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Aotearoa - meaning 'the Land of the Long White Cloud' in the Maori language - was the original name given to the North Island of New Zealand, and is now their name for the whole country. Symbiosis has been recording the natural sounds of this beautiful place for their latest album, and these pages carry information about those recordings, as well as extracts of the sounds to download, and photos of New Zealand.
AOTEAROA - Nature Sounds of New Zealand
Recorded by Clive Williamson
 In the southern hemisphere's spring and summer of 1996, musician and sound engineer Clive Williamson visited New Zealand to record the country's beautiful nature sounds. The result was 'AOTEAROA - Nature Sounds of New Zealand', an album on cassette and CD which captures the essence of many of NZ's amazing natural environments. From forests and bush to Pacific shores, via waterfalls, caves, streams and geo-thermal activity, this 52 minute album features relaxing and energising 'postcards in sound' from all over the country. Clive Williamson's recording odyssey took him from the Bay of Islands in the north to Dunedin and the Otago Peninsula in the south to hear New Zealand's wonderful natural atmospheres, and the calls of entrancing birds like the Tui, Bellbird and Saddleback. Each track on AOTEAROA is presented as a journey in sound through a different region of New Zealand. The bird-rich off-shore island sanctuaries of Tiritiri Matangi and Kapiti are both featured, as is Rotorua, and the Pacific coastline of the South Island with its colonies of Little Blue and Yellow Eyed penguins. Another 'journey' was recorded in Waitomo and King Country in the centre of North Island, where Clive was caught in a thunderstorm in Mapara Wildlife Reserve. The spectacular rolling thunder is one of the highlights of the album, as is the atmospheric sound of water dripping in Waitomo's famous glowworm caves afterwards.
Helping Ecology in New Zealand
 During his travels with his tape recorder, Clive was particularly impressed by the dedicated ecological work he encountered all over New Zealand. "Many of the places I visited were doing an amazing job conserving and restoring New Zealand's fascinating indigenous wildlife," he says, "like Kapiti Island; the Yellow Eyed Penguin Reserve near Dunedin; and the Little Blue Penguin Reserve in Oamaru. But the place that seemed to need the most help was Tiritiri Matangi Island, so we are donating a portion of the royalties from this album to them as a contribution to their marvellous work with endangered species of birds!"
The New Zealand Tourism Board's London office were so impressed by AOTEAROA that they sponsored its release in the UK. They saw the album as a way of successfully promoting New Zealand as a unique holiday destination that 'refreshes, replenishes and inspires.' The original recordings were co-funded by Clive's group Symbiosis and the BBC, who now make them available for use in their radio and television programmes. With its superb recording quality and evocative peaceful atmospheres, anyone can now soothe away the stresses of life by listening to AOTEAROA - Nature Sounds of New Zealand!
Clive Williamson visited New Zealand in February and March, 2001 to promote the launch of a special NZ-manufactured edition of the album, which is now being distributed widely throughout NZ by Auckland-based Ode Records, with a recommended retail price of $29.95 NZ. Now also available to listen and download from  (all regions, including New Zealand)
Price from Symbiosis in the UK: £12.50 (plus £1.25 postage and packing world-wide)
 LISTEN AND DOWNLOAD FROM iTUNES
EXTRACTS FROM AOTEAROA CD (2.7 MB MP3 file) introduced by Clive Williamson
As featured on National Radio's "RPM" programme
Main NZ stockists:
Marbecks Records, Queens Arcade, Auckland (Phone: 09-379 0444; Fax: 09-307 9275)
Pathfinder Bookshop, New Gallery Building, 38 Lorne Street, Auckland (Phone: 09-379 0147)
Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi Shop, Tiritiri Matangi Island, nr. Auckland
Pinnacle Bookshop, Willis Street Village, 142 Willis Street, Wellington
...or ask any NZ record store to order a copy for you!
(quote reference: "Ode Records, Auckland, NZ")
For Trade Orders only, contact our new Wholesale Distribution in New Zealand:
Ode Records, PO Box 56-450, Dominion Rd, Auckland, New Zealand
Ph: 0064 09 630 1177
Fax: 0064 09 630 1175
Cell: 021 308 322
Contact: Roger Marbeck
To order the album outside New Zealand, or for more information, please contact:
Symbiosis, P.O. Box 2000, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3JH, England.
Internet CD price for UK orders: £12.50 (plus £1.25 P&P)
For VISA or Mastercard credit card orders, Fax us on: +44 (0)20 8255 7102
or telephone: +44 (0)20 8948 5880 (during office hours only: 9am to 7pm UK time)
Email: relax@symbiosis-music.com
NZ Bird Sounds to download:
TUI (WAVE file) 16k tui2.wav TUI (MAC System) 12k tui2.snd
More Bird calls on the next page:
Sponsored by Clive Williamson's acclaimed UK ambient group SYMBIOSIS:
"A treat for Head, Heart and Ears!"
CREDITS: Cover Photo of 'AOTEAROA' by leading New Zealand wildlife and landscape photographer CRAIG POTTON. Thankyou to all those New Zealanders who helped make these recordings possible through their advice and assistance. Special thanks to: Emily Sinclair (for her invaluable help in making the album and for the thousands of kilometres of patient driving needed to gather the sounds!) and to Roger Marbeck for his continued support for this project in NZ.
Features sounds from: Rotorua, Waitomo Glow-worm Caves, Hauraki Gulf, Kaikoura, birdsong and bird calls, tui, bellbird (korimako, makomako), saddleback (tieke), kaka, kea, fantail (piwakawaka), morepork (ruru), whitehead (popokatea), new zealand robin (toutouwai), stitchbird (hihi), red-crowned parakeet (kakariki), grey warbler (riroriro), yellow-eyed penguin (hoiho), blue penguin (korora), weka, bush weta, cicadas (kihikihi), chaffinch, song-thrush, sparrow, Tiritiri Matangi and Kapiti islands, gentle rainfall, distant thunder, surf, Mapara Reserve, Oamaru, Otago Peninsula, Shakespear Regional Park, Nga Manu Sanctuary, Whangaparaoa Bay, dawn chorus, Pacific ocean.
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