After 10 years in New Zealand, Joe Bennett asked himself what on earth he was doing there.

Other than his dogs, what was it about these two small islands on the edge of the world that had kept him—an otherwise restless traveller—for really much longer than they seemed to deserve?

Bennett thought he'd better pack his bag and find out.

Hitching around both the intriguingly named North and South Islands, with an eye for oddity and a taste for conversation, Bennett began to remind himself of the reasons New Zealand is quietly seducing the rest of the world.