Today we went outside to find a place for a nice meal and some for chit chat of course. We passed lots of shops and finally we found this nice restaurant called Covo Restaurant Parnell. It was a good thing we choose this place because Natalie is vegetarian and they have all sorts of vegetarian food....with whine!. Anyway we sat down and had our order placed and Natalie didn't study so much about the history of New Zealand, so I explained it. Apparently In AD 1250-1300 the first known settlers were Eastern Polynesians that arrived with canoe, however some researchers claim that either they died out or left the islands. And then the food came but Natalie wanted to hear more of the history so i continued. After that the Europeans came, the first Europeans that is known today were the Dutch, the explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman and his crew in 1642. There were people before them that were called Maori. When Abel and his crew arrived to New Zealand the Maori people killed four of his crew and they left the island. In 1768 a British explorer named James Cook went on a voyage to New Zealand with his men. They reached New Zealand in 1769 and he almost mapped the entire coastline. Soon after this New Zealand was visited by numerous Europeans and North Americans. The Europeans traded food and goods for the Maori. Christian missionaries settles to New Zealand and converted most of the Maori population in the early 19th century. A early government was developing under British rule, New Zealand was a part of New South Wales but became later a separated crown colony which means this is a type of administration of the British Empire. Okiato was selected as the first capital but then one year later they changed the capital to Auckland in 1841. The Maori became very independent and wealthy in this period and the number of immigrants increased. This led to a conflict between the British and the Maori, the conflict was later named for New Zealand Land Wars during 1860s and 1870s which resulted a loss for the Maori. New Zealand declared itself within the British Empire in 1907 and the country later adopted the Statue Of Minister, and this resulted that New Zealand was making a commonwealth realm. In 1890 the economy was growing because of the refrigerated meat that they exported to Britain, allowing them to trade and develop a strong basis for economic growth. New Zealand was involved in several wars such as the Boer War, WW1 and WW2. The economy later got bad because of the Great Depression of the 1930s. The depression led to a election of the first Labor Government which means that they established a welfare state and a protectionist economy. After the war the country began to have a social problem with the Maori because they were forced to leave their traditional rural life and move to the cities in search of work. The Maori made a protest movement which criticized Euro centrism and worked for greater recognition of Māori culture and the Treaty of Waitangi, which they felt had not been fully honored. After my explanation about the history of New Zealand, Natalie had full knowledge about New Zealand and the Maori.

Tomorrow we're going to meet Zoe Bell....Yes the Zoe Bell from Quentin Tarantino’s blockbuster movie "Death Proof"....stay tuned for more