Premise of the book: The subtitle really says it all. Jeffrey Masson has traveled extensively and lived in many different countries. But when it came time to settle down, he chose New Zealand as the ideal place to do so. In this book, he explains why, as well as giving insights into the culture of his chosen country.
Random Facts Learned By Reading This Book:
- There are about four million people who live in New Zealand. Three million of those live on the North Island, and one million live on the South Island.
- New Zealand has about the same land area as the state of Oregon.
- Nearly a thousand species of ferns grow in New Zealand. Forty-four of those species are only found in New Zealand.
- New Zealand was the first country in the world to allow women to vote (in 1893).
- Kiwis are the national bird. The fathers take care of the eggs for three months until they hatch.
- New Zealand has thirteen species of penguins.
- There is a cave on Whatipu Peninsula on the North Island that had a wooden dance floor in the 1920s. It's appropriately called the Ballroom Cave.
- Jogging was invented in New Zealand.
General thoughts on the book: I'm sorry to say that I wasn't such a fan of this book. I'm especially sorry to say that because New Zealand is high on my wish list of future travel destinations, and I was really looking forward to reading this book. But Masson's voice just grated on me. He came across as rather too full of himself and his opinions, as if his view of looking at the world was the only one. And then he'd couch his opinion and try to be modest, but it still sounded like know-it-all bragging. He lost me by chapter two when he tried to explain why he chose New Zealand by saying what was wrong with all of the other countries he had ever lived in. I'm sure many other readers will have a much better reading experience with this book than I did. It just wasn't for me.
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