Where Are The Victoria Falls? - Some-Where Around Tauranga I Think? Or Why Do Kiwis Often Ignore Their Own Beautiful And Diverse Country?

While the heading above may seem odd and irrelevant, it is taken from an advertisement shown on NZ television several years ago. It is connected with the tendency of travelers from NZ to ignore the bountiful destinations available within the boundaries of their own beautiful and diverse country.

Extending from the wonderful stone architecture of south Canterbury and Southland to the Unique and delicate Beech forests of the West Coast; to the huge sandy beaches of Northland, the sheltered sandy coves of the East Coast; to the grandeur of the looming, often snow covered slopes, of the active volcano which is Mt Ruapehu. The night life of the largest cities contrast with the comparatively sedate rural existences lived by people within half a day easy drive from the centre of these bubbling metropolis.

The roads are almost entirely sealed now, though unsealed and less frequented routes with evocative titles still exist. The 'forgotten highway' which travels from Taranaki into the Ruapehu District is just one such example. The 'Bridge to nowhere' is New Zealand's monument to the rugged and difficult terrain of the central North Island. Even this small territory nestled in the South Pacific, after almost 400 years of human habitation, there are still largely untraveled tracts of land to be found.

Wooden churches and stone stores from the colonial past still exist. With history books in hand, one is able to still see the carved wooden grave markers of those participants within those same pages. Having studied New Zealand's heritage in my years at university, such tangible markers give substance to the languid progression of time in regions of this land, my home, New Zealand.

Referring again, to the essence intended in the title, I will inform you, the visitor, that as a teenager, myself and my friend cycled many of the pathways of this beautiful and diverse country. I am confident that I have at least a cursory appreciation of this land. Also, my experiences as a boy scout saw me wandering about the old tram tracks and logging skids of mining and forestry operations around Wairongomai. Now, just as then, bush covered and less than 'easy going' country. The men and women that moulded a state from this wilderness that was pre-colonial NZ were indeed of hardy stock. Often the settlers were military veterans and families of the Victorian Empire's conquests around the globe. They were no strangers to discipline and physical labour.

It can therefore, be seen, that New Zealand has vast scope of interest for the adventure seeking and those people wishing to experience a vigorous, and not too distant, history. You can be having eggs on toast in a cafe near the shores of the great Lake Taupo in the morning, and be skiing on the slopes of Ruapehu after lunch. You can be browsing historical documents in a provincial museum in one of many small towns around the country, then, that same night be dancing the night away in a trendy night club in one of the main city centres.

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