Think of a country the same in area as the state of Colorado, but long and stretched out - the indigenous Maori call it the "Long White Cloud" yet it has a population of only four million. A million of them are clustered around Auckland. Coast to coast travel would be easy were it not for the volcanic mountain ranges in between that basically give you one way into a place and one way out on curvy switchback mountain roads.
The climate is sub-tropical allowing for a long growing season and plenty of avocados,limes, and lemons for the picking as well as tall fern trees and rain forest heat and humidity. Perfect for growing grapes, and the NZ whites do not disappoint. My favorite was the Savignon Blanc. Reds are best left to the Aussies and I had my share of Shiraz while I was there too.
This is a fairly new country so the architecture is post modern in a Berlin/Vancouver 70's sort of way unless it is charming and funky old cottages beach side somewhere. Mcmansions exist though a new thing there and you just don't see them except in very upscale areas. This is a cradle to grave socialistic society that is now drowning in taxes and debt and has had to modify the freebies over the years like health care and a college education. Their public debate is over taxes, immigration, access to health care, and whether or not their indigenous peoples, the Maori, are owed an apology. The Maori,owing to the American civil rights movement and the American Indian movement, are divided on that though most say no, it would not help. After all, they admit they were not there first but conquered another Indonesian group (and ate them) to become the fragmented tribe of New Zealand that Captain Cook "discovered" in the 1740's.
What made the biggest impression on me? That it is not what I expected. The lushness, the coasts, the volcanoes, the fact that I was on a very sparsely populated island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean "where the sky meets the sea." Though Michener did not set "Tales of the South Pacific" there, you can't help but think about it. The inherent racism in a culture that has to classify itself on the census as "European New Zealander" or "Maori New Zealander" or "other"(mostly Samoan and other Pacific island immigrants.) They like to think that these barriers are falling, and there is something uniquely kiwi about being a kiwi, but I saw few Maoris, and you can't miss them, because they are beautiful with dark hair and glowing skin and high cheek bones. So either there are very few of them out of the four million or they really keep to themselves. At times, you are struck by how sparsely populated the place is, and the sense of isolation I imagine, could overwhelm you, or you would welcome it, if you were the type of person who really wanted to be away from it all - including people.
At first, I thought the kiwis were really friendly, because they will talk to you about anything. That a bike you got there, mate? Ah, I see you are having lamb for dinner? On holiday, now are you? When the tall hunky young man with the Mel Gibson blue eyes, dark hair, and killer bod flirted shamelessly with me in the butcher shop (and the gas station attendant, bar keep, stranger in the parking lot,etc.) I realized they are lonely and eager for someone to talk to and can spot a non-native in seconds. Nevertheless, the are good natured, hippies, many of them, happy to just be in a live and let live society. That made us slow down and appreciate the native charm, and to savor the differences in our cultures all the while being happy to return home.
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