New Zealand, a Few Fun Facts and an Idea

LUCY BURDETTE: Kia Ora! As you’ve no doubt heard by now, I’m just back from a two-week trip to New Zealand. I’m certain you don’t want the full slideshow but I’ll share a few reactions from our whirlwind voyage.

1. New Zealanders are crazy in the sense of tackling physical challenges. Probably because the landscape lends itself to challenge? For example, we heard stories of men hunting deer from a helicopter with no doors. There is a road race along the length of the Milford track every year, 33 1/2 miles of mountainous terrain. It sells out in 22 seconds and has a long waiting list. We did a four hour hike at the end of the trail, which was plenty for me!

2. New Zealand is an island—the closest land point from another country about 1000 miles away. They are very protective of their land and creatures. The country has no natural mammals, other than two bats, which means no predators. That means many of the birds native to New Zealand evolved into land birds without the ability to fly. When people arrived on ships from other countries, they brought with them pests such as stoats, rats, and cats. Also, the Maori people hunted the larger land birds, often to extinction. All this means New Zealanders are very focused on conservation, sustainability, and increasing the population of native species, from birds to people.

3. New Zealand was the last major land mass to be settled. The Maori tribe arrived after 1300, and the British declared sovereignty in the 1840’s. Since the 1970’s, the Maori and other ethnic groups have pushed to take land and power back, which they consider stolen by the British. Maori is a second language for the country—our guide was pleased to tell us that former prime minister Jacinta Arden began her messages to parliament and the people in the Maori language.

Circling back to the question discussed on Monday, I did not do a lot of work on vacation. But as a long-time mystery writer, it’s hard not to think about murder and mayhem in a new setting! The people in our travel group were game to point out poisonous plants and murder methods that I might enjoy using as we toured. If I was going to write a story, I thought I might have opened it in the dark sky night reserve. After a chance to view the southern hemisphere constellations, we herded into the changing areas and given white robes before heading to a warm pool. (Keep in mind that this all happened in darkness so our eyes could acclimate.) We floated in that pool on individual hammocks listening to a guide tell stories about the stars. I could imagine most of the guests exiting the pool, but leaving one behind—quite dead. It would have been too dark to see much of anything, a detecting challenge!

But then, on our last day hike on the Routeburn track, I began to chat with one of our guides, Olivia, who turned out to be a wonderful story brainstormer. She was fascinated with the idea of setting a mystery in New Zealand. She suggested either the Lake Marion or Gertrude Saddle routes, which are very popular  with Instagram influencers. Supposing there was a couple hiking together, each of them with an active account. Supposing their tracking device was lost or malfunctioned, and one or both disappeared on the trail. A professional guide, like Olivia, might have been one of the last people to have seen them on the trail. What might she have noticed? If someone did meet an unsavory end, was it a push and a fall? 

Or perhaps a dish prepared with New Zealand’s most poisonous plant, the tutu with its delicious looking berries? 

Or the stinging nettle, the ongoanga?

Who knows if I’ll use any of this, but what fun to think about it. Honestly, it helped pass the time when I was trudging up a steep and rocky path. Fortunately, there was an incredible view at the top. I’m sure that that’s a good metaphor for writing as well. (Here's one version of trouble I forgot--the Waiotapu hot springs and bubbling mud pools...)

Do you think about murder mysteries when you travel? What's the most exotic setting you've enjoyed in a mystery?

PS, If you'd like to hear more about the itinerary we took without the murderous commentary, here's John's version...