Before we left, I sent Rachele copies of our itinerary, pictures I saw online of places we'd visit, UTube videos of adventure packed drives we'd take and miraculous things we'd see in our three week New Zealand road trip.
She. didn't. look. at. anything. She knew about bungy jumping for her 23rd birthday. period.
She didn't know about high speed jetboating through narrow canyons, handgliding off mountaintops, or cruising through Milford Sound or The Bay of Islands or across the Cook Strait. She didn't know about crystal clear blue, turquoise and green water, the massive glaciers, snow capped mountains and the endless drives over twisty roads to see it all. It was a surprise for her to see waterfalls and bubbling mud, rainbow colored, mineral filled rivers and lakes, lava fields and sand dunes, cliffs over turbulent seas, glacial valleys, or rock filled glacial water fed estuaries. It was a surprise to kayak in the Sound, and the Bay, and the Sea. She didn't know about moss covered trees, rocks and pastures, about 6 foot tall silver ferns and tall redwoods and massive, old kauri trees. She didn't expect hundreds of hills and pastures filled with sheep, or meals of succulent lamb chops. She didn't know about tracks and tramps and Great Walks through misty, cool forests, or along rock scattered beaches, or above remnants of dormant volcanos and across volcanic craters. She didn't know about steaming geysers, sulfuric gases, dark caves, glow worms, hot springs and steamy waterfalls in hidden niches in rocks where we could bathe. She didn't know about Maoris and birds that can't fly and kiwi smash martinis. About the B&B's where we would meet wonderful hosts and eat fresh eggs and fruit harvested from garden trees. About the many picnics we would eat along streams, gorges and forests. But now she does. We all do. What a miracle of nature and what a joy to see.
New Zealand you are miraculous!
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