I was only in New Zealand for 10 days and it was mostly spent in
Wellington and the surrounding suburbs/towns. So, I can't really give a full
evaluation of the entire country. Here is what I took way from this trip:
Kiwis (New Zealanders) are really nice and helpful people as a
whole. During my stay there were numerous situations I can point to. Like me
getting lost in Upper Hutt and the train attendant finding someone who would
give me a ride and then the sweet lady who actually took me to the bus stop.
Also, on my first day, Monica was having a hard time parallel parking the car
and a security officer walking through downtown offered to park the car for
her.
In New Zealand, they don't have any currency smaller than a 10
cent piece. So the final bill is always rounded to the nearest tenth of a
dollar. Also, tax is already included in the price of everything which is
something I wouldn't mind seeing in the states. However, things are very
expensive out here. Not because of the tax and rounding thing but because they
import almost everything. Similar to Hawaii. The heavy focus on keeping the
native culture relevant also reminds me of Hawaii.
Random Observations:
· Pine plantations all over the country. One of their only exports.
Looks odd mixed in with the native foliage.
· Wellington bus drivers have mad skill with the tiny roads. Did not
witness even one accident the entire time and rode the bus numerous times a
day.
· People love their random US sports apparel. Most of the time it seemed
like odd team selections. Example: Tampa Bay Bucs hat and Toronto Raptors
jersey (I actually saw this one).
· Lord of the Rings & The Hobbit are a BIG DEAL out there. They
are super prideful of these creations.
· Kids at school during recess and lots of landscape workers wear
sun hats because the UV rays are very harmful down there.
· Beets are referred to as beetroot, kiwis as kiwi fruit, and bell
peeper as capsicum.
· Lamb is also a big deal at fast food chains (ex: Subway &
McDonalds) since their other main export is sheep.
· Chain restaurants carried over from US that I saw: McDonalds,
Burger King, Subway, KFC, Pita Pit, and Denny’s.
· Everyone smokes. That is a bit of an exaggeration but not by much.
· Best quote while in NZ: “Never trust an 18 year old boy to toss your
salad.”
· Wellington is the windiest city in the world. Seriously.
I got to drive a right-hand drive manual transmission Honda Civic.
It was a bit difficult with everything being reversed except the placement of the
pedals. Making right turns at intersections was a bitch because you had to
cross traffic like a left hand turn in the states.
On our second to last day in New Zealand we took a 12 hour bus
ride to Auckland to catch out flight the next day. Three hours into the bus
ride, Monica let me know that she forgot her passport in Wellington. Amazingly,
her friend, Taggart, had the day off and flew up to Auckland to deliver the
passport. He actually beat us there because our bus broke down and we sat
inside the bus in the pouring rain for three hours. Long trips on buses suck.
That may be my last EVER.
All in all the trip to New Zealand was sweet as. Not ass but as (it's a New Zealand thing). I really appreciated going to a different country that is still similar to the US before somewhere like Thailand. It was also really cool too see what my sister had been up to for the last six months on a day to day living basis. Those are my final thoughts on NZ and I leave you with a little friend that I found about 12 inches from my face while I was on the toilet at my sister's place.
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