I write to you this week, dear friend, from New Zealand. I have a tale of a gun, a rabbit and a teenage girl. But first, “Kia ora” from the Land of the Long White Cloud.
I am smitten with New Zealand after our family holiday exploring the main islands for the first time. How beautiful are the mountains and the lakes? How friendly are the Kiwis?
And how good is local food? Lolly cake. L&P (Lemon & Paeroa) soft drink. Mousetrap toasties. Cheese rolls. Green-lipped mussels. Chocolate Fish (fish-shaped pink or white marshmallow covered in a thin layer of milk chocolate). Kiwi (onion) dip. The list is long. We basically ate our way around Queenstown (we lined up for Fergburger: maybe the best burger of my life).
We drove to Wanaka and time slowed down as we skimmed stones around the breathtaking lake that was so clear I could see the kelp growing from the bed as huge black eels twisted around the wavy green fingers.
We rode bikes over suspension bridges and rewarded ourselves with fish and chips and a few red wines at our final destination. We watched all three episodes of Lord of the Rings (it was filmed in NZ) which took nearly 10 hours.
But the part of the holiday my family will remember most will be when we travelled to our Airbnb, near Wellington on the North Island.
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My 15-year-old daughter has never seen a rabbit in the wild. Those tough Queensland laws are clearly working. Her wish was to see ‘Peter’ or ‘Bugs’ this trip.
My teen asked our homeowner if we would possibly spot rabbits during our rural homestay. The lady replied, happily, “Oh yes, they are a pest! I probably should tell you if you hear gunshots during the night, it will just be a farmer killing a rabbit”.
There was a deathly silence where we all looked a little stunned. My beach girl was heartbroken to hear that neighbours could be shooting the fluffy bunnies at night.
The night ahead stretched before us a little creepy as we now knew our neighbours had their weapons at the ready. Thankfully, we did not hear gun shots but did witness rabbits bouncing free in our backyard.
My daughter told them in whispered panic to clear out before they were shot. Our family will definitely return to NZ. We just won’t be ordering the rabbit stew.
Sami Muirhead is a radio announcer, blogger and commentator, wife and mum of three.
