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We've just been to New Zealand for a two week holiday. It was a wonderful trip! We had great weather (unlike Sydney), some snow and managed to do a lot of fun things. NZ stacks up pretty well compared to Australia.

We went to Christchurch, Oamaru, Te Anau, Queenstown, Arrowtown, Wanaka, Te Kapo and Akaroa. We saw penguins, seals and many birds. We went on trams, gondolas, a luge, the Kingston Flyer and a jet boat. We visited the Whitestone Cheese Factory, the Moeraki Boulders, glowworm caves, Elephant Rocks, Milford Sound (which is actually a fiord not a sound), Puzzling World, Mt. Cook, several markets and lots more. We ate out many times - mostly pretty well - the highlight of which was Fleur's Place, which was just superb.

The Kiwis did tourism very well. We always had good service. Nothing was too much trouble - even if it was out of the ordinary, or not on the menu, or whatever.

Culturally, NZ seemed to be much less of a nanny state. Roads, rides, parks and so on all seemed to allow you to do more. There were fewer fences and other limiting devices. You were much freer to make your own mistakes.