Kiwi Land

N Zed. New Zealand. Land of Kiwis.

rubbish means trash.
crisp means chips.
sweet as means cool
jandals means flip flops
motorway means highway
gutted means lost for emotions, lost for words
stubbies means VERY short men shorts
takeaway means togo
andddd Kiwis are what the native folks prefer to be called also is their national bird.

After being surrounded by a new vocab list when I didn't think it was even possible for we all speak perfect English, I was wrong. Was fun. Rubbish is fun to say, so is jandals!

New Zealand was divine. As I was talking to Hannah on our last day, I was lost on how to explain this country, so work with me here.

Picture your favorite artist sitting on a large plot of land, this land being NZ. This land is like an artists masterpiece drawn so perfectly using the most beautiful colored paints, pencils, markers, crayons, water colors. This land seems as if the ocean was poured perfectly around two large masses of land(North and South Island)The water was blue, deep, clean, fresh blue. The mountains were covered in sheer moss that seems as comfy and plush as my bed back home, the mountains were so tall that clouds could only reach midway, each mountain looks like someone spent decades chiseling each collision of Earth's plates into the most picture perfect mountain I could only dream of. The greenery was endlessly lush in every direction you looked, the perfect shaped leaves, the most gorgeous bark, the purest of waterfalls crash down leaving mist against your skin.
This land is breathtaking, and brought endless moments of stares of awe. I found myself frequently having to put down my camera for I couldn't capture what was being seen.

Amongst the beauty, there is safety. HOLY COW. What a uplifting change. New Zealand feels so safe, not because laws are crazy intense or cops are enforcing at every corner, because I saw maybe 4 cops the entirety of my time here. This country is peaceful, no ugly, no rude, no horrible terrifying news, and genuinely freaking pleasant people to be surrounded by.

America worries about the most peculiar things, when I step back and think its the many idiots that have ruined our once before relaxed country.  WELL if you need a refresher, head over to New Zealand. Every way we would look, we easily followed up with "this would never be allowed in America" such as

-no rail guards on anything, not along bridges that drop off into the ocean, none for street cable cars to instruct you to keep back, etc
-open container is fine
-driving with a beer responsibly is fine
-STOP signs are to harsh, here they say "Give way"
-parallel parking can be hard, who cares if you aren't right by the curb
-no signs saying not to litter, you know just not to
-a car crash is indeed an accident and is resolved with a sorry and a payment if needed
-no security when flying domestic, just walk up to your gate and welcome aboard.

I swear I could have 100 bucks taped to my back and no one would attempt to take it.
 You may think, well they are just asking for something to happen. Which isn't the case. Call me naive, you just gotta experience it for yourself.
The list is endless, the happiness here is visible. I have always been told, Never trust anyone, but here that rule doesn't apply.

It made exploring so carefree and such a joy, hard to explain.
two big thumbs up.

.....

While we were here we packed our time with adventure after adventure, traveling from the north tip of the North Island to the south most tip of the South Island!

Sheepville had me again in awe for my father dear used to be a rather impressive sheep sheerer himself so I was quite enthralled. From watching how sheep are sheered and how the oh so intelligent sheep dogs get these fur balls to round up and literally can force them into any direction within seconds and by applying death stares and standing at certain angles. Just awesomeness all around. Sheep industry here is like the wine making industry in California. huge deal.

We stopped at any water we saw, considering we were 100% surrounded by the deep blue it wasn't hard to take millions of pictures while constantly pointing "look at that" "woah look wow"

We got to enjoy the Haka dance, which is a traditional ancestral war cry, dance or challenge from the Māori people of New Zealand. It is a posture dance performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted accompaniment. And today is incorporated before the New Zealand Rugby team competes/ goes to war. Note to self, dont ask a local, " What is the haka?"

Milford Sound. google it. WOW, about all I can say. Breathtaking cruise tour we took in the great discovery of Milford Sound. When bored just look at google images. You wont be wasting your time. promise.

Visited SkyCity in Auckland, viewing he city from way tooooo high up, watching brave folks plunge off the top of the building, no thanks.

Went to the coolest concert in the towns botanic gardens of Wellington, then once sunset it transformed into a brightly lighted magical plant wonderland. Also interesting how a New Zealander can sing these American songs perfectly, yet when they speak they have such a thick accent. Talent.

In Queenstown we enjoyed the nightlife fully, and had our share of fun by riding these gravity controlled "luges" down the mountain side, was a complete release of our inner child, Hannah and I didn't want to leave.

And last but most certainly not least, we ate, and ate, and ate a lot. So much food and such good food at that, and so thankful for stretchy pants:)

If I haven't convinced you to add New Zealand to your bucket list, then I'll try now....DO IT!

takin' off shortly, next stop Bangkok
Jen are you ready?(and Alicia for a short period) Happiness overload...