New Zealand I

I always found New Zealand to be a particularly interesting country. Well, not always since New Zealand is not among the top countries you dream about when you are younger and don‘t have a more defined view on the world and all its different places. Unlike, for example, Australia, which is famous for its exotic animals and peculiar landscapes you see in cartoons and on the shelves of toy stores, New Zealand has no such luck. While the kangaroo and the koala are as important for your average „Animals of the World“ collection as polar bears and zebras, the kiwi usually falls through the cracks. In general, it appears as if New Zealand‘s sibling Australia is getting all the fame while New Zealand with its rich culture (and arguably less lethal wildlife) is being left behind.

I like to travel. I love seeing places and cultures vastly different from the ones I am used to. And New Zealand, the country which is the furthest away from Germany, does seem like a great place to visit.

The first thing that comes to mind (other than kiwis) is the image of New Zealand as a place full of untouched nature and green mountains. Obviously that is an image which is heavily skewed, if nothing else then by the immense popularity of the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies which are well-known for having been filmed in New Zealand as its main location for The Shire, the homeland of the Hobbits. However, as the discussion around the „100% Pure“ tourism marketing campaign showed, this image is not as close to the truth as the government of New Zealand might want people to believe. With environmental pollution on the rise, the brand of a „100% pure“ New Zealand might be more important than the actual preservation of the nature and the environment of New Zealand.