Tuesday Trivia: Wild New Zealand

Lathrop Saddle outside of Hokitika. Image: Alan Watson

With part of the Spiral Team on the Milford Track this week we thought we'd have a look here at our wonderful wild natural spaces.

The Milford Track. New Zealand's premier great walk, sometimes described as the finest walk in the world. A bit crowded but it certainly looks worth it. And isn't any track crowded that has more than one group on it?

Some amazing photos from the Southern Alps. Caution, may cause an irresistible need to explore New Zealand wilderness.

We have so much here to explore! The DOC website shows that we have tracks all around the country. Wherever you are in New Zealand there is a track not far away.

"There's a real purity in New Zealand that doesn't exist in the States. It's not an easy thing to find in our world anymore. It's a unique place because it is so far away from the rest of the world. There is a sense of isolation and also being protected." - Elijah Wood

Tuesday Trio - 100 years of remembrance

Eastbourne beach looking across at Wellington - Image: Phil Benge 

A century ago New Zealand entered into its bloodiest conflict ever, eventually sending a tenth of its total population overseas to fight for the Empire. The commemorations of this centenary have begun throughout the world but we thought we'd share a few distinctly New Zealand examples:

Tweets from 100 years ago - History from the perspective of kiwis at the time. If they had Twitter that is. Imagine how much more personal the conflict could have been with this sort of close contact between home and the battlefield.

WW100 - The centenary project that is a shared identity for New Zealand WW1 commemorations. Details for commemorative events, news and shared history are all on here. What's happening near you?

NZhistory - New Zealand's history in the conflict including stories from the battlefield, military operations and the invasion of Samoa. 

It's hard to imagine what life was like back then before technology made the world the much smaller place it is today but some things are not so different. New Zealand still operated in a globalised world. Our links across the seas were if anything stronger than they are now with an even higher proportion of our citizens born elsewhere. Looking back gives us insight into who we are as a country and who we might want to become in the future. We can only hope that the right lessons have been learned.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" - George Santayana