At the source of history: Dart River, Aspiring National ParkMy fingers traced the cool contours of the mauri pounamu touchstone. The massive chunk of pounamu (jade), centrepiece at the Dart River Jet visitor centre in Glenorchy, was alternately smooth and rough in texture. His name was Te Matua o Manatu meaning "precious reminder from the throat of the reclining giant, Te Koroka".
He stood on a pathway where ancient Maori once trekked, searching for pounamu. Eight hundred years ago, Māori were the only people here – first the Waiaha tribe, then Ngati Mamoe and now Ngai Tahu. It was here that Māori first discovered the home of the pounamu giant, Te Koroka. High in the mountains, they found him resting with a seam of pounamu tumbling from his gaping mouth. The giant became famed throughout the whole country for his pounamu, treasured equally for its utility and its pearly allure. Read more here.
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Māori Language Week resources are now available online to order & download from here.
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Marae kids decipher code skills
Two of 10-year-old Te Tuhi Hopa's favourite things are computers and games - now for the first time he is learning a bit about how they work at his own marae.
The Whangarei boy is one of many who are learning computer coding through Pehiaweri Marae's Code Club. "My mum told me to come along because I'd love it, and I do love it. I'd done some stuff on the computer like play games but this is the first time I'd done stuff like this," said Te Tuhi "I get to learn how they work and I love seeing family I don't usually see." The club is the first part of a wider research project in partnership with NorthTec, launched last year, looking at creating a digitally literate community. Read more here.
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Museum of Waitangi opens it doorsThe state of the art, architecturally designed museum and education centre is the cornerstone of the $14 million redevelopment programme at Waitangi Treaty Grounds. Waitangi National Trust, Chief Executive, Greg McManus says: “The Waitangi Treaty Grounds is a special place for New Zealanders and everyone is excited to unveil the new museum. It’s been
challenging at times but we’re proud of the work we’ve done and thrilled to finally share the museum with the nation.” “I expect the new museum will be a big drawcard for visitors. It’s our hope that every Kiwi will visit Waitangi and our new museum will be another reason to come to this very special part of New Zealand - the birthplace of our nation,” he says. Read more here.
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Hopes historic Māori adze found at Pigeon Island will go on display in GlenorchyWhen kayak tour guide Sam Dereeper found a prehistoric greenstone Māori adze, he knew he had stumbled upon something important. Dereeper, owner of Rippled Earth Kayaks, had just finished talking about the Māori history of the Wakatipu to a group of customers when he noticed the adze on Pigeon
Island, in Lake Wakatipu. "All of a sudden it was right there at my feet." Read more here.
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Message from TECThe Tourism Export Council wants to thank all those tourism, travel and hospitality operators who have signed the “Choose Clean Water Petition”. They team were featured on Seven Sharp
last week and it was great to see young people so passionate about protecting the freshwater rights of New Zealand. The number one goal is to move the accepted ‘wadeable’ benchmark for water quality to ‘swimmable’. The petition will be presented to Parliament on 29 March.
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Tourism NZ: Ensuring effective reach offshoreAs we kick off another big year of activity we have had a close look at our offshore trade events to ensure we are focusing our spend in the right places and at the right times. As a result some changes are being made this year which will impact on those of you who are planning to take part in our offshore events programme. Firstly to
Asia: Our work in China has really raised New Zealand’s profile and the numbers say it all: 34.4 per cent arrivals growth for the year ending December 2015, and 35 per cent growth in spend per Chinese visitor to $5,100 for the year ending September 2015. With this market progressing so well, and following initial discussion with operators who attended Kiwi Link China in October 2015, we have decided to hold off on Kiwi Link China until 2017. Instead we will increase the number of buyers invited to attend TRENZ, and continue to support in-market visits by New Zealand industry, as well as key events organised by Auckland Airport, Christchurch International Airport and Destination Queenstown.
Read more here.
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Small Business: Much more than pretty facesInstagram is proving an extremely powerful marketing tool for businesses. Scrolling through Instagram, it is easy to get lost in the pretty pictures. But businesses are finding more than face value in the social media platform. Auckland-based specialty cake bakery The Caker has amassed about 22,000 followers on Instagram. "It has grown to a point where our Instagram account is the most important thing to the business. We treat it with the utmost care and dedication," Rondel says. "I It has been key to spreading the word about The Caker, not only in New Zealand but also on an international scale. Read more here.
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