is Haka dance, which is traditional dance of Maori. It
has two meaning. One is delight for competition, the other is respect to
opposite team. Furthermore, it is in teresting
that the leader of the Haka dance is conventionally the person who is descended
from Maori, even though he is reserve player. This is the movie of Haka bellow.
Next topic is economy. In the food part, I wrote that there are a
lot of good ingredients in New Zealand. Therefore the economy depends on
primary industry. It makes up 60~70% for its exportation.
It is thriving business for New Zealand.
I
introduce one of these systems: “Qual mark”, which is official institution
managed by administration. Its purpose is providing a tour with relief and
safety, 
for
example, all lodgings in New Zealand are graded on 5 steps for tourists to
select a lodge according to each require ments. Te Wahipounamu – SouthWest New Zealand
Brief Description
Te Wahipounamu is a World Heritage Site situated
in the south west corner of the South West island of New Zealand. It is inscribed
on the World Heritage List in 1990, and covering about 26,000km². The Site incorporates four national
parks: Fiordland National Park, Aoraki/ Mt. Cook National Park, Mt. Aspiring
National Park and Westland Tai Poutini National Park. Te Wahipounamu means “the
place of greenstone” in Maori.
Geographical
Features
There are the two tectonic plates: the
Indo-Australian plate and the Pacific continental plate. Collision between the
two tectonic plates constructs the main mountain range, known as the Southern Alps,
which rise to nearly 4000m altitude within a mere 30km from the sea. Also, many
glaciers formed fiords, lakes, deep U-shaped valleys and so on. The glaciers
are historical products of the Ice Age. Natural Ecosystem of Te Wahipounamu is
considered to be the best modern example of primitive biota. The flora and
fauna represent the ancient biota, and there are many rare species in Te
Wahipounamu. Also, it rains most in the world, and temperate rain forests grow.
Criteria for World
Heritage
There are six criteria for cultural
heritage and four criteria for natural heritage. This is the natural criteria.
1, to contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of
exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance;
2, to be outstanding examples representing major stages of earth's history,
including the record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the
development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features;
3, to be outstanding examples representing significant on-going ecological
and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh
water, coastal and marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals;
4, to contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ
conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened
species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or
conservation.
Te Wahipounamu
fulfills them.
History
Firstly, Fiordland National Park was
registered as a National Park in 1952. Secondly, Aoraki/ Mt. Cook National Park
was registered as a National Park in 1953. Thirdly, Westland Tai
Poutini National Park was registered as a National Park in 1960. Then Mount
Aspiring National Park was registered as a National Park in 1964. Finally, Te
Wahipounamu was registered on UNECO’s World Heritage list in 1990.
Animals
There are many rare
species in Te Wahipounamu. Takahe is a flightless bird and it was thought to be
extinct. However, after a carefully planned search effort the bird was
rediscovered. Kiwi is flightless birds too. They are the national bird of New
Zealand but they are endangered. Kiwifruit was named after Kiwi. The Kea is a
large species of parrot. They are known for their intelligence and curiosity.
Also, there are other parrots, carnivorous land snails, fiord land penguin and
so on.
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| Kiwi |
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| Kea |
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| Takahe |
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| Fiordland Penguin |
Fiordland
National Park
It is the largest of the 14 national parks
in New Zealand, with an area of 12,500km². During the cooler past, glaciers carved many deep
fiords, the most famous of which is Milford Sound. It is called pipiotahi in
Maori. Other notable fiords include Doubtful Sound and Dusky Sound. There are
Southern Alps and other mountains, so at the northern end of the park, several
peaks rise to over 2,000m. Several large lakes lie wholly or partly within the
park’s boundaries, notably Lake Te Anau, Lake Manapouri and Lake Monowai. Also,
the Sutherland Falls near Milford Sound is the tallest in New Zealand.
 |
| Milford Sound |
 |
| Lake Te Anau |
Aoraki/ Mt.
Cook National Park
This park covers about 707km². There is Aoraki/ Mount
Cook, which is the highest mountain in New Zealand. It reaches 3,754m. Aoraki
means “peak of cloud” in Maori and Mount Cook named after Captain James Cook
who is a British explorer and captain in the Royal Navy. Also, Tasman Glacier
is the longest in New Zealand.
 |
| Aoraki/ Mt. Cook |
 |
| Tasman Glaciers |
Westland Tai
Poutini National Park
Westland Tai Poutini Park covers 1,175km². There are two famous
glaciers: Franz Josef Glacier and Fox glacier. They are popular tourist
attractions of the west coast. The remains of old gold mining towns exist along
the coast.
Mount Aspiring
National Park
Mount Aspiring National Park covers
3,555km². There are
many mountains, for example Mt. Aspiring/ Tititea, Mount Pollux and Mt.
Brewster. Especially, Mt. Aspiring has a height of 3,033 meters and it is
called Tititea in Maori.
 |
| Franz Josef Glacier |
 |
| Mt. Aspiring/ Tititea |
Video
|
