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At last the day had come. The dream to
go to New Zealand was coming true. It started a year
earlier when a Symposium proposal for the World Congress
of the International Reading  Association
was put together during a five-way conference call. Now
the accepted proposal had become an invitation to go to
the other side of the world, and the opportunity to see
some of New Zealand while there was too great to pass up.
So, we packed up our bags and headed off to Aoteoroa as
the Maori people call New Zealand, "The Land of the Long
White Cloud."
 We
left Cedar City, early Saturday morning July 8, drove to
Los Angeles, boarded a plane fro New Zealand late that
evening, flew for 14 hours, landing in Auckland just
before dawn on Monday. It seemed we just skipped right
over Sunday. The airport was decorated with black
balloons everywhere--it seems the New Zealand All Blacks
were about to play the Aussies in Rugby. The airport was
not big, but it was picturesque. It was there that our
cultural experience began.
We picked up our GM car, it was white
and just big enough for the five of us ;
but the steering wheel was on the right side! If this
wasn't enough, they made us drive on the left side of the
road. We loaded our bags and drove into town.
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INDEX
Auckland
A Maori Hangi
Mid-North Island Natural
Wonders
The Scenic Beauty of the far
North
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