Fellow travelers

I know I've commented on this before, but I find it interesting the make up of the people that I meet. At most restaurants, pubs, resorts, and activities, the workers are from somewhere other than NZ. It seems to be easy to get a 1 year work/travel visa, and then people come over here to do something so they can make enough money to travel.

The majority of the travelers seem to be either younger than myself, or older. There aren't a whole lot in the middle (although, I'm probably starting to trend to the upper middle). On the glacier climb, I was at least 20 years older than the next oldest in our group. At least they didn't call me Dad! Most groups seem to have a large number of Aussies, which is understandable, since it is only a three hour flight to NZ.

I'm guessing that part of the reason for the age spread is that only the young and the old have enough time to make the major travel. I'm also surprised by the amount of time that many people are spending. I thought I would be near the top at 5 weeks, but I've run into a number of people who are spending 3, 4 or even 6 months. These do not include the people going to spend a year working.

The make up of the glacier climb was interesting. It was 1 US (me), 2 Canadians, 1 UK, 2 Dutch, and 6 Germans. The Germans did not all know each other. I was surprised that there were no Aussies. I'm guessing that the older demographics opted for a shorter climb, or the heli-climb (helicopter up to the glacier and then walk around for a bit and a ride back down).