Ah, New Zealand

Admittedly I was most looking forward to this part of the trip, and now that its here, I definitely don't have enough time in this beautiful country.

Upon arriving in New Zealand, you are subjected to a pretty thorough screening system to ensure you haven't brought in any fruits, nuts, debris from hiking/camping/sporting equipment. Already being "randomly" selected at every airport thus far (including Pearson), none of this was surprising to me now. What I did respect more here was how they handled it - with hoards of late night passengers, the customs and contamination officers were nothing short of polite and apologetic for doing their jobs. And they treated everyone (that I observed anyway) with the utmost respect. Was an amazing thing to see especially as I am a firm believer that the way you treat people matters, I fell in love with this place in the customs line in arrivals. Definitely a first for me!

As I hopped into the taxi to head to my hotel, a smiling face turned to me and said "How you going? Where can I take you tonight?" Wow - cant say I've ever had a driver like that in Toronto. On the quick drive to the hotel, he gave me tips on where to go for coffee, which rental car company to use and the best hikes in the city. If my budget would allow, I would have hired him to be my tour guide.

Nearly 1am when I checked into the hotel, the desk clerk was more quiet, but I got the impression it was to respect the sleeping guests. Friendly and kind, he handed me my key, and I slipped upstairs to take a short sleep before exploring again. Not even an hour into New Zealand and I already knew I was going to love it here.