New Zealand: The Land And the People (1959)

[Music] my first look at new zealand the harbor city of wellington wellington looks like many ports in my country the united states yes in many ways my country new zealand is like the united states i'd like to welcome you to new zealand i'll show you more of new zealand if you wish yes i'd be very pleased to see more then let's leave the city and look first at the country does it look familiar it resembles our north west united states or canada for instance this mountain looks like summon our northwest mountains are a familiar sight to new zealanders they cover much of our country we have many forests too but the most familiar sight to nearly all of us is the sea we are an island country surrounded by water most of new zealand is made up of two large islands north island and south island there are a few smaller islands near these two large bodies of water surround us the huge south pacific ocean and the tasman sea how big is new zealand new zealand covers a little more than 100 000 square miles and our population is more than 2 million but in the middle of a big ocean we're a small country we do have a large neighbor australia but we're distant neighbors the tasman sea separates us by 200 miles we're even further away from other lands nearly 6 000 miles from japan nearly seven thousand miles from your country the united states because we're surrounded by water the ocean affects our climate ocean winds sweeping across the islands often bring us rain and help to moderate the temperature the moisture we get helps the growth of forests such as this one of giant pines large parts of both islands are covered with forests especially where there is much rain along the rainy west coast of the south island thick forests grow on the mountain slopes but on the east coast of the south island rolling hills are covered by small clumps of dry grass what we call tussock grass this tussock grass is some of the best natural grass in the world can you put this grassland to use yes for our largest industry sheep raising we call our sheep branches stations this station owner lives on the south island his sheep are australian marinas raised for their fine textured wool marina is grazed on the tussock grass covering the south island sheep country on the north island sheep grazing is quite different for one thing north island grasslands don't grow wild but have been planted on cleared land sheep grazed here are a different variety from those on the south island because here sheep and lambs are raised not primarily for wool but rather for meat i see you raise wheat too yes and some other crops but nearly four-fifths of our farmland is used to pasture livestock dairy farming is our second ranking farm industry for example on this small north island dairy farm rich grassland makes good pasture for dairy cattle because of the temperate climate cattle remain outdoors the year-round except when they are milked nearly all our dairy farmers have machinery to help them with farm chores such as milking electricity to run such machines is low cost because of the abundance of water power in the rivers of both islands new zealand's mountains running in a long line across both islands northeast to south west are the source of most of our rivers swiftly flowing rivers such as this one supply water power to give us inexpensive electricity this electricity goes to farms and also supplies power to cities such as auckland new zealand's largest city located on the north island about half a million persons live and work in auckland auckland certainly looks modern it is auckland has modern schools and churches and museums all very important to new zealanders but auckland is also a city of stores and offices a city of factories and industry manufacturing railway equipment is one of auckland's big industries but one of our largest national industries is meat freezing refrigerating plants such as this freeze lamb mutton and beef for export to other countries this large dairy plant produces dairy butter and cheese not only for us new zealanders but for export to other countries i've seen new zealand cheese in our stores quite possible the united states and canada are among the best customers for our butter and cheese here in auckland's busy harbour products we've seen are loaded aboard refrigerated ships bound for ports across the sea i noticed that many of these ships are from forts in great britain yes we often see britain's flag in our ports because most of our exports go to britain this is new zealand's flag notice how much it looks like the flag of britain our parliamentary government too is built upon a british model and we are a member of the commonwealth of nations more than 90 percent of our people are of british ancestry thus we new zealanders have many of the customs of all english-speaking peoples for instance our libraries supply us with the latest books in english the language we speak in new zealand our many schools too show british influence at school students study such subjects as history and government which help to train them to be useful citizens but our british traditions are mixed with other traditions those are the maoris the name on this signpost papakura is a maori name i've read about the maoris aren't they descendants of the early settlers in new zealand they are this maori farmer's ancestors came here centuries ago about the year 1450 the polynesian maoris who lived upon small scattered pacific islands more than a thousand miles from new zealand guided their canoes here in a series of daring ocean voyages many maori customs have influenced our british traditions for instance rhythmic maori music and dancing are exciting to hear and see everyone seems to enjoy the fun dancers and musicians and spectators as well from us the maoris have learned much about farming and commerce and from the maoris we've learned much about enjoying life in new zealand this may mean visiting the thermal region of the north island where steam and boiling water rise from deep in the earth it may mean fishing in a clear swift stream it seems as though you enjoy sports very much we do we like to hike or play cricket or sale our country provides wonderful opportunities for recreation but we new zealanders think of our country also as a land of sheep stations dairy farms and industries that prepare meat and dairy products for export and we're developing new industries such as this plant in the thermal region which uses steam to generate electrical power from what i've seen of new zealand i'd say that your future looks really exciting we new zealanders hope so we feel that we're still a pioneering people because of our pioneering spirit we look forward to the future and what it holds for us and our island country of new zealand [Music] you