Day 7

 Blog Day 7

              

Rewarewa honey from Waireka honey

  We returned from our farm stays this morning and departed Marton around nine o’clock. From there, we traveled about two hours south to Wellington. Along the way, we stopped at Waireka Honey where we had the opportunity to sample local honeys such as the famous Manuka honey, Rewarewa honey, Bush honey, Kamahi honey, and Pohutukawa honey. This stop also featured other products made from honeybees and their by-products such as lip balm and hand cream. Finally, the store sold honey supers and other beekeeping supplies.

                

 

 After our stop at Waireka Honey, we continued down to Wellington. We passed into hill country and started to see many of the rolling hills New Zealand is well known for. Wellington is the windiest city in the world, with the average wind speed being eighteen miles per hour. Thankfully, there was no wind while we were visiting. As we entered the city from a new motorway that just opened this past March, we got to see the harbor that Wellington is built around.

               

Tauihu, the prow of a canoe recovered from the Doubtless Bay

Taxidermized kea parrots at the Te Papa Museum

Skeleton of moa bird at the Te Papa Museum

Al, Mack, and Katy inside a replica of a blue whale’s heart.

Our first stop in Wellington was the Te Papa Museum. The museum featured many exhibits on New Zealand’s natural habitats and the culture of the Māori people. 

The second floor of the museum, and the first floor of exhibits, was dedicated to the natural history of New Zealand. Here, we saw lots of taxidermy of New Zealand’s native wildlife. Some highlights include: the tuatara, an ancient species and the only extant member of the Sphenodon genus which thrived during the time of the dinosaurs, the moa, a now extinct species of flightless birds that once roamed New Zealand, the kea parrots, a species of parrot that is facing extinction after bounties were placed on them for being too destructive, and finally a preserved deep-sea squid.

Replica tuatara at Te Papa Museum

                

 

 

Hokule’a replica at Te Papa Museum (boat replica)

Wall of hooks at Te Papa Museum

Various jade, bone, and stone Māori tools

The fourth floor of the Te Papa Museum housed an art gallery dedicated to some Māori artists and the history of the Māori (and other Pacific Islanders) and immigrants of New Zealand. Here, we saw many replicas of ocean-faring ships and canoes. Tools made of jade and bone were also quite abundant as those materials have a high value placed on them in the Māori culture.

The Human Settlement of the Pacific Islands

Rākau whakapapa (genealogy stick) made by the Ngāi Tuhoe tribe

Cloak of Te Aia Mataiapo, a Raotongan chief’s cloak given as a gift to New Zealand

                

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Our next stop in Wellington was to Beef + Lamb New Zealand to learn about the organization and what they do for beef and sheep producers of New Zealand. Nick Jolly gave the presentation and explained how their organization is run. Beef + Lamb NZ collects levies on beef cattle and sheep before slaughter. These levies then allow them to fund research into ways to improve the industry as well as investing in marketing. The most important job that Beef + Lamb NZ does is lobbying for farmers. Beef + Lamb NZ strives to allow farmers to continue to operate profitably while meeting the sustainability standards the New Zealand government has set in place.

 One of the biggest changes coming to New Zealand in the new couple of years is the tax on carbon emissions from farming. Beef + Lamb NZ worked towards making a program that would allow farmers to comply to this new legislation, while still offering them an incentive to lower their emissions instead of the new tax simply being a tax on farmers.

 Another aspect of Beef + Lamb NZ is the marketing and sale of New Zealand beef and sheep internationally. New Zealand is a small island country and as such they rely on exports. Historically, the United States took the majority of exported beef, and the United Kingdom took the majority of the exported sheep. Today, China takes most of both the sheep and beef exported. Beef + Lamb NZ has worked to secure free trade agreements with many countries in recent years and has also worked on maximizing profit by selling cuts of meat to areas where they are worth the most. Beef + Lamb NZ has also diversified which countries they sell to, now having more flexible trade lines.

                Once we finished at Beef + Lamb New Zealand, we drove over to the airport where we caught a plane to the South Island. The flight was only about twenty minutes long. Once we landed in Christchurch, we made our way to our hotel for dinner and to sleep for the night.

Last views of Wellington and the North Island

First view of Christchurch and the South Island