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New Zealand’s North Island: Rotorua or Hades? Shire or Sheep Farm? And Is Auckland Shut or Open?
We were young and stupid. Little did we know that life cost money, so we said ‘sure’ when offered a spot in a 1991 Auckland teacher exchange program. Almost-newlyweds with a blended family of typical teenagers (lots of scowls and secrets), we barely paid the bills as it was. I mean, Why NOT take a somewhat impromptu trip to New Zealand, way Down Under? We kicked off our married life with a magical two-week Ireland honeymoon, so it figures that we signed on for our next grand adventure as soon as we could manage it (or not), despite the restrictions of our demanding mid-career lives. Seems we’re not the folks…
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New Zealand’s South Island: Welcome to Middle Earth! Earthquakes, Albatrosses, and Breathtaking Landscapes Everywhere
Eleanor Catton had me at the ball gowns lined with gold sewn into their hems. The 1861 discovery of gold set off a frenzy of fortune seekers stampeding south, way south, to New Zealand’s wild and empty Otago Peninsula, our next cruise stop. Catton brings this era to riveting life in her 848-page historical novel, The Luminaries, and even though Padre grumbled about hauling my ‘book brick’ his suffering was worth it, at least to me. I adore long reads that hold up, and it will go to a lucky Golden Princess passenger soon, hopefully one with lots of luggage space left. In Catton’s historical mystery novel I learned what 1860s life…
