New Zealand

New Zealand It's the fifth time I've come to this paradise, and the distance from Italy certainly doesn't frighten me (22 hours of flying). The Korean Air Boeing 777, after a night of flying, sets us down at Auckland airport, where we pick up a light-blue Daihatsu on hire from Hertz. Here I feel great; I'm very comfortable both in Australia and here in New Zealand. You drive on the left and I have no problem changing gear with my left hand even though I prefer the automatic. Since I've already visited this land of the Kiwis far and wide, both in the North Island, where we are, and in the South Island, Giuseppe and I decide to go north, to that strip of land I was missing. I immediately discover that the stunning landscapes made of green hills, pastures, beautifully surfaced roads and little traffic are here just as in other parts of New Zealand.

Exactly as I like it: four million inhabitants and 28 million sheep, few people, wonderful. We sleep the first night in a hostel that is marvellous, set in the woods with a path that, just outside the room, leads into the heart of the forest; here, they say, though rarely, at night you might see Kiwi birds. The ferns are countless; in the valley you can see an inlet of the sea that looks like a lake. We play cards on a little wooden table surrounded by nature, the apotheosis of freedom and the joy of living. Well, let's not exaggerate: it would have been better if, at that moment, in place of Giuseppe, there had been a pretty blonde, right? He thinks the same thing about me. We leave this paradise the next morning after having made use of the free breakfast, and hop onto a little ferry that takes us to the other shore; we even get a little boat trip in, how nice.

We get off, I film non-stop and snap photos like mad; New Zealand is to be enjoyed 100%. Giuseppe drives a bit, then on the cliff a beautiful view of the high waves of the Pacific Ocean, which today really isn't. We head back towards the most important city of the New Zealand yachting team, to the Bay of Auraki where Luna Rossa gave the locals a hard time. We cross the great bridge and admire the beauty of the city with its tall tower. A storm is coming towards us; thank goodness I'm not on the motorbike. Here it's naturally very rainy, otherwise how could all this green exist? We continue east and I keep being amazed by the landscapes that change constantly at every bend.

Gisborne is one of our stops, and there I suggest to Giuseppe that we do that stretch of off-road driving in the national park between the Urewera and Whirinaki national forests that I'd already covered the previous time. It's about a hundred km of pure bliss: waterfalls, streams, high-altitude lakes, forest and opossums in quantity. At Murupara we sleep after dining on a plate of spaghetti. The next day I take Gio to see the geysers and to bathe in a stream of hot sulphur water, incredible, a stream of hot water. Only here. Rotorua is nearby and its great lake of the same name is teeming with large black swans, a spectacle. Here we can see other little lakes full of boiling water; this little town takes the hot water and distributes it to the houses, with a considerable saving of electricity or gas for heating it.

Giuseppe is astonished by this country, and already now he hopes to come back as soon as possible. We pay a visit to the great kiwi fruit; here there are endless plantations of this fruit which, before we Italians overtook them in production, were the first in the world. The very kind and altruistic population means you immediately feel at ease in this place, and coming to live here is less difficult as regards immigration, compared with nearby Australia. Here they are very few and they need certain figures. The Maori are recognisable by the shape of their nose and because they're well built; in fact the Rugby All Blacks, who are number one in the world, are almost all big Maori lads. Unfortunately, like all dreams, the trip draws to a close and we're already near the very beautiful Auckland airport, ready to return the car, which has behaved excellently these days.

Luck smiles on us: on the plane they give us the first two seats up front, the ones by the exit door, or entrance, depending on taste, so we can get up whenever we want. Bye