Born in Aotearoa-New Zealand I can agree it is beautiful and the people too. Biking is amazing (well it was 25 years ago when I did)
That said one of my motto's is :
Everything you do on your bike has been done before by an intrepid Englishwoman on a Raleigh Sports with 3-speed Sturmey-Archer gears and a canvas pup-tent on the "carrier" [back rack]