Earthquakes, Tsunamis, what else?

When the news came recently that the massive earthquake in Chile caused tsunamis across the Pacific, it was horrifying to think of the destruction that must have meant. I know no one in Chile, although my prayers are with all who have been impacted there. However, the news was that tsunamis had been seen as far away as New Zealand - and where there is one earthquake there are usually more. So I wrote to my friends and queried what the impact had been to them. Fortunately, the waves were nothing more than what I've seen on Lake Huron during a summer storm, about 4-5 feet high. They cleared people off the beaches until the wave passed, and there was no damage.

Because New Zealand is so mountainous, it would take a tsunami the size that hit Indonesia a couple of years ago to cause much more than shoreline damage. But I did a little reading and learned that there is volcanic activity, including an eruption as recently as 2000, on the north island around Rotorua. And that they have occasional tremors there, similar to California. So it is possible that I could experience a force of nature that I am unaccustomed to, in the next few weeks.

Since most of my time will be spent on the south island however, I anticipate that my biggest challenge will be learning how to drive on the wrong side of the road and the wrong side of the car. As Bridget says "your feet are the same" - I'm hoping she meant the gas pedal and brake are where I'm used to having them, as that would totally mess me up if they were backwards too. Although maybe she meant that my actual feet were the same. How did she know that I have 2 left feet? Oh dear, this could be interesting.