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Back from NZ
Jan. 7th, 2005 06:57 amReturned from NZ yesterday, with the journey home going about as quickly and smoothly as a 20,000 km trip could. There's so much so say that it's almost impossible to know where to begin, so I expect it will come out in dribs and drabs over the next few weeks.
Weather - everyone we met apologised for it! But we enjoyed ourselves nonetheless and it cleared up when it mattered (scenic flight over Tongariro Volcanic Park).
People - just as friendly as everyone says. The only exception is when they get behind the wheel of a car, when about a third of them turn into psychotic sociopaths (and the remainder fully endorse this view).
Landscape - almost beyond description; so dramatic, and so varied over such short distances. And so much of it has steam coming out, or is visibly made of lava or ash.
Flora and Fauna - half of what makes the landscape exotic is the vegetation, with NZ having a remarkable crop of unusual local plants (e.g. huge ferns), although there are huge swathes of the country given over to fir logging. As for wildlife, we visited the albatross and penguin reserves in Otago, and a couple of very good aquaria.
Having just got back, we're off to Stabcon now for the weekend for an, um, post-holiday holiday. More, and lots of pics, later.
MC
Weather - everyone we met apologised for it! But we enjoyed ourselves nonetheless and it cleared up when it mattered (scenic flight over Tongariro Volcanic Park).
People - just as friendly as everyone says. The only exception is when they get behind the wheel of a car, when about a third of them turn into psychotic sociopaths (and the remainder fully endorse this view).
Landscape - almost beyond description; so dramatic, and so varied over such short distances. And so much of it has steam coming out, or is visibly made of lava or ash.
Flora and Fauna - half of what makes the landscape exotic is the vegetation, with NZ having a remarkable crop of unusual local plants (e.g. huge ferns), although there are huge swathes of the country given over to fir logging. As for wildlife, we visited the albatross and penguin reserves in Otago, and a couple of very good aquaria.
Having just got back, we're off to Stabcon now for the weekend for an, um, post-holiday holiday. More, and lots of pics, later.
MC
