Exploring New Zealand, December 2010 Having recently returned to the States from working in China for a year, I knew I would have only a couple of months to get my system back into the Western Hemispere, before not only returning to the Eastern but also visiting a new one, the Southern. My family had long been planning an epic adventure for the holiday season: a trip to New Zealand, where we have friends and where Mom fell in love on her first visit with the unique biodiversity of this island nation. We left "sunny" Florida, which was actually turning quite cold, flying and transiting for 27 hours, and arrived at 7:30 in the morning on a Saturday in Auckland. Once through customs and "biosecurity" (intense, I might add), and reunited with ecstatic friends, we
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