Another interesting place to visit in my mind would be New Zealand. It is the home of the kiwi birds! You know, the birds that look like kiwis? What’s more to like? The kiwi bird is actually New Zealand’s national symbol, like how ours is the bald eagle. Additionally, since I was young, I have heard a ton of compelling facts about this place. From the insight on kiwi birds to how New Zealand is a group of islands right by Australia.

New Zealand picture creds

The two main islands of New Zealand include the North Island and the South Island. The overall size of New Zealand is similar to Great Britain and Japan with a population of only four million people. Across the land of this island, there are hillsides, mountains, glaciers, and beaches.

 

Australia picture creds   Glacier picture creds   Coastline picture creds

There are thousands of miles of coastline of dark, sandy beaches, perfect for tourists across the world. Also, the weather there is amazing. Because of the vast area of coastline, temperatures are usually mild. But, what’s interesting, is that the January and February months of the year are actually the hottest months for New Zealand and July is the coldest month of the year! That is completely opposite of the United States’ time of seasons.

 

Kowhai flowers   Pohutukawa flowers

With New Zealand’s seasons, it has many sunshine hours and lots of rainfall which contribute to the colorful, variety of plants and flowers. The evergreen forests, ferns, mosses, yellow kowhai tree flowers, and red pohutukawa tree flowers bring about a canvas of beautiful colors to the area.

 

Moa Bird picture creds   Kiwi Bird picture creds

Now that you have some insight on the plant life, it is time to learn about the abundance of animals in New Zealand including the infamous bird species. Way back in the past, there were no predators for the birds to fly away from. So, as time went on, the birds evolved to become flightless. You can now see many flightless birds on the island including, the kakapo parrot, the takahe, and the kiwi bird! Who knew the kiwi bird was flightless? Nowadays, there are predators scattered across New Zealand from many generations of people introducing them to the island. One flightless bird that became extinct was the moa, the once largest bird in the world, due to the introduced predators.

Hector’s dolphin pic creds

Being a marine biologist, I have to talk about the intriguing types of marine life here as well, like, the Hector’s dolphin. The Hector’s dolphin is the world’s rarest dolphin and only found in New Zealand! Also, there is seals, penguins, and other types of fish.

New Zealand picture creds

New Zealand is one of the places at the top of my list to visit in my lifetime. I have been engrossed by New Zealand since the time in third grade, my classmates and I partook in a activity called ‘Hands Around the World’. Individual classrooms would decorate their classes to look like a certain country and there was a person assigned to each classroom to talk about the countries. My classroom was New Zealand. We learned about the kiwi birds that look a lot alike to the fruit. So, naturally, the person assigned to talk about New Zealand gave everyone kiwi to eat and of course, it was very delicious. Anyway, back to the topic. Since that experience, I have found the island to be one of the coolest places on Earth. I mean, New Zealand’s vast land of vibrant plants and unique animals brings in almost any type of tourist, including me.