The Kiwi Connection

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It's time to plan a trip south to the Land of the Long White Cloud-- New Zealand. My book RV in NZ: How to Spend Your Winters South in New Zealand covers RVing in New Zealand. In this blog I'll tell you how to spend time with a Kiwi, a New Zealand citizen, not the hairy brown fruit or the flightless, sightless, nocturnal bird that spends most of its time grubbing in the dirt.

Why that far south? New Zealand is in the southern hemisphere. Seasons are reversed. Summer is December to March. If you live in the northern hemisphere and time it right in December, you'll leave on the shortest day of the year and arrive in Auckland, New Zealand on the longest day of the year.

New Zealand is clean, green and spectacular. Check out the Lord of the Rings again if you don't remember the spectacular part. Another plus-- no creepy crawly poisonous critters. There is a rarely seen poisonous spider but you can slosh through the mangroves or plunk down in the bush without checking first for an unfriendly resident.

Kiwis speak English-- sort of. It's a kind of short-hand that's hard to follow. They're also some of the friendliest people you'll ever find.

Since I'm not a Kiwi, feel free to jump in with a comment or complaint. If you have a question-- ask. There's bound to be someone who knows the answer. Just don't ask me about hobbit's feet. I've never seen a hobbit. And I have no idea how to find a man. I was too busy watching the road and reading the map when I was alone-- and traveling with a husband kind of limits your finding a man.

Lyn Harris

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Comments

[tangerine]

Wow! Six years. Take me with you next time. Geri