i have traveled to many countries but the only two places at which i felt a swelling of emotion when gazing at the natural beauty were new zealand and norway. their topography is very similar: fjords, glaciers and rugged cliffs with majestic views of the sea and the land. while i love norway, new zealand captured my heart long before i ever went there. i am a huge fan of sir edmund hilary so i read as much as i could about him and his birthplace. and when i went to new zealand for the first time in 1999, i wasn’t disappointed. the country is beautiful, the people friendly, there’s not much crime, the gastronomy is amazing and the government is progressive. no place is perfect but they seem to have got it right…