New Zealand

I do not intend to start a war by including New Zealand in Australian pictures, but neither do I want to upset the kiwis by including it into Asia. It should really be in the group of its own, as I have seen few places that have so much beauty and so much variety in a relatively small island.

For a relatively small country (about the size of California), it has a surprising variety of natural environments: Norwegian-like fiords, glaciers which flow down to the sea level, volcanoes, rain forests, and wonderful beaches. People are another great thing about NZ - unhurried, friendly, not too preoccupied with "making it". It is the only developed western country I have seen where people seem to be in peace with themselves.