What a great time in New Zealand. Just under four weeks with travel times. 3,500 rental car miles, (with no claims), 5,000 pictures, over 15 AirBnB's. Countless runs to the market to buy food for breakfast and lunch and really not a bad evening meal where we usually sampled the local cuisine. Local cuisine? If it has four legs, they ranch it and eat it. Sheep, cows and deer. And, lots of wool from their sheep and a little bit of milk from their deer.
We all discussed our stand-out meals last night. Not a real winner, neither a real loser. I will say that the Indian food was always excellent. Whether at a large, touristy restaurant or a small strip-mall cubby hole, no complaints. Italian was varied, not just pizza, fish and chips were never a disappointment, On the eclectic side, Madam Woo's in Christchurch and Kika in Wanaka were the standouts.
Another standout for us was the people and the culture. As mentioned before, a small country (about the size of Colorado), but with a coastland that surpasses the US! Two big islands but many, many small islands. Most impressive was the way they have and continue to treat the indigenous Maori. Although not a large portion of the modern population, we sensed that they were fully integrated in the culture and economy of New Zealand. Quite a contrast to how the US has treated and continues to treat our Native Americans.
Tom was an excellent driver on the left side of the road. No real hiccups here. Getting around sometimes took three of us to navigate, other times none. Hard to know when. Gloria and Kathy planned this adventure 6 months ago. An excellent job as tour operators. Thanks, ladies. I won't continue to list the differences between the US and New Zealand but will end on something that is the same. The numerous roundabouts in the country all rotate in a clockwise manner! (Not like their toilets). Just like the US!
We thought odd, but realized that the roundabout was 'invented' in Great Britian, (maybe?) Roundabouts have always flowed clockwise and the US, when we started to use them, even though we drove on the right side of the road, went with the clockwise direction. No science of history behind this conclusion, just a hunch!
We all discussed our stand-out meals last night. Not a real winner, neither a real loser. I will say that the Indian food was always excellent. Whether at a large, touristy restaurant or a small strip-mall cubby hole, no complaints. Italian was varied, not just pizza, fish and chips were never a disappointment, On the eclectic side, Madam Woo's in Christchurch and Kika in Wanaka were the standouts.
Another standout for us was the people and the culture. As mentioned before, a small country (about the size of Colorado), but with a coastland that surpasses the US! Two big islands but many, many small islands. Most impressive was the way they have and continue to treat the indigenous Maori. Although not a large portion of the modern population, we sensed that they were fully integrated in the culture and economy of New Zealand. Quite a contrast to how the US has treated and continues to treat our Native Americans.
Tom was an excellent driver on the left side of the road. No real hiccups here. Getting around sometimes took three of us to navigate, other times none. Hard to know when. Gloria and Kathy planned this adventure 6 months ago. An excellent job as tour operators. Thanks, ladies. I won't continue to list the differences between the US and New Zealand but will end on something that is the same. The numerous roundabouts in the country all rotate in a clockwise manner! (Not like their toilets). Just like the US!
We thought odd, but realized that the roundabout was 'invented' in Great Britian, (maybe?) Roundabouts have always flowed clockwise and the US, when we started to use them, even though we drove on the right side of the road, went with the clockwise direction. No science of history behind this conclusion, just a hunch!
Thanks for the posts these last few weeks, was fun to follow along with all your stops. Lots of unique and beautiful places. Did you end up trying any of the deer cheese? Safe flights home.
ReplyDeleteHey Andy, Thanks for your comments! Yeah, I look at a doe differently now......Didn't try any deer cheese. No samples were available. What about herding European Red Tail in Montana??
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