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Touching Down in Auckland, New Zealand
I learned to appreciate the natural beauty of cloudy days
Here’s what I remember most about the flight.
Clouds suspended over the horizon like swirls of floating cotton candy above the Pacific Ocean.
Then, a glimpse of the coastline.
Waves crash against the shore, turquoise water meeting vibrant green cliffs. Roads weave around the natural topography. Small bright dots stand out against the rich landscape, indicating homes below. A white blanket stretches across the sky, hugging the rolling hills.
When the plane begins its final approach, my view becomes enveloped with fluffy white puffs that look close enough to touch.
It’s no wonder the clouds fascinate me. Aotearoa, the Māori name for New Zealand, is often translated to “land of the long white cloud.” Before European colonizers came to New Zealand, the name was originally used to describe the North Island of the country by the indigenous Polynesian people.
Some Māori oral histories tell of Kupe, the explorer who first spotted land thanks to the long white clouds he observed suspended above it. The clouds were seen as a greeting for the people, and so it was named Aotearoa. The name also contains, Aotea, the name of one of the legendary migration canoes used to travel to New Zealand.
The clouds part when the plane passes over the city of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. My boyfriend, Matt, turns to me with a giddy excitement lighting up in his eyes.
“There’s downtown Auckland,” Matt says, pointing to the section of skyscrapers by the waterfront. “And that tall building poking out is the Sky Tower.”
