Backbencher

I listened to the lecture about the landscape of NZ & OZ and I think that I was probably the most surprised to learn that there is more depth to the diversity than I had really imagined. In my mind, all of Australia had been flat, arid, and pretty God forsaken except for a couple of miles inland along the coast. This interested me enough to look up a topographical map of OZ, and sure enough, the more humid eastern portion of the continent is a different animal entirely. The western portion of the continent... pretty much as I had imagined, and even the basin area just east of central also appear to pretty much fit what I had imagined. Funny how we tend to visualize the worst.
I also had some pretty well developed pre concieved notions about NZ. I had watched a film clip about hunting in NZ several years ago, the piece I had watched centered on the Red Stag, a ferral species of deer brought in from England... they grow a lot larger than our white tail deer native to the woodsy areas of ND, and considerably larger than our mule deer, too. Mostly I remember the landscape, a lot of rapid changes in elevation...grass, and even what I know know to be speargrass. When I was young we called a similar appearing plant Spanish Dagger Grass, it is a bummer to hit it when on a motorcycle... as tough and as dry as it looks. Kind of reminded me of a more rugged, greener home landscape... it made me want to go to NZ and see it for myself, maybe hunt the red stag. It'll never happen, of course. But it did leave me with a pretty good idea of that portion of NZ and how it might look.

I had not expected rain forest, the paddock lands, or things to be artificially fertilized. This is a bit harder for me to relate to- though I would still like to see it. I think if I ever get the chance I will leave my bow and arrow at home... looks like a lot of work to tramp those hills.

I was especially surprised by the Yellowstone Park nature of portions of the island- the thermal areas. Thirty five years ago when I was first to Yellowstone it also lacked the barriers and one could pretty well polk around where ever they wanted to do so at his or her own risk... the attorneys have pretty well eliminated that now in our country... we lost something valuable when that happened. I'm glad I was there when it could still be done, I have good memories of that. Anyway, I see similarities... I do hope that the legal situation or concern for public safety doesn't make these kind of places totally inaccessable the entire world over, it just isn't the same when you have to experience this stuff from a distance.