Finding the Flag for New Zealand

This Waitangi Day the New Zealand flag was flown all over the country in celebration of the signing of the the Treaty. In Wellington and many other towns and cities the Tino rangatiratanga flag (Maori Flag) was also flown alongside it. According to wikipedia 'tino rangatiratanga" means absolute/unqualified chieftainship and is used to represent Maori independence.

This move has sparked a debate about whether or not New Zealand should have a new flag that embraces all the people, of all races and has less emphasis on the link with the UK. Feelings have become so heated in some areas that the current flag has been burned. One member of the Republican party who was part of the flag burning in Hamilton claimed that the current flag is a fictitious creation bearing no relation to the people of New Zealand today. Other people, such as John Key seem to take it less seriously famously saying this week that he had other more important things to worry about!

I think the choice of flag is actually a very serious business. If you choose the wrong one, a symbol that everyone can't unite beneath, it can lead to massive division. If you allow your flag to be hijacked by one section of society and used to represent something that the majority do not agree with it can also cause massive problems. In the UK the Union Jack has been used by many far right (neo nazi) groups and even the BNP and has now become so associated with them that most people would be ashamed to fly the Union Jack. It no longer represents the the country as a whole.

I like the fact that schools and often individuals house round here fly the New Zealand flag and I hope that this doesn't change.

I think that there is an obvious solution to this problem and that although I like the link New Zealand has to the UK it is probably time to drop the British Flag from its prominent position. I think all Kiwis could unite under a new flag that has neither the colonial connotations or is solely for the Maori people. I like the silver fern used by the sporting teams and, I believe similar to the Maple leaf in Canada, it could come to represent this country really well.

I will climb down from my soap box now!

Waitangi Day Celebrations in Wellington

This Saturday we decided to head into Wellington again to join in with the Waitangi Day celebrations. This day marks the signing of the Waitangi Treaty on February 6th 1840. The Treaty was signed between representatives of the British crown and various Maori Tribal Chiefs and gave New Zealand a British Governor and provided Maori with all the rights of British citizens. It also recognised Maori land ownership and gave Great Britain sovereignty over New Zealand. It is considered by many to be the founding document of New Zealand.

The Treaty was written in two versions, one in English and one in Maori. This has led to various problems as the two versions actually say slightly different things so there is no definitive consensus as to what was actually agreed at Waitangi. Nevertheless it is obviously a very good excuse to celebrate by dancing a lot, listening to some good Reggae music, eating a lot of ice-cream and watermelon and generally having a good time in the sun.

There was a really good drumming group that got most of the crowd dancing.

The boys really got into doing a their Haka dance.

Some really beautiful dancing.

It was also the Rubgy 7s in Wellington this Saturday. This meant that as we wandered along the waterfront we kept being passed by people dressed up in a wide variety of weird and wonderful costumes. It seems to be the tradition to dress up in order to watch the 7 minute rugby matches.

The girls were delighted by Batman and Robin in flip flops, a whole troupe of bright red crabs, Roman Centurions and a group of Crusty the Clowns. It made our walk back to the car extremely entertaining!

A Kiwi Summer at last.

I have decide that I am extremely British in that I have an obsession with the weather. Living in New Zealand suits me as the weather here changes from hour to hour and is highly unpredictable. At this time yesterday we were paddling in the sea watching the crabs crawl over our toes. Today is grey and cold with driving rain and we are sat huddled inside watching commando guinea pigs on DVD.

This week has given us our first real taste of a Kiwi summer and its been great. We have been swimming and building numerous sandcastles on the beach, horse riding and cycling. If you love the outdoor life this is the country for you.

The only problem with this hot sunny weather is the fact that I have to continually smear sun cream on the girls every few hours. The sun is so strong over here that if you fail to do this they will go bright red in less than an hour. This has been proved unfortunately by the odd red patches I have on my arm from where I failed to spread the sun cream evenly enough. I also seem to always forget to spread cream on our feet - so we all look a bit freaky at the moment with our incredibly bronzed feet.

Due to my obsession with the risk of sunburn I insist that the girls both wear their wetsuits on the beach no matter how hot it is. I am clearly a very cruel mother!


A doing a bit of body boarding.

I have really begun to notice the influx of tourists to this area this week. We spent the day in the city this Friday and travelling in on the highway towards the city we noticed the large cruise liner docked in the harbour. Once in the city you could immediately see the impact of this. There were tourists everywhere. They were easy to spot - all looking a bit lost and wondering slowly around looking in the shops or queueing for the tram ride up to the Botanic Gardens. This was in sharp contrast to the other bunch of people who had come to watch the ACDC concert at the Westpac stadium the previous night. They were all nursing coffees in the cafes and trying to recover from the night before.

Wellington is a great city to roam around in and people watch. We were amazed by the number of people jumping off the waterfront into the harbour.

People climbing up having jumped in the harbour. The bronze crouching figure in the centre is a statue - not a rather depressed Wellingtonian!

The Inter Island ferry in the back ground and the helicopter giving trips over the city.

I love New Zealand in the summer. The countryside and outside activities are so easy to access. The beaches are clean and safe. Everybody heads out in the countryside and the beach with their boats, canoes and kayaks in tow. Every evening this summer the Pautuahanui inlet near us has had several cars parked on the beach whilst their owners mess about on the water with their jet skis. It really is the ideal way of life. I love it!