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Having no amusing anecdotes to share about Queenstown today, I have decided that we should talk a little bit about New Zealand as a whole. It is comprised of two main islands, the north and the south, which together are only slightly larger than the UK. Just as a comparison, New Zealand has a total land area of 103,483 square miles and a population of approximately 4,352,672 while Alabama has a total land area of 51,705 square miles and a population of approximately 4,661,900. And you thought that much of Alabama was rural… try having almost the same number of people but in twice the space. Or, think about this. The South Island alone has a land area of 58,384 square miles and a population of only 1,027,500, that’s more than 150,000 less than the Birmingham metro area alone. You want peace and quiet in this place? No problem.
Auckland is the country’s largest city with almost 1.4 million residents, more than the entire population of the South Island. It is also the city that everyone else in New Zealand loves to hate but can’t seem to express why. I think that it must be the difference in pace and lifestyle in Auckland compared to the rest of the country. Auckland is like just about any other major city in the world, where the focus tends to be big business. No one moves to Auckland to enjoy their retirement years, if you know what I mean. Besides that, it is just kind of a boring place to be. My one suggestion would be the volcano simulation room at the Auckland museum. I wont spoil it for you by trying to elaborate but just know that at one point the whole room starts to shake and the older lady sitting next to me on the couch during it, scout’s honor, started to scream. It took every ounce of my being not to start laughing out loud. But seriously, other than that, skip Auckland.
Wellington is both the political and entertainment capital of New Zealand, affectionately known as Wellywood to those in the New Zealand film industry. We met a guy in a café there who works for Weta Digital, the people behind the Lord of the Rings, the Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and most recently Avatar. He was explaining to us that his job at Weta Digital was to make the fluffy white clouds in the backgrounds. Not any other shape of cloud that you might see in the films, he was quick to point out, just the fluffy ones. What I want to know is how you get into that line of work. Do you go to digital animation school and specialize in fluffy clouds or do you have to work your way up to that position? Weta had apparently recruited him from England for his cloud fluffing skills. Everyone is good at something, I suppose.
Those are the two largest cities in the North Island and as far as this discussion goes today. I know that you are on the edge of your seats to learn more about Aotearoa, the Maori name for New Zealand roughly translated as the land of the long white cloud (I wonder if that guy from Weta knows about that. Maybe someday he will get promoted from the fluffy clouds to the long white ones) but you will just have to tune in some other time… or check out Wikipedia.