Impressions of New Zealand

While I was in college in Ireland, we were told to write a personal narrative on an important event that has happened in our life. For me, one of the most amazing things that has happened to me has been my trip to New Zealand in the summer (their winter) of 2004. I decided to write about this experience and I thought I would post it here just to let everyone know (if you didn't already) how amazing New Zealand really is! 

My Experience in “Middle-Earth"

As I looked out the window, I saw nothing special. Everything looked the same as it would be in the country that I had departed sixteen hours ago. We landed smoothly and my parents and I made are way through the airport.  As I looked up, a colorful welcome sign came into view. “Kia Ora” it said. At the time I had no idea what that expression meant, but I would soon hold it dear to my heart.

            Walking out of the confines of the stuffy airport, I automatically felt at home. This was strange, due to the fact that I was thousands of miles away from my actual home. It was warm for being the middle of winter. There were trees that looked like palm trees from Florida and it was sunny. It was the perfect day to arrive on the island country of New Zealand.

            I was suddenly struck by a thought. I was in the country that I had dreamed of visiting for three years now. It started innocently enough. I watched the Fellowship of the Ring and enjoyed it. Slowly the Lord of the Rings became more of an obsession to me. I started researching everything that I could about it, including a small country that was almost off the map.

            I became enchanted with the pictures that I would find of New Zealand. Some would be of snow-capped mountains climbing toward a bright blue sky covered with wisps of clouds, others would be more tropical, with the ocean lapping at a white, sandy beach. Still, I found more, volcanoes exploding after hundreds of years and scenes of vast fields of green, dotted with sheep.

            It seemed to me as if New Zealand was a whole world wrapped into a country made up of two small islands. Whether you were looking to go surfing or snowboarding, you could do almost anything in New Zealand. As we went around from place to place, I realized that the country had even more to offer. Everyone we met on our stay was so friendly. We were greeted with a welcoming “g-day” and left with a friendly “no worries”.

            We spent a lot of time in the car. This was a bit nerve-racking, as my father was in the driver’s seat, driving in another direction than he was used to. But I was too preoccupied with the landscape to worry about such matters. I left the worrying to my mother.

            I became mesmerized by the native culture of New Zealand. The Maori people are a pacific island culture. Their story is much like that of our Native Americans. They were bribed from their land and thought of as less than human. Still today, they have not gained all of their rights back. A couple of decades ago, their culture was disappearing because they were afraid to continue it. Their language, arts and literature had almost disappeared. Recently, however, they have been trying to preserve their culture and it is once again on the rise.

            I found the Maori people to be so amazing. I remember one night when we were in Rotorua, a small city on top of a thermal area. We decided to go to a Maori cultural event. I didn’t really know what to expect at the time. I had done a little bit of research on Maori customs and culture, but not enough to consider myself an expert. That night however, sitting by the fire and listening to these people who were so full of life and were ready to take on anything that was thrown in their way, I realized just how much I loved it here. I loved the country, the atmosphere, the landscape and most of all, the people. I didn’t want to leave and go back to a place I had never really considered my real home.

            I remember one night we couldn’t find a hotel, so we ended up driving through the night from Hamilton to Wellington, which is a long drive. We made our way through winding, narrow roads in the mountains. I couldn’t wait for the night to be over. Then we came up to Mt. Ruapehu. It was very dark out, however the mountain was covered in snow. It was the most amazing thing I had ever set eyes upon, complete darkness and then this mound of white. It doesn’t sound all that spectacular, but it was an image I have forever burned in my memory.

            Another time we went on a tour to Mt. Sunday, which was also the set for Edoras in the Lord of the Rings. The guide told us that there wasn’t any civilization around for miles. It was just us and the sheep. We climbed to the top of the small mountain and the view literally took my breath away. There were snow covered mountains surrounding the small mountain that we were perched on and down below were tiny streams trickling all around us. Looking around, I felt as if I was at the edge of the world and I was the only person around. It was the closest I had ever really felt to nature and it felt perfect.

            One of the most magical places that we visited was Milford Sound. In order to get there, you have to take a bus that goes through avalanche areas. It was a very exhilarating experience, knowing that you could be covered in snow at any moment, however it was worth it to arrive at our destination. Milford Sounds is a place where water meets mountains. At Milford Sounds, glacial water meets the Tasman Sea and in the winter, the sun doesn’t set until eleven at night. It was probably the most peaceful sight that I had ever experienced. There was a small population of people living there and besides that it was just nature.

             I guess the most prominent memory of my stay was being back on a plane, ready to take off and return to the US. I wasn’t ready to go home yet. I wasn’t sure that I ever wanted to go home. I didn’t feel the comfort that I usually began to feel at this time, knowing that I would be returning to my nice warm bed. I thought of all the places I had been and all the places I had yet to see. I still hadn’t witnessed the penguin colony in Dunedin on the very tip of the South Island. Or been to the very North of Northland and walked on ninety mile beach, where Maori myth says that spirits depart to their mythical homeland of Hawaiki.

            That’s when I realized that I wanted to return. I kept thinking “this place is meant for me.” Even though I knew that this wasn’t actually true, I knew that this place is where I wanted to end up. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my live living in a small town in New England. I thought that I would spend my years traveling, looking for the perfect place. As our “kia ora” or welcome became a “goodbye”, I realized then that I had already found the perfect place.

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