A country where the sheep outnumber people, and where the bulk of the Lord of the Rings films were shot.those were the about the only two facts I knew about New Zealand (aside from its location) prior to my trip there last year. Although I was excited to participate in both cultural activities and outdoor recreation, I was not planning on tracing the path to "Mordor", which rather unsurprisingly since the success of the films, has become a popular attraction for many tourists. This meant that I needed to do some research about the country as I planned my trip; this research mostly consisted of buying an inexpensive guidebook/map from my local bookstore, and doing a little bit of background reading. From this investigation, I decided that I would fly to the south island, to Christchurch, and, after seeing the city, branch out into the wilderness for some good outdoor fun.

I landed in Christchurch in the early morning, and headed first to my hotel to drop of my bags. The first thing that struck me, flying in, was how absolutely green everything was. I was unprepared for the brilliant emeralds, the jades, the turquoises, and the limes that stood out everywhere. Grasses, trees, water, everything seemed much more colorful than I was expecting. In this sort of shocked mood, I pondered in my hotel room for about ten minutes before promptly falling asleep (it had been a long plane ride). When I awoke, it was mid-afternoon, which ended up being the perfect timing, as my body clock was just about right on with New Zealand time, eliminating pesky jet lag.

After a light lunch in the hotel restaurant, I proceeded to head to where my guidebook told me I should begin: Cathedral Square. With the cathedral on one hand, built in the new gothic style of architecture, and the fact that the square is at nearly the center of the city, this is a great place to begin sightseeing in Christchurch. The center of the square is absolutely dominated by an fifty foot tall sculpture called the Metal Chalice, which was crafted by Neil Dawson to celebrate the year 2000 and the turning of the millennium. After just taking the square in for a few moments, I headed over to the cathedral, which I soon found out, offers a climb to the top of its tower for a minimal price. I paid the caretaker, and then climbed my way up to the top and was able to look out over the city; the view was spectacular, not quite St. Paul's in London, but certainly worth the money and the climb.

After heading back down to the ground level and poking around a bit more in the cathedral, I made my way back toward the airport toward one of the most unique and interesting museums I've ever been to: the International Antarctic Center. This gigantic museum houses artifacts, information and hands on experience with the many different explorations and Antarctic travel that have been based from New Zealand. In fact, Christchurch has been the base of Antarctic operations for several countries since the early twentieth century. The best part about the venue, I thought, was that not only have many of the museum staff actually been on Antarctic expeditions, there was also a real live exhibit that let me experience what it would be like to be in such freezing cold temperatures, and experience an interesting tunnel and snow cave. In all, this was definitely a unique place to see in Christchurch.

After grabbing a bite to eat and wandering around a little more, I headed back to the hotel to get some rest, knowing that the next day would be a busy one. My flight to the north island left early that next morning, and I arose before it was light out, making my way back to the airport. On the morning flight, the sky was clear below, and the sun was shining brightly, giving the other passengers and I a gorgeous view of the ocean and the beautiful mountains of New Zealand below. The flight was short in duration, and I landed in Wellington in just under an hour. Wellington presented its beautiful Victorian style architecture and charming small buildings, making me want to stay longer, but I had planned to climb the dormant volcano a few miles north: Mt Taranaki. I took a bus, which was, admittedly, much slower than my previous flight, and arrived that night in New Plymouth, the closest major urban center to Mt Taranaki, and was lucky enough to land a room with large windows facing south. As the sun set, the clouds above Mt. Taranaki broke, revealing a nearly perfect conical peak that bore resemblance to Japan's Mt. Fuji so distinctly that I almost thought I was in Japan again.

The next day, I took an access road up to the eastern plateau, with all my gear ready to go for the climb. Although the mountain is relatively easy even for amateurs, the weather over Mt Taranaki is fickle, and it is considered by some to be the most dangerous mountain in New Zealand. Although I was careful, I was not worried, as I took proper precautions, and planned to carry the necessary gear to make sure I'd be safe. A note to climbers: it is always safer to climb in a group, and therefore, I had met up with some fellow climbers and arranged the climb in advance via email. We met up at the top of the highest access road, and one of them, a Maori who'd climbed the route we'd be taking several times led off. As we made out way up the changing rock face, often covered with fields of grasses and flowers, I found myself looking back over my shoulder at the gorgeous views of other distant mountains and the forests below. To make a long story short (the climb lasted several hours), reaching the peak without much difficulty, we were soon able to witness one of the most spectacular views imaginable: the north island in all its natural glory in full sunlight, with the string of eastern volcanoes spread out before us.

As we began my descent, I decided that before I died, I would like nothing better than to spend a year or so just in New Zealand, experiencing all the magnificent vistas that this tiny yet geologically diverse country has to offer.