Friday, July 04, 2008
I've been seduced.
I must admit that during the first three days of my NZ trip, I wished I was in Australia instead. Any Kiwi reading this would probably cringe...but it's true - the sparsity of land and scarcity of people made it difficult to adapt, considering that in S'pore, you can never walk 100 metres without bumping into someone. Remember the Anlene commercial years ago about NZ having the same number of cows as there are people in S'pore? It's so true. Everywhere I turned, there were cows and sheep and more cows. Everyone has been telling me to count them when I couldn't get to sleep. People forget that it's pitch dark out in the fields at night. I did however, try to count the stars, but stopped after ten becos it started getting really cold.By day four, I had settled in nicely. Too nicely in fact. The beauty of the land lies in its quiet confidence. Its appeal grows on you before you even realise it. After tossing my desire for overcrowded places and people out the door, I embraced the adventure of being alone, owning the land I stood on, and moving along to nature's heartbeat. I know I sound corny when hippy Jo takes over and starts preaching about liberation and nature. But it's true. There's something so mystical about being in tune with the snow-capped mountains, green fields, and icy blue rivers.
Here's why I find NZ so seductive...for lack of a better word.
1) You can drink the water from a river or lake. It's as clean as it gets. Most of the time at least.
2) You will never find a wild bear, or lion, or crocodile in NZ becos there simply are none. They never made their way into the land, which means you can go camping without much worries.
3) I've seen rainbows on three out of my six days there.
4) A Kiwi's idea of a weekend is going skiing, fishing and camping.
5) Most Kiwis don't go to church. Ironically, they seem more spiritual and decent than some church-goers.
6) They are probably the world's best conservationists.
Lastly, here are some pictures from my trip. You can view the full collection here.
Awww...Isn't that sweet?
What is the mammal in the sea called? Whale whale!
The view I woke up to one morning...
From Wiki: The 45th parallel is a circle of latitude that is 45 degrees south of the Earth's equatorial plane. The parallel is the line that marks the theoretical halfway point between the equator and the South Pole.
Queenstown - My favourite place in NZ.
Sunset while I made my way back home.
