So it was goodbye to Australia and Kia
Ora to New Zealand - which apparently means 'Welcome' in
Maori. I didn't know it was Maori, I only thought it
was too
orangey for crows and it was just
for me and my dog.
New Zealand... the only country I've ever visited that has a
dress code. Yes, upon arriving at Auckland Airport, I had
my shoes checked, not for bombs - but to make sure they were
clean! (There is a serious side, you had to declare any
hiking boots and they checked them to make sure they had no soil
or mud on them - this is part of the NZ quarantine regime).
Having left behind the world's largest island, or the world's
smallest continent (depending on your point of view) I found
myself in a country that seems to look at life a bit differently. For
example, they just couldn't be bothered naming things; the two
main islands don't have a name, they're just called the north
island and the south island; the lovely bay full of islands is
just the Bay of Islands; and the beach with hot water springs
is Hot Water Beach. With that in mind, I decided to give
Farewell Spit a miss - and as for Shag Point... well you'll see
pictures from there later...
