Month: September 2017

(Fig 1. Picturesque Landscape in New Zealand from Lonely Planet)

I had never heard of the country of New Zealand until I saw The Lord of the Rings movies at the ripe age of 9, and I saw all of these extremely picturesque landscapes.  Upon seeing the country on the screen, I knew that I wanted to visit there some day.  I wanted to see the beautiful mountains, amazing landscapes, lively cities, and everything else New Zealand had to offer.  As I have grown older, my desire to see the island nation has not subsided.  I have watched countless youtube videos on where to go in Wellington (the capital), the places where you can see the most beautiful scenery.

(Fig 2.  Shucked Oyster shells resting on Ice from New Zealand.com)

One of the things not mentioned in New Zealand is the food.  I love going to different countries and experiencing different cultures.  One great way for a country to express their culture is through their food.  New Zealand largest type of food is sea food, specifically oysters.  Now I have never been a huge fan of oysters, but I am willing to give these guys a chance.  Through my research of New Zealand foods, all of the websites have mentioned how these oysters are different than any other oyster you have tasted, especially the ones in America.  They are creamy and rich instead of just salty.  I am still a bit skeptical of this claim, but I will give it a shot if I ever make it to the country.  New Zealand is also famous for their lamb.  Farmers have raised and bred sheep on the island for hundreds of years, so their lamb game must be on point.  A cooking method that I had never heard of, but I definitely want to try was Maori Hangi.  This is a traditional cooking method used by the native New Zealanders for over 2000 years.  Chicken, lamb, fish, and root vegetables are wrapped up in flax leaves, placed on hot stones, covered with a wet cloth, and then covered with earth.  This roasts the food, and produces incredibly tender meat, with subtle and delicious earthy flavors.  After reading about all this, New Zealand’s food scene might be reason enough to go.

(Fig 3. Scenic picture of New Zealand’s mountains for Scenic Pacific)

The reason that sparked my desire to go the New Zealand is the incredible landscapes and scenery.  Ever since I saw them in the vast sweeping shots of the Lord of the Rings films, I had to see it for myself.  New Zealand’s southern island hosts most of the countries mountains, and is specifically home to the Southern Alps.  The southern Alps are part of the Ring of Fire in the pacific ocean, and the stretch along the entire southern island, primarily on the west side.  As an avid backpacker, I would love to hiking in these mountains.  There is something about escaping civilization, and going out into the wilderness that makes the sights you see so much prettier.  There are hundreds of trails and campsites in the mountain ranges for people to use and explore.  The mountains also hold many glaciers, slowly melting, creating fresh glacial water.

(Fig 4. The shire from the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit Movies, photo from New Zealand.com)

Now I would feel like I was committing a sin if I did not visit at least one location from the Lord of the Rings films.  I need to one of the locations that sparked my dream to come to New Zealand right?  Well if I had to choose one, it would be The Shire.  I love this site because it looks like it never could be an actual real place, yet it is.  The huge tree on top of the hill, the small little hobbit holes are all perfect.  This site was constructed by Peter Jackson, the director for the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films, for the movies, and has since been opened for tourists to visit.  You can walk through the hobbit holes, and go explore the landscape.  If you are a huge Lord of the Rings fanatic, and are a bit on the more adventurous side, you can even walk the path that Frodo walked in the films.  New Zealand seems like an amazing country to visit and see.  There are countless reasons to come to the island country, whether it’s the food, the landscapes, or if it’s just because you love the Lord of the Rings.  I hope one day to make it their, and check of the first item on my bucket list.

Let me set the scene.  Three guys,  who had just graduated high school the day before, boarding a plane to Europe for a two week trip that had been planned for the last six months.  I was so excited.  I knew that this was going to be one of those times that I will remember for the rest of my life.  Now you may be thinking, “Why Oslo”, and to be honest, it was because it was cheap to fly there.  I was not expecting much out of Oslo, but it turned out to be one the best places we visited on the entire trip.

Unfortunately, the trip had a less than stellar start.  After a full day of walking around in New York City, dragging our bags with us, we just wanted to board the plane and sleep through the flight.  But Norwegian Airlines had other things in mind.  After we found our seats, we sat down and waited to take off.  And waited.  And waited.  All in all we waited 2 hours on that plane before we took off.  Now this was particularly annoying because we had a limited amount of time in Norway, so we did not want to waste any time.  Luckily, after that hiccup, it was a smooth flight.

Once we got situated in our hostel room, we immediately went out exploring.  We wandered the city streets, walking by the King of Norway’s Palace, the library, and the cities shopping streets.  Eventually we came to the harbor, and it was amazing.  

(Fig. 1 Oslo Harbor from the Akerhus Fortress)

Right about then, we all were stricken with hunger, so we decided to have dinner.  We settled on a restaurant on a pontoon floating in the harbor.  It was beautiful, and we enjoyed a simple meal, watching the ferry come in and out of port.  After dinner we continued our wandering, eventually finding our way to the local fort.  This was an expansive complex situated on a hill overlooking the harbor, and it was, along with the rest of the city, incredibly picturesque.

(Fig. 2 Ankerhus Fortress in the sunset)

The fort was as you would expect, filled with informational plaques, and many replica cannons.  It also provided many great Instagram photos.  After the fort, we finished the night off in a bar, had a few drinks, and then headed back to the hostel.

The next day we hit the museums.  One ferry ride later, and a few hundred meters of walking, we were at our first destination of the day, the Viking Ship Museum. The museum was chock-full of viking relics, but the main attraction was the recreated viking ships.

(Fig. 3 Recreated Viking ship in the Viking Ship Museum)

In total, the museum had 3 ships, and with these ships the museum told the story of the vikings.  They detailed the many different tools that they used to build the ships, detailed how the ships were used.  The museum also had tools viking used in other aspects of their life, like farming, food making, and religious tools.  After about an hour we left and headed the second museum, a museum dedicated to the Fram.

Prior to visiting to this museum, I had never heard of the Fram, but for those who do not know, the Fram was one of the first vessels to explore the arctic.  The Fram museum was a much more interactive museum than the Viking Ship Museum.  The Fram had cold chambers to demonstrate the extreme temperatures of the arctic, and an entire kids section with fun interactive exhibits for kids to play with.

(Fig 4 We pose for a photo in the Fram Museum)

The museum was also much larger than the Viking Ship museum, so we spent the rest of our day there.  After the museum, our time in Oslo had come to an end.  We went back to the hostel, packed our bags, and headed to the airport.  Although I did not spend an enormous amount of time in Oslo, I really enjoyed it.  The culture was amazing, and everybody that we met was incredibly nice.  I hope to one day return to Norway, and explore more of this fantastic country.