Whanganui has an underground elevator built inside a hill. It has been running since 1919. There is an operator. It costs $2.50. At the top are 176 spiral steps and one of the best views in New Zealand.
Tirau has a population of about 800 people and a giant corrugated iron dog, sheep, and ram on its main street. It calls itself the Corrugated Capital of the World. It’s not wrong.
I wrote a whole blog post about how New Zealand doesn’t want to kill you. Then I went through my photos and found the great white shark warning sign. Oops.
We moved into our new apartment right across from the train station and decided it was time to actually use it. The Auckland transport system turned out to be clean, simple, and remarkably easy to figure out — one card for trains, buses and ferries. We rode out to Panmure, shared the train with a handful of little girls in tiaras headed to Disney on Ice, and ended up at an American store selling Vienna sausages in bulk. Just a regular Saturday.
New Zealand has almost as much coastline as the United States — for a country of 5.3 million people that works out to one kilometre of coastline per 353 people. You can really feel it on the beaches. And some of those beaches have 60-million-year-old boulders on them.
The world sheep shearing record was just broken by one lamb. The Irishman who did it sheared 867 in nine hours — and he learned his craft in New Zealand. Of course he did.
Rudyard Kipling called Milford Sound the eighth wonder of the world. The drive there is the most beautiful I’ve ever been on. The sandflies are mean and cruel. All of this is true.
Tui is a NZ institution — light, refreshing, and responsible for some of the funniest billboards in the country. The brewery on State Highway 2 is still worth a stop, even if the beer is no longer brewed there.
I used to ignore every bottle with a screw top. Then I moved to New Zealand, where 95% of wines use them — including the award-winning ones. I’ve been converted.
ew Zealand is home to its own unique species of glow worm — and seeing them in a cave, a river tunnel, or the forest at night is one of those experiences you don’t forget.