New Zealand: Mom Approved

Last weekend, two of my flatmates and I were guided through a bird ecosanctuary by a real live Kiwi, the human kind.

The Jungle that was the Ecosanctuary

As we were hacking through brush with our imaginary machetes (we wandered a bit off the trail provided for those who didn't have the spirit of adventure we did) I noticed a tree with its bark scratched off. Thinking I would show off the vast extent of my Minnesota wilderness knowledge, I gasped, feigning terror that a bear must have been here.

I got a few blank stares and was promptly informed there are no bears in New Zealand--the native population in New Zealand consists of a vast and various bird population. How...uh...exciting?

Some of the birds spotted above (they are Tui, not to be confused with the Tui beer, the bird came first)

With further questioning, I soon learned that there is hardly anything dangerous in New Zealand at all: no bears, no wolves, no snakes, no poisonous spiders...nothing!! Later, I spotted a bird that looked pretty dangerous to me, the Kea, a parrot-like bird with a very long very sharp very menacing beak. However, once again I was shot down with the danger factor---these birds cared more for rubber, wood, and tearing apart people's cars than the taste of human blood.

I decided to do some google research of my own, not believing that any place could be so void of danger--this had the possibility to seriously damage my street cred. According to Portal Oceania, the only land animal in NZ with the feasibility of hurting a human is a bee, and even so the Portal had the audacity to claim that the bees aren't as mean here anyway...

Now, to be clear, the animals are not the only safe entitities in New Zealand. The country as a whole (apart from your once in awhile furniture burning on Castle Street) is quite peaceful. The everday Police here do not carry weapons. In fact, my kiwi flatmate informed me they only recently started carrying tazors, and before that it was just pepper spray. Civilians require a license to carry pepper spray. Compared to girls I knew back home who put pepper spray on their key chains to be easily accessible when walking to their cars or residences, I have no other conclusion to come to than that from animals to people--New Zealand is a pretty safe place.

So come visit me, I think even your Mom would approve!

Cheers!