When I first visited New Zealand many years ago and a friend asked me my impressions, my response was this: What most distinguishes New Zealand from so many other scenic places is not only its abundance of spectacularly beautiful sights, but also its shortage of unattractive places.
It’s just not the sort of place where one minute your breath is taken away from looking at stunning scenery and then you turn a bend and find yourself getting an eye full of ugly.
