My last evening in New Zealand, mixed feelings.  I've done and seen everything I came to do and see so I'm ready for Australia but New Zealand has found a spot in my heart.  Such a beautiful, rustic, gentle country.  The people have made NZ so perfect.  Their humor, generosity, hospitality and general outlook on life has been inspiring.  One of the NZ police officers that hosted me during my visit was talking about how New Zealanders would play Wheel of Fortune and he said they would ask for a "vowel'', an "O" for "awesome", pronounced with a long O.  I got the biggest chuckle out of that and as I traveled throughout the two islands, I would hear the locals refer to something as "Awesome" and hear the long "O" and just chuckle all over again.  Today, I was eating breakfast at my hostel and there was a crew of men across the street working on a building and they were laughing and carrying on while they were painting and hammering and I could just feel their good vibes and outlook on life and  their fellow workers.  They were actually enjoying working!!!!  Such fun to hear and see.  Every person I had contact with here seemed to enjoy talking with me and went out of their way to either help me or make me feel comfortable here.

Some of my observations on life here in New Zealand:  everything here is tiny.  Trash cans.  containers.  Portions.  There are no super sizes here.  I stopped at a McDonalds to get a large soda and I got a 12 oz cup.  That is their 'large.'  We Americans own "super-size" and we have the obesity problem to prove it.  Things here are smaller, no waste, just what you can consume.

I'm not sure what the local police do here but it's not much traffic enforcement.  I saw very few marked police cars and the ones I did see seemed to be cruising and going from one point to another.  I saw no speed enforcement as we routinely do back home.  On once occasion, the police did target a specfic area that had a very high accident rate and it was such a big deal that the operation made the front page of the paper here and had several folks talking about it.  It's a little different back home, haha.

Renting a car was hands down the best  decision so far.  I was so aprehensive about it but it turned out fine.  I logged over 3200 KM between the two islands, thats about 2000 miles and returned both cars in the same shape that I rented them, happy about that!!  The car gave me such freedom and I loved traveling the roads of NZ, such a great experience!

The New Zealanders are laid back and easy going.  Most areas have a "beach" type atmosphere.  I was in a cafe in Wellington and noticed again that customers come in barefoot and shorts and it is accepted.  Matter of fact, shoes appear to be optional for some folks here and when they have them, it usually flip flops.  I've seen them walk on gravel and it doesn't seem to bother them.  Their favorite saying?  "No worries"  It's s life style here and I like it.  Beautiful country, beautiful people.  I will miss them.  On to Australia!