NEW ZEALAND RECAP

Favorite Things About New Zealand:

• Swimming with dolphins (and seals). Jumping off the back of a boat into the freezing-cold ocean at sunrise, with a mile of water below you, surrounded by 800 jumping dolphins, is a unique experience, to say the least! And to be able to actually interact with these powerful, playful creatures, rather than passively viewing them from afar, was the best part of all.
• Visiting all those Lord of the Rings filming locations. Getting my geek on, baby!
• The Tongariro Crossing. A full day of the most magnificent mountain views I've ever experienced--and some of the hardest uphill (and downhill) trekking as well. The volcanic landscape of the park is very surreal--for 8 hours it felt like I had left Earth altogether and gone exploring on some alien world.
• Keas!

Least-Favorite Things About New Zealand:

• Two-lane winding roads. Driving on the left isn't all that bad, but when you combine that with having to pass all those slow-ass camper vans and sheep trucks on winding, unsealed, narrow mountain roads, things can get a little hairy.
• The place is kind of empty. So many sheep, so few people. Lots of beautiful scenery, but no wild animals. Everything is neat, ordered, pristine, and lovely--but after awhile that gets a little boring. Sometimes I felt like I was driving around in a gigantic model train set.

Biggest Regret:

• Not having more time to spend in Wellington.