NATURE LIKE NONE OTHER
Two elongated islands alone in the far southern realms of the Pacific, separated from Australia by a vast stretch of ocean: New Zealand is one of the last corners of the world to be inhabited by man. The Maori call it Aotearoa, the “long white cloud,” like the velvety canopy suspended over the crystalline waters of Matauri Bay on the North Island. This is where, in about the 11th century, the first Polynesians arrived after crossing miles of ocean in dugout canoes. Six centuries later, Europeans began exploring this untamed land covered with forests, where they discovered flora and fauna unlike anything they had ever seen.