SOME NEW ZEALAND SPECIALITIES!

Hokey pokey is a flavour of ice cream made in New Zealand. It is their second favourite ice cream flavour, after vanilla! It is basically still vanilla ice cream, but it has small pieces of crispy toffee in it. But why is it called Hokey Pokey? Some people say that hokey pokey was a slang word for ice cream.
They believe that it carne from the ice cream sellers, who were often of Italian origin. They used to shout something that sounded like hokey pokey to people whose language wasn't Italian.

One of New Zealand's unique drinks is L&P, which is short for Lemon and Paeroa. The name comes from the town of Paeroa, where residents discovered a natural spring with refreshing water. They added lemon for flavour - and L&P was born! These days the mineral water from Paeroa is no longer used in the drink, but the same minerals mean that the flavour is unchanged. In Paeroa itself, they have built a statue of a giant bottle of L&P to celebrate the origin of New Zealand's famous drink.

Pavlova is a kind of dessert. It is made with meringue, which is made from beaten egg whites and sugar that are baked slowly in the oven to form a white shell that is crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. It is traditionally decorated with cream and fresh fruit - strawberries, peaches and kiwifruit.
The dessert is named after the famous Russian ballet dancer, Anna Pavlova. The story goes that the dessert was created in a hotel in Wellington, after Anna Pavlova's visit there in 1926. The hotel chef was impressed by her ballet dress-a white tutu, decorated in green silk roses. So he designed the dessert to look like a tutu, and used kiwifruit to represent the green silk roses.

The kiwifruit

The kiwifruit, often shortened to kiwi in some parts of the world, is the edible berry of a cultivar group of the woody vine Actinidia deliciosa. The Actinidia is native to North East Asia, particularly South China.
The most common cultivars of kiwifruit are oval, about the size of a large hen's egg (5–8 cm). It has a fibrous, dull brown-green skin and bright green or golden flesh with rows of tiny, black, edible seeds. The fruit has a soft texture and a unique flavour, and today is a commercial crop in several countries, mainly in New Zealand, Italy and China.
Also known as the Chinese gooseberry, the fruit was renamed for export marketing reasons in the 1950s by New Zealand exporters to kiwifruit. This latter name comes from the kiwi — the flightless bird and New Zealand's national symbol, and also a colloquial name for the New Zealand people.
Most New Zealand kiwifruits are now marketed under the brand-label Zespri which is trademarket by a marketing company domiciled in New Zealand, ZESPRI international. The branding move also served to distinguish New Zealand kiwifruit from fruit produced by other countries who could cash on the "kiwi" name, as it was not trademarked.

KIWI
Kiwi can refer to people of New Zealand, a bird, a fruit, or a shoe polish brand. Kiwis are the national symbol of New Zealand. Much pride is taken by displaying the kiwi on things such as the national currency, sports uniforms, road signs and mascots.

Apteryx australis, commonly known as brown kiwis, is located in the Australian biogeographic region. They are endemic to New Zealand; they live in subtropical and temperate forests and grasslands. Brown kiwis are members of the flightless ratite group. They range in size from 45 to 54 cm long, and weigh from 2.8 to 3.5 kg. They are brownish grey in color with long, soft feathers that look and feel very fur-like. Their skin is tough and they have whiskers at the base of their bill used for touch. This is especially important for these birds because they have small eyes and poor vision. These birds do not have a tail and their 5 cm long wings prevent them from flying. Brown kiwis have powerful legs and can run quickly. The nostrils are at the end of their long bills and they have a keen sense of smell.

Brown kiwis are described as "honorary mammals" because they have some characteristics that are similary to many mammals. They are nocturnal and communicate through a cry, which sounds like a prolonged whistle slightly ascending and descending. Males make a mournful shriek, "kee-wee," and females have a low hoarse cry.
Brown kiwis are carnivorous, they feed mainly on soil and aquatic invertebrates such as worms, insects, crayfish, amphibians, and eels. They also eat fruit. At night, these birds use their long bills to dig deep into the ground to find creatures living on the ground. After they have caught something, they use their bills to beat the creature on the ground, or on stones to kill it before eating.

The " Haka" and dance war

Haka is the generic name for all Maori dance. Today, haka is defined as that part of the Maori dance repertoire where the men are to the fore with the women lending vocal support in the rear. Most haka seen today are haka taparahi, haka without weapons.
More than any aspect of Maori culture, this complex dance is an expression of the passion, vigour and identity of the race. Haka is not merely a past time of the Maori but was also a custom of high social importance in the welcoming and entertainment of visitors. Tribal reputation rose and fell on their ability to perform the haka (Hamana Mahuika)
Haka reflected the concerns and issues of the time, of defiance and protest, of factual occurrences and events at any given time.

New Zealand

1. Location of the country in the world & map

- South east from Australia; North east from Antarctica, in the pacific ocean

- Specific Location: 41°17′S 174°27′E

It is estimated the Maori inhabited New Zealand around 800AD. Around eight hundred years later the Western world discovered New Zealand. In 1642, in a bid to locate the mysterious, rich land Australia, the Dutch Explorer, Abel Tasman caught sight of the West Coast of the South Island.

2. Area of the country. How big is it ?

- 268,680 km2

3. Population of the country

- 4. 331.600 people

4. Capital city

- Wellington

5. English first/ Official language?

- Yes. Other languages -> Maori

6. Main characteristics of people in the country ( Physical & personality )

-New Zealanders of European descent are collectively known as Pākehā; this term generally refers to New Zealanders of European descent but some Māori use it to refer to all non-Māori New Zealanders. Most European New Zealanders are of British and Irish ancestry