So far so good.............

This has been a really amazing trip so far. It has surpassed our expectations by a long way. The country itself is more beautiful than we were told, the people have been universally kind, helpful and welcoming, the accommodation has been more than excellent and we cannot find anything which we would like to have improved. It might not be the way n which everyone wants to spend a vacation and there is a lot of driving but we prefer to be able to see a lot of the country at our own pace and not through the windows of a coach or the portholes of a ship. The roads are in great condition, there has been very little traffic, even though we were here during the four day Easter holiday weekend.

 We have seen some terrific sights, eaten some wonderful food and enjoyed a lot of great views and sights. There is more to come.

 Unfortunately, I have not been able to keep up with posting photographs in this blog due to the fact that I have hundreds of them on SD cards on both cameras and I need to try to sort through them, not to mention MAC's, so that I can do justice to the places we have been and the things we have seen. I think this job may have to wait until I get home as we just do not have the time to sit at the laptop and undertake this task.

 New Zealand may be a long way from many parts of the world and a small country which can easily be forgotten in the great scheme of global affairs (in his 8 years as President, President Obama never came here although he has been recently), but it is a most interesting place and has lessons which other countries could well learn from.

 New Zealand also has some unique plants, birds, fruits and features, not JUST the kiwi fruit!!

 The wonderful infusion of Maori culture into the landscape makes for such a rich experience and the fact that the harm that was done to the first settlers here, who were the Maoris from the Pacific Islands is being corrected is heartening even if there is still a way to go. The ubiquitousness of the Maori language and respect for their traditions shows a very progressive ethos and could show the world just how indigenous peoples can remain in a country and their culture can be preserved alongside the later arrivals and immigrants, even in the 21st century. 

 This is a subject I find very interesting, the history, beliefs, ancestry and traditions of the South Pacific indigenous peoples are extremely fascinating and too little studied. I will add some posts about this when I get home for my own edification.

 I will also add thoughts to this post as we continue our Kiwi odyssey. 

 One thing that has amused us on this trip is the wonderful Kiwi accent where it seems that the letter 'e' has been erased from the pronunciation. This sometimes causes some confusion as a 'pen' becomes a 'pin', 'men' becomes 'min'. The Commonwealth Games are on TV and the Kiwis are hoping to win some 'gold middles'!! The New Zealanders have been absolutely the best hosts and we are not making fun of them. They are a really wonderful people who have made our trip just incredible but we do find some things quite amusing and i am sure they won't mind my mentioning it. Every country has its strange individual dialect which helps make it what it is.

 A super plus for me was the fact that they actually put REAL milk in the fridges in hotels so you can have a decent cup of coffee in the morning.

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