We enjoyed our three weeks in New Zealand. It was easy going: traveling with our rental car, staying in self-catering flats, speaking English and even watching some familiar television shows from back home in the evenings (we’ve all been enjoying reruns of Simpsons and we’ve realized that Bart and Lisa are not that dissimilar to A.J. and Charlie – doh!). We were rewarded with beautiful scenery, New Zealand’s primary draw, as you’ve seen in past posts. New Zealand a very worthy stop, in spite of the pain of getting there and back!
Spoiled, in our self-catering units with plenty of space (1-2 bedrooms)
When we first arrived, I wasn’t sure I was going to find enough different and interesting things to come up with for the 20 Cool Facts and Random Observations (a regular feature on our blog), but once I got started, I couldn’t limit myself to just twenty remarks!
1. The native people are Maori, who came here in boats about 800 years ago from islands in the Western Pacific Ocean, near Polynesia. The people have a similar sounding language and look to that of the native Hawaiians and to that of Pacific island nations. People of Maori descent make up about 10-15% of the population of New Zealand. Cannibalism was a way of life among the Maori until about the mid-1800s, and during the haka (war dances) sticking out one’s tongue is an old way of saying “I want to see your head on a stick; I’m going to eat you!”
Recreating the traditional look of the Maori people
When greeting each other, Maori put their foreheads and noses together
2. It’s odd to travel to a country that is even younger than the United States! Although the native people have been here for nearly a thousand years, the Caucasian population was built-up only in the last hundred or so years ago. Europeans, often escaping tough times or legal problems, sailed to New Zealand for new opportunities between 1850 and 1950 or so.
3. Possums are taking over New Zealand! They were introduced from Australia and have flourished, eating native bird species and munching on the lush green vegetation. With no natural predators, their numbers have skyrocketed. The country is waging a “War on Possums,” reducing their numbers from 80 to 30 million over the last decade or so. We’ve seen everything from possum pies (yuck) to possum wool and knit goods (apparently this variety has the third warmest fur in the world after otters and polar bears).
A lucky possum who lives at a wildlife park!
Wanna try one?
4. New Zealand has no native land mammals, apart from three small bats. Many unusual and sometimes flightless birds have traditionally lived here including the Giant Mao who grew up to 12 feet in height and could weigh 500 pounds! Unfortunately, many species of birds have been decimated by humans who have hunted them for food and feathers and by non-endemic animals.
5. The national bird is called a Kiwi, no surprise! They are large, flightless, nocturnal birds who struggle for survival with the introduced predators. Breeding and conservation centers have opened to assist in this effort. Our daughter posted in depth about our trip to one here.
6. There are no super highways in New Zealand. The main road running down the center of the more populated North Island is a two lane “highway”. There are times where the speed limit on this road drops to as low as 15 miles per hour! In other words, you aren’t going anywhere fast!
The highway between the cities is just a two-laner!
7. The roundabout rules the intersections in New Zealand, a country with few stoplights, especially outside of the bigger cities. Driving on the left does take some getting used to.
8. We didn’t realize that parts of New Zealand are covered in really thick vegetation and 30% of New Zealand is forested. There really is an impenetrable New Zealand jungle!
Don’t get lost as you won’t find your way out!
9. The lack of WiFi is frustrating here. We stayed in only one place that advertised “free, unlimited WiFi” and it turned to be very slow. Sometimes we were given 30-60 minutes of WiFi during our stay, but other times we’ve had to buy internet access for $5-20 a day! (tip: local libraries are a great source for WiFi and we’ve often stop in front of one to load up photos on our blog).
10. Sheep are still plentiful here, but their numbers are dropping in favor of dairy cow farms. In 1982, there were 70 million heads of sheep. Now there are 31 million. Dairy cows are also plentiful.
Baaaaa!
11. New Zealand was the first nation in the world to give women the right to vote, which happened in 1893.
12. New Zealand’s world famous rugby team are called the All-Blacks and they are tough competition in the international arena. Tim and A.J. attended a regional game (the league below the All-Blacks) and were able to see some talented players and their devoted fans.
Rugby fans at a regional match
13. There is a distinct lack of public toilets in New Zealand. We are used to the regular “rest stops” along highways in the USA, and although there are plenty of pull-overs, view points and picnic stops (usually just with one table!) here, there are few to no have facilities. Where are the port-a-potties?
Rare site!
14. Hard to believe that only 4.4 million people live in New Zealand. Our state of California alone has 38 million, which makes 4 million seem like a rounding error!
15. Traveling here can be expensive, similar to being back home due to the cost of food, accommodation, car rental and so on, but there are some really nice freebies that we discovered along the way. New Zealand’s national museum, Te Papa (literally, Our Place) in Wellington, is an extensive, well-done facility and entry was gratis! We have also entered all local and national parks for free.
At the Te Papa museum, a wonderful stop to learn about the history and nature of New Zealand
16. The typical roof here, even among the larger, newer homes, is a corrugated tin roof! In the past, I have thought of this choice as more likely to be found in shantytowns and poorer areas, but here they are commonplace and can look nice. There are a couple different styles and they are often painted. Sometimes they are hooked up to collection barrels for rain water.
Nice house with a corrugated tin roof
More tin roofs, the typical choice
17. The humble savory pie is the equivalent to a sandwich back home. Pies are sold all over New Zealand, from petrol stations to convenience stores to takeout joints. There are multiple varieties, including steak and kidney, chicken and sometimes there are vegetarian (but not vegan) ones.
18. New Zealand has won more Olympic medals, per capita, than any other country in the world.
19. There is an unusual reptile here called a Tuatara. They belong in a separate class of reptiles from snakes and lizards and they are the species that is most closely link to the dinosaurs! Tuataras have been on earth for 150+ million years and can live to be 300 years old. They are the only creature on earth that is born with a third eye, although at about six months of age, it gets covered up with skin.
The Dinosaur-like Tuatara
20. No capital city in the world is as far South as Wellington.
Bonus Observations:
21. We’ve been frustrating by the early closing hours of many places. A couple times we went to restaurants, only to find that they closed at 5pm! Mall stores shut down by 6pm and most things were shut on Sundays. Plan accordingly!
22. There are Salvation Army shops in every city and town that we visited, often prominently located on main streets. This is true even in the really small places.
23. New Zealand has a fabulous and free network of travel information sites and kiosks called iSite. They have pamphlets and brochures for every activity and region, as well as free maps. They also are able to assist with booking tours and accommodation. We came to New Zealand without a guidebook and found everything we needed at iSite (and Trip Advisor online).
The iSite, always a source of good info, in Wanaka
Notes from a Big World 