Big City New Zealand

I had been growing a bit concerned about New Zealand. The more I saw of it, the more I began to see the narrow-mindedness of its inhabitants. I started to sense that new Zealanders were content to live in small towns that boasted only a few petrol stations and a couple of groceries. Even when the towns grew large enough to have more than three stoplights I noticed that the roads remained narrow, cars remained small, and buildings remained distinctive and quaint.
I began to think that New Zealand had missed something.
Certainly she has passed into the twentieth century with the horseless carriage, the internal combustion engine, and fiberglass. But had she really made it to the twenty-first century? I wondered. What about soaring skyscrapers, wide avenues clogged with rush-hour traffic, and the madness that comes from living in close quarters with you fellow human? Did New Zealand know these things? Had the Kiwis tasted of the forbidden fruit of urbanization and the knowledge of good and evil flowing from it?
My fears were allayed by a drive through Auckland this afternoon. We entered the city limits at 5:05 pm and did not leave until near 6:00. We sat with a large minority of Auckland’s two million residents on the single major highway that runs north-south through the city, taking long moments to gaze across the steel and glass skyline punctuated by a soaring needle á là Seattle and Toronto.
New Zealand has tasted the fruit. New Zealand knows urbanity. The North Island knows the meaning of "six lanes of cars."
Now my bubble is burst. My concern, my fear for New Zealand should have been excitement at the prospect of a western nation that had managed not to follow the path of progress all the way to its present conclusion. Alas, not so. But there is comfort in knowing that it took us nine weeks to find this pocket of urban life: so much of New Zealand is rural and small town. Half of New Zealanders live in the Auckland area. Three-quarters of New Zealanders live on the North Island. Since the South Island is bigger than the North Island, that leaves a lot of wild country and rural communities; that leaves a lot of New Zealand to be green, quiet, and friendly.
~emrys