So, New Zealand is an odd place. It’s a bit like Hawaii if the British invented it. Yes, the reputation is true, there are a LOT of sheep around here. Millions of ’em. They cover the rolling hills, leaving the hills grassy and green, resembling the nicer areas of rural England or France. On top of that, the European settlers of the past 160 years did a lot of work (both accidentally anddeliberately) importing new flora and fauna. There are large awathes of the country filled with European (and occaisional American, Australian and Asian) species… which creates European-like landscapes. Dutch painters could have made pictures of some of the countryside here.
But then there are the Pacific-island aspects, which sometimes shine through. These include the enormous ancient Kauri trees… whcih are freakin’ huge!!! They also have no branches at levels below about 20 feet – this was likely a defense mechanism against the Moa – a now-extinct breed of flightless bird that was the size of a mid-size sedan. They also include the Maori people. They came to New Zealand sometime around 1000 or 1200 AD. They are a Polynesian people, meaning they are related to Hawaiians. You can see quite a bit of resemblance in the traditional dress, music, and dances, as well as the language. The most badass thing about these guys is that they somehow got here by canoe. Yup, they crossed enormous expanses of the Pacific Ocean in canoes. Nice. They also do this really awesome thing with their tongues and eyeballs to intimidate and greet visitors. They also carve it into all their buildings. I’m practicing it now, because I think people around the world will appreciate it.
The other day, though, we saw one of the coolest things about being on the Ring of Fire: Hot Water Beach (pictured). This beach is wicked cool. Basically, for 2 hours on either side of low tide, you can go down to the beach with a shovel and start digging. Just below the surface of the sand, a volcanic hot spring bubbles through the fine beach sand. So, when you dig, the hole fills with hot water – and you have your own private spa!
So, despite the chill wind, Timmy and I braved it the other day. It was pretty awesome. Since then, we’ve headed up to the “far north” of New Zealand – which is pretty far north indeed. It’s almost warm up here! Unfortunately, it has been raining nearly nonstop, so we can’t really enjoy it much 😦 I hope it clears up soon.