New Zealand

If you’re like many Americans (myself included), you tend to group New Zealand in the same category as Australia. It’s not our fault entirely. Many travel guides do the same thing (“Australia and New Zealand in 2 Weeks”). But if you ignorantly ask New Zealanders (aka. Kiwis) if they are Australian, you will see their faces grimace within a split second. And whatever you do, DON’T tell them you thought the accents were the same. I think this friendly (and sometimes not-so-friendly) rivalry could be summed up nicely by the T-shirt slogan I saw in a shop window today. It read, “I support two teams: New Zealand and anyone who plays against Australia.’

The truth is these two countries, though beautiful in their own unique way, couldn’t be any more different from one another. New Zealand bears little resemblance to the slightly more popular land down under. New Zealand is, in a phrase, untouched beauty. We started in Christchurch, which is part of the South Island, and worked our way North. We hit a patch of rain in Christchurch and thus spent much of our time in museums and galleries. OK, we would do that anyway! It’s a quaint small town (population of the entire country is 4.1 million) and we decided the best way to see it and the rest of NZ was to drive the country roads. After over 50 flights since November, we were ready to take a break from the friendly skies. Lee was getting acclimated to driving on the opposite side of the road and we really loved seeing the lush green rolling hills that led us up to our second destination: Queenstown.

Queenstown is the capital of adventure. If you are an adrenaline junkie, this is the place for you. You can bungy jump, sky dive, parasail, ride a jet boat, and everything else. We opted to take a ride in the famous shot-over jet (see photo). The experienced boat drivers navigate through the crystal clear waters of the local canyons, inches away from dangerous rocks. It was thrilling.

We drove further north to Rotorua- home to the world’s most incredible geothermal hotspots. I have never seen anything like the volcanic valley of Waimangu, or the geysers in Te Puia. I haven’t given much thought our earth’s core since my college geology course. Witnessing the naturally hot springs and mineral pools (note – the picture of Lee in front of turquoise water is NOT a swimming pool) was amazing. We did some hiking around volcanic lands and learned about the Maori people (note to self: rent ‘Whale Rider’).

Our final stop in New Zealand was to Auckland. We spent four nights in this modern port city, and for the first time, feel like home is just around the corner (albeit for a short two weeks). We are now just 10 days away from the travel respite – and then we’re off to Europe for the summer (that is, WESTERN hemisphere summer). It is Eastern weekend in Auckland and much of the city has closed down. The holiday atmosphere definitely reminds us of our own families and friends and we are anxious to see everyone again. Next stop, and the final stop as we make our way completely around the globe, FIJI!