It stands to reason that a lot of the place names are Maori, given that they arrived here first, probably only 800 years ago, and as descendants of the same people as Taiwan! Don, our 82 year old bus driver, told us that the last pure Maori died 8 years ago, and now all Maori's are just part Maori. Apparently to be classed as Maori you just need to state that you are Maori, so it's a fairly open club!
The language is beginning to fade away, which quite frankly seems to be the best option, given that all of the words sound the same, use only about 5 letters, and generally repeat syllables and use an over abundance of vowels! I am not sure if it is because we have only been to each place so briefly, or because the names do all sound similar, but I have found the language all very confusing! Tairua, Te Papa, Kaikoura, Puna Kaiki, Hokitika, Hawea, Te Anau, Taiaroa, Pukekura, Moeraki, Omarama, Aomaru, Aoroki, Tekapo, Akaroa..... See what I mean!
We had a quick stop at an amazing beach to see the Moeraki Boulders, freakishly round boulders that keep being exposed as the sea erodes the cliffs. No one seems entirely sure how they came to be so spherical but there was probably a volcanic eruption involved somewhere!
Next stop, Oamaru, a really quaint town, with a large number of buildings built to reflect the great Victorian buildings, and a lot of artisans work in one particular area. It was quite eccentric, and had a really overly feeling about the place.
It was a shame we didn't have longer to explore. But we did find the best ice cream. Gingernut or salted caramel popcorn flavours seemed to be the most popular.
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