Kiwis Leave Kiwiland

Now that we've been back home a few days, it's time for the final installment of Kiwis in Kiwiland. So we figured we would think about some of the many things we learned or re-learned in NZ.  Needless to say, we highly recommend New Zealand as a travel destination!

1.       Aotearoa, the Maori name for New Zealand, means Land of the Long White Cloud.

2.       The country abbreviation is pronounced “En Zed.” 

3.       If in doubt about how to spell something, assume the British spelling as in harbour, colour, or socialise. We hired a car, remembered to keep left, got rid of our rubbish, made sure to give way at roundabouts and many one-way bridges, and saw lots of road works.

4.       Christchurch is open for business.  Especially the “container mall” where stores are made of shipping containers.

5.       Planes that fly to Antarctica are big grey windowless things. 

6.       Bodies of water come in many colors: turquoise, jade green, azure, grey, white, deep green and many others.   

7.       Not all major highways have signs announcing the 45^th parallel.  But it was fun to be south of South 45 anyway.

8.       Internet is rarely included free with lodging.

9.       Some, but not all, sheep have cute black butts.  Some even have cute black faces.  But we only saw one "black sheep."

10.   We wouldn’t want to meet Chief Koen and his warrior tribe alone in a dark alley.  It would either be very scary or very funny, and we don’t want to learn which.

11.   It’s always good to Obey the Frog.

12.   New Zealanders have an interesting definition of “level.”  As in, if you’re not climbing more than a few hundred meters in a kilometer it’s considered level.

13.   It doesn’t matter which hemisphere, but hiking in the pouring rain with friends is always memorable.  And the warm shower afterwards always feels wonderful.

14.   Lamburgers are tasty.

15.   Being on a fiord and watching penguins is impressive; seeing a group of dolphins play is amazing.

16.   It’s challenging to stargaze in the southern sky.  Rather, there are lots of beautiful stars, but it’s hard to find constellations when one doesn’t really know enough about what to look for, or what to look for where.

17.   The South Island is in what’s called the “Roaring 40s” meaning that the South Seas are especially rough in latitudes between 40 and 50 degrees.

18.   Roundabouts work.  But it now seems more intuitive to drive a roundabout clockwise than anti-clockwise.

19.   The female perspective: A double kayak is definitely preferable when paddling into the wind and surf.  The male perspective: it would have been much easier in a single kayak.

20.   There are few things more special than being in a secluded cove with playful seals.

21.   Even a basic lunch tastes incredibly good after a hard but satisfying morning kayaking.

22.   Sometimes a small town with an ironic name yields a tasty dinner.

23.   The South Island is more interesting.

24.   Don’t go to the aquarium in Napier.  But if you do go, there’s a fun cache outside.

25.   Jeff takes his coffee “long black.”  A “short black” is an espresso, a “flat white” is a latte without the foam.  An “Americano” is mostly like a long black, which is as close to “filtered coffee” as one can buy.

26.   It seems impossible to buy a baseball cap that just says “Kiwi” on it.  They all seem to add NZ or something else.

27.   Surprisingly enough, we were able to resist the urge to buy *every* item that has the word Kiwi or a picture of a kiwi on it.That's not to say we didn't buy *some* such items.

28.   Kiwis are elusive, even when on display.

29.   New Zealanders are impressively polite and friendly.  They even apologise for the weather. We were offered umbrellas on numerous occasions; of course, as good Oregonians we always declined. Several people were gracious enough to ask whether our home had been affected by Hurricane Sandy, and even seemed honestly and visibly relieved that these strangers they’d just met hadn’t had any problems. 

30.   Even after a couple of weeks, it’s still difficult to remember that the turn signals are on the right and the windshield wipers are on the left.

31.   New Zealanders talk fast and with a delightful accent.

32.   One can find a multi-cache 400 meters away and return in less than 30 minutes to explore a cave.  Yes, we really did a multi-cache.

33.   Bioluminescence is incredibly impressive.

34.   New Zealanders are much more aware of, and interested in, American politics and news than we expected.  And they’re curious about what one person called the “college voting.” (yes, we explained how the electoral college works.)

35.   It’s slightly disorienting getting election results in the afternoon.  On Wednesday. 

36.   We witnessed our first sting ray feeding.  An interesting spectacle.

37.   Air New Zealand has fun fasten seat belt videos.  Their 747s are fine but their 777s are incredibly uncomfortable.

38.   One would think that nearly 3 hours would be more than enough time at the San Francisco airport to clear customs, retrieve and recheck baggage, have a bathroom break, go through security, have lunch, and get to the next plane with plenty of time to spare.  One would be wrong.  We didn’t get lunch because by the time we got through security our plane was boarding.

39.   It’s not often that one sees two sunsets on the same calendar day.

40.   Likewise, it’s not often to find caches 7000+ miles apart on the same calendar day, but we have empirical evidence that it’s possible.

41.   Upon returning home, it takes a day or two to remember consistently that the turn signals are on the left and the windshield wipers are on the right.

42.   Travel is wonderful….but coming home is comforting!