Have been inspired by many A to Z posts online, and I decided to come up with an A to Z list for New Zealand too. This is just my honest opinion on what I thought was the highlight of each alphabet. It was quite hard to pick only one thing for some of the alphabets.
A for Auckland
Everyone knows about Auckland, New Zealand’s biggest city, also known as City of Sails. The part I love most about Auckland is that although it is very city-ish in terms of convenience, the suburbs still retain some of its countryside qualities (e.g. good community of people and home gardens).
B for Beaches
Ninety mile beach is so endless that it amazes me even though it is only 55 miles. And the first time I saw black sand was at Himatangi Beach. For a first impression, it was not all that inviting. But it kinda grows on you, and I look forward to see more volcanic sand beaches in the future.
C for Christchurch
It is a beautiful garden city with English influences and a gateway to Antarctic. The city centre was once a gorgeous place with heaps of old stone buildings. According to my friends who went there after the quake, it was still in a pretty bad state. Hope the city recovers soon.
D for Driving
In my opinion, I think New Zealand is a fantastic place to drive in. The roads are broad, easy to read signage, large number of parking space, spacious parking lots and heaps of friendly drivers. Somehow, I don’t have the confidence to drive anywhere else except in New Zealand.
E for Earthquakes
The February 2011 earthquake at Christchurch was a scary catastrophe. The whole country is located on top of the boundary of Pacific and Australian plates, with heaps of fault lines all around. Minor earthquakes are happening daily. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that major quakes don’t strike again.
F for Franz Josef glacier
It is amazing to learn how glaciers are formed, and even more exciting to hike up a real glacier. Personally, I thought it looked the best from the bottom; it looks like glowing in a blue light and sort of ‘flowing’ towards you. The glacier is constantly flowing and changes every few days.
G for Glowworm
The Arachnocampa species are endemic to New Zealand and Australia. The glowworms are not worms, but the luminescent larval stage of the beetle. Can be spotted in many places, but more popularly found around Waitomo and Te Ana-au Caves, in North and South Island respectively.
H for Hangi and Haka
Hangi is the traditional Maori way of cooking using heated rocks buried in a pit oven. The meat taste kinda like a combination of smoked and grilled. Haka is traditional Maori war dance. The most famous one is by All Blacks. The Haka war dance looks really fierce and kinda scary in real life.
