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[–]our_team_is_winning 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I hitch-hiked and got rides from all sorts - Maori gangs, sullen young men

that was putting your life at risk, no?

[–]BEB 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Back then, New Zealand was incredibly safe. Almost everyone who gave me a ride started with a lecture about how 20 years ago a young woman had been murdered in New Zealand.

It was an amazing experience. The South Island of New Zealand is just beyond spectacular. But what made it really special was hitch-hiking because I got such a firsthand view of what New Zealand and its people were about. They were really good to me.

BTW: in order to get rides I had to put a Canadian flag on my pack - even back then, Americans were hated. But, when the cars would stop, I would fess up immediately that I was American and the Kiwis would give me a ride anyway, even though I was a hated Yank.

American foreign police (edited to POLICY, not "police" ;-) has a lot to answer for. I could tell tales...