I struggle myself to see where the time has gone but in just over three days time my Kiwi adventure will be over and it will be a sad farewell to New Zealand, as well as Australasia.

My last two weeks in the country have certainly ended my trip on a big high, with some amazing memories to take away with me from this stunning (please, when bored, can someone count how many times that word has been used recently on this website) country.

After leaving the west coast, from the Franz Josef Glacier I made my way with my fellow Kiwi Ex buddies to the stunning town of Lake Wanaka. 

A smaller and less lively version of its far bigger near neighbour Queenstown, Wanaka has the beauty of Cameron Diaz, the style of David Beckham and the atmosphere of a day at White Hart Lane watching the almighty Tottenham (well, nearly).

The town is surrounded by huge mountains, rainforest and, if that is not enough, a huge lake that is so damn beautiful that I just sat there and starred at it for about 20 minutes without moving, which for me, having ‘Motion-Taurette’s’, is rare, very rare. On a clear day you get some amazing sunsets, whilst on a not so bright day the clouds forming over the mountains simply take your breath away.  Wow-wee-woo.

After sitting in a daze admiring natural beauty, I decided that I could not leave Wanaka without a visit to a local hotspot - Puzzling World. Complete with a maze that covers an area of 1.5KM, with some poor folks travelling up to 5KM until they find base again, numerous mind-twisting games, numerous illusions and a damn tasty chicken mayo sandwich, my visit was well worthwhile and I had lots of fun. Yes, Mummy I did and I was well behaved to!

From Wanaka it was back for a second visit to Queenstown for me - just the two nights this time around since I spent nearly 3 weeks there before.  You can never get bored in Queeny, though, and I made sure I took full advantage of the beauty and charm the town has to offer, as well as the local bars and cafes in numerous quantity.

Next stop … a trip back to the north island and a homecoming for me in possibly my favorite city in the world, well equal to Melbourne, ‘Windy’ Wellington.

Welly, where I spent time previously watching the cricket and sampling the local beverages on offer,  allowed me to catch up with some great people at the even greater Worldwide Backpackers Hostel, plus an awesome visit to the very impressive and FREE ENTRY TO (please note London!) museum, Ta Papa.  Fun for all ages, with some really interesting artifacts both historical, scientific and cultural for ages 2 to 102, I learnt a lot, forgot most of it but enjoyed all of it.

Ah, yes, also in Wellington an old friend I had not seen in a couple of weeks turned up and it was great to meet up once again. Jamie? No, I actually bumped into the Pesky one randomly in Queenstown. Jason? Well, no he is in the US now causing havoc in his neighbouring homeland. Paul? No, he is sunning it up in England. Guessed yet? Of course, it was none other than the stunningly beautiful, highly educated, very sophisticated and a women of so many talents, the gorgeous Julie.

Yes, people, I once more decided to wear female attire and dance my night away as a my feminine alter-ego.  This time, no fancy dress party to blame. Julie was called for “on popular demand” by the people of Worldwide Backpackers.  Like an expert she is fast becomming, Julie duely delivered, in fine style too. I will leave you to your own thoughts but please feel free to buy me any hotpants, bras or low cut tops for my birthday.

Julie and I then made our way to Taupo, separately I might add and I have not seen her since.  Taupo, similar to Wanaka, has a stunning lake and some very impressive mountains and once more I let chilling take over.  Someone has to do it so I volunteered. How nice am I?

Tonight I am in Rotorua on my penultimate stop on the Kiwi Ex bus.  With a strong Maori influence, Rotorua literally means Second Lake when translated into English.

Now, perhaps like me, you are wondering what the Maori’s are, what they do and where they stand in today’s world. So, off I want for a traditional Maori evening complete with music, laughter and a very decent meal complete with desert (wow!).

The Maori, which means ‘natural’, ‘normal’ or ‘ordinary’ came to New Zealand from eastern Polynesia sometime before 1300, followed by the Europeans in the late 18th century. Now together, they helped create the Maori culture that still exists in New Zealand today.

A bit of government action in the 1940s prohibited the Maori’s from being referred to as the ‘Natives’ and that still applies today.

Now when the Maori’s first arrived, they established a vast area of forested land complete with numerous birds, plants used for both medicinal purposes and for food as well as a whole host of marine animals. Through the many years that followed countless stories have developed of how land was formed and places created by the great warriors of the time, both in the north and south islands.

Today, the culture very much still exists, although toned down some what. The Maori people, though, who live, work and socialise with their white kiwi friends, remain very proud of their history and their culture. There is no apparent divide between cultures and everyone seems to get on well, which in today’s climate is so refreshing and another reason why I love this place so much.

My evening taught me a lot, with the highlights being the traditional Haka Dance, a tour around a traditional “Maori Village” from the early period, the many stories of how the culture developed and evolved and the awesome food that consisted of chicken, lamb, fish and vegetables all cooked in super heated rocks buried in the ground in a pit oven which is known as hangi. Yum!

Tomorrow I leave to go to Auckland where I spend my final two nights in New Zealand before catching, although not literally, a plane ride to Nadi, Fiji. Excited, definitely. Sad, definitely. Why? New Zealand has been AMAZING but then so were Hong Kong, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia …. etc. Fiji, here I come. Watch out for Julie.

Footnote: More photos in the usual place for your viewing.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 20th, 2008 at 12:02 pm and is filed under On the move, New Zealand. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.