Apologies Phil and Jen if these are not accurate – please feel free to correct and anyone else feel free to add to the list!
- There are seemingly no motorways
- There are 4 million inhabitants – 3 on the North Island (2 million in Auckland) and 1 on the South Island
- There are 40million sheep (there used to be 70 million before Britain joined the EU)
- There are 100 million possums – they are NZ’s biggest threat to nature and are currently being targeted with 10/80 – a pesticide about which there is substantial outcry
- There are no poisonous creepy crawlies
- The legal driving age is 15
- A man can drink ¾ of a bottle of wine in 90 minutes and still be under the alcohol limit (a woman can drink half a bottle)
- Many of the rural communities have to send their kids to boarding school for secondary education
- They are thinking of changing the national flag, maybe ditching the Union Jack and using a typical NZ emblem. The kiwi is the obvious choice but is not thought to be a good role model – it stays in the dark and eats insects. Another possibility is the silver fern, currently worn by the cricket team..
- Fox Glacier is 14 kilometres long and is advancing by 1ft a day
- The top of a glacier is called the ‘neve’ and the bottom is called the terminal face
- Dense bush regenerates itself even on bare rock: first moss, then small ferns which create humus for bushes and trees to grow
- Lake Taupo and many other lakes are in fact volcanoes which have blown their tops
- Doubtful Sound is so called because Capt James Cooke (explorer and cartographer) saw the entrance but was doubtful that he would be able to sail back out because of prevailing wind and tide conditions
- The rugby team are called the ‘all blacks’ ,the football team are called the ‘all whites’, and the cricket team are called the “black caps”
- The moko is the facial tattoo formerly sported by Maori men (the women used to have their bottom lip and chin tattooed)
- NZ suffered a massive earthquake in 1931 which razed Napier and Hastings to the ground
- Cadbury’s have a factory in Dunedin and produce marshmallow-filled small Easter eggs
- NZ TV is pretty dire
- The NZ wood pigeon is greatly admired as it is the only bird capable of swallowing the largest seeds to help the regeneration of the tropical forests
- NZ cafés make excellent coffee and the cheese is excellent too!
2 comments
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March 15, 2010 at 8:48 pm
jenny martin
you forgot the ‘black sticks’ they are the National hockey teams and the ‘Silver ferns’ are the Netball team, Black Sox, are softball, Tall Blacks, the basketball,Ice Blacks, ice hockey, gets ridiculous and yes NZ TV is shite!
Yes you will have to come back, we will take you to Grat barrier Island as you did so well out on the Gulf!
Can’t wait to see you in Spain,
jen XX
March 25, 2010 at 2:07 pm
joyce gillett
Read your blog with great interest! We followed in your footsteps for quite a few days, missing you by only one or two days at times! ( nearly accosted some poor stranger at the Huka Falls, sure it was you Les!)
Loved Napier too. We don’t have any photos of people dressed up in period costume, just met a German cyclist, lovingly photographing his bike amongst the flowers on the seafront. He then insisted on taking a photo of us with his bike too!!! ( No doubt you met an amazing variety of people on your travels like us.)
You forgot to mention a crucial fact about NZ – the fantastic toilets! We met one tourist who was convinced that was the best thing of all, even dwarfing scenery, wildlife etc!!! ( Guess her age!)