I used to ignore every bottle with a screw top. Then I moved to New Zealand, where 95% of wines use them — including the award-winning ones. I’ve been converted.
It’s winter in Auckland, it’s dark and cold, and I want to hum Christmas carols. It’s July. Christmas is five months away. Nobody warned me about this part of moving to New Zealand.
New Zealand wants to eradicate rats, possums, and stoats from the entire country by 2050. All of them. The whole country. I have questions.
ew Zealand is home to its own unique species of glow worm — and seeing them in a cave, a river tunnel, or the forest at night is one of those experiences you don’t forget.
andals are flip flops. They are the national footwear of New Zealand, second only to bare feet. There is also a decades-long family feud over who invented them. Of course there is.
I ordered Devonshire Tea expecting a special kind of tea. What arrived was scones, cream, jam, and also tea. It was confusing. It was delightful. It was very New Zealand.
Just about every visitor who comes to New Zealand wants to go to Hobbiton. Which means I’ve been there a lot. It holds up every single time.
New Zealand airports are the most efficient I’ve ever used. Wellington’s also has the bonus of being the self-declared Middle of Middle-Earth — complete with Wētā Workshop magic.
New Zealand has custard in a carton. I thought that was odd. Then two teenage boys drank an entire one in one sitting and I understood completely.
Healthcare in New Zealand is government subsidised, ACC covers everyone including tourists, and you can’t sue anyone for an accident. Coming from the US, this took some getting used to.