The Kiwi is a flightless bird that New Zealanders have embraced as their mascot, and New Zealanders often refer to themselves, proudly, as "Kiwis." The Kiwi birds are nocturnal, and I never saw a live one on the track. This statue is quite a bit larger than the average Kiwi (bird or human).

NZ Part 3. In early December 2005, after hiking the Routeburn Track and before going onto the Kepler Track, I spent a few days letting my blisters heal in Queenstown, New Zealand. Queenstown is a small but vibrant town that's generally used as a temporary stopover point, or as the starting point for adrenalin-pumping adventures like bungee jumping and helicopter snowboarding.

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andrewg > All over New Zealand you can find Maori-inspired carvings in jade and bone (cow bone is used now, rather than whale bone). The workmanship varies tremendously, of course. Eric Dyer makes and sells his own pieces - the quality is very high and his prices excellent. Plus, Eric is a very nice guy! Blob and I talked to him in Dunedin, I saw him again in Te Anau, and then again at this weekend market in Queenstown! I bought a couple of pieces from him at the market and we chatted. He got me interested in carving, which would inspire me to spend a day in Hokitika much later, designing and carving my own piece. With that experience, I now have even more respect for the quality of his pieces.

andrewg > The Queenstown weekend market has a great feel to it. This fellow was playing guitar and singing along with a whole backup band playing out of MIDI controlled box next to him, and it sounded great. He was playing what I came to feel was the theme music of the trip: classic rock songs from the 70's and 80's, from Billy Joel and Elton John to Bruce Springsteen.

andrewg > All over the world, people are inventive with their use of apostrophes!

andrewg > An internet cafe in Queenstown. Because of its high density of young tourists, Queenstown boasts at least three internet cafes, and in the evening they're all full.

The Kiwi is a flightless bird that New Zealanders have embraced as their mascot, and New Zealanders often refer to themselves, proudly, as "Kiwis." The Kiwi birds are nocturnal, and I never saw a live one on the track. This statue is quite a bit larger than the average Kiwi (bird or human).