Introduction

My name is Maggie Brown and I am a Geography major at the University of Colorado Denver. I plan to eventually get my Master's degree in Urban Planning. I lived for a time in New Zealand and so I thought it would be a good subject for this blog. I did not really think about it while I was there, but New Zealand is a geographer's paradise! It has volcanoes, earthquakes, geothermal activity, unique rock formations, and even caves with glow-in-the-dark worms. I have already been to many of the places I will talk about in this blog, but at the time I did not think about them as a geographer would, just as a tourist. Because my husband is from New Zealand, we often go back to visit family and friends. I am looking forward to exploring New Zealand's geography so that on our next trip I will be able appreciate it with a brand new perspective!

This is me hiking in the Kaweka mountains on the North Island in 2009. You can see Mount Ruapehu--an active volcano and popular ski resort--in the far distance.