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Captain James Cook, whom this author so greatly admires, sighted New Zealand in 1769. One of Cook’s missions was to determine if the “terra australis” or great southern continent actually existed in the South Pacific. He carried a translation of Tasman’s journal on board and was quite convinced that he was seeing New Zealand, and not the undiscovered southern continent. To prove his point, he circumnavigated the North and South Islands creating a map of the shoreline that was used for the next hundred years. Cook found the New Zealand Maoris much more challenging to deal with than the Tahitians. He also confirmed that the Maoris ate their vanquished foes.

Modern New Zealanders remain politically independent. For example, in 1984 the current Prime Minister, Helen Clark, led an effort to ban from New Zealand all ships that either carried nuclear weapons or were powered by nuclear reactors. The US Navy was irked and refused to confirm or deny either of those facts. At one time an inspection was proposed, but the Navy was not keen on that either. A compromise was negotiated but when the first US ship came to call, the deal fell apart. The Kiwis tried to arrest the USS Buchanan, a ship built before WW ll with no nuclear capability. The US threw New Zealand out of the Anzus Treaty Organization and stopped supplying intelligence. In fact, we won’t let our Navy participate in joint naval training exercises with New Zealand. 

While their nuclear stand has been an irritant, within days after September 11 New Zealand committed highly specialized troops to the war on terrorism. The press reported that the recent visit of Prime Minister Helen Clark with President Bush was a historic meeting of “very, very, very” close nations. Clark is pressing for free trade talks with the USA. We hope that they are successful. The Kiwis make wonderful inexpensive wines and cheeses, and raise flavorful lamb and beef that is not corn fed.

The Bay of Islands

        The Bay of Islands, where we first landed in New Zealand, has nurtured a great deal of the country’s history.  Russell, a small town buried deep in the Bay proved to be an excellent protected anchorage for whaling and later seal ships in the 1800s.  Sailors, some of who had been at sea for at least a year by the time they made landfall in New Zealand had shore leave in Russell. Because of the degree of lawlessness there, Russell became known as the “hell hole of the Pacific”.  Perhaps in its days as a whaling port the town of Russell gave rise to the term “Pakeha”, the Maori term for white foreigners. We were advised that the literal translation of the term is “from house that smells”.

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