Ted. We have crossed the equator and the International Date
Line to discover that New Zealand is a new land in many ways. But first, a
summary of the last few days.
Frankfurt was a blur – never
leaving the airport. Vancouver was a joy and we promised ourselves to return
soon. It lived up to our expectations and we even had sunshine the last two
days. To me, the city is a Europeanized Seattle. We found the people to be very friendly and quickly learned to love BC wine. Our last stop there
was at the Museum of Anthropology, which is filled with artifacts from around
the world but focuses on the works of the First Nations Peoples of British Columbia.
This visit bookended nicely
with our first stop in NZ, the Auckland Museum. We saw may parallels with the
works created by the Maori; a reminder that we are all connected. Auckland has
some similarities to Vancouver but enjoys the distinct advantage of being WARM.
Today we travel by bus to
Rotorua, famous for its Maori culture and geothermal activity.
Judy. I found another similarity
between Vancouver and Auckland: people are so friendly! As a Southerner, I
expect that, but I have yet to meet another city bus driver who will not only
tell you you’ve arrived at your stop, but also get off the bus to point you to
the right road. It warmed my heart.
I
want to also give a shout out to Air New Zealand. The 14-hour trip across the
Pacific was incredibly comfortable (I do love those lie-flat beds), and Olivia
and Sue, our flight attendants, took the time to list for us some of their
favorite things to do in their country. Terrific ambassadors for New
Zealand! Actually, I like the Maori name
for the country: Aotearoa—land of the
long white cloud.
Can’t
wait to see what else is in store here.
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