"The land of the long white cloud", or Aotearoa as the early Polynesian settlers called it, on sighting it's beaches after their sea crossing,is an incredibly diverse and beautiful place - simple words cannot do it justice. It had always been one of my life long ambitions to someday visit "Lord of the rings" country and I was fortunate to have recently achieved this by spending an unforgetable three weeks in the north and south islands and it surpassed all my expectations. The descendants of European extraction live alongside their Maori countrymen very well. I was very pleased to see that there was still a strong Maori identity which is protected with a fierce pride. Something that other countries with an indiginous population around the world could do well to emulate. I started my travels as
... read more