Unexpected Surprises

Sometimes it's the most unexpected things that can make a trip.

When planning New Zealand, I had been most excited about Milford Sound, and it definitely was the best part - but mainly thanks to the Real Journeys staff and the four-hour drive through Fiordland National Park.

I decided to "splurge" on an overnight cruise (instead of the usual 2-hour cruise) to avoid the mass crowds and enjoy the sunset and sunrise. My bus driver, Wattsie, began the trip from Queenstown telling us that he had been to 49 countries over 10 years. He proceeded to tell us all about the history of New Zealand including Maori culture and European discovery, the current industries, politics and housing market, all the flora and fauna, the native and non-native (brought over by the "good old Europeans") animals, and eventually a discussion on evolution.

Fascinated by Wattsie's travels, I made it a point to talk with him at the first coffee stop. He said, "So you quit your job and are traveling? NICE!" I lucked out getting him. I noticed this with the guides in Peru too, that there are just some people who are curious and open-minded, and either well-traveled or well-read enough to understand what is unique and special about their country and appealing to tourists - and have enough pride to speak about their heritage with knowledge and passion.

I also have to say, that while traveling in New Zealand and Australia, it has been refreshing to hear Evolution spoken about like as much as a scientific fact as, say, gravity. NZ and Aus were originally part of the supercontinent Gondawanaland, so when learning about their country at a young age, they were taught about the earth's plates and all the different spieces of birds and plants and their evolution. Wattsie also mentioned that religion in New Zealand is "watered down." Each town typically has one church, and members of different religions helped each other build it and they practiced together; there is not as big of a difference in Catholic and Protestant than in other countries, for example. I thought this was kind of nice.

Overall, I absolutely loved Milford Sound, and would highly recommend a Real Journeys trip to anyone who visits New Zealand. We saw a slideshow after dinner of Milford in all the seasons, and it is stunning even in awful weather. When it rains, there are thousands and thousands of waterfalls coming down the mountains.

The rest of the South Island had some nice surprises too. I did a wildlife tour through the Otago Penninsula, and saw an Albatross in-flight and Yellow-eyed penguins. I also did a star-gazing tour at Lake Tekapo, and saw the southern hemisphere stars and consellations including the Southern Cross, full Milky Way, and Saturn through a telescope. It was really neat. I also visited the International Antarctic Centre in Christchurch and after a week of science-ish activities, it was cool to see how the international community is all working together on researching and preserving Antarctica and things affecting the whole world like global warming and the O-zone.