I've been fortunate in that I have traveled to (and/or lived in) many countries and also all over the U.S. However, I have never been to New Zealand and it is one country I would love to visit. I loved living in Colorado (because of the fresh mountain air and the beautiful peaks and the small population back in the 70s) and in Oregon (because of the rural atmosphere and glorious peaks and the ocean nearby as well) but both are getting too populated these days to really enjoy anylonger. My other favorite locations were Zugspitz, Switzerland, La Paz, Bolivia, and Washington state, U.S. Maybe one day I'll make it to New Zealand!

>Tracy
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>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. ;-)
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>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.
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>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.
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>Regards
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>JR