New Zealand was summed up for me by a friend I had dinner with a few nights ago. 'Without doubt,' she said, 'this is the most stunning country I've ever visited'. Twenty-one days away from the end of my six-month career break - not that I'm anxiously counting the days or anything - I am due to head on to pastures new on Sunday. To Bali for a week, then Singapore, Malaysia and eventually Bangkok.
I think the most striking thing about New Zealand is not only that it has such memorable scenery for visitors to enjoy, but it's so determined to hang onto it. I mentioned in a previous blog how much control the conservation department has here, but I sense, too, how individuals are keen to play their parts. Even something as basic as dropping litter just doesn't seem to happen as much as it does back home.
If I'm looking to be critical I was initially frustrated by the pace of life here. Even in Auckland people just don't seem to mind when the bus doesn't turn up, nor when it stops mid-journey so the driver can swap with a colleague who's a five-minute walk away. (I remember witnessing this happening in Shepherd's Bush one morning, and there was nearly a riot). And I couldn't believe how long people are prepared to wait to cross the road, nor how law-abiding they are to wait for the green man when the road is clearly deserted. I'm afraid I've incurred some dirty looks when failing to be so patient.
Eventually I concluded that my initial frustration was more about me than it was about New Zealand. I was judging people's apparent lethargy by London standards, where most of us dart about in a state of constant and often needless stress. I was just being too impatient for New Zealand; rest assured in five weeks I've managed to slow down a bit. It's been a struggle.
Other things to criticise...well if you're aiming to stay in budget accommodation you're going to come across an interesting mix of standards. I could have done without the bed bugs of Wellington, the dead rodent in Dunedin (it was either a large mouse or a small rat), the alleged ensuite bathroom in Napier which was actually just a panelled-off section of the bedroom, the sea view blocked by a corrugated iron roof in Kaikoura or the moment in Queenstown when we realised that every electric wire in the room led to one highly overworked plug socket. But I guess that's not a New Zealand thing; all those examples and more could happen anywhere.
And I'm ending my stay here with the first test match in Hamilton. To be honest Hamilton is not a city I'd rush back to if there weren't a game of cricket going on. Yes, it has notable gardens and an impressive river walk, but the main city area doesn't set the pulse racing. But then it's quite comforting to find a place in New Zealand which veers towards the ordinary, because so much of it is anything but.