New Zealand for me was in Nov. 2011 but stories written from that epic trip have just earned me a big Mark Twain award - First Place Series in the Midwest Travel Writers Association’s 2012 writing awards. That was last week in Louisville, where the group’s spring meeting gave me opportunities to get the lowdown on bourbon, food, shopping and a zipline inside a cave.

It was a strange switch to look back at my Kiwi Kronicles series while immersed in all things Kentucky. Maybe that’s why I sometimes feel I’m not quite all there, or here, for that matter. .
 I’m summarizing the work here to give you easy access to all the stories, which include some pretty neat you-are-there videos for those viewing them online. Just click on the colored text above to go there directly from here.

Those NZ stories, published early last year, included a look at the native Maori culture, immersion in the scenes where Hobbit films were done, a visit by train to an upscale sheep station, an after dark kayak paddle into a canyon illuminated by glow worms, a soak in hot springs and a trek into a primitive forest. My blogs included a wearable art fashion show in Wellington, a sheep shearing experience and the baa code on merino wool long johns I purchased, and a visit to an 1830s era mission, one of the country’s earliest settlements by Europeans.

 A really amazing interactive map, devised by my colleague Cheryl Sadler, was also a part of the series and I owe her a giant Thank You for her efforts with it. But it’s so cutting edge there was no contest category for entering it, the same scenario for my blogs and videos.
 And I hope you enjoy reading about New Zealand as much as I enjoyed writing about it.

When I discovered the Baaa code on my New Zealand long johns I couldn't resist. I entered it at the maker's website Icebreaker. com and discovered which of the many sheep farms its merino wool had come from.
I'd discovered the wonders of merino wool a few years back when I shopped at the Auckland airport en route to Melbourne in Australia, and I intended to buy more of it when I went back last November. It was the beginning of springtime in the southern hemisphere so I figured I be able to buy it at end-of-winter sales - a perfect time for saving money and coping with an Ohio winter.
This visit I discovered an Icebreaker shop with an entire wardrobe of merino wool wonders at the same airport, which had been modernized considerably since my 2003 visit.
Merino wool is made from a certain hardy sheep breeds,  one of the many types raised for wool and meat  throughout New Zealand. The Baa code's web trail led me to Castle Ridge farm on the South Island, where I wouldn't be able to visit on this trip. But the website revealed this 8,000 acre  family owned farm has 10,000 merino sheep in addition to 300 Angus cattle. My Icebreaker long johns are soft and not itchy at all and used as an under layer, they've kept me warm enough to use just jackets, sweaters and shawls through the entire winter.
On this New Zealand visit I learned that the clever kiwis are combining merino yarn with that of a pest, the bushy tailed possum, to make an even more luxurious fiber garment. It's a great solution since these tree dwelling possums eat their weight and more in vegetation and have no enemies except man on this island nation. Unless controlled they stand to wipe out much of New Zealand's crops. The possums there are nothing like ours and have big bushy tails much like our raccoons. The merino-possum garments I found were well outside my price range, however.

Many Maori men work as sheep shearing crews, traveling among New Zealand farms when sheep need to be sheared. It takes them about four minutes or less to shear a sheep and the creatures actually seem to enjoy the experience.

Like most Americans, I'd heard that sheep far outnumber people in New Zealand, so before I took this trip I arranged a visit to a sheep farm - one that also takes guests. I  later learned that the sheep population has declined despite the great garments and delicious New Zealand lamb exported from the country. Sheep may have declined, but  they still outnumber people with a ratio of seven to one and are seen peacefully grazing everywhere. In my next Kiwi Kronicles installment for The News-Herald's Travel section I'll take you onto the floor where sheep are shorn, out to a pasture where sheep dogs control the herd and into the lodging and dining areas of the most amazing sheep farm on this earth, at least in my opinion.