If someone asked me to sum up New Zealand in one word, I think it would be the easiest country I've ever had to describe. The word I would use is GREEN!
Not even back in England have I seen such beautiful landscapes from merely sitting on a coach for a few hours. There are hills, fields, lakes, waterfalls, mountains practically everywhere, especially in the South island, and I can't believe how much it reminded me of home despite being thousands of miles away on the other side of the world. No, Birmingham doesn't have its mountain ranges or huge lakes but when you are driving along the motorway, you always pass such green countryside and it just the same here - only more amazing.
My journey through New Zealand started with visiting an old friend in Auckland which was the beginning of my reminiscence of back home. After Auckland, I began my tour across the country and right now I'm in the (self-proclaimed) "adventure capital of the world" Queenstown preparing myself for a sky dive this afternoon - eek!
Another thing that makes New Zealand remind me of home is the weather. Right now it is winter coming into spring and as soon as I arrived here I had a feeling that the shorts and maxi dresses I had in my backpack definitely weren't going to make an appearance on this trip. To date they haven't.
Maybe it is because of these constant reminders of home or the fact that the bad toe that I mentioned in the Fiji blog has given me so much grief - the medical centre visit that I also mentioned before managed to cost me over 100 dollars including the prescription - that I suddenly hit a wall in my travelling. When I say 'wall' I refer to how a marathon runner can hit a wall on their journey and if it wasn't for the kindness and support of the people I am travelling with, I would have cried my eyes out much more than what I did cry that night. I am very grateful to have met and travelled with such a lovely bunch.
After climbing over this wall, I came to the decision that I want to return home for a while and finally sort my darn toe out before doing any more travelling. Thanks to a brilliant travel agent at home, I will be coming home in a month's time after visiting Australia and Bali. This does not mean that I have hated travelling because I haven't. Without trying to sound cliché or cheesy, I have a feeling that the things I have seen and experienced on my travels are what have made me realise how happy I am with my life back home. I thought people travelled to "find themselves" but I don't think that I needed to do that. I think I just needed to find that being away for a long time from the loved ones I have back home is what has made me realise that they are what make me who I am and who make me happy to be me and I wouldn't change them for anything. Not even for the world so it would seem :)
All that aside, I found that New Zealand is gorgeous. It is a perfect, natural set for any fantasy film and it isn't hard to see why Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia were filmed here. I find it such a surprise that it is so close to Australia and it doesn't have the same kind of landscape.
By the end of my trip here, I would have sat in a rubber ring in freezing water in caves staring up at glow worms singing 'My Heart will Go On' with eleven other people, sang the same song in a party boat whilst dressed as an All Black (it was a themed dress night), sat in hot pools, hiked a glacier, seen steam come out of the earth like it would out of a kettle, visited a brewery and chocolate factory, climbed up and down the world's steepest street, jumped out of a plane and met a man who was killed by Orlando Bloom in Lord of the Rings. Not bad for two weeks is it?
For fantastic scenery and terrifying, life threatening activities, you should definitely visit New Zealand. If you don't want those things, just come for the pies because they're mouthwateringly awesome!