First 5 Weeks in the Land of Kiwis

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After my battle with some mosquito born illness, I finally made it to New Zealand. I arrived on 25 October and spent just around 2 weeks on the north island. While the north island was nice, I was very excited to hop on the interisland ferry to the incredible south island. Everyone I had met absolutely raved about the south island, so I pushed thru the north pretty quickly.

Pulling into the sounds of the north island, I immediatly felt like I was in a new country. All I can say about the south island is incredible. The landscapes here are so diverse to the most beautiful beaches with penguins rising up onto the beach out of the ocean to the most pictureque mountains with snow still lingering on the tops of the peaks.

I met a mate in Nelson from England who also recently departed from a backpacking trip in South America. We spent 3 days hiking in Abel Tasman National Park and then decided to rent a "campervan" and drive the South Island together. While the van wasn't exactly a "campervan," it was a early 90's soccer mom van with a matress in the back. Pete and I hit the road really without much thought or destination and worked our way through small little towns down the west coast. We parked our van on the side of roads or near beaches once we had our share of driving for the day and sleep. Interestingly enough, I learned to drive a manual vehicle in about an hour but on the opposite side of the road as well as the steering wheel being on the other side of the road.

As for the kiwi culture, I have never met a nicer bunch of people anywhere in the world. Kiwis' are extremely proud of their country and take the opportunity to chat with everyone and lend you a hand. Pete and I hitchhiked for awhile before hiring the campervan. Some of you may think this is not the greatest idea, but in NZ is quite normal and easy. Kiwis' will pull over almost immediatly when they see someone hitching and go out of their way to get you to where you need to go and not without trying to feed you and share some stories over pints.

I have many more stories to share with you all, but it is getting late and its time to have a few pints before heading out to celebrate life. Hope everyone is well.

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