DAY 139
Week 20
TOWNSVILLE (Queensland, AUS)
Monday November 6th, 2006
TODAYS MILEAGE – 0 miles or kilometres
TRIP MILEAGE – 2261 miles or 3639 kilometres
So, how was New Zealand you ask??? 
New Zealand, as a country is ranked 75th in the world for land mass at 268,680 kilometres² (103,738 miles²). Compared to Australia (ranked 6th at 7,741,220 kilometres² or 2,988,888 miles²), the United States (ranked 3rd at 9,631,420 kilometres² or 3,718,695 miles²)or the European Union (ranked 7th at 3,976,372 kilometres² or 1,535,286 miles²).
I primarily spent all my time on the North Island of the country, and while fairly large at 113,729 kilometres² (43,911 miles²), it's fairly easy to get around even though it's the 17th largest island on the globe.
I arrived in Auckland on a Monday which just so happens to coincide with NZ Labor Day and found nearly everything closed for the day. Dougy Doug lobbed up and we spent the next two days checking out the largest population centre of the country. Yeah, it's not PC, but it's a fact, so settle down, we found that there was a disproportionate amount of Asians in the city. This observation is based on cities that we've both visited over the years.
Getting out of Auckland is the best thing to do and we both loved checking out the countryside. We wouldn't have given you two knobs of goat shit for Rotorua except for the Tamaki Maori Village.
The wine region over in the Hawkes Bay/Napier region was well worth the visit, as was taking the dirt tracks across the country and stopping in at the small towns on your way over to Wanganui, on the opposite coast.
The food needs to be experienced for yourself. I don't think I had a bad meal the entire time I was in the country, except for what was supplied by the Golden Oldies organizers. The variety, freshness and what they were doing with their produce was well worth the price of getting yourself over to the Shaky Isles.
The countryside literally changes before your eyes and depending on which direction we pointed our rent–a–wreck, you could take in the rolling hills of the farms, sub-tropical forests of the coast, deserted beaches, craggy cliffs, raging rivers and waterfalls. The lakes of Lake Taupo proudly guarded by snow-capped mountains or barren scrub land. There was simply too much to see in such a short amount of time.
The only negative we found was that some of the places were a bit proud of their products when it came to prices, especially in "touristy" areas or major population areas. They simply were charging way too much for things that quite frankly were under-whelming i.e. Rotorua, Wellington or the Lord of The Rings film set area.
As with Australia, the people make the place. The local Kiwi's (as opposed to the imports as mentioned earlier) are all down to earth and good for a yarn and a beer. Nothing too much phases them and as is the norm with me, they give as good as the get.
All in all, I loved the total experience of New Zealand and will definitely be back. Well worth as visit in my opinion.
Tomorrow I'll comment on the 16th World Golden Oldies Rugby Festival.