Tracy
Lord of the Rings? Yes, we live in holes in the ground, enjoy fireworks, and smoke pipes. Lets not forget Xena the Warrior Princess, also filmed in New Zealand! Lucy Lawless (whose maiden name is Ryan) is of course my cousin. ;-)
Having spent time in every continent except the antarctic(!) I think the world is a beautiful place. I can see that the US has terrific scenery, I guess the thing about NZ is that there are hardly any people, the land is largely unspoilt, whales and dolphins quite like the place, you can really get away from it and some of the country is so wild it isn't fully explored. Some people like that.
I have a home in Auckland which is a relatively small city (<1.5 mill people) whose harbour will be the venue for the prestige America's Cup yacht race later this year. That will be a lot of fun, the firm will be taking out a decent boat if any VFP'ers are there at the time.
Regards
JR
"... They ne'er cared for us
yet: suffer us to famish, and their store-houses
crammed with grain; make edicts for usury, to
support usurers; repeal daily any wholesome act
established against the rich, and provide more
piercing statutes daily, to chain up and restrain
the poor. If the wars eat us not up, they will; and
there's all the love they bear us."
-- Shakespeare: Coriolanus, Act 1, scene 1
