Easy As

Natural beauty, friendly locals, comfortable climate and abundant activities make New Zealand a far away paradise and one of the greatest experiences of my life.

Nobody can deny it, this place is a natural wonderland. The native forrests here are the closest thing we have to those living 80 million years ago covering Gondwanaland.

Getting off the beaten track was so easy and so safe, it was happy days for two months solid. No stress whatsoever for us two travellers. The good roads made touring a delight while our bus company made this even more of a breeze. Fair enough, we weren't exactly playing it all by ear but we were certainly able to maximize the journey, while still being free to explore almost the whole land at our own pace. A daunting question - What will we do when we have to book our own accomidation and not be chauffered door-to-door anymore in South America??

Far from everywhere! -

I think even the backpackers who make it all the way here are a more pleasant group. They are the opposite to those we met in Thailand and then Australia. These young travelers are interested in nature, predominantly female, and enjoy trekking instead of partying. The gap year party lads never made it past Bangkok or Byron Bay.

I was amazed to see a satellite map of New Zealand in the Te Papa museum in Wellington. The country seemed so small in scale. Families could actually point out their plot of land. This was one of many blissful moments where I saw how quaint the island country can be. The low population thrive with empty spaces, good values, and a strong pride for the crown and commonwealth. It's almost as if a quaint corner of Britain broke off a hundred years ago and drifted as far away as possible, causing it to be pretty much stuck in time.

The truth is that here you have Britain. Far away as you may be, there is still baked beans, fish and chips, cup of tea, lush green grass, washing lines, pubs with pints, lime cordial, health and safety, stiff upper lip, dry sense of humour, meat pies, rugby, cricket, and the Queen's head on both stamps and currency. Now I can't say the weather is anywhere near as bad as England, but there were instant temperature drops from glowing warm sun to COLD shade with bone chilling breezes, that did remind Steph of her island's maritime climate.

The Silver Fern - When the country needed a national symbol in the late 19th century, the silver fern was an obvious contender, when it covered almost the whole country that was nicknamed Fernland. Today there is debate of replacing the flag (especially if talks of forming a republic ever amount to anything) and nobody can really come up with a decent symbol. The former prime minister refused to comment, but sheepishly drew a silver fern on his hand.

Internet, is it? When I would talk about old technology in Europe with a Kiwi, like say rotary phones or gramophones, I was usually trumped by people like David who offered to get out his 19th century switchook wind-up. Completely outdone, we loved how people here really hold on to perfectly good items, fix them up or sell them. Is there really a need for our country to have the newest phone, ipod and tv, all at the same time after chucking the old one in drawer every few years? Antiques, car boot sales and flea markets are everywhere as a result. Rob fixed and restored almost everything it seemed. His bigger projects (besides the boat) were the vintage Jaguars and Renaults I stumbled upon in the garage one day.

And what did we do with our time, in summation?

The activities were everywhere. We couldn't afford many of them (I don't think anyone could afford them all) and certainly couldn't avoid them. Yet the magnificent scenery was always $0.

We may have embraced nature like nothing before in Australia, where Aussies are notoriuosly laid back. But I was still a little paranoid about cleanliness after Asia, safety from urban pickpockets to rednecks, and most specifically, red back spiders.

I learned a good lesson from spending two weeks at Rob and Prudence's and all our hosts....Paranoia and health and safety is overrated. Our polished suburban lives need a dose of reality and reminders that a little dirt under your hands never hurt.

I guess that was the best thing about New Zealand. Living with people and sharing their daily lives. Our lives had a huge void when it came to going out back, building things, repairing others, growing food, hunting and living off the land.

It was filled here when we lived in the shadow of locals. What a treat, eh?

One best practice in New Zealand was their toilets for public use. They are everywhere and state of the art. Watch out Japan.