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Why did European people want to come to New Zealand?
They
believed that New Zealand was a pacific paradise, with a warm climate
and abundant food.
New
Zealand was a land of plenty where everyone would be able to own land
and make plenty of money.
People would be free.
People were offered free passage to New Zealand where they were going to
get a fair days wage for a fair days work.
New
Zealand was one of the finest countries in the world.
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What was the boat trip like?
Everyone got sea sick and they were confined in very cramped
accommodation.
There were lots of storms and people and belongings were thrown
everywhere.
People often died on the voyages and they were quickly buried at sea.
The
food was terrible, the drinking water stank and it was very hot below
decks.
It
took months to sail to Aotearoa - New Zealand and life on board ranged from boring
to terrifying.
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What was
Aotearoa - New
Zealand like?
The first white
“arrivals” in New Zealand were whalers ands sealers. They had a
difficult and hard life as the country was wild and untamed. Some
employed local Maori, in a range of tasks, from cutting timber or flax,
to supplying food and guides. The first “settlers” were unused to the
extreme conditions that they found in many parts of this strange new
land.
The first settlers
had to work very hard to clear land for farming or crops.
Life was hard for
the settlers families as often the whole family had to live in a single
room tent until they could build rough huts to shelter from the wind and
rain.
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Life was much better than it had been in
England though. They had freedom.
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Water had to be fetched from the
nearest stream, but care had to be taken not to build too close to the
streams because of constant flooding.
The whole family had to spend hours
clearing bush and planting crops.
The Maori began to mistrust the pakeha
because they were taking land off them. It did not take long before this
reached a crisis point and war broke out around the country.
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