New Zealand

Travel Channel had a fantastic feature on New Zealand in late December 2005. And if the JRR Tolkien-written Peter Jackson-anchored "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy wasn't enough of an advert for the country, this one hour documentary, with no less than the Prime Minister of New Zealand Helen Clark serving as the tour guide, I guess you could call it the final push over the top...


I have fallen in love with the country.

And how could you not, when the Prime Minister of the country is as down to earth and normal as can be. She hikes, climbs mountains (she reportedly climbed the Mt. Kilimanjaro recently), abseiling down 350 feet into an underground cave.

And the NZ has been a nuclear-free zone since 1984. And they seem to be more in the forefront of environmental protection, while still pursuing free trade.

I am sure there is something in it for our blustering conservative politicians, but I have been beaten dumb by our venerated Fox News and CNN...but let that not distract from the beauty of "Middle Earth"...New Zealand. (Images courtesy the Internet, source links provided as hyperlinks on images)