When I lived in NZ I may have taken for granted just how stunningly gorgeous the country is. The beauty of your surroundings may be something you don’t appreciate until you get older (I was 16 when I left), but whenever I fly back home and see so all that untouched green landscape it makes me proud of that silver fern on the front of my passport.

Now that the corny patriotism is out of my system I’ll get to the point. This time last year I was able to have a number of uniquely kiwi experiences. My family moved to Dunedin in 2013 and last Christmas I visited them in their new “hometown”. We are north islanders so my dad was keen for us to be as touristy as possible during my brief trip to the south.