Do you believe in love at first sight?

I do now!

When I "planned" this trip--I use the term loosely--I didn't really think I'd have alot to do in New Zealand, hence allotting only 3 weeks to see this beautiful country. Yes I knew NZ is the adventure capital of the world and I had every intent to participate in anything I could and then head out without a second thought...BUT i'm in love

...

With the country of course! lol NZ is lush, green and full of so much life. Since day 1, NZ has welcomed me with open arms and gave me so many wonderful memories. Arriving in NZ felt like I came to an alien world--it was so weird; the people all looked the same but the behaviours and customs were totally different.

There are many cultures that live in New Zealand; however, the percentages are quite different from Canada. For example, NZ has the Maori ppl who have a lovely culture and interesting customs--like having big dinner feasts called hangi. The hangi food is cooked underground, sorta like fijians and their lovos and they eat all sorts of stuff! And one of the coolest things about the Maori is their pronounciation of certain words-->the letter set "wh" is pronounced f--so a place called whakanaka is pronounced fuckanaaka. i started giggling the first time i heard it, very immature i know but i can't help it! lol thankfully my cousin was warning me about it and it wasn't a maori person saying it to me. there's lots of places over here that start with wh so i was a bit in trouble travelling on my own lol--but i got thru it, i waited till i was alone and then started giggling. ...and watching maori t.v., don't get me started every other word starts with fuck this fuck that. love it!

Aside from the interesting people over there, i really do love the landscape and the stories behind the creation of the lakes and valleys, etc. Lake Rotorua and Lake Taupo are a result of volcanic activity! The lakes are actually craters which were filled in with water later on! & thank god it did--it's beautiful there. NZ has many earthquakes, apparently alot of little ones during the day--i'm fortunate to not have experienced one, but I did experience alot of simulations at various museums-those rocked!

The Maori feel that the volcanic activity which led to the birth of lake rotorua was due to the humans angering the spirits. When the europeans first came to NZ, they heard about the hot springs and flocked to Rotorua to experience the comforts of bathing in a mineral spring. Unfortunately, this disrupted the environment and the lives of the maori people by introducing foreign objects into the ecosystem and social lives. Trees were cut down, alcohol and drugs were brought into the community and men took advantage of women--all this angered the spirits which then caused a volcano to erupt and killed 100s of people in the process. -->i love hearing stories like this and i never expected to find this in new zealand!

NZ has a rich culture, lush landscape and....amazing activities. There's parasailing, skydiving, bungee jumping, farm trips, ATV stuff, zorbing, hikes, camping, swimming and so much more. And you can pretty much do all of this in one day IF you plan your schedule very well. I love this about New Zealand; so much excitement is at your fingertips, all you have to do is make the decision to enrich your life and go for it :)

I <3 NZ and will try to come back