I moved into a new apartment in New Zealand and my partner was excited about the fridge. Specifically, about a small compartment inside it. I had no idea what a butter conditioner was. I still think it’s a bit much. But I’m starting to understand.
We moved into our new apartment right across from the train station and decided it was time to actually use it. The Auckland transport system turned out to be clean, simple, and remarkably easy to figure out — one card for trains, buses and ferries. We rode out to Panmure, shared the train with a handful of little girls in tiaras headed to Disney on Ice, and ended up at an American store selling Vienna sausages in bulk. Just a regular Saturday.
New Zealand gets around 20,000 earthquakes a year. Most you’ll never feel. Some you won’t forget.
New Zealand has almost as much coastline as the United States — for a country of 5.3 million people that works out to one kilometre of coastline per 353 people. You can really feel it on the beaches. And some of those beaches have 60-million-year-old boulders on them.
I’d never heard of a kontiki before I moved to New Zealand. It’s a motorized torpedo that takes your fishing line two kilometres out to sea while you sit on the beach with a cold beer. Of course it’s a Kiwi invention.
In New Zealand there is a list of things a loyal Kiwi must love. Pineapple Lumps are on it. Rugby is on it. Marmite is on it. I have opinions about all of these.
I ate Vegemite by the spoonful on my first try. This was a mistake. Two years later I eat it regularly. New Zealand will do that to you.
The world sheep shearing record was just broken by one lamb. The Irishman who did it sheared 867 in nine hours — and he learned his craft in New Zealand. Of course he did.
Rudyard Kipling called Milford Sound the eighth wonder of the world. The drive there is the most beautiful I’ve ever been on. The sandflies are mean and cruel. All of this is true.
Tui is a NZ institution — light, refreshing, and responsible for some of the funniest billboards in the country. The brewery on State Highway 2 is still worth a stop, even if the beer is no longer brewed there.