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National Exchange to Australia
The Western Bay of Plenty was discovered by Captain Cook who gave up without discovering the extent of the bay. He named the place "Bay of Plenty" because of its abundance of food. The area has been farmed for centuries, but has recently become a retirement mecca with real estate inflating at breakneck speed. Many of us had host families who had recently "shifted" (moved) as their homes became worth more in an effort to lock in their perfect retirement abode! We lived in towns with names like Kati Kati (known for renovating the town with beautiful murals on the sides and fronts of buildings), Te Puke (te pook' eee), Omokorroa, Papamoa, and Tauranga. Speaking of town names, near Hobart we encountered Sandfly, Snug, and Ouse (pronounced Oooze)! To share our experience, you are going to be given a plethora of Downunder Trivia! "Wai" in Maori means water and many words begin with "wai," such as the Treaty of Waitangi, the founding document in New Zealand's history. There were no animals in New Zealand until the Europeans arrived. Even rats did not arrive until they hitched a ride in Maori canoes. Tauranga was originally settled by the descendents of the Takitimu Canoe travelers who voyaged across the Pacific from Hawaii seven centuries ago. The Kiwi fruit was originally called Chinese gooseberry, until a contest was held for its new name. Kiwi trees change sex from male to female, and there are two newer varieties other than the green ones we are used to....a golden kiwi and small ones the size of grapes that are eaten peel and all! They can pick two crops every year and the trees may produce for 50 to 60 years. Avocados are all picked by hand and are sheltered from frost by elaborate windbreaks. Beekeepers seldom get arthritis as bee venom can be extracted as an arthritis cure. A queen bee will lay up to 2,000 eggs per day in her prime. The Kiwi Friendship Forcers beat the U.S. folks in both the fun games and the "intellectual" competition. Hmmmmm! Lavendar can be used to make perfume, soaps, scent candles, use in steam irons, make lovely bouquets, used in Earl Grey tea, and MUFFINS! There are 20 to 30 million sheep in New Zealand, depending upon who is doing the counting. Counting tends to put one to sleep! In the Forest of Whakarewarewa we saw a 70 year old giant redwood that is the same size as a 700 year old giant redwood in California. The growing conditions are that much better in New Zealand! Sheep shearing has become an art form....competitions are held and we were told that one man sheered 829 sheep in a 9-hour period, losing around 50 pounds himself in the process! Leaving Auckland involved over two hours of lines and security and formalities, even examining the size of hairspray or shaving creme canisters to make sure they were not too large. The original settlers of Tasmania in September 1803, consisted of 49 folks, 24 of them convicts. By 1844, of 15,000 new arrivals, less than 30 were free emigrants. Although many of these convicts had been convicted only of petty crimes, penal stations were established to accommodate them as they were treated as prisoners. We visited Port Arthur where 12,500 were sentenced for terms ranging from several years to life. Few ever escaped and the Isle of the Dead there is a grim testimony that many did not survive. Although we saw much around Hobart, to properly visit the whole island of Tasmania takes two to three weeks. Many people think they can see all of Australia on one visit! The timber industry is awash in controversy in both New Zealand and Tasmania. A large protest march was held in Hobart as the Greens do not approve of current clear-cutting and re-planting of forests. We visited a dense forest in the Hartz Mountains that dates from plantings done in 1969. Black hearted sassafras has interesting black streaks running through the wood, caused by an infection with a fungus! On hot days, the leaves of string bark Eucalyptus trees gives off a flammable gas. These trees are designed to burn as their stringy, dangling bark acts as kindling. A burn is required for the tree to reproduce! We saw a number of controlled burns in Tasmania. We enjoyed walking through the rainforest treetops on the Skywalk, which was built in only three months without destroying the forest. Sand and plastic tracks were laid and cranes carefully placed to erect the tall walkway. All of this was removed leaving the forest floor to regenerate and a beautiful walkway for all to enjoy! Voter registration in Australia is compulsory at age 18. On voting day you MUST turn up and collect your voting paper, so 99% of the people vote. The speaker of the Tasmanian House, Michael Pollard, told us that with this type of voting, special interest groups have very little control. "The majority will always make a common sense decision," he said. Not voting can incur a fine, but people vote because it is the thing to do. Technically, the Queen is still head of state in Australia. The Labour party (like our Democrats) say Australia should become a republic, but their members tend to vote with the Liberal Party (like our Republicans) on this issue. The Liberals do not want to change the constitution to make Australia a Republic. For there to be a constitutional change four of the six Australian states must agree. The wombat, a close relative of the koala, is the world's largest burrowing animal. He can burrow up to 60 feet. Kangaroo joeys can pop in and out of a mother kangaroo’s pouch. Just ask Bob Wittstruck who videotaped this interesting Australian phenomenon. Tasmanian Devils are only found in Tasmania, but are being killed off by a retro-virus. A Tasmanian Devil has nine times the biting pressure of a pit bull, about the same as a crocodile. Teddy Roosevelt is partially responsible for saving the kaola. When he came hunting in Australia he couldn't shoot them. "Not sporting," he said, "You should save these!" And they did! Koalas sleep 20 hours a day. A skink looks like a cross between a lizard and a snake. Ugg boots are a current craze in the U.S. They originated in the 20's in rural Australia, when shearers used to wrap sheepskins around their feet to keep warm in the sheds. The abbreviation was short for "ugly." The problem is some Americans (ugly ones) did bother with the trademark, registering it in 25 countries in 1995, and now they are sueing the Aussies not to use THEIR name for the boots anymore! The Australian cottage industry is fighting back in this David and Goliath battle. Lawn bowls....you do the bowls, you do NOT go bowling. The lawn bowl "ball" is not round, but kind of an oblong sphere, so it always rolls on the bias. You can make them curve right or left by throwing them with the label facing the right side to turn left or on the left side to turn right. It is much harder than it looks! |
©2008 Friendship Force of Lincoln. All Rights Reserved. |
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early a third of the thirty ambassadors heading "Downunder" in March were experiencing the wonder of traveling the Friendship Force way for the first time. We had a sometime Lincolnite who now lives in India, six Santa Barbarans, two Minnesotans, three Coloradoans, one Arizonian, one North Carolinian, one Washingtonian, two Mississippians, two New Hampshirites, and the rest Nebraskans! In addition to experiencing new friends, they saw blue ocean inlets, lush rolling hillsides dotted with sheep, rain forests with ferns the size of trees and moss covered logs amidst pathways dappled with sunlight, rushing waterfalls at every turn.