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Travelogue - New Zealand - journey to middle earth

One Dutch sailor whilst on a voyage of discovery few centuries ago stumbled on these islands in the South Pacific and as it reminded him of his native Zealand the name New Zealand came to be.  Or so says some tale.  To us it was a respite from the go go work year and a chance to unwind.

So this winter holiday we decided to spend three summer weeks in NZ.  Our flight took us from San Francisco to Auckland which is the largest city in this country of around 4 million people.

Some immediate differences that become apparent - it has very few people per square mile..compared to even some parts in the US, especially Silicon Valley which seems outright congested in comparison.

Second - the place is green to the point that I am proposing a theory that states - NZ supplies oxygen to the rest of the planet.  It has a cornucopia of evergreen and tropical plantation all at the same time along with acres of rolling green hills and fields with berries and corn.  Frankly it felt like we were driving through the world's largest botanical garden.  Tooling along at 100 kilometers per hour right between ferns and exotic flower gardens till you steer past a plume of super heated steam.

So third - there is a lot of geothermal gurgling going on down below that it vents out steam every few miles - it happens to be on the ring of fire - part of the western pacific rim volcanic region.

Four - you cannot drive at more than 100 kph..silly because the cars come rated to go over twice that limit and there is no one to kill on the road other than yourself if you did go fast - well maybe a few sheep that wander out of their farms.

More on this amazing journey in a follow up soon - we still have lot of ground to cover.

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