In November, New Zealand hosted a lavish visit by royal couple Prince Charles and Camilla Parker, along with rock band U2.
First, Prince Charles and Camilla. New Zealand is one of the Commonwealth realms, with the British monarch as its king. It has deep ties with the UK. Although it is purely symbolic, the current monarch of New Zealand is Queen Elizabeth.
Prince Charles and Camilla make third official visit to New Zealand in four years
The Governor-General of New Zealand, Patsy Reddy, was also there to welcome them. She presented the couple with craft gin and wine as souvenirs to commemorate their visit to New Zealand.
In Auckland, he had a discussion with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, focusing on the environment and climate change.
In Kaikoura we were given a formal welcome by Maori warriors.
Although their stay in New Zealand was short, only six days, the couple seemed to be able to spend some relaxing time in between their official duties, including going wine tasting at The Hunting Lodge Winery in Auckland.
An article in the NZ Herald about Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, listed the areas the couple would visit as "Best chances to glimpse the royal couple," and it seems that local people gathered at each destination to welcome the couple.
U2 play their first live show in NZ in nine years at Mt Smart Stadium
Irish world-famous rock band U2 held their first live concert in New Zealand in nine years since 2010, "The Joshua Tree Tour 2019," at Mt Smart Stadium.
This tour follows the Joshua Tree Tour held in 2017 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the release of U2's historic masterpiece, The Joshua Tree.
Tickets released in June this year sold out in just two minutes!
In fact, New Zealand is a special place for U2.
One of the staff members who accompanied U2 on tour at one time was a New Zealander named Greg Carroll. Carroll approached U2 when they performed in New Zealand in 1984. He became friends with Bono and ended up becoming his personal assistant.
Sadly, just two years later, he was killed in a motorcycle accident in Dublin, the capital of Ireland, at the age of just 26.
In memory of him, U2 released the song "One Tree Hill" in 1987. This time, they visited "One Tree Hill", the symbol of Oakland, which is also the title of the song, to pay tribute to Carol.
The nose-to-nose gesture in this video is a traditional Maori greeting called Hongi.
During the live performance, a large photo of Craig Carroll was projected on the screen.
Noel Gallagher and Shawn Mendes are in NZ too!
Noel Gallagher, the former guitarist and vocalist of Oasis who is good friends with Bono, also accompanied U2 on this tour!
And around the same time as U2, Canadian artist Shawn Mendes, who performed in New Zealand, also watched U2's concert.
Shawn Mendes' Instagram after his show in Auckland
For New Zealand-related Instagram, we recommend Stuff ( https://www.stuff.co.nz ).
Not only are photos related to NZ domestic news uploaded frequently, but also photos of NZ's beautiful nature and cute animals!
