Winter Olympics: Auckland, New Zealand

What would the Olympic logo be if they went to New Zealand?

7 min readFeb 16, 2022

Research

New Zealand's most populated city and hub for much of its culture and food. With subtropical weather summers are beautiful and not too hot and winters (when my olympics will be held) are moderate at about 11 degrees. Winter is from June to August so they're technically celebrating christmas when we are in 4th of july, even though they celebrate different things.

Auckland (Māori: Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country, Auckland has an urban population of about 1,463,000 (June 2021). It is located in the Auckland Region — the area governed by Auckland Council — which includes outlying rural areas and the islands of the Hauraki Gulf, and which has a total population of 1,715,600. While Europeans continue to make up the plurality of Auckland’s population, the city became multicultural and cosmopolitan in the late-20th century, with Asians accounting for 31% of the city’s population in 2018. Auckland is also home to the largest Polynesian population in the world. The Māori-language name for Auckland is Tāmaki Makaurau, meaning “Tāmaki desired by many”, in reference to the desirability of its natural resources and geography.

Auckland lies between the Hauraki Gulf to the east, the Hunua Ranges to the south-east, the Manukau Harbour to the south-west, and the Waitākere Ranges and smaller ranges to the west and north-west. The surrounding hills are covered in rainforest and the landscape is dotted with 53 volcanic centres that make up the Auckland Volcanic Field. The central part of the urban area occupies a narrow isthmus between the Manukau Harbour on the Tasman Sea and the Waitematā Harbour on the Pacific Ocean. Auckland is one of the few cities in the world to have a harbour on each of two separate major bodies of water.

Auckland is known for many things and has a lot in its region. Surrounded by 48 volcanoes and wide outdoor scenery, sky tower, . Waitemata Harbour, Waiheke Island, museums and art galleries, and beautiful beaches and zoo.

The fun fact is that One Tree Hill or Maungakiekie is the symbol of the city for many natives.The 182-meter-high hill sits amid the lush Cornwall Park with a series of flower beds and stands of mature trees set amid walking trails.

One Tree Hill takes up the southwest corner of the park, and the slopes contain remnants of a Maori Pa, a fortified village located here during the pre-European era. At the top of the hill is a lone obelisk built over the grave of Sir John Logan Campbell who gifted this swath of greenery to Auckland to be used as a city park. There are fantastic views across the cityscape from the hill summit.

Moari Culture

is an integral part of New Zealand, it influences the food and lifestyle and language of the country. They came here more than 1000 years ago from their mythical Polynesian homeland of Hawaiki. Today, one in seven New Zealanders identify as Māori. Their history, language and traditions are central to New Zealand’s identity. Some phrases include:

Kia ora — Hello
Mōrena — Good morning
Tēnā koe — Hello to one person
Kia ora/Tēna kōrua — Hello to two people
Kia ora tātou/kia ora koutou — Hello everyone
Tēnā koutou — Greetings to you (said to three or more people)
Nau mai, haere mai — Welcome
Kei te pēhea koe? — How are you?
Kei te pai — Good
Tino pai — Really good

How do you say goodbye in Māori?

Ka kite anō — See you later
Mā te wā — See you next time
Haere rā — Goodbye/farewell (said to someone leaving)
Hei kona rā — Goodbye (said to someone staying)

How do you say thank you in Māori?

As well as being used as a greeting, kia ora is also a general expression of appreciation.
Tēnā koe (to one person), tēnā kōrua (to two people), or tēnā koutou (to three or more people) also means thank you in Māori.

The Māori language consists of five vowel sounds:

a (‘a’ as in ‘car’)
e (‘e’ as in ‘egg’)
i (‘i’ like the ‘ee’ in ‘tee’)
o (‘o’ as in ‘four’)
u (‘u’ like an ‘o’ in ‘to’)

Vowels can be long or short. A long vowel is signified with a macron above it. For example:

a, (short vowel) papa (earth)
ā, (long vowel) pāpā (father)

There are eight consonants in Māori, similar to those in English — h, k, m, n, p, r, t, and w.

There are also two different consonants — ‘wh’ and ‘ng’. The ‘wh’ sound similar to the English ‘f’. The ‘ng’ is similar to the ‘ng’ sound in English words like ‘sing’, except that in Māori, words can start with ‘ng’.

— — — — from https://www.newzealand.com/us/feature/maori-language/

Much of Maori cooking is done in earth ovens called Hangi, usually food such as fish and kumara (sweet potato), cooked in a pit dug in the ground. Today, pork, lamb, potato, pumpkin and cabbage are also included.

The places to try these foods are:

>Rotorua is a region rich in Māori culture and heritage. The unique geothermal properties of the area also mean local iwi (tribes) have a unique way of cooking hāngī — in natural thermal steam and water.

>Waitangi Treaty Grounds

>Auckland

Besides being represented by the Maori culture many of the New Zealanders are referred to as Kiwi’s, a moniker that comes from the small flightless bird native to the islands that early Maori chiefs used their feathers as valuable cloaks, and in the first world war many called the soldiers that name so it stuck.