One thing I noticed was the high quality of the road surface, no potholes and a smooth clean surface. Yes there were roadworks but somehow all seemed to be well managed!
There are many wonderful sounding place names as we move northwards but I am having difficulty remembering many of them. I also have to look carefully at many of the names and slowly sound them out! Some places we passed by or through included Whangaparaoa, Tahekeroa, Whangerai (pronounced Fangerai), Ahikiwi, Whananaki, Tutukaka,Taiharuru, Ngaiotonga. I found the following helpful in trying to work out the geography and landscapes of place names:
Ordinary geographical features such as hills, rivers, cliffs, streams, mountains, the coast and adjectives describing them, such as small, big, little and long, are to be found in many place names. Here is a list so you can recognise them:
- Au current
- Awa river
- Iti small, little
- Kai one of the meanings of kai is food; in a place name it signifies a place where a particular food source was plentiful, e.g., Kaikōura, the place where crayfish (kōura) abounded and were eaten
- Mānia plain
- Manga stream
- Maunga mountain
- Moana sea, or large inland 'sea', e.g., Taupō
- Motu island
- Nui large, big
- ō or o means 'of' (so does a, ā); many names begin with ō, meaning the place of so-and-so, e.g., ōkahukura, ōkiwi, ōhau, etc.
- One sand, earth
- Pae ridge, range
- Papa flat
- Poto short
- Puke hill
- Roa long
- Roto lake; inside
- Tai coast, tide
- Wai water
- Whanga harbour, bay
No comments:
Post a Comment