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| Classic in NZ |
There are three ways to travel in NZ – doing the Kiwi Experience which means lots of bus rides (also called the “fuck bus”, won´t
explain why), renting a car or hitchhiking. We pitched on the second option –
just providing much more flexibility, you see more and turns out to be cheaper
too.
Low population density = empty spaces, good personal security,
brilliant roads, fantastic I-SITE visitor information centers, DOC ((Department
of conservation) camp sites everywhere make it easy to get off the beaten
track. Only the weather could fuck things up cos in NZ you never know, it
changes rapidly, you might experience the four seasons in just one day.
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| Milford Sound |
We were told that pure Maori people don’t exist anymore but
a few times we saw some that looked pretty Maori to me (all the face was
tattooed) but of course Im not able to tell. There are lots of places to get
familiar with Maori culture if someone is interested or the Maori traditional
dance “haka” (the well-known dance performed by All Blacks before rugby
matches). The kiwi´s knowledge of Mauri language is usually limited to “Ke Ora”
(Hello).
The kiwis are quite shy and distant at the beginning but
once you get to know them they are the nicest and friendliest people. Pretty
often after meeting someone shortly on a bushwalk or just a short break in the
mountain, you end up staying in their house like old friends. They would go out
their way to help you, open up their home, introduce you to their family and
friends and make sure you taste every bit of this kiwi hospitality. The first 2
weeks we found difficult understanding the accent, especially when “e” was
involved, like ten, tent, Ben, bed, bread, egss (they pronounce it as if it was iggs)…
