New Zealand and Back to Family!

Much to my surprise, arriving in New Zealand was quite a shock to the system, genuine culture shock after the better part of three months in Asia. Or maybe reverse-culture shock, since obviously New Zealand far more closely represents what I know and the life I normally live.
It's hard to put my finger on why I had that reaction, but I think a sense of constriction from the order of everything compared the ever slightly chaotic streets we had inhabited, and I think also being around family, as easy and pleasant as it was, also took away from the solitude and I guess in a sense the selfishness of the past few months where I could work and play entirely to my own schedule.


New Zealand is as beautiful as everyone tells you. For me it is the land of trees: many, many giant and ancient looking trees. After a few days sightseeing in Auckland we headed out to visit the Hobbiton, which was very entertaining: again surrounded by beautiful farm lands, and it was fun to learn about the madness of Peter Jackson as he sought to perfect the smallest detail.
Moving swiftly along we headed to the Tongariro National Park with the plan of hiking the 20km crossing. We got lucky with a glorious day and got to appreciate the alien-like landscapes around the volcano. Sadly the crossing is so popular that the walk at times felt more like being dragged along in a stream of people. We made it across in time to catch the mid-afternoon bus back, but feeling properly broken and with the sense that 20km in a day is quite a bit further than we can comfortable go in a day and still have fun. But then as I've been told on more than one occasion but harder folk than I, it doesn't have to be fun to fun!


Onwards to Hawkes Bay to my brother's home, and all the creature comforts we had not had the opportunity to enjoy for a fair long time. Much coffee was brewed, video games played, DVDs watched and dogs walked along pristine beaches - a pleasant couple of days indeed before hopping on a bus down to Wellington to spend Christmas with the cousins.


It has been the better part of 20 years since I got to spend time with my cousins Bruce and Fiona, and Christmas was a wonderful time for me of catching up with them, eating far too much food, playing board games and then eating more food. I'd spent a bit of time with their youngest daughter Megan when she toured through Spain, but never with Anna or Tristan, and had been really looking forward to getting to know them as well. In every respect, it was a great and memorable couple of days, but all too soon we found ourselves packing our bags once again, to continue our journey east, across the datum line and on to an incredible hot and humid Buenos Aires.