A Little Bit of Home

 I've heard it said that New Zealand has a little part of each country represented somewhere in its scenery. Whether that's true or not, and given that I haven't seen all of New Zealand, I suspect that Texas is not represented anywhere in New Zealand. (And please don't argue that Texas is not a country. After four weeks in Texas, I've discovered that Texans still very much believe they are their own country!)

However, even if I'm not sure whether or not there is a little bit of Texas in New Zealand, what I do know is that Texas reminds me very much of my home back in Australia. The heat. The ants. The scrubby bush. The sheer vastness of the land. The snakes (which, thankfully, I didn't see.)

Whether it's the hill country, or in closer to the suburbs, there was something to delight at every turn. Here are just some of the highlights ...

I might be home again, and, as we flew over the North Island and looked down on the scenes below, I certainly appreciated anew the beauty that is New Zealand, I suspect that a little part of my heart now belongs to Texas.