Sweet As! - New Zealand

Soaring mountains with snowcapped peaks. Rolling green hills with sheep minding their newborn lambs. Aqua fiords surrounded by steep cliffs. Powder blue ice peeking through centuries-old glaciers. Waves crashing on rough-hewn coasts. The scenery in New Zealand is stunning and dramatic. It is often referred to as God's Own Country and was where Peter Jackson filmed all three of the Lord of the Rings movies. From the sun-dappled beaches of the Bay of Islands to the snow-covered Remarkables of the South Islands, I traveled through this amazing country over the past six weeks.

The North Island and South Island are not only two distinct land-masses, their cultures and mindsets of the people are varied as well. Both have staggeringly beautiful geographical features of stunning mountains, volcanoes, thermal parks, and many earthquakes as the country lies on a fault line. You would also have difficulty meeting friendlier people than the Kiwis. One of the major differences come in the influence of the Maori in the North. Another difference is in the size of the cities. And the South has a more laid-back feeling to it.

The Maori, of Polynesian descent, arrived from Hawaiki (Raiatea in modern day French Polynesia) to find a country populated only by animals that flew or drifted over here. This unspoiled country far away from other land masses had developed its own unusual plants and animals. These were no mammals until the Pakeha - white people - introduced them (to disastrous results mainly). Most people know about the Maori through the intimidating haka the New Zealand rugby team, the All Blacks, perform before playing their foes. Maori culture of course goes deeper than that, and I was fortunate to visit several Maori marae and learn about their culture. An excellent movie, Whale Rider, helps explain much of their culture. Keri Hulme's novel The Bone People also focuses on New Zealand and the Maoris. For listening to Kiwi music, check out the excellent chilled out beats by Salmonella Dub, Rhombus, TrinityRoots, and Bic Runga.

In New Zealand, 4 million people reside (and I was told 40 million sheep). However, the distribution is focused on the North Island. While North Island city Auckland has over 1.2 million residents, only 800,000 live in the entire larger South Island. Queenstown, one of my favorite places in the country, is located in the South Island and has full time residents of only 10,000. The South Island's laid-back culture comes through when admiring the scenery, whether it is exploring the fiord at Milford Sound or crossing the Southern Alps in a train. It also shines through in drinking a Speight's ("Pride of the South") with a local.

With that introduction, you may think that all I did in New Zealand was blithely go around and take pics of the beautiful sights. Actually, if I were to come up with one word to describe this country, it would have to be: ADRENALINE. When you are surrounded by verdant hills and craggy mountain tops, at some point Kiwis apparently started thinking, "How do I get down these as quick as possible?" Therefore, I soon found myself Zorbing and lugeing in Rotorua. A Zorb is a big plastic ball that you strap yourself in and roll down a hill in. A luge is a plastic sled that you sit on and hope it doesn't turn over while hurtling down the hill. In the Bay of Islands, I hiked up a sand dune and boogie boarded down. It was on ski fields Coronet Peak and the Remarks near Queenstown ("Adventure Capital of the World") that I skied down black runs. I also learned how to snowboard there. Of course, going up the hills and mountains is also exciting. One day, I was wearing talons and using a pick axe to climb my way up, over and through the Franz Josef Glacier. I also hiked through Mordor (a.k.a. Tongariro National Park) and Abel Tasman National Park, which reminded us of Thailand.

It is not only on hills and mountains where you can get some adrenaline boosts. The water provides a lot of fun as well. Imagine going through the pitch black Waitomo caves in an inner tube looking at glow worms. Or getting on a speed boat in the Bay of Islands and getting airborne while on the way to check out the Hole in the Rock. In the Bay of Islands, I spent a lot of time on the water: a full day sailing and an afternoon fishing where I reeled in snapper, barracuda, and a John Dory. The ultimate adrenaline rushes came from throwing myself off a perfectly fine bridge and a perfectly sound airplane. In Queenstown, I bungy jumped 43 meters/134 feet off the Kawarau Bridge, where bungy jumping got its start. In Taupo, I sky dived out of an airplane at 12,000 feet reaching speeds of 200 kmh/120 mph. Both those experiences had me living off the adrenaline buzz for days.