New Zealand Observations                                                    January 19, 2000

After more than a month in New Zealand, it seems time to jot down a few notes on impressions of the country and the people.  We’ve traveled on both the north and south islands and have seen a representative sample of the landscapes.  We’ve not gotten to know very many Kiwis, but we’ve interacted with them in shops, restaurants, golf courses and bars.  What we’ve found is that people here are exceptionally friendly and helpful (based on US norms).  People strike up conversations readily.  Of course our accents give away our status as tourists, which probably helps.  Nonetheless, Kiwis are an outgoing and inclusive group.

One way to convey our impressions of New Zealand is to compare the country to the area of the US we are most familiar with – California.  The parallels are almost uncanny.  First, realize that California can be clearly divided into a northern section and a southern one, each with a distinctive geography, climate, and lifestyle.  New Zealand is primarily divided into the north and south islands and the total area is comparable to that of CA.  To make the comparison take into account position relative to the equator, compare northern CA to the South Island and southern CA to the North Island.  Interestingly, you also need to mirror CA east to west to match up the rugged terrain of NZ’s west coast to the Sierras of eastern CA.

Some similarities between the South Island and Northern California:  There is only one major city to speak of, Christchurch (like SF, but much smaller).  The South Island has mountains with snow and skiing in the winter.  It has bays, with sailboats and hills like Sausalito.  It has highways right along the coast, like US 1 (just on two coasts).  It has numerous wineries and vineyards.  And it is full of rugged, marvelous, scenic places.  Summer (or this year’s impostor) has dried the coastal hills to a shade of golden brown familiar to any Californian.  The rounded shapes overlooking the vineyards on the eastern coast of both islands are likewise similar. Driving along miles and miles of deserted beaches, you can see colonies of seals, birds, and beautifully-hued water.  New Zealand’s is the more spectacular with colors ranging from the dark blue of the deeper areas to the light turquoise shades of shallow bays, which almost match Bora Bora’s lagoons.  Like California, the water is cold.  Garden plants and some of the profuse wildflowers likewise attest to similarities in climate.  Agapanthus, lupine, poppies, roses, dahlias and a bottlebrush cousin abound.

Here’s some differences:

	Almost all cars are compacts, although small SUV’s are beginning to make inroads.
	There are few fast food outlets, especially on the South Island.  Mickey D’s, Burger King, KFC and others can be found, but only in larger towns and rarely grouped in the fast food ghettos typical of U.S. suburbs.
	The availability of non-prescription drugs, vitamins and herbs is very limited.  You can get aspirin or Advil; however, they are sold in much smaller quantities at quite high prices.  We suspect folks get them as needed on a prescription basis at low cost through a national health service.
	There are MANY fewer people per sq. mile.
	Service is great. People are wonderfully helpful -- there are plenty of service people in the stores and there’s a live person on the other end of the phone when you want to find out something.
	The current words used instead of "wonderful" are "magical" and "brilliant."
	You might judge the entire city of Christchurch to be in mourning based on the number of black dresses seen downtown on any given weekday.  Kiwis definitely have a national obsession with black.  Haven’t seen any readings on the psychological implications of this predilection.
	Driving is on the wrong side of the road.  There are very few traffic lights; instead there are roundabouts at intersections. Stop signs are almost non-existent.  You’re supposed to "give way" to traffic when intersecting a main road or entering a roundabout.
	Roadkill is more limited in variety.  "Possums" predominate.  This New Zealand version is a quite attractive furry animal, but a terrible pest to farmers.  Lack of variety is more than made up for by quantity.
	People like to walk around barefoot, even in town or in shops.
	There is no tipping, and tax is included in your food bill. Restaurants wait for you to ask for the bill, which is waiting at the cash register.
	Everything is priced right, especially the golf.
	B&B’s are not for upscale weekends away but are a reasonable, informative and friendly alternative to motels.  These can usually be booked at the town information center when you arrive; no need to plan way ahead.

All in all New Zealand, and especially the South Island, really is "magical" and "brilliant"!