by What do you see when you look at a river, mountain or forest? A wild animal in the ocean, the bush or the air? Do you want to own them, tame them or dominate them? Or do you see, instead, spirits like your own who need your guardianship and respect?
If you view people as protectors rather than owners of our planet, a trip to Aotearoa – the land of the long white clouds, commonly known as New Zealand – should be at the top of your list.
Visitors will find out here te ao Māori (the Māori world) based on cardiaca beautiful concept that gives a deep connection to nature: so much so that New Zealand was one of the first countries to give environmental personality to natural entities such as forests and rivers, giving them the same right to be protected from harm as people have.
even though cardiac a relationship that, for centuries, seemed only to be nurtured by the native people of the two islands, is now an integral part of the Kiwi psyche – and a major contributor to tourism.
“It’s embedded in the Kiwi way of life,” said Riwai Grace, who runs Christchurch-based Amiki (amikitours.com), a cultural and gourmet walking tour company with his wife, Cate. “God is universalback ora‘. We all say it, whatever our background, but my roots are Māori so I like to invite people to join me in Hongi. Would you like that?”
I did, if only to amuse passers-by who would stop to see how barely 5ft I managed to make contact and rub noses with Riwai’s 6ft4 man tank” in the traditional Māori greeting. “Our breaths mingled and our spirits separated,” he said after releasing himself back to the standing giant. “You are no longer a manuhiri – a visitor – but part of our community.” The experience was surprising, the intimacy he wanted wasn’t uncomfortable at all. I felt it gave me a deeper level of connection than a handshake would have.
Riwai weaved Māori folklore and history into his narrative as he walked us to some of his favorite diners and bars. Contrary to my own rewriting of history – at least as deceptive as Māori legends, which say that the Polynesian demigod Māui created Te Ika-aMāui (North Island) from a fish he pulled out of the sea, and Te Waipounamu (Island South) from his canoe – Māori did not live in Aotearoa for thousands of years, but until sometime between the 13th and 14th centuries.
Before that, the islands belonged to nature, the lush forests a haven for invertebrates, reptiles and birds. New Zealand is still very green – nearly 31 percent is forested, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations – but interference with our own species has led to the destruction of our own species.
The newly arrived people from Polynesia, that is not yet known cardiac meant leaving well alone, all eaten by the huge, flightless moa bird. With these gone, their main predator, the hokioi or Haast eagle – the largest eagle our planet has ever seen – was also lost. Also, the rats they brought in for food and as pets ate naïve rails, flightless spectacled crocs, and a large number of native frogs and small petrels, becoming extinct.
Such interference only made more of it. For centuries, British rule without the light of nature set it down a path that was the antithesis cardiac. Like the cautionary tale of the old lady who swallowed a fly, humans have introduced one invasive species after another for food or to correct past wrongs.
All that is now in the past, says Riwai, as the nation unites in efforts to eradicate floral and fauna pests and revive, protect and celebrate its native species. One evening, I drank 600 years of history and many times as many calories. After Christchurch as my base, I headed 180km (112 miles) up the coast to Kaikōura to feast on nature.
The best of New Zealand begins and ends outside: the island’s head-to-toe natural beauty is breathtaking, so much so that my head bobs from left to right to take in mountain and sea views, foaming, crashing waves, and the stillness of rocky summits. Sea, mountain, blue, green, motion, immobility. Everything at once.
When I arrived in Kaikōura, I only saw the sea from my window at the Sudima Hotel (rooms from £108; sudimahotels.com) – but the next day, a new life yawned and stretched out before me. The mist had lifted to reveal a vision of perfect elemental beauty – the snowy peaks of the Southern Alps standing against the infinity of a cloudless sky.
Seen from the ground and in the distance, the mountains had a magnetic pull. Seen from above, from within the bubble of a helicopter, their function was significant. Dan Stevenson, owner of South Pacific Helicopters (three-hour trip from £893pp; southpacifichelicopters.co.nz), took us on a whale-watching flight. There was no one to be seen that day, so he turned away from us on a quick breath-taking flight over the Kaikōura Seaward Range – not that it was needed, as pods of dolphins were very happy with us.
As the land dropped into valleys that looked like broken veins and gray-green-brown impressionism, our excellent guide Lisa Bond, from Kaikōura Destination, took us on another, but equally interesting, flight.
Lisa told us about the heroic efforts to save the endangered Hutton’s fur – the highest breeding seabird in the world – whose two breeding colonies were left somewhere in the tussock-covered cliffs below. She told us about sperm whales, humpbacks, southern right whales and pilot whales, and raised the possibility that orcas may have hunted just below the surface of the ocean. we were washing half an hour before. She also made a great line in Māori myths: “Legend has it that Tohorā, the whale, saved Paikea’s ancestor, who was from the Pacific Islands, from drowning by carrying him on his back to Aotearoa. Among his descendants are the Ngāti Kuri people of Kaikōura.”
Lisa explained that the story highlights the spiritual connections between the town, its people and nature, and that none can exist without the other. “We ask our visitors to take the message of one of ours karakias (incantations or blessings) to his heart: ‘te mauri ora ki te katoa, haumi e, hui e, tāiki e,’ which translates as a desire to be united, connected and blessed. Those three words are the paths we should aim to take in life.”
My experience took me from Christchurch to Kaikōura by road; I’ve flown over the mountains in a helicopter and traveled on the Pacific Train (greatjourneysnz.com) from Kaikōura to Blenheim – a wonderful journey that went over the shore so tight at times I felt we might go into the water at any second – but still had to enjoy a sea adventure. I booked a bespoke tour with Wine, Art and Wilderness to remedy that (guided day experience from £290pp; wineartandwilderness.co.nz). Owner Zane Kennedy had to come up with something amazing to reward me with from my accommodation, Maruia River Retreat, near Murchison (doubles from £1,207 for two nights; maruia.co.nz) – a series of deep villas in a beech forest divided by a fast-flowing river whose own music was the perfect accompaniment to the Cormac, kākāriki and tūī who flew, flew, soared and swung above him – and his plan was waka and wine.
Some of Nelson’s best boutique vineyards have taken care of the wine, including the smallest – the family-owned Riwaka, run by Amber and Paul Mackenzie. “We make four wines and one olive oil, and everything we do is based on the relationship between us and raw nature. Our products are a reflection of place, land, time – tūrangawaewae.” The literal translation of this is a place to stand, but, explained Ómra, the meaning is actually more nuanced. “It includes a sense of belonging to the land, to our community, to the scheme of things. It’s about being rooted in the heritage of our ancestors, and in this soil.”
Tradition and connection with nature, with the past, with the future, with strangers was also at the heart of my next adventure, canoeing with Waka Abel Tasman (two hours group stage). from £50pp; Before paddling, Thomas Moetu, our instructor for the day, took us through our training – how to hold the oar, how to steer – and then asked us to join him in karakia ask the ancestors for protection.
I entered the sea with my group, and clambered gracelessly forward to the two sides waka. Tomás sat at the back telling us about the importance of preserving Māori culture, about the history of the waka, and how it brought people to Aotearoa hundreds of years ago. It was a vehicle, he said, for travel and trade; to bring the islands and their products to the world, and to foster relations with other nations. “The IS waka tours enable our guests to share and preserve an important aspect of our heritage. As they synchronize their paddles to safely navigate their way [journey], it is our hope that they respect the values of working as one to achieve a common goal. Every action, every deed is about nurturing our social networks.”
Periodically Tomás blew into the pūmoana, or conch shell, emitting a primitive, guttural sound that reverberated throughout the waka. His voice came from the depths of the ocean, from the past, from a sea creature that had evolved hundreds of millions of years before. I mouthed the words that Lisa taught me. Haumi e, hui e, tāiki e – I could not wish more for myself than to be united, connected and blessed.
Fundamentals
Xenia Taliotis was a guest of Tourism New Zealand (tourismnewzealand.com).
Qatar Airways (qatarairways.com) flies from London Heathrow to Auckland from £1,157 return.
