All Eyes on The Long White Cloud for the RWC in New Zealand!

Facts about NZ !~

What do people know about Kiwi- Land ?
Nickname - Land of the Long White Cloud.
Maori Name - Aotearoa

Aotearoa

(literally, ao = cloud, tea = white, pale, roa = long). This could be translated as (the) long white cloud. It does not mean "Land of the Long White Cloud". In Maori that would be Te Whenua o Aotearoa.

As with many Maori place names, the context from which the name derives is important. Traditional accounts suggest that Hine-te-aparangi, wife of well known pacific navigator/explorer Kupe, after a long ocean going voyage, sighted a particular cloud aotea that usually indicates the presence of land. The term roa can also indicate a length of time. Thus, a more accurate translation could be 'It has been a long time since seeing a cloud that indicates land'.

   Aotearoa is commonly given as the Maori name for New Zealand. Before the arrival of Europeans to the New Zealand,    
   it probably only referred to the Te Ika a Maui (i.e., the North Island).

    www.maorilanguage.info


The Cloud has been built in Auckland as a Centre 
for the RWC 2011 celebrations !