I guess we can thank the LoTR franchise for making New Zealand a 'must visit' place. I've visited (and loved) the North Island a few years back, but never done

I guess we can thank the LoTR franchise for making New Zealand a 'must visit' place. I've visited (and loved) the North Island a few years back, but never done the South Island. Last year, a group of us old high school friends wanted to book the Milford Sound 1 week trek to celebrate our 50th year on the planet, but found out it was booked out 2 years in advance! Speaking to people who have done it over the years, it seems that 10 years ago, you could do the walk and never see another soul, but nowadays it seems to be a veritable rush hour jam (a bit like the snake line of climbers on Mt. Everest it would seem). But I do hope that the economic flow through is good for them. I recall that even on my last trip there, we stayed at B&Bs and Farm stays and in talking to the locals, they were quite negative about the dismal economic conditions. But equally strangely, there seems to be a lot of good startups and IT related companies coming out of NZ over the past 10 years (Xero etc.) I guess the NZ tourism commission will have to make hay while the sun shines. I live on the edge of Kakadu National Park here, and remember back in the heyday of 'Crocodile Dundee', we had the same huge influx of visitors from all over the world keen to see it, but of late, the demand has fallen significantly, which is probably better for the park, but not for the hotel and safari operators out there. Luckily they didn't overextend their infrastructure investments, which could be a lesson for other countries.