Naming the Islands

The Herald reports:

The Geographic Board is publicly consulting on proposals to assign official alternative names to the two main islands – Te Ika a Maui for the North and Te Waipounamu for the South. The first refers to demi-god Maui’s act of fishing up the North Island while the second is a reference to that island’s greenstone.

I’ve got no problem with official alternative names, so long as they are alternatives.

North Island and South Island are very boring, but they are also very easy to remember and use!

Geographic Board suggests:
North Island – Te Ika a Maui
South Island – Te Waipounamu
Maori have known the islands as:
Alternative place names for Te Waipounamu: Te Waka a Maui, for Te Ika a Maui: Aotearoa
Other names the North Island has been known as: 
New Ulster
Other names the South Island has been known as: 
New Munster, Middle Island

I quite like the idea of New Ulster and New Munster 🙂