Aerial New Zealand

AT THE BOTTOM OF THE WORLD, DEEP IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC...

LIES AN ISOLATED LAND WITH A STORIED PAST--

NEW ZEALAND.

ACCORDING TO LEGEND,

A GOD PLUCKED ITS ISLANDS FROM THE SEA

WITH A MAGIC FISH HOOK.

TODAY, THESE MYSTICAL LANDSCAPES ARE BEST KNOWN AS MIDDLE-EARTH--

HOME TO HOBBITS.

SHAPED BY FIRE...

CAPPED BY ICE...

NEW ZEALAND IS A NATION

OF RISK TAKERS AND THRILL SEEKERS.

IT’S WHERE A LEAP OF FAITH SPARKED A NEW PASTIME...

AND A LITTLE INGENUITY SAVED A CITY.

NEW ZEALAND IS A PLACE WHERE PEOPLE THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX...

AND WHERE EVEN A BIKE RIDE CAN BE BREATH-TAKING.

THIS YOUNG COUNTRY IS FULL OF RICH HISTORY

AND UNSPOILED BEAUTY

FOR THOSE WILLING TO TRAVEL ALL THE WAY TO THE EDGE.

ON NEW ZEALAND’S SOUTH ISLAND, ADRENALINE JUNKIES SPEED

THROUGH ONE OF THE NATION’S BEST-KNOWN CANYONS.

THIS BOAT CARRIES TOURISTS DOWN THE SHOTOVER RIVER,

THROUGH WHAT’S CONSIDERED WILD COUNTRY.

THE ADVENTURE--AND THE BOAT-- ARE VINTAGE NEW ZEALAND.

IN THE EARLY 1900s, A LOCAL BOY NAMED BILL HAMILTON

DREAMED OF TRAVERSING SHALLOW RIVERS

THAT RAN ACROSS HIS FAMILY FARM.

HAMILTON EXPLORED THESE WATERS. IN AN OLD TIN WASHTUB.

IN 1954, AT THE AGE OF 55,

HE MASTERMINDED THE WATERJET THAT PROPELS THIS BOAT

AND REVOLUTIONIZED BOATING WORLDWIDE.

HAMILTON’S INVENTION USED A POWERFUL JET OF WATER--

RATHER THAN A PROPELLER-- TO MOVE AND STEER.

THE TECHNOLOGY ALLOWS THIS BOAT TO MAKE SHARP TURNS

IN WATER AS SHALLOW AS THREE INCHES

AND REACH TOP SPEEDS OF OVER 100 MILES AN HOUR.

HAMILTON WAS EVENTUALLY KNIGHTED FOR HIS INGENUITY...

WHICH TODAY LETS PEOPLE EXPLORE HIS HOMETOWN RIVERS...

NEW ZEALAND STYLE.

IN THIS NATION, LIFE HAS LONG REVOLVED AROUND WATER.

ITS FIRST SETTLERS ARRIVED BY CANOE.

BEGINNING IN THE 13th CENTURY,

ISLANDERS FROM ACROSS THE SOUTH PACIFIC

PADDLED THOUSANDS OF MILES TO NEW ZEALAND.

THEY NAMED THEMSELVES MAORI.

DIFFERENT TRIBES SETTLED ALONG THE COAST

OF NEW ZEALAND’S TWO MAIN ISLANDS.

TODAY, THEY ARE KNOWN SIMPLY AS

NORTH ISLAND AND SOUTH ISLAND...

AND TOGETHER THEY’RE

ABOUT THE SIZE OF COLORADO.

WHEN THE MAORI ARRIVED, THE LAND WAS SO BREATH-TAKING,

THEY BELIEVED THEY’D DISCOVERED THE PLACE WHERE THE WORLD BEGAN.

ONE OF THEIR MOST SACRED SPOTS IS ON THE NORTH ISLAND...

IN AN ANCIENT FOREST OF KAURI TREES,

NATIVE TO NEW ZEALAND.

TOWERING OVER THE LANDSCAPE IS A TREE CALLED TANE MAHUTA--

OR LORD OF THE FOREST-- THE TALLEST TREE IN NEW ZEALAND.

ACCORDING TO MAORI LEGEND, AT THE BIRTH OF THE PLANET,

THE SKY FATHER AND EARTH MOTHER

WERE LOCKED IN A PASSIONATE EMBRACE.

THEIR CHILDREN, INCLUDING THEIR POWERFUL SON, TANE MAHUTA,

WERE TRAPPED BETWEEN THEM, ENGULFED IN DARKNESS.

HE PUSHED WITH ALL HIS MIGHT

AND, AS FATHER SEPARATED FROM MOTHER,

LIGHT SHONE ONTO THE WORLD.

THE MAORI WERE THE SOLE SETTLERS HERE FOR MORE THAN 500 YEARS...

UNTIL 1840, WHEN EUROPEANS BEGAN ARRIVING BY THE THOUSANDS.

THAT YEAR NEW ZEALAND BECAME A BRITISH COLONY...

AND THE ENGLISH PUT THEIR STAMP

ON NORTH ISLAND TOWNS LIKE ROTORUA.

THIS HISTORIC CHURCH CALLED ST. FAITH’S

WAS BUILT IN THE ENGLISH TUDOR STYLE.

IT SITS IN A KIND OF TOWN SQUARE

THAT BEGAN AS A MAORI VILLAGE IN THE 1200s--

AND REMAINS AN IMPORTANT GATHERING SPOT.

TODAY, THE MAIN STREET HERE IS A TIDY STRIP OF BUSINESSES...

BUT ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF TOWN ARE HINTS OF A STEAMY PAST.

THE CITY SITS ON "THE LINE OF FIRE"--

A VOLCANIC PLATEAU

THAT COVERS MOST OF NEW ZEALAND’S NORTH ISLAND.

DEEP UNDERGROUND,

TWO SHIFTING TECTONIC PLATES PRODUCE VOLCANIC ACTIVITY,

WHICH ERUPTS IN DIFFERENT WAYS AT GROUND LEVEL.

THE ENERGY PRODUCES A GEOTHERMAL WONDERLAND.

LONG BEFORE TOURISTS CAME HERE,

THE MAORI USED THE COLORFUL MUD FOR PAINTS AND DYES.

THEY RELIED ON THE HOT SPRINGS TO COOK, CLEAN AND BATHE.

JUST OUTSIDE TOWN IS THE LARGEST HOT SPRING IN THE WORLD--

FRYING PAN LAKE.

ITS WATER TEMPERATURE CAN REACH 140 DEGREES--

LONG BELIEVED TO BE TOO HOT TO SUSTAIN LIFE.

THE ONLY CREATURES THAT CAN SURVIVE HERE ARE THERMOPHILES...

THE OLDEST LIVING LIFE FORMS ON EARTH...

MICRO-ORGANISMS THAT THRIVE IN THE EXTREME TEMPERATURES.

TODAY, VOLCANIC LANDMARKS, LIKE THIS CONE,

ARE REMINDERS OF THE DANGERS THAT LURK BELOW.

IT TOWERS OVER NEW ZEALAND’S BIGGEST CITY, AUCKLAND--

HOME TO 1.5 MILLION PEOPLE.

THE METROPOLIS WAS BUILT IN A VOLCANIC FIELD--

140 SQUARE MILES MADE UP OF MORE THAN 50 VOLCANOES.

MOUNT EDEN IS ONE OF MANY CONES--

OR SHORT-LIVED VOLCANOES-- IN THE AREA.

THE FIELD IS DORMANT NOW,

BUT SCIENTISTS ARE CONSTANTLY MONITORING IT.

THEY SAY AN ERUPTION IS LIKELY IN THE NEXT FEW HUNDRED YEARS.

THE COUNTRY’S WIDESPREAD VOLCANIC ACTIVITY

STEMS FROM THE ISLAND’S LOCATION ON THE SOUTHWEST END

OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC RING OF FIRE.

90% OF THE WORLD’S EARTHQUAKES AND ERUPTIONS OCCUR

ALONG THIS HORSESHOE-SHAPED ZONE,

WHICH SURROUNDS THE PACIFIC OCEAN.

GEOLOGIC ACTIVITY DEEP BELOW

HAS LED TO VOLCANOES ON THE NORTH ISLAND...

AND MOUNTAINS ON THE SOUTH.

THESE ARE THE SOUTHERN ALPS,

WHICH FORM A MASSIVE SPINE THAT RUNS THE LENGTH OF THE ISLAND.

TECTONIC PLATES PUSHING AGAINST ONE ANOTHER

FORCED THIS LAND UPWARD OVER MILLIONS OF YEARS.

THEIR MAJESTY IS PROOF OF THE POWER DEEP BELOW--

POWER THAT ALWAYS THREATENS TO UNLEASH NATURE’S FURY.

ANOTHER PART OF NEW ZEALAND EXPERIENCED THIS

WITH NOT JUST ONE VOLCANIC ERUPTION,

BUT THREE AT THE SAME TIME.

IN THE HEART OF NEW ZEALAND’S NORTH ISLAND,

TRANQUIL SURROUNDINGS HIDE AN EXPLOSIVE PAST,

CAUSED BY THE MOUNT TARAWERA VOLCANO.

IN JUNE OF 1886,

VILLAGERS AWOKE AT MIDNIGHT TO VIOLENT EARTHQUAKES.

UNBEKNOWNST TO THEM,

THEY WERE LIVING IN THE SHADOW OF AN ACTIVE VOLCANO.

AFTER THREE HOURS OF SHAKING,

THEY LOOKED UP IN HORROR TO SEE NOT ONE PEAK BUT THREE ERUPTING.

THE SMOKE AND FIRE SHOT A MILE INTO THE SKY.

SHOCKED ONLOOKERS STOOD OUTSIDE AND WATCHED--

UNTIL MUD AND ASH BEGAN RAINING DOWN.

SURVIVORS RAN FOR COVER

AND HID INSIDE THESE BUILDINGS TO SEEK SHELTER.

120 PEOPLE DIED, BURIED IN DEBRIS,

MAKING IT ONE OF THE WORST NATURAL DISASTERS

IN NEW ZEALAND’S HISTORY.

VOLCANOES WILL ALWAYS BE A THREAT IN NEW ZEALAND.

BUT TODAY, THE COUNTRY HAS A SOPHISTICATED WARNING SYSTEM

TO TRY AND PREVENT ANOTHER MAJOR TRAGEDY.

TWO HOURS NORTHEAST IS A FAR DIFFERENT LANDSCAPE.

THIS IS COW COUNTRY... DOWN UNDER.

NEW ZEALAND IS THE WORLD’S BIGGEST DAIRY EXPORTER...

AND THE BULK OF ITS PRODUCTS

COME FROM A FERTILE AREA CALLED WAIKATO.

TRUCKS PICK UP MILK FROM LOCAL FARMS TWICE DAILY.

THEN THEY TAKE IT TO SPRAWLING FACTORIES,

LIKE THIS ONE NEAR THE TOWN OF CAMBRIDGE.

INSIDE, MILK IS TESTED, PASTEURIZED AND PROCESSED--

MUCH OF IT STORED IN MASSIVE SILOS.

FINALLY, THE PRODUCTS ARE MOVED TO PORTS

WHERE THEY’RE SHIPPED TO MORE THAN 100 COUNTRIES

AND CUSTOMERS LIKE PIZZA HUT.

THE CHAIN SPRINKLES ALL THEIR PIES WORLDWIDE

WITH MOZZARELLA MADE FRESH FROM NEW ZEALAND MILK.

DAIRY COUNTRY IS ALSO WHERE CHAMPIONS ARE MADE.

LAKE KARAPIRO FEEDS THIS FERTILE AREA

AND SERVES AS A TRAINING GROUND FOR OLYMPIC ROWERS.

IN 2010, THIS TRANQUIL WATERWAY

HOSTED THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS OF ROWING.

THIS IS ALSO WHERE NEW ZEALAND ATHLETES

HAVE WORKED THEIR WAY TO 24 OLYMPIC MEDALS.

AMONG THOSE HERE TODAY IS MAHÉ DRYSDALE,

WHO BROUGHT HOME GOLD IN THE 2012 AND 2016 GAMES.

HE’S ALSO A FIVE-TIME WORLD CHAMPION.

NEW ZEALANDERS ARE KNOWN FOR THEIR GRIT...

AND THEIR GENIUS.

THIS SOUTH ISLAND MEMORIAL

HONORS NOBEL PRIZE WINNER ERNEST RUTHERFORD,

WHO FIRST SPLIT THE ATOM.

THE STATUE, LOCATED NEAR HIS HOMETOWN,

PORTRAYS RUTHERFORD AS A BOY

CLUTCHING HIS FIRST SCIENCE BOOK.

HE GREW UP HERE IN THE 1870s

NEAR THE COASTAL CITY OF NELSON,

A TOWN KNOWN FOR ITS PANORAMIC VIEWS...

AND THE BIRTHPLACE

OF NEW ZEALAND’S NUMBER ONE SPORT--RUGBY.

TODAY, KIDS GATHER TO PLAY CRICKET, SOCCER AND OTHER GAMES

HERE AT NELSON’S BOTANICAL RESERVE.

BUT ON MAY 14, 1870,

THIS WAS THE SITE OF THE COUNTRY’S FIRST RUGBY MATCH.

THE GAME HAS ITS ROOTS IN ENGLAND

AND WAS BROUGHT HERE BY A 19-YEAR-OLD NELSON NATIVE.

THE SPORT SPREAD RAPIDLY THROUGH THE 1800s...

AND BY THE TURN OF THE CENTURY,

IT WAS NEW ZEALAND’S NATIONAL PASTIME.

LOCALS GROW UP PLAYING THE GAME

ON BEACHES AND FIELDS ACROSS THE COUNTRY...

AT PLACES LIKE AUCKLAND GRAMMAR SCHOOL.

THIS 150-YEAR-OLD INSTITUTION SITS ON THE NORTH ISLAND

AND WAS ONCE THE STOMPING GROUNDS