New Zealand pages:
New Zealand
Auckland
North Island
South Island
Hostels
My Virtual Tourist page
My mini website
Last updated Sept 26, 2006.
Kia Ora! The Maori (native peoples of New Zealand before the Europeans arrived) gave the land the name Aotearoa (land of the long white cloud), which translates into "land of the long white cloud," and what is now called New Zealand. The Maori have a significant role in the historical and cultural aspect of New Zealand. Learning about their influence in Kiwi life is just one of the many things to experience when visiting New Zealand. New Zealand is made up of 3 islands, 2 larger islands making up the North and South and also Stewart island, south of the South Island. It's a good place for a first overseas visit, plus deserves more than just a stopover on the way to/from Australia. I was lucky enough to spend 11 months in this lovely country and can recommend numerous places to visit.
My travel arrangements were mainly made up of short Magic bus trips, (to the Bay of Islands and Coromandel peninsula) that included stops at certain attractions, and using Intercity's Scenic Explorer pass in conjuction with their Flexi-Pass (for off-the-beaten-track areas not covered by the pass). I made 2 short trips in the middle of my year-long stay - a weekend in the Bay of Islands in October (very good weather!) and a week going around Hamilton, Otorohanga(!), Waitomo Caves, the Coromandel and Rotorua in January. I spent my last 7 weeks travelling around the rest of New Zealand in March and April, and had the luck of mostly good weather! :) Some Intercity bus drivers (maybe it's the bus route?) are super nice and will drop off backpackers at their respective hostels!
Flora and Fauna
Given New Zealand's isolation from most larger continents, the flora and fauna have been allowed to evolve without too much human interference. However, most pests now are ones that were brought over from other countries and now NZ faces a problem of those animals being a nuisance. The moa, a flightless huge bird (larger than an ostrich) was driven to extinction long before recent history. Only bats and reptiles are native fauna to the country, while other plants and animals have been introduced to the country throughout the hundreds of years.
Animals
Kiwi bird - A hybrid-like animal that is endangered of being extinct. The Kiwi bird appears furry, when in fact, the feathers are just more "furry" than most other birds. However, the Kiwi does not fly and that is a major downfall in its defensive strategy. The best tool is the kiwi's sharp, pointy long beak that have nostrils at the end to enhance its sense of smell and to challenge its predators. The Kiwi bird is shy and nocturnal, which makes it difficult for the average person to view it in its natural setting, but instead can be seen through specially simulated night Kiwi houses in many places all over NZ. The kiwi has 3 species and 2 sub species, with the most commonly seen species is the Brown Kiwi.
Kea - A feisty bird that is known to attack humans and tops of cars. Warnings are posted in Kea areas so beware of this bird!
Pukeko
Tui - known for its identifiable tail
Tuatara - reptile
Possum problem - In an effort to establish a fur industry by the Europeans, possums were introduced to NZ. This was a shortsighted idea because now the possum not only interferes with the endangered Kiwi bird population, the possum also chews up valuable forest and bush, therefore damaging trees. They are the most common variety of roadkill, but not that anyone in NZ is complaining of these population control measures. In fact, there are some places that serve up an interesting Possum Pie to taste(!)
Plants
Cabbage trees - Often look like palm trees, but are telltale by their long spiky bunches of leaves at the top of the tree and smaller palm leaves.
Pohutukawa trees - Also known as the NZ Christmas tree, since it blooms in the summer. This tree is mostly found in coastal regions of the North Island. Red "flowers" bloom on the tree and are quite unique from most other trees.
Kauri tree - Kauri trees are part of the ancient forest in the Northland region. They were extensively logged during NZ's settlement, mostly by Dalmatians (Croatian descent) as labourers. The trees were used for shipbuilding and construction, because of the strength of the timber. Now they are being preserved as much as possible, and one can't help but cringe that farmers would burn these trees to clear the land to be used for farms during the settler days. Kauri trees also have sap, which dries into a Kauri gum, used for furniture varnish.
Nikau palm tree
More information on parks, animals, plants, etc. in New Zealand is available at the Department of Conservation (commonly referred to as DOC) which is responsible for overseeing .
Kiwi Culture (Kiwiana)
The Accent
Getting used to the Kiwi accent takes some time. They tend to not pronounce "r" so car becomes more like "caw" or tire is "tie-ya". Then there is a difference in the "e", such as "best" sounds more like beast to my Canadian ears. Some Northlanders, Pacific Islanders and Maori say "ay" at the end of their sentences, like "it's good, ay". Very interesting to go into a bank and have easygoing bank officials call you "love" at the end of their sentences. Or other friendly folk will call you sweetie or mate even though you've just met them. I guess that brings me to Kiwi slang. "Good on you (mate)" can be heard, let's get this "sorted" (or whatever variation of "sort" you can use), "sweet as" (NOT to be confused with sweet ass, Americans!), "cheers bro", etc. A lot of Kiwi lingo and other cultural aspects are very much based on the British lingo or way things are done. Despite being so far away from the "motherland", New Zealand is very much influenced by the British.
For a list of Kiwi words/slang, this website, Kiwi Web has quite a few.
The Maori language is very different than what we've been taught in English. The vowels are emphasized more and often place names can have very long words (check the longest place name in the Guiness World Records - it's a place in New Zealand). The "wh" becomes a "f" sound in the Maori language and the word Maori itself sounds more like "mawri."
NZers have a few oddities. Sometimes you will see people barefoot on the street, which I don't understand! They are not homeless or addicts, but perhaps the beach culture has moved a bit into the city.. It may be hot outside, but still, wear some sandals at least?!
Unique Souvenir Items
Paua shells, whalebone pendants, kiwi bird toys, All Blacks (national rugby team) logo items, greenstone (jade), yellow or blue penguin items, Kauri wood souvenirs, jandals (also known as flip flops or sandals)
Most things NZ-related are called Kiwiana. Here's a website, Virtual New Zealand's Kiwiana with some of the most common items.
Food
NZ lamb, mussels, pies (as in small meat and vegetable ones, kinda convenient like pizza pops), pavlova, kiwi fruit, hokey pokey ice cream, feijoas, kumara, passionfruit, boysenberry, tamarillos, tangelos, a sausage wrapped with white bread and "tomato sauce" is a popular barbeque menu item
Chocolate fish (also chocolate frogs) candy
L & P - stands for lemon and paeroa (an actual town in New Zealand), which used to be a independent national drink but is now a soft drink that was bought out by Coke
Vegemite - a yeast extract spread for bread that is too odd for me. Popular in Australia and NZ. Alternative brand is Marmite.
Ginger beer, Energy drinks like "V" and assorted other brands
Many award-winning wines - from Marlborough Sounds especially, also Hawkes Bay region
Well known 42 Below Vodka brand, kiwifruit wine, feijoa liqueurs.
A lot of national beer brands for a small country - Monteith's (especially Radler, Summer Ale), Tui, Speight's, Steinlager, Waikato Draught.
Media
The New Zealand Herald - daily Auckland newspaper with a Weekend Herald edition on Saturday and a Sunday edition called Herald on Sunday
Sunday Star Times - National Sunday paper
Other cities and regions have their own newspapers, with no national daily newspaper. The media in New Zealand is ranked as being one of the most independent, but given CanWest's (a media conglomerate in Canada) ventures into the NZ television market, I'd be weary of how long they'll be staying out of the newspaper market. Sunday newspapers are also famous for reading over brunch and definitely take about the whole day to read through, with various mini magazines, pullouts and inserts.
Next - New Zealand fashion magazine with good content
The Listener - similar to Macleans in Canada, with news stories and dissection of politics and social issues
Movies - The Lord of the Rings trilogy of movies have given this country a big boost in tourism numbers due to most of the filming that took place here. Spectacular scenery that is very much New Zealand is prominently featured in the movies. However, the story is not as real to New Zealand as the movie Whale Rider is. Whale Rider is set on the East Cape portion of the North Island, about a Maori girl trying to gain acceptance into a male-dominant cultural world. The story is adapted from Maori legend and also a novel written about this story. This movie won the People's Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival in 2002, along with several other awards worldwide. In My Father's Den is based on a book by a New Zealand author and is also an award winner at film festivals worldwide. These two films are likely a sign that more New Zealand films will make it to the world stage in the years to come.
A popular TV show in New Zealand is Shortland Street, the national hospital soap opera named after a street in Auckland and has devoted followers, just like Coronation Street. Coronation Street is still very popular in New Zealand. A cool animated show is Bro' town, featuring life loosely based in Auckland and targeting an adult audience, written by Samoan guys. Little catch phrases will creep into your vocabulary after watching this show. One can learn a lot about Kiwi and Pacific Islander culture through watching this TV show! However, I find NZ's children television programming could be better. During the day, there is not much available for children to watch on any of the channels..
A specialty TV channel, Maori TV is aimed specifically at promoting Maori culture and to encourage the continuance of their language.
Political Scene
New Zealand is unique on the political scene in many ways. They are one of only a handful of countries that use the Mixed Member Proportional representation system, where half the seats are decided by first-past-the-post and then the other half are decided by popular vote and party lists. The further ahead on the party list you are, the more likely you will get a seat in Parliament if your party gets more of the popular vote. As well, New Zealand has enjoyed a female prime minister for a number of years now, which although not a new concept, is still out of reach for a lot of women in major countries. More women are actively involved in New Zealand politics. The Maori also have had an upcoming presence on the political scene. First a number of Maori MPs separated from the governing Labour Party to form its own Maori Party, to deal specifically with Maori issues. Now they have been elected into Parliament and are looking to have a greater influence in NZ politics. Maori is an official language in New Zealand, but that does not mean New Zealand is fully bilingual with the language. Most government departments have publications in both languages, but apart from that, it's up to each organization to have translation services.
New Zealand owns territory on Antarctica and the Chatham Islands, and administers to a number of Pacific Islands. Niue and the Cook Islands are self-governing while Tokelau is moving towards self-government. Also interesting to note is that there is now a bigger population of some Pacific Island nations living in New Zealand than in their home country itself. New Zealand has a significant number of Fijians (or Fijian Indians), Samoans, Tongan and others from Polynesian nations, in addition to the European, Maori and growing Asian mix.
New Zealand issues within history include the sinking of the Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior ship in Auckland's harbour by a French intelligence agency. The Greenpeace ship had been protesting France's nuclear testing in French Polynesia. NZ stands firmly as a nuclear-free zone (which is a sore point for the US) and most Kiwis don't want that to change.
Sports
Rugby is #1 here, then either soccer (football for non-North Americans), cricket, netball (basketball) and many water sports like surfing, rowing, swimming, etc. New Zealand is more heavily involved in summer sports rather than winter sports (given its mostly temperate climate), expectedly. This country is a hot spot for adventure sports, and is in fact, the nation that created bungy jumping. A number of odd sports crop up like zorbing, caving, sandboarding, bridge walking, etc.
All Blacks
The national rugby team is what most people rally behind. They have test (games, as we would say in Canada) matches during the warmer months. What's unique for this team is the fact that the haka, a Maori war cry, is performed before each test match. A bit of culture mixed with sport? Some say rugby matches are no place for something like a haka, while others say it's a way to promote New Zealand's Maori roots. New Zealand has hosted a series of tests of touring teams such as the UK's Lions rugby team to train for the World Cup. The Tri-Nations tests between Australia, South Africa and New Zealand are a benchmark for how the New Zealand team is doing compared to its regional rivals. The Silver Fern symbol is featured with the All Blacks logo and the silver fern is synonymous with New Zealand for this reason.
There is also a national rugby league with city or provincial teams playing each other over the summer and is quite popular for viewing.
America's Cup Regatta
Auckland has the most sailboats per capita, and with that many sailors, this boat race is popular for viewing. Auckland has hosted the America's Cup a few times, with many countries competing in this boating race.
Cheap Alternative Places to Stay
Hostels - the Kiwi hostel industry is much more advanced than the Canadian one (maybe it's our far distances?) since there is at least one hostel, farmstay, etc. in practically any town! Some hostels have an abundance of free food (which is nice for travellers who could use a freebie now and then), some are better for their environmental efforts, some are better for meeting people so it all depends! Backpackers are part of the tourism industry and many Kiwis themselves have at least one OE (overseas experience) usually to the UK or Oz in their youth.
WWOOF - I had some friends who tried this, where they stayed at a farm and had free room and board. Sometimes it can be a bit awkward, but the experience is definitely different. There is a cost to join the program to have access to where the different farms are and for contact information. However, it's a good way to spend less and get the real experience of living on a farm!
Working in New Zealand
New Zealand is accomodating to working holiday travellers (since they are dependent on tourism for their economy) and have many different jobs for those only staying a few months. The hospitality industry is the easiest place to work in, but there is specialized work for those who are willing to make the effort. Temporary agencies make things easier and I would recommend it. Most hostels are willing to make arrangements of free accomodation and other perks in exchange for a few hours a day of cleaning, making beds, etc. In general, most employers prefer experience and then there are some who specifically ask for NZ experience to really count as work experience.
