As anyone who has read this blog in the past knows, it has been a long time since the last blog came out. I don’t even remember what it was about, and I suspect no one else does either. I have, of late, had the urge to write some more, but could not think of a topic to cover. Therefore, I decided to just write and hope it would be something entertaining or informative for someone.
Some of you will know that we recently spent time with some good friends in New Zealand. Fortunately for us, our friends have a house in Queenstown, that has plenty of space for all four of us, and they charge reasonable rates for food and lodging.
If you are in any part of the world, other than New Zealand, it takes a long time to get to New Zealand. If you were to hop on a plane at the beginning of this blog, by the end of the blog you would have made it approximately 1 atta second of the way to New Zealand. Until recently, I didn’t know there was such a thing as an atta second. It is a very short amount of time. So short in fact, that light would travel only the width of a human hair in 1 atta second. I thought light was the fastest thing in the universe at 186,000 miles per second. Apparently not. Evidently, electrons are quite a bit faster than light. Hopefully you now get the point about how far away New Zealand is from anything else.
The distance is why it is necessary to stay in New Zealand for as long as you can once you get there, which will somehow be either before you left, or in 3 months, depending on which way you cross the international date line. The whole time zone thing is very confusing.
If you do have the pleasure of going to New Zealand, you will find a beautiful country and wonderful food. Also, if you go anytime from November through February, it will be summer in New Zealand. If you live in a colder climate, visiting somewhere else that is in the midst of summer is refreshing for the body and mind.
There are some things to be aware of when visiting New Zealand. It is basically two islands, North Island and South Island, where Queenstown is located. Being an island with mountains shooting straight up the middle of the land mass means there are not a lot of roads. What roads there are tend to be narrow and twisty. This means that if you want to visit another part of the island, you should gas up and bring snacks. If something is 20 miles away as the crow flies, it will likely take you 3 hours to get there due to the route you have to take. The scenery is worth the drive though. Everything from snowy mountain peaks to sunny beaches along the Pacific ocean is on offer.
You should also bring a sharp eye and your appetite because there are some wonderful places to eat in the tiny little towns along whatever route you decide to take. Some of these fine eateries may look like grandma’s house, but they turn out to be the realm of a culinary master.
If you like to adventure on trails, you are in luck as New Zealand has lots of trails. If it so happens that you like hills, you are doubly lucky as most New Zealand trails go straight up, and of course straight down. Trails can also be your most efficient way of getting from one place to another. The last time we were in New Zealand, M ran 20 miles in the same time it took our hosts and myself to drive 200 miles to the other side of the trail in order to meet M. Actually, we barely beat M to the other trailhead, but I think that was simply due to more horsepower on our side.
Other things to do and or see in New Zealand are whale watching, cruise ship tours, mountain climbing, or just finding good places to eat and gain some weight. If you happen to have awesome friends with a cool house, you can also just sit in the living room and look out over the lake whose name you won’t be able to pronounce.
That’s all I have for now, hopefully I will continue this writing trend and have some more blog ideas soon. If you have read this, thank you very much. If you have questions, do what normal people do and google them, or if you are a husband, ask your wife.
Go out and be good.
Chris
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