Travel: Connect with nature in New Zealand

A newspaper on most days any journalist will tell you reflects the deepest concerns of the society its printed for So while Mumbai may be obsessed with every little pothole that appears Delhi is currently going to be bothered with air pollution Which is why when you read a headline that says Town crawling with rabbits on the front page of Otago Daily Times you can suspect that its about more than just a lazy news dayAt Fox Glacier Village try your hand at kayaking at Lake Mapourika which was formed by a glacier A forest lines the lake and we are told that the government once planned to construct a highway through it However conservators soon discovered a rare form of the Kiwi bird which was until then though extinct The forest was then declared protected land PicwwwglacierkayakscomNative native nativeThe weekend before flying into Christchurch was spent scrubbing Juhu beach off the shoes we didnt want to be caught in a situation like our cricketers have been where they were fined for bringing in dirty shoes New Zealand is notoriously strict about maintaining its biodiversity Seeds foreign soil stuck to your shoes plants will cost you a fine that could go up to 400 New Zealand dollars which equals Rs 80000 The aim is keep every flora and fauna on this island nation which became a British colony in 1841 and a dominion of the empire in 1907 endemic to the region Its why even animals like rabbits and deer which one would consider harmless are considered pests to the environmentThe instructors at Skydive Fox Glacier make jumping off a plane a smooth experience It lasts less than 20 minutes overall Youll want to give it one more shotAnd environment is precious to the country where tourism is the highest revenue generating industry New Zealand is an outdoor lovers paradise With no predators in the natural environment not even snakes scorpions or venomous spiders you can trek anywhere you want spend time overnight in a forest or the afternoon by the river without worrying about attacks And literally theres a national park a nature trail a river or some quiet cover among trees within every half an hour And dont worry about driving People are polite drivers signals are few and the one red light jam we saw was in Queenstown when there were four cars ahead of usCalled the pikopiko the circular design of this plant is very sacred in Maori culture and is often represented in various designsRaise your kids like the KiwisThe one thing you can do in New Zealand that will help you ease off your plastic angst is carry your own water bottle The tap water here is potable everyone will tell you In fact even the rivers and lakes are said to be so clean that you can drink right off them But if you are in New Zealand why not drink right off the glacier On the west coast of the south islands is the Fox Glacier a 13kilometrelong temperate maritime glacier located in Westland Tai Poutini National Park Flying Fox is a company that will you fly you in on a helicopter and strap you in with warm clothes and shoe spikesDo not miss cycling on the Otago Central Rail Trail Once a rail track that was decommissioned it was converted into a cycle track in the 1990s and now runs a length of over 100 kilometres Hire bikes and guides at wwwbikeitnowconzOur guide for the day is Prasang a Nepali who divides the year between seasons in the Himalayan country and here Tread carefully While in most places the ice is 200km below ground some places it could be more treacherous Stray from the guides path and you could be in for a fall In fact so much so that even when we drop a bottle in which we have filled precious glacial water its the freshest water youll ever taste Prasang says its better to let it go I cant believe that I am the only Kiwi who is going be littering cries our host Carol Tredrea a New Zealander She sighs with relief only when Prasang manages to pull up the bottle But Tredreas momentary horror at having littered even if entirely by mistake is one of the many things that the Kiwis do right while raising their kids Children are taught that littering is bad Tredrea tells us Values such as recycling are also enforced at a young age Its why the countrys roads dont need daily cleaners Yep they never get dirty in the first place we are toldThe helihike guide Prasang Weather is mercurial in New Zealand and our hike was cut short by an hour due to sudden coming in of clouds You can spend the night in a specially equipped caveThe land of the MaoriBefore the settlers from Europe came in New Zealand was home to the Maori tribes who settled in the north and south islands between 1200 and 1300 While relations between the two communities were largely better than say how the indigenous tribes were treated in Australia land became a point of conflict Approximately 30 years ago the New Zealand government acknowledged the error and started returning to the Maori tribes lands and rivers sacred to them Tangi Weepu is a Maori elder whose tribe now lives around River Arahura near Hokitika a beach town on the western coast The traditional Maori greeting involves lightly touching your noses together in a sense breathing in each others praana and introducing yourselves by your name and your river which as a provider of food is a sacred water body for the community Whats also special about Arahura is that its bed for the greenstones precious stone with a mythical tale attached to it that Tangi shares on this onehour tour During the tour Tangi also helps you identify and pick greenstones on the beach and drill them to make pieces of jewellery out of the healing stonesMaori elder Tangi Weepu conducts Greenstone walks along River Arahura and will show you how to make jewellery out of the stones wwwgreenstonetoursconzBut the Maori cultural integration goes quite deep within New Zealand All children in the school system are taught the Maori language Many hotels retain Maori names as do rivers In fact on one nature walk alongside the Latin names of the trees proudly displayed were Maori names A cultural integration lesson we could learn from perhapsFear Whats thatThe last lesson that you will learn before you leave New Zealand is to get over your fears Especially if you have a fear of heights Kiwis dont seem to have the fear gene If it can be done from a height they will do it Sky diving and hang gliding were obvious enough But theres more Theres a tree top walk a drive from Hokitika that really drives this inIf you love coffee try the Flatwhite Its like a cappuccino minus the froth and much strongerA maze of bridges 20 metres high has been constructed through the foliage of Rimu and Kamahi trees that lets you see trees and witness birdlife from an angle that you cant imagine It also reminds you of Jurassic Park and you almost expect a friendly neighbourhood dinosaur to popup And if this vantage point wasnt enough the walk also has a tower which stands at 47 metres that you can climb for a better view If you feel yourself swaying breathe Its just the tower thats earthquake resistantThe Hokitika Gorge is a natural granite which lends this colour to the water You can cross the swing bridge see the Hokitika River and explore the Lake Kaniere Scenic ReserveIn fact much as the Kiwis love thrill they are anal about security measures Even a fiveminute van drive wont start without a seatbelt Its also why the country is the best place to seek your thrills Planning to jump off a plane The instructors here have to complete 750 jumps before leading someone in tandem as opposed to the 500 jumps elsewhereThe roads are dotted with honesty boxes that serve up anything from honey and fruits to plants Each item is priced and theres a box to drop your money inIt what lets us breathe easy as we get into a banana 13000 ft above ground strapped for life to Paul also the countrys national safety directorCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news current affairs from Mumbai local news crime news and breaking headlines hereDownload 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