As most of you will now know, I am living in New Zealand (the place of my birth). Before leaving the UK I decided that I would write a list specifically about my home land. It has taken a while to get to it – but here it is! Hopefully some of the other New Zealand readers will be able to contribute additional facts.
1. While it is no longer the case, New Zealand was once governed as a part of the territory of New South Wales (later a part of Australia). When Australia federated in 1901, New Zealand was offered a place as one of their states. New Zealand refused and is its own country with no ties (other than economic and commonwealth) to Australia.
2. A kiwi is not a fruit – it is New Zealand’s native flightless bird (pictured above) and a slang term for a New Zealander. Kiwis call the fruit “kiwifruit” – they are also known as Chinese Gooseberries.
3. New Zealand was the first major nation to have universal suffrage. In 1893 it became legal for all male and female citizens of New Zealand to vote.
4. New Zealand was first discovered by Europeans in 1642 when Dutch sailor Abel Tasman arrived. He left New Zealand after several of his crew were killed by Maoris, and it was not until 1769 that English Captain James Cook arrived and mapped the land.
5. Queen Elizabeth II is officially Queen of New Zealand. She is represented in New Zealand by a Governor General, who ratifies all laws put before him or her by the elected parliament of New Zealand.
6. New Zealand is one of only three countries that have two official (and of equal standing) national Anthems. The first is God Save the Queen (the English National Anthem) and the other is God Defend New Zealand. The other two countries with two anthems are Denmark and Canada which both have a Royal Anthem and a State anthem.
7. Another native bird of New Zealand (the Moa) was one of the largest birds in history – standing up to 3.6m (12 foot) tall and weighing 300kg. Unfortunately they were hunted to extinction by the Maoris by the end of the 1500s.
8. When the Europeans arrived in New Zealand, it was already inhabited by the Maori people – Eastern polynesian settlers who arrived some time between 800 and 1300. Oral tradition says that they came from a place named Hawaiki; its location is unknown. The very strong linguistic connection to Cook Island Maori might suggest that they originated from that region of the Pacific.
9. Another group of settlers (who most likely came from the same group as the original Maoris) settled on the Chatham Islands. They were called the Morioris and they were pacifists. In 1835, groups of Maoris moved to the Chatham islands and wiped out nearly all of the Morioris – leaving only 100 by 1862. The last full-blooded Moriori (Tommy Solomon) died in 1933. [Image above: Tamati Waka Nene, a Maori Chief]
10. New Zealand was the first country to have its three top positions of power held simultaneously by women: The Prime Minister (Helen Clark), the Governor General (Dame Silvia Cartwright), and the Chief Justice (Sian Elias).
11. New Zealand has a strong hold on the international trade in sheep meat. There are presently around 9 sheep to every 1 human in New Zealand (the population of New Zealand is 4 million).
12. Wellington, the Capital City of New Zealand (and home to me!) is the southernmost capital city in the world. [Image: Wellington City]
13. New Zealand was forced out of the ANZUS (Australia, New Zealand, United States) alliance in the 1980s when it outlawed nuclear arms and power. To this day, there are no nuclear power stations in New Zealand, and a change of law would be required before one could be built. New Zealand retains its military ties with the United Kingdom.
14. New Zealand has one of the most liberal media arenas in the world. Distinctly left wing versus right wing press is not as obvious there as in other nations.
15. New Zealand is a plastic nation – almost all personal financial transactions are made with a card – credit or otherwise. Most shops offer EFTPOS (similar to the UK Chip and Pin which appeared two years later) and cash is seen less and less. It is possible that New Zealand was the first nation to offer this system of payment (if someone can verify that I would appreciate it). The majority of taxis now allow you to pay without cash through this system.
16. New Zealand is a fairly liberal nation with homosexual marriage (Civil Union) being legal and prostitution, soliciting, and brothel keeping being legal. The driving age is 15, the consensual sex age is 16, and the drinking age is 18 (though minors accompanied by adults are allowed alcohol in restaurants).
17. Lake Taupo (one of New Zealand’s most popular tourist destinations) was the source of the largest known eruption in the world in the last 70 thousand years. It had a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 8. It released over 530 cubit kilometers of magma. [Image: Lake Taupo]
18. New Zealand was the last major landmass to be populated (with the exception of the polar regions).
19. New Zealander and Nobel Prize Winner, Ernest Rutherford is known as the father of nuclear physics for his orbital theory of the atom.
20. Sir Edmund Hillary – the first man to reach the peak of Mount Everest was a New Zealander (born in Auckland) and his face is on the New Zealand $5 bill.
Please visit Hutt Property if you are looking for a Hutt property enquiry or to buy property in Lower Hutt.
CRSN – Jonah Lomu also played in the final in 1995, so I would regard that as the closest NZ has come to winning if you can count ’95 as recent. They lost that final 15 – 12, in extra time after the score was tied 12 – 12 after 80 minutes.
I’m going to watch the All Blacks play in August in Cape Town. I can’t wait. I really respect the All Blacks and the Bokke – All Black rivalry is one of sport’s finest.
Is hokey pokey icecream unique to NZ? I had to explain what it was to someone last night.
Tempyra – I’m not sure about unique. But the NZ stuff sure tastes the best (though I much prefer lime when I’m in NZ).
In London I have seen (poor) substitutes called Honeycomb. And I laughed once at some kiwis I was drinking with in a bar; they would buy Crunchie bars, melt off the chocolate and add the hokey pokey to vanilla ice-cream to get their fix.
What I miss most is Watties tomato sauce (tins of which I import to the UK from NZ in the dozens, from time to time) and NZ fish and chips (the Briish stuff is barely acceptable – but they are a very tolerant bunch).
Also, I’d kill for a kiwi meat pie
In fact, if any kiwi out there is (or knows) a kiwi pastry-chef, I’d be very grateful to get a recipe for an authentic (dairy/cake-shop style) meat pie. Savoury pies too!! Of course, the recipes must be fit for home quantities, as opposed to commercial. Though I bake a damned good meat pie..I never quite get there.
I also bake my own custard squares and have tried coffee buns.
the Bokke – All Black rivalry is one of sport’s finest
Saffa – heh, I totally agree! It’s funny how the youger generation of kiwis tends to regard the Aussies as our “natural enemy” when it comes to rugby; for me, and most kiwis over the age of 25 maybe, it has always – always – been the Boks.
I have always worked with Saffas here in London and the rivalry is great. And the rivalry turns into a great alliance when one of us is playing the Poms at something
They lost that final 15 – 12, in extra time after the score was tied 12 – 12 after 80 minutes.
Saffa – so would you if you’d been deliberately food-poisoned
Saffa – you lucky little bugger, the last international i watched was between Australia and Ireland at the WACA, and that was like 8 years ago.
Now i just go watch our local clubs, might not be as proffesional, but beats the ***** out of watching an NFL game, which is catching on over here in WA because a lot of the recruters for the NFL watch a lot of our AFL, and its bigger bucks in the US, even if you only play a game or two.
kiwiboi – you can bet I’ll be shouting for the AB’s tomorrow morning (my time) when they thump the Pom’s
I saw a quote this week that you might appreciate:
“I’m going to give Richie McCaw an English shirt, so that when he comes in from our side of the ruck he’s already got a white shirt on.” – Rob Andrew
Those Poms love a whinge
Kiwiboi – whats so unique about a Kiwi meat pie? in Oz, a pie is a pie, just with varying ingredients.
kiwiboi – food poisoning, haha. You starting to sound like a whinging Pom now. I suppose you going to tell me that that French pass last year was forward
Just kidding………
*drools* Custard squares!! I want one now.
I miss the Cadbury chocolate you get in NZ too – the taste is completely different to the Cadbury stuff you buy in Australia.
And Grain Waves! Does anyone else know what they are? Possibly Bluebird’s best ever creation
Australia, of course, has produced many fine performers, such as Olivia Newton-John, John Farnham, the Bee Gees, most of AC/DC, Mel Gibson and Nicole Kidman.
astraya – I guess it depends on what you mean by “produced”.
Olivia Newton John, Johnny Farnham and the Bee Gees are English!!
And, Mel Gibson and Nicole Kidman are both American!!
Of course, as you infer, the Young brothers (the “core”) of AC/DC were also from outside of Australia (Scottish).
food poisoning, haha. You starting to sound like a whinging Pom now. I suppose you going to tell me that that French pass last year was forward
Saffa – don’t make me come over there !!
whats so unique about a Kiwi meat pie?
CRSN – very similar to an Aussie meat pie. But the kiwi ones are the ones I’m use to
This list makes me proud to be a kiwi *places hand over heart and goes to sing the national anthem but can’t decide which one to sing so explodes in confusion* honestly though I don’t think I’ve ever heard ‘god save the queen’ being sung as the new Zealand national anthem. – I did know this fact though
Just last night I read something in a local newspaper which I found fascinating, in relation to item number 15 (hadn’t read the list at this point). NB this story was from a section called ’30 Years Ago in the Evening Star’
“Dunedin retailers are being advised to have nothing to do with a new credit card system, called Visa, being introduced by the Bank of New Zealand.” – Lol
“I’m going to give Richie McCaw an English shirt, so that when he comes in from our side of the ruck he’s already got a white shirt on.” – Rob Andrew
Saffa – yeah, I saw that. Funny thing is, after that the British press took an England shirt to an AB’s training session; there’s a great photo of Richie McCaw signing it (with a grin on his face). He wrote “It doesn’t fit!”
Kiwiboi – Oz doesnt think the Bee Gee’s are from Oz, quiet the opposite really, and for the others (except for ACDC, even though Bon Scott was Scottish, we consider him a West Australian because he’s grave is in East Fremantle cemetry) the countries that they originally come from can keep them, i’m proud our aussie icon is a cross dressing Dame Ednah Everage (probably spelt that wrong)
“Dunedin retailers are being advised to have nothing to do with a new credit card system, called Visa, being introduced by the Bank of New Zealand.” – Lol
Samsung – but are you sure that they take Visa even now in Dunedin? I heard they just got the electricity connected!
Just kidding
Ha Ha Ha very funny Kiwiboi.
kiwiboi – jokes aside, I am actually planning a trip to New Zealand in 2011 (for obvious reasons) with my wife and a bunch of friends. I really can’t wait for that, its going to be awesome.
Oz doesnt think the Bee Gee’s are from Oz
CSRN – I was just having fun with astraya (who mentioned them). I was waiting for him/her to claim Phar Lap next
Though, you can keep Joh Bjelke-Petersen. And Russell Crowe.
jokes aside, I am actually planning a trip to New Zealand in 2011 (for obvious reasons) with my wife and a bunch of friends. I really can’t wait for that, its going to be awesome.
Saffa – good for you. You’ll love it! And what superb timing
Shapeshifter, a drum and bass act from New Zealand. i think the album Soulstice is a masterpice! check it!
Hey kiwiboi, I just went looking for a custard square recipe. Haven’t found one that looks right yet but I did find this:
New Zealand recipes
It has what looks like a typical NZ meat-pie-from-the-dairy recipe near the bottom of the page, you’d just need to adapt it to make individual ones.
Kiwiboi – NOOOO! Please take Russell back, he’s ruining the Rabbito’s Rugby team, he even had Gorgio Armani design their Suits, and the bad press that goes with him, good actor, ***** head of a bloke but.
xoom – yeah I’ve heard of them. But I’m more of a hiphop type of guy than drum and bass
King Kapisi !
There’s lots of great kiwi music – always has been.
Tempyra – thanks for the link
Actually, I’ve already seen that page; the meat pie recipe leaves too much margin for error, unfortunately. It just isn’t quite like the shop-bought ones. What I am concerned about is that some kiwi pastry-chef will tell me that “oh yeah…we buy the pie filling as a sack of dried ingredients from a wholesaler”
The Edmonds book, BTW, has an extremely good recipe for Custard Squares – I recommend it.
Kiwiboi – NOOOO! Please take Russell back, he’s ruining the Rabbito’s Rugby team, he even had Gorgio Armani design their Suits, and the bad press that goes with him, good actor, ***** head of a bloke but.
CRSN – sorry…NO RETURNS!
As a past NZ Prime Minister (Muldoon) said once : “Every time a kiwi moves to Australia, the average IQ of both countries goes up”
Lol… I think they do and they just re-hydrate it
Is this it?
“My old Edmonds book has 175g 6ozs flakey pastry, cut in half and each piece rolled very thin. Prick well all over and bake at 215C 10- 12 mins. The filling is 1 1/2 cups milk, 50g butter, 2tblsp Edmonds Cornflour, 3tblsp icing sugar, 1 egg, vanilla essence.
I cup milk in a saucepan with the butter and heat. Mix cornflour and sugar with the remainder of the milk to a smooth paste and add beaten egg. Pour in hot milk and butter and return to the saucepan; cook until the mixture thickens, then cook for 5mins stirring all the time. Add vanilla and when cold spread between the pastry. Ice the top and sprinkle with cocoanut.”
Found it on a forum somewhere.
Ooh ooh ooh, fun fact number 21:
New Zealand troops took the first German territory in World War I. At the request of Great Britain, German Samoa (a German colony) was invaded unopposed on the morning of 29 August 1914 by New Zealand Troops.
Damn! I’ve just done some research and this ‘fact’ I’ve always taken as true, is wrong.
Three Days Earlier on August 26 British and French forces invade Togoland, a German protectorate in West Africa.
Tempyra – similar. Though I have a lot of Edmonds books, the recipe I use is in an edition that is only a few years old (I can’t check right now, I’m at work)
Kiwiboi – in early 2006 Dads Pies NZ were supplying 2000 English pubs with pies (made by Dutch immigrants). They are the pies we get in BP service stations.
Goodtime Pies supply to NZ schools (heart tick standard) and are currently negotiating with schools in UK and New York.
Samsung – On the war theme, Rommell said of Aussies and kiwis : “If I had to take hell, I would use the Australians to take it and the New Zealanders to hold it.”
Rusty – thanks for the useful information! I’ll follow that up.
Very nice, more lists like this one!
Cool fact about New Zealand
They have the most singularly succesful international sporting team of all time, The All Blacks, or the New Zealand rugby team.
They were also the winner of the first ever Rugby World Cup.
you forgot to mention NZ best music export, Bret and Jemaine of the band Flight of the Conchords
Very interesting list but what about The All Blacks. Surely what New Zealand is most famous for!
Thanks for straightning out the Kiwifruit thing, been struggling getting that through to Poms. Great photo of Welly cant beat it on a good day eh. Hope this doesn’t encourage to many migrants though I try to tell people its a ***** hole boring and full of tossers. Low pop. rules.
for number 3 you obviously mean over 18 yes?
Hands up anyone who completely missed the deadpan tongue-in-cheek irony of my last comment. Yes, I thought so.
Here are some more facts about New Zulland:
There are fewer people living in New Zulland than in Sydney. (Of course, so many of those living in Sydney are New Zullanders, anyway.)
It is further from Sydney to Auckland than it is from London to Kiyev or from New York to Wiinnipeg.
New Zulland cricketers can’t play underarm bowling.
(Un case unyone thunks U’m laying ut on a but thuck, U’ll muntion that U huve rulatuves on both sudes of the fumuly in New Zulland, and unce upplued for a jub there. They dudn’t wunt me. New Zulland us my sucond favourute country.)
Korean students keep referring to eating kiwis. I tell them not to.
mom and roxy: i am not concerned with teen pregnancy rates (atleast in this argument). just whether or not we think it is a good idea for 14 year olds to be having *****. try to forget the notion that a progressive nation should be open to all things. think of all the emotional, physical and psychological responsibilities that come with having *****. is this something that should be added to the plate of a 14 year old?
Looks like a nice place. Except for the people and there horrible politics. Ugh.
Hands up anyone who completely missed the deadpan tongue-in-cheek irony of my last comment. Yes, I thought so.
astraya – irony or no, not everybody will appreciate that, and – secondly – how many Australians would you estimate actually think that those people are, in fact, of Australian origin? In my experience, a good many.
So I will assume that your comment about the Hillary Clinton/Edmund Hillary thing is also tongue-in-cheek…
Hands up who likes pavlova?
Along with Canada it is unfortunately the worlds most politically correct country and the worst drain on Centrelink.
Jokes.
Also the worlds worst cricket and rugby teams. Thats true.
New Zealand is a beautiful nation and amongst the bravest soldiers the world has ever known. An ANZAC never dies, he simply starts beating the next challenge.
I dislike pavlova: it’s an over-rated overly-sweet dessert that tastes like… SUGAR. Why not just have the whipped cream and strawberries (or whatever you put on top of it) by itself?
After living there 3 years some observations that have stuck w me for decades:
– home milk delivery paid for w plastic tokens purchased in bulk.
– in Tawa (a bedroom community of Wellington) garbage was only picked up if it was packed in municipality issued garbage bags.
– best ice cream in the world
– only place where I bought mutton flavoured potato chips
– everyone tries for an “OE”
– bought a UTE that was dual fuel and this was in the 80′s
– leader in banking innovations because, at the time, all the banks had a business relationship w a central data centre. Anyone remember Databank?
– in times of electricity shortage the electrical company would send a pulse to shut off water heaters.
Cooked right pav is oarsome gotta be high and marshmallowy.
What is Centrelink?
Centrelink is the Australian equivalent of Work and Income NZ (WINZ, if it is still called that).
Cooked right pav is oarsome gotta be high and marshmallowy.
Phil – yep. Have you seen James Martin (the UK celebrity chef) cook “pavlova”? he leaves it cooking in the oven for 6 hours!! There is absolutely no marshmallow centre! It must be like eating a concrete slab.
A pity, because he is otherwise a fine chef.
Six hours!! No way.
magicboy – Tawa..Databank ? Heh, I’m in banking, and can tell you that when I first came to the UK I found the banking systems (retail) utterly ancient. I went into a main branch of Lloyds Bank at the time to get my account balance, and they said I had to go to the branch where my account was held because their systems were not centralised. For a hefty fee they would telephone my branch for me
Actually, when I think about it, it’s still somewhat backward!
As for Tawa..I was born in Porirua (spare me the jokes…)
Does he cook his pavlova at a really low temperature or something? Otherwise, you’d need a hacksaw to cut it…
Phil – yep. I’ve seen him cook it on his tv show. My wife and I were ROFL
Tempyra – I can’t remember specifically, but it was relatively low. The finished article looked like a white cow pat
But..as i said..he’s otherwise a great chef.
A white cow pat? LOL
jfrater: Can i come live with you? I don’t require much food and I’m a really good story teller.
PS: When I went to write this it prepopulated the name ‘KIM’ in the nickname field and showed me her email! This happened to me yesterday with Green
dischuker:
okay. let’s set aside the pregnancy statistics.
the age of consent in most states is 16. (in South Carolina,it’s 14 for females and 16 for males)
let’s all take a moment to think back…
how old where you when you experienced your first *****ual contact?
i was 12 when i got my first real kiss. i was doing everything BUT *****ual intercourse by the time i was 13.
and i was older than many of the other girls in my neighborhood that began having *****ual experiences at 10.
age of legal consent does not matter. if it was 12 or 21, it is an individuals personal right to decide when to begin having *****.
i thin some of the laws are to strict and did not do enough to protect the innocent and too much to condemn others, instead of looking at each case on an individual basis.
just because a country has a lowered age of consent than you are familiar with in the states doesn’t mean it is going to result in a rash of 14 year old girls having *****. the same way that free condoms in high schools doesn’t create ***** stars or legal drugs in Amsterdam mean that everyone is a heroin junkie!
rtr
I’ve been to NZ twice. Once in 1950, and then again in 1954. So you’ll have to forgive me if my memories are somewhat spotty.
I do remember being almost overwhelmed by the sheer beauty of the place! Green hills and broad swaths of land, blue sea and sky, different blues, and blues within blues and both dotted with white, and flowers of every color imaginable.
I remember a very black policeman (?), a traffic-director, standing in the middle of an intersection, in a round box of some kind, wearing a brilliant white uniform with a white helmet that had a kind of ridge atop it. He also wore white wrist-length gloves.
I remember seeing a Kiwi in the bush, and thinking she was so marvelously beautiful and strange.
I *know* I saw a lot of other things, but these are the ones which burned themselves into my brain forever. Captured like a photograph. Bright and new always.
DiscHuker; I remember when I was 14, in grade 9 at a party, making out with my boyfriend. On the floor, right next to me was a grade school student having actual ***** with her boyfriend. And she was not the only one. And we lived in an upper middle class environment. (Actually it was the richer kids from the other side of the bridge having the most *****, but socio-economic factors we will leave for another time). Good ***** ed, none of them got pregnant. But trust me, the statistics prove that they have the ***** with or without the protection.
I had ***** for the first time later that year. With Stan the man, and promptly gave it up for 2 more years. Frankly wasn’t much fun, too complicated and too messy for my age. Without the education, that one mistake could have been life altering.
It’s not that I approve of early *****, in a perfect world no-one would have ***** until they were mature enough to handle the emotional and concrete consequences of said actions. (Some are younger, some are older, and some are never ready).
But youngsters don’t behave like that, the omnipotence of youth and all, they get carried away, they experiment, and it is all a natural part of growing up. Why deny it? Why not educate for it? Teach responsibility, not abstinence. Because abstinence does not work.
age of legal consent does not matter. if it was 12 or 21, it is an individuals personal right to decide when to begin having *****.
roxy – but the age of consent is also there to protect the youngster; eg. take a naive 12-year old girl and add a worldly (or predatory) 20 year old guy…
I’m not sure all 12 year olds would be mature enough to make such a decision. I know it sounds authoritarian, but I think kids do need protecting from themselves, to an extent. If nothing else, it also places some culpability on the older guy.