Things are different here in New Zealand
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Luca enjoying one of the many trampolines we encountered in New Zealand.
New Zealand was the second stop on our travels, and our first foreign country on this journey. As I did in Coastal Oregon, I kept a running list of the aspects of New Zealand that stood out to me as a newcomer.
New Zealand has a female leader, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. In June 2018 she had a baby and became the first world leader to take maternity leave (6 weeks) while in office. Normal parental paid leave is 22 weeks (that’s 5.5 months!). I don’t think I even need to point out the obvious differences to the U.S. here.
NZ is a coffee culture, especially in Wellington. In case you were wondering (I was), a flat white has a slightly higher proportion of coffee to milk than a latte. Otherwise they are pretty similar.
It’s also an extremely kid-friendly culture, with a playground in every tiny town, including Aoraki/Mt. Cook Village. Almost all local restaurants and cafes have small play areas or baskets of toys for little ones, which made dining out with a toddler infinitely more pleasant. Even the Interislander ferry boat from the North to South Island has an impressive play structure for kids (albeit one that becomes a little hairy to climb when the waters are rough, as they were during our crossing).
Earthquakes happen. A lot. According to one article I read, scientific instruments record over 15,000 a year. 100-150 of them can actually be felt. A 6.8 earthquake occurred outside Wellington while we were visiting the capital city. David was the only one home in our Airbnb and felt it as a “big truck going by.”
Public bathrooms are everywhere. They’re clean and free to use, and you don’t have to search to find them.
Unlike Australia, New Zealand was not a penal colony. It was a religious settlement. However, many convicts in Australia later moved on to NZ, and lots of Kiwis are descended from them. This is now much less of a stigma than it used to be.
Maori culture and language appear to be quite well integrated in New Zealand, especially in comparison to, say, Native American culture in the U.S. or even Aboriginal culture in Australia. I was impressed to see that Wellington is in the midst of a campaign to go fully bilingual as a city, and the government would like all primary schools to offer Maori language instruction by 2025. The Te Papa museum is an amazing place to learn about Maori history and way of life.
There is no gun problem in New Zealand. Police officers are not armed.
At the time of European contact, NZ had no native land mammals other than bats. And there are no large predators to be found even now--none of the mountain lions, bears, or other scary beasts we normally watch out for. That meant we could march off into the forests/mountains with nothing to concern us but the weather. What a relief! [Europeans introduced the rabbits that have become a nuisance to farmers as well as the wild pigs that are to this day called “Captain Cookers,” after English explorer Captain James Cook.]
Speaking of the above, there are also no “creepy crawlies,” as the host at our farmstay in Wanaka told us. Compared to the legion venomous insects and snakes of Australia, this is a fairly big deal--and it was another source of comfort for this paranoid traveler.
There are lots of towel warmers and bathroom heaters in New Zealand, but not much central heating. Brrrr. Good thing we were there in early spring.
Driving is on the left in New Zealand, as most people know. But otherwise, the driving is not particularly challenging, at least in my experience. The roads are well maintained, and the speed limit is a modest 100 km/hr (62 mph) on open road. What I found interesting was a safe driving campaign throughout the country with signs reading, “New Zealand roads are different. Allow extra time.” Perhaps they have not been to Italy, I thought, or Tunisia. In one Central Otago town, we saw a more potent message: “We have no doctors, no hospital, one cemetery. Drive carefully.”
Trampolines are everywhere. Climbing up one hillside near Wanaka, David and I counted at least 10 in the backyards down below. There was one at The Store near Kaikoura, and one at our farmstay too. Luca spent his fair share of time jumping on them. “New Zealand parents are not risk averse,” one local told me.
Women got the right to vote in 1893, making New Zealand the first self-governing country in the world in which women had the right to vote in parliamentary elections. Yowza.
Beautiful landscapes and waterscapes sprawl out before you just about everywhere you go. I could have stopped the car every ten minutes to take pictures, but most of the time Luca was sleeping in back.
The country seemed so idyllic that I asked one local what the problems are. She mentioned high rates of suicide and diabetes, particularly among the Maori population. Other social problems do exist, including poverty and domestic violence.
There are about seven sheep to every person in New Zealand. The total population (of humans) is around five million--a little more than the population of Los Angeles and a little less than New York City.
The breathtaking Hooker Valley Track at Aoraki/Mt. Cook.
The beach in Kekerengu, outside The Store.
Maori language is highly visible in New Zealand and often sprinkled into English text without translation. This is a floor decal at the Te Papa museum in Wellington. Kino means “bad.”
Children’s books in Maori and English.
