Submitted by Michael McClosky on the 2017 winter session program in New Zealand sponsored by the Department of Computer and Information Sciences…
I’m a Delaware native, born and bred in the Newark area. This fact, combined with my incredibly limited travel experience, makes me a flat-lander through and through. The highest peaks I’ve seen in my life were the Appalachians in upper Pennsylvania. Snow-capped peaks are something I’ve seen in pictures, but never had the chance to experience, until this program.
Upon arriving in Christchurch, looking to the south, I could see mountains rising in the distance. Land rising in steep slopes, with heights that stretch up to fifteen hundred feet. To put this in perspective, the highest point in Delaware is less than five hundred feet. These mountains, sitting to the south of Christchurch, are not referred to as mountains by the locals; this range is called the Port Hills. I suppose one Kiwi’s hill is another Delawarean’s mountain. Talk about a perspective shift.
In addition to the Port Hills, hiking in the foothills of the Southern Alps, seeing the slopes of the Milford Sound, and viewing the Fiordlands from the banks of lake Te Anau have opened my eyes to the truly awe-inspiring natural beauty of this country.
In Delaware, the closest thing we have to a mountain is Iron Hill. On New Zealand’s South Island, you’re constantly looking up.
