So. Of all the reasons to visit New Zealand - Lord of the Rings this, natural beauty that, expensive gas, limitless sheep... The best reason of all is to treat your family to a stay with Megan, Logan, and their super kids. They were irresponsibly accommodating, (even though we disclosed that we were Americans!) - we even had homemade cookies waiting for us. When we arrived late in the evening after bringing dinner ingredients to cook for our family and found that there was no range in our apartment, Logan allowed a bunch of foreigners access to their family kitchen, despite the late hour, and disruption to their family. This is the way to visit a country - and get a real feeling for the kindness, hospitality and good humor of locals!
The only thing we can be critical of, and not to diminish their overall review, was the rain. Oh dear god the rain... To be fair, the cyclone came from Australia, but next time, we'd ask they handle that a little faster. ;)