Aotearoa
Aotearoa is the Maori name for New Zealand,...
(literally, ao = cloud, tea = white, pale, roa = long). This could be translated as (the) long white cloud. It does not mean "Land of the Long White Cloud". In Māori that would be Te Whenua o Aotearoa.
Aotearoa is the Maori name for New Zealand,...
(literally, ao = cloud, tea = white, pale, roa = long). This could be translated as (the) long white cloud. It does not mean "Land of the Long White Cloud". In Māori that would be Te Whenua o Aotearoa.
As with many Māori place names, the context from which the name derives is important. Traditional accounts suggest that Hine-te-aparangi, wife of well known pacific navigator/explorer Kupe, after a long ocean going voyage, sighted a particular cloud aotea that usually indicates the presence of land. The term roa can also indicate a length of time. Thus, a more accurate translation could be 'It has been a long time since seeing a cloud that indicates land'.
Aotearoa is commonly given as the Māori name for New Zealand. Before the arrival of Europeans to the New Zealand, it probably only referred to the Te Ika a Maui (i.e., the North Island).
I left Christchurch in brilliant sunshine, out over the Canterbury Plains, across the mighty Waimakariri River, and it is the beautiful Southern Alps in it's winter coat....over South Canterbury, then it is long white cloud time through the McKenzie basin, sadly as we passed Aoraki Mount Cook home of the highest mountains and the longest glaciers, it was in hiding. The Mt Cook National Park (also known as Aoraki National Park) is alpine in the purest sense - with skyscraping peaks, glaciers and permanent snow fields.
Mt Cook, the tallest mountain in New Zealand, helped Sir Edmund Hillary to develop his climbing skills in preparation for the conquest of Everest.
I left Christchurch in brilliant sunshine, out over the Canterbury Plains, across the mighty Waimakariri River, and it is the beautiful Southern Alps in it's winter coat....over South Canterbury, then it is long white cloud time through the McKenzie basin, sadly as we passed Aoraki Mount Cook home of the highest mountains and the longest glaciers, it was in hiding. The Mt Cook National Park (also known as Aoraki National Park) is alpine in the purest sense - with skyscraping peaks, glaciers and permanent snow fields.
Mt Cook, the tallest mountain in New Zealand, helped Sir Edmund Hillary to develop his climbing skills in preparation for the conquest of Everest.
According to Ngai Tahu legend, Aoraki and his three brothers were the sons of Rakinui, the Sky Father. While on a sea voyage, their canoe overturned on a reef. When the brothers climbed on top of their canoe, the freezing south wind turned them to stone. The canoe became the South Island (Te Waka o Aoraki); Aoraki and his brothers became the peaks of the Southern Alps.
Then it is into the Southern Lakes region, over Lake Wanaka and the Cardrona skifield in flat light, across the Crown Range and into Queenstown where we did circuits for a while and came in over Lake Wakatipu from the Glenorchy end. Perfect. Over the hill with friends as chauffers and into Wanaka... home for two weeks with Mama.
Then it is into the Southern Lakes region, over Lake Wanaka and the Cardrona skifield in flat light, across the Crown Range and into Queenstown where we did circuits for a while and came in over Lake Wakatipu from the Glenorchy end. Perfect. Over the hill with friends as chauffers and into Wanaka... home for two weeks with Mama.
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