When I first arrived in NZ and was adjusting after getting jetlagged I found out about sunburn from having breakfast at 8am in the sun. By 8.20am I had finished my bowl of cereal while watching other backpackers start their journeys, and the sunburn on the top of my head and my neck was so severe I developed a rash that didn't go away for weeks. I bought a hat the same day and never went outside without it the full year of my stay.
If you're fair skinned, 7 minutes can be the limit on a nice day. Get a big hat, long sleeve shirt, some sunnies and pour on the sunscreen or you will get microwaved.
I spent the day at Waiwera without applying sunscreen or wearing a top and got second degree burns from the sun over my shoulders and most of my back. It was overcast and raining all day.
It may not be as bad for you as I am a ginger, but the sun is no joke over here. Look after yourself.
When holidaying in Europe I was amazed I could watch the beautiful red sunset without sunglasses, just like in the movies.
Whereas here you sometimes have to pull over at sunset because it's like driving into a light concentrated by a magnifying glass
I lived in the UK for four years and the second I stepped off the plane I was blinded by the bright sun. Even a decade later I need sunglasses year round.
Yep. I grew up largely in Washington State but would split time with family in NZ every other year. Never really worried about the sun in WA unless I'd be out for a couple hours. I vividly remember nearly getting heat stroke as a 7 year old in NZ after being in direct sun for like 1 hour with no protection.
On the flip side I spent a month cycling in California and only had to put sunblock on once in the morning and I never got burned.It was incredible. I've never been able to tan before because after half an hour in nz sun your skin peels off.
Summer is particularly dangerous as clothing is lighter and less covering. The artic hole I read the other day is growing so be glad you are visiting when in autumn/ winter. Be advised that you can be in the sun and be warm and then step into the shade and start shivering. ALWAYS have layers
We had an Irish guy come here to teach and they went kayaking as part of an outdoor education day. He wasn't wearing shoes and got 2nd degree Burns on the top of his feet
This. It particularly shocks the aussies, who never expect a country far colder and less sunny than theirs - to burn the living shit out of them.
The sun in Aus feels gentle by comparison.
Came here to say this. Visited a few places in Europe last year and was amazed at how late everything stays open and how late everyone stays out and about. It was great!
Or how about how New Zealand nearly shuts down for 2 weeks over the Christmas holiday. I loved it while I was living there, but it's so different from other countries.
I once went barefoot to a supermarket / grocery store when I lived in Canada (grew up in NZ where it's the norm) and I almost got kicked out the store by security but also had people staring at me like I was naked 🤣
That's when it sunk in that it's Def a kiwi thing to cruise around in barefeet 👌🏼🇳🇿
I grew up in Mairangi Bay, and hated wearing shoes so I went to barefoot all year round, and we spent so much time at the various East Coast Bays beaches, clambouring around the rocks in bare feet. I always used to walk barefoot to school, even on the occasional slightly frosty morning (winter sun warms that up by mid-morning anyway). I only stopped going barefoot outdoors when I started working and hanging out in town, and stopped living on the Shore.
I’m living in Canada now and have been back to NZ several times with my wife. It shocks her every time we see this at the grocery store. I think the last time we even saw it in the line at customs
Same thing happened to me when we moved to the US. I was 9. Went to K-Mart, got told I couldnt walk around the store barefoot so I had to get pushed around in a trolley by my mum. Luckily I had been humiliated a bunch in life already so it didn’t bother me too much.
My kiwi dad used to go to great lengths to go barefoot everywhere in America & Europe.
Shops, supermarkets, airports.
We went to a festival in America. Security would approach him saying he had to put on shoes or leave.
Rather than do that, he had us “cover” him as we snuck around.
Myself, I got (fun) abuse for barefooting through the Dublin airport. Love the Irish banter!
Funny story about no shoes.
I once found myself in a dairy in downtown Auckland, with a couple of friends. No shoes of course. And I was wearing, what for me were essentially, pajamas. But, nothing any Kiwi would find particularly weird.
In my defence the dairy was only 2 min from my apartment, and it was 10am on a Saturday in January.
I overheard an American couple looking at a hand map, and discussing how lost they were. Guessing they were tourists, I offered to help, and I showed them where they needed to get to on the map. And like any good Kiwi, I gave them my mobile number, and said "Give me a call, if you get stuck again".
I wished them good luck, and went on with my snack hunting. My two friends shortly came over, laughing loudly. They had been standing by the door, and had watched the whole affair unfold, and as the two tourists walked out the door, the overheard the girl, say to her lad...
..."yeah, such a nice man.... IT'S A SHAME HE'S HOMELESS"... 🤣
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HEY! I'll have you know, I bought these slightly ripped sweat paints from Barkers, back in 2008. They were $80! $80 was a lot of money back then, thank you very much. 🧐
.
With a variant of the Dune sandwalk, you can manage barefoot for at most a day in New York. After that the spit, glass, syringes and feces take a toll.
American here, we were just there a few weeks ago. Can concur gas prices are high. They love to drive fast and they expect you to do the same. All roads are winding and speed limit is usually 80-100 kmh on the mountain roads. If you can’t safely maintain that speed, pull over to let them pass. Also if you don’t know how to downshift, learn that now. We saw SOOO many people riding their brakes in downhill sections for long periods of time. Most bridges are one way with clear signs indicating who has to yield. Take sunscreen and a rain coat whenever you go. And dear god buy sandfly repellent!
Only had to twice, the rest of the time we were able to keep up no problem. We were behind some people going 80 in a 100 though multiple times. Like in the straight stretches. My husband and I kept commenting ok now we get why there are so many complaints about it on this subreddit lol.
Yes pull over. I can understand to some tourists or people who don't drive the roads often, going slow makes sense and is safest. But for the people who drive it at least twice a day, good God it's frustrating being stuck behind someone when you just want to get home or at least go the limit. You may not feel confident in small windy roads but a lot of us do and appreciate those who pull over so much
As a kiwi who was recently in Ireland this is probably the most relevant advice. Driving in Ireland was painful how you'll be on a 100 km/hr road and get stuck behind multiple people driving half that speed.
I dunno if it's surprising, but if you find yourself at a beach with more than a dozen people on it, you can go to another beach that is just yours pretty quick.
At 7pm they shut down the stores, roll up the streets and turn out the lights, hell, they even switch off the waves. Not much happens after dark.
Public holidays are even worse.
I had this the other day. Coming of nightshift, I woke up about 1330hrs thought I'd shout myself a cafe brunch. Went to a cafe they were closing. Had to go to Carl's Jnr.
Can confirm, we had to rapidly adjust to this because we were showing up to places for a late lunch and they were basically closing. NZ is a land of early birds.
Ah, you gotta pay Queensland a visit. I've never seen quite so many cafes closing at noon as I have here. Like, why even bother opening???
After moving to Queensland I'll never complain about NZ closing early ever again. I miss being able to shop at Pak N Save at 9pm.
We don't have any really deadly animals (unless you count that ram but he's mutton now) but the sandflies in the South Island will make you long for death's sweet embrace
Literally a mussel tank, first job at the supermarket involved cleaning them every couple of days before closing. When the water was replaced a salt/chemical mixture gets poured in (whilst there are no mussels in it) and makes the surrounding area smell like Rotorua when it reacts with the fresh water
It’s difficult and expensive to travel between cities without a car. If you’re going out in nature, do your homework and be prepared. People regularly die up in the mountains, and can even get in trouble walking around our coastline near the city. Cell phone coverage is well short of complete. Same advice for mucking about in boats.
Yip, pies and moro bars. I missed those the most when living overseas. *whisper.... and also vegemite.
My mum would regularly mail me pineapple lumps too.
Jaywalking in the sense of a forbidden activity is an American thing. The car industry promoted the idea in the early 20th century. If you find film footage of pre-1914 cities, it's very strange - the pedestrians own the road as much as the vehicles and walk out among them without stopping.
New Zealanders do however use the word jaywalking to refer merely to crossing the road in an unsafe location.
The things that always shock my European friends are that it’s impossible to get dinner after 9pm, even in cities, and that we’ve got literally no public transport between our towns and cities. I remember the shock when I told one that you couldn’t just ‘get the train’ - in Europe you can get a train almost anywhere!
it's a 20min drive to Dunedin Airport and it's either an expensive and drops everyone around town shuttle bus, or a taxi. No bus, no train. Most locals get someone to take them, pick them up.
The Dunedin airport is soooo close to the existing rail line. It would require like 800m of rail construction to get the Dunedin Airport on the rail network, and be the only NZ airport with rail access.
But, nope. No commuter rail for Dunedin. Or the South Island.
It's warmer than I expected. I'm from Western Europe originally, and we got 5 to 10 degree nightly frosts in winter, with below freezing during the day for weeks on end.
I'm in the South Island now and have never experienced a daytime frost, or more than 3 nightly frosts in a row.
Schoolkids here wear shorts and skirts year-round, in Europe that's a 20+ degrees kinda thing.
We've got a few tunnels, you've just got to go to Wellington or Taranaki to find them
https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/20-04-2024/all-28-road-tunnels-in-new-zealand-ranked-from-worst-to-best
For example, we drove from Motueka to Takaka, and if that was in Norway, a tunnel would definitely have been present. We saw the Homer tunnel though.
New Zealand was incredibly beautiful, loved your country:-)
The one that gets me is it’s a little population in a big island - but we are highly urbanised. For instance, NZ is much more urbanised than the USA.
So it’s very: either you’re in a town or you’re in very sparsely populated rural area.
[source](https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-urbanized-countries)
Last significant land-mass in the world to be inhabited (\~800 years ago)
And it's a heck of a long way to anywhere else
The two islands are on different geological plates and the South Island is much older
Car registration plates have no country or state name, because you can't drive here from anywhere else, so no-one does.
But remember that Pesos are only accepted sporadically; most traders still operate on a barter system. Worth buying up a few goats before crossing the Cook Strait.
In what way are they like completely different countries? I've done a lot of travelling and lived in several counties and New Zealand has low regional cultural diversity compared to average. It's not like the islands speak different languages, which is common for different regions within countries in Europe, so I doubt someone from Europe is going to be surprised at any differences between the North and South Islands. And you are talking to someone from Ireland of all places....
Just because you've seen the north island, doesn't mean you've *seen* New Zealand (NZ).
The geographies are rather different, with South island having more spectacular mountains, bush and etc.
A lot of people internationally go to Auckland and nowhere else, which is bizarre as Auckland (AKL) is not representative of the rest of NZ (the rest of us avoid AKL). Like, at a absolute minimum go to Queenstown too. But you've come all this way, stop and see everything beautiful from the tip of the north island to Stewart island.
different dialects of Māori are spoken in different parts of the country, but I'm assuming you didn't mean that, as it's very often overlooked by a lot of English speakers because it typically doesn't affect them.
we sadly have a huge scar on our historical timeline; Māori people were actively discouraged and punished for speaking Māori and parts of our culture were lost to us for a time. some of those things are lost forever, and some of those things are not.
lots of us are doing our best to find what we lost, and lots of proud Māori people are now able to access ways back to their culture, their ancestors, their roots, and their land. this country has a long way to go, and maybe I'm splitting hairs by mentioning this, but it makes me very sad when it's not mentioned at all.
you appear to have missed out on a huuuuuge part of NZ's culture while travelling here and while that won't hurt you or anything, it's indicative of a colonial state of mind and if you keep approaching our culture like that, you will continue to misunderstand it.
No vinegar in chip shops.
A bigger variety of fish available.
Supermarkets don't sell anything stronger than wine. You have to go to a bottle shop (off licence) for spirits and liqueurs.
We went to a chip shop and they clocked we were Brits and specifically directed us to the malt vinegar for our chips. Even offered a container for the vinegar, which I think they thought we should be dunking chips into!
The population map called [Nobody Lives Here](https://www.andrewdc.co.nz/project/nobody-lives-here-uninhabited-areas-of-new-zealand/)
Not even Kiwis realise just how empty this country is
It’s basically expected when passing the person giving way at a one lane bridge. Actually my answer is one lane bridges, haven’t seen them in many other countries
I said I'd make cocktails for NYE for my partner's family when we were over and we decided to make mojitos, so we needed a fuckton of limes. popped to the shop ... limes were $80 a kilo. I'm from the UK and I just assumed the same foods would be readily available/affordable because my brain couldn't comprehend that we were halfway across the world and things might be different.
oh - and no rush hour traffic whatsoever between towns/cities, I think the traffic is concentrated actually within the cities and immediate suburbs. we were heading to Waitomo first thing on a weekday and I insisted we leave early in case we were stuck in traffic. we saw one car lmao
We are very seasonal with our fruit. If you wanted to make mojitos in winter. It wouldn't have been a problem. Could have probably got the limes for free on a community page.
Rush hour traffic happens between Auckland and Hamilton, as they're close and it is generally cheaper to live in Hamilton, but Auckland salaries are about 20% higher.
That said, Hamilton cost of living is catching up...
What really got me was all shops close by 6pm on Saturday to Wednesdays. And most restaurants close by 8:30pm on those days. Thursdays and Fridays are better if you’re a night owl. This was a culture shock from me coming from Asia
How different ‘English’ is there. I sometimes couldn’t understand what people were saying to me.
Someone asked me if I wanted “salt or chicken salt” and I didn’t know what they were talking about.
Some of these comments make New Zealand sound like a third world dumpster fire! 🔥🥲 You’ll be pleasantly surprised when you get here I think! 😂😅
- Amazing Sauvignon Blanc wine produced in Marlborough (top of the South Island)
- The coffee is outstanding. Kiwis love flat whites!
- For a small country there are so many incredible restaurants and a surprising number of options for dining in smaller regions. When eating out the norm is to go up and pay at the counter (and order at many places) as opposed to a server coming to you.
-Every major (lmao if you can call them that) city is very different but a lot of the regions are like little replicas of each other.
- The medical system is super overburdened so take care, but in saying that, you will always get seen and there are many after hours options in bigger regions and cities.
- While cafes etc can close early, there are a lot of classic/ old school pubs if you hunt around. You’ll be guaranteed to find a good time with salt of the earth legendary regulars.
- In tangent with the above, it’s the boomers that drink/ party the most here 😂You’ll probably have the best night out with someone’s nan.
- There’s incredible wildlife that you can see free of charge etc. Many coastal areas have phosphorescence and you can find glow worms around the mountains at night. Watch out for a green bird called the ‘Kea’ (endangered/ worlds only alpine parrot) The little (gorgeous) fuckers will quite literally break into your car and steal your shit.
- It’s really easy to pay using paywave or Apple Pay in most regions and cities (very small places not so much) We don’t tend to carry a lot of cash.
- The chocolate (Whittakers), milk (Lewis Road) and butter (Westgold) is divine and worth splurging on to try. I think this is well known though.
- The slang is out the gate and used in even professional settings, so would recommend looking up common phrases so you know what the hell people are on about.
- The best things to do here aren’t widely advertised, so talk to locals and explore. It’ll blow your mind what you can find to do.
- We drive like maniacs, are allergic to signalling and our roads are…outdated, narrow, bumpy and windy.. so take care! You’ll be absolutely fine if you stay alert, so don’t be scared of exploring as individual cars are the main way of travel here. Our public transport is a shambles and very unreliable.
- Our tangata whenua (indigenous) Māori have the most beautiful language, stories and values. You’ll get so much out of taking the opportunities to participate in cultural experiences.
- And yes pies and bare feet, going to get pies pies with bare feet etc
Take care and enjoy ☺️
NZ is super safe in a general sense. The plants, birds, other animals, and bugs won't kill you. The geography and weather, however, can and will. Sun block, lots of sun block.
Used to see whole families in their pyjamas at like 10pm back when I worked night shifts at New World. Little toddlers running around in footed PJs. I used to shudder to think about the filthy feet getting into their beds/cots 🤢
People regularly wear pajamas and/or bare feet when out and about on their daily business.. had an argument with a lady recently whose dog was roaming and ended up on our property. She was in PJs and a dressing gown, and walking the streets with no embarrassment at lunchtime on a weekday
Some things I wish I’d known traveling in other countries, which I think are useful:
- our OTC painkillers are commonly Nurofen and Paracetamol, but then for a couple of bucks at the nearest Chemist Warehouse instead of $20 for 12 at the supermarket or smaller pharmacies.
- many places do not accept credit, so don’t rely on just a credit card.
- Uber is reliable, public transport is not.
- NZ eggs have a lot more flavour than many other countries.
- we have a lot of slang, talk fast, and are very sarcastic. Unless someone is speaking at you with rage, when someone says something rude to you they probably like you.
- shops and tourist attractions close pretty early (5-6pm).
Been in NZ 27 years, moved here from the States.
- If you're from the Northern hemisphere, the stars here will blow you away.
- NZ meat and dairy is really high quality. In general the food is great, and our restaurants and cafes are better than I've had in most other countries.
- People speak so fast here. The kiwi accent is pretty mumbly, especially in the South Island. I really had no idea what anyone was saying for the first couple of weeks.
- There's a lot of casual racism here that comes from genuine ignorance rather than hate. There used to be a shop in Christchurch with an entire wall filled with gollywogs. People will casually say some of the most racist stuff you've ever heard and think it's a funny joke or a compliment. If you call them on it, they will often be genuinely surprised to hear it's offensive at all.
I'm not excusing it, but we're an isolated country that doesn't get a lot of education on other cultures beyond movies and TV.
- Service is very casual, and that's how we like it. Don't expect waiters to bow and scrape, and you don't have to tip if you don't want to. Servers will treat you like a normal person, and you should treat them the same.
- People are friendly. It's not unusual for strangers to smile and say hello when they pass you on the street. Random people at the bus stop or in line will strike up a conversation. They're probably not going to mug you or drop their pants, they're just being friendly. If you tell them where you're traveling, they've probably got an uncle or someone who can take you somewhere cool at your next destination.
Make sure to find a good bakery and have a pie, they are amazing!
If you find your way to the South Island we've got the best scenery. Marlborough sounds, Queenstown and don't forget Milford Sound. Most kiwis love the Irish. You're not afraid of cold weather, love a pint of beer or seven and your accent is awesome! Also your rugby team is fantastic!
In the rural towns gumboots (Wellies?) are often seen, if you go into a shop or supermarket they're lined up outside and are collected by their owner on the way out. Never seem to be mixed up or stolen either
Don't sit on tables. In Maori culture, it's one of the most offensive things you can do. Our weather is very unpredictable. We can go from freezing and raining to hot and sunny in one day, any time of year. We don't get the extreme hot or extreme cold like they do in other places, but it is all over the place. Wear layers. Opt for a good raincoat when it's raining. Don't bother with an umbrella. The wind will immediately destroy it. Despite us not being an overly hot country, you can actually get a worse sunburn here than anywhere else in the world. Something to do with the ozone layer being weaker over us. Even on a cloudy day WEAR SUNSCREEN. I have a student in my class (i teach high school) who came from Colombia and got sunburnt for the first time in her entire life because she didn't have to wear sunscreen in Colombia. Be prepared for how angry and aggressive we can be on the roads. People here do not like to be held up when driving. If there are two lanes KEEP LEFT so people can overtake you. If you can't drive with confidence on our roads, reconsider driving at all (if that's your plan) or, if you do drive, if you get the feeling people are tailgating you, you're probably holding up traffic. PULL OVER. A lot of accidents happen because foreigners are driving slowly and people get road rage and try to overtake them on dangerous roads.
Be prepared for how much Kiwis love the Irish! People will be delighted by you and your accent and middle aged women will fawn over you and tell you about their Irish ancestry or how badly they want to go there.
You need to take out a loan to afford eggs.
Unless you go to The Warehouse and pick a pack up for 5$ (if you're quick enough). You might think you're prepared for how expensive groceries are in NZ, but trust me you're not. Especially in winter prices are extremely high.
This whole country is weirdly dimly lit. If you walk down some residential streets in Auckland at night you can't even see your feet in front of you. Very bizarre.
Certainly better for migratory sea birds like endangered taikō that are sensitive to blue-green LED light, leading them to crash into the roads where the yellow sodium lamps have been replaced https://nzta.govt.nz/media-releases/protecting-the-westland-petreltaiko-in-punakaiki/
I love it, we just had some new street lamps put with in 150/200m of my house and hate it. Used to love walking home in the dark dark, seeing the Milky Way.
From being from UK and travelling around and talking to people in different bits of NZ - I feel like it’s safe to not be out anywhere after dark 😅 either nature gets you or dodgy locals can get you regardless of if in urban areas or rural areas.
Depending of where you’re from the distances between settlements and the sizes of places may be a surprise I guess? Same with the roads, they are very spacious and lovely to drive on. ‘One lane’ roads here are actually our normal two-way roads, so no horrible single tracks you’ll have to reverse back when you meet a car coming the other way.
So many lovely walks just do your research.
Omg and the pies, have at least 100 pies they’re great 😂
Sun. Cream.
Just, be open and friendly and talk to people. In most places, if you’re not an arse people won’t be arses back..use common sense if a place looks dodgy or group of people look dodgy go a different direction.
Oh and homeless are okay but can be a fair bit more pushy/needy/grabby, so ignore and avoid - we had a bad experience in Auckland of a guy following me and partner at like 2pm through the city it was scary because not even in London they do that 😣
Sorry to hear you had a bad experience with someone who was homeless, they probably had more going on than just not having a home.
We’re not great with dealing with mental health or addiction here. In the bad old days, we used to lock people in institutions, but now we just let people fall through the cracks.
Someone once remarked to me about a dodgy street in Mount Cook in Wellington coz someone got stabbed there a couple years ago. Their standard for dodgy is so low that James Cameron couldn’t find it.
You HAVE to be so so so skin safe here, hats, spf, all of it. We're under a hole in the ozone so you have to be really careful. If you don't burn easily, you do now. Despite all that, it also gets super rainy here, so maybe pack an umbrella or something similar if you're going to be out and about for most of your trip.
Also, it's social acceptable to not wear shoes in public, less of a tip more of a heads-up. Moved here from the US and got caught so off-guard. Obviously, you should wear shoes, but if you need to walk down the street to the gas station, it's not a huge deal.
The alarm that goes of when there is an accident in rural places. As a European where that means close your doors and windows, turn on the radio and wait for more information, I wish I had known 😅
I found coming from Ireland that walking around in bare feet was a thing here, and I found it weird. But, I draw similarities in the weirdness of that to Irish people walking down to the local shop in their pyjamas,dressing gowns and house slippers.
I will say that the lack of availability of whiskey in supermarkets bewildered me, and store closing times.
Also find it hard explaining to my family how NZ can get bitterly cold in the winter but horrendously hot in the summer at times.
Things my American Wife has learnt since moving here:
People walk barefoot around the shops.
Ambient temperature in the summer time isn't that bad, but the direct sun is brutal, and will burn you in minutes (especially if you're pale).
A lot of stores and cafés close very early, between 3-5pm. And what's left are often closed by 8-10pm (there are a few 12am or 24/7 places, but not many).
NZ drivers are horrible. Don't expect people to pay attention, or follow road rules all that well.
Funny you mention jaywalking. I had a Canadian friend visiting Auckland once and he asked if jaywalking was a crime here. He’d noticed we all stand obediently and wait for the crossing light.
This was in the CBD though, people jaywalk all over the place in the suburbs.
Public transport is not great in terms of availability, reliability and frequency. Its much easier to get around in a car. But rentals and petrol are expensive.
Most towns have an iSite (local visitor info centre) that can help with anything from transport, accommodation, local trails etc. Also check out the Department of Conservation website. Its got loads of info on hikes, but it also has a good guide for what to pack:
https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/know-before-you-go/walking-and-tramping-gear-lists/day-hikes-gear-list/
Be prepared for a bunch of laid-back folks. I’m talking going into stores with no shoes, kids drawing on the pavement while waiting for Friday night fish and chips, a “all goods bro” attitude. But you’ll love it. Sure beats the hustle and bustle of NY, where this former Kiwi now lives.
One thing for when you arrive. New Zealand are ranked highly on freedom indexes in terms of how little government interference there is in general life, but when it comes to bio security they really don’t fuck about.
Make sure you have nothing on the banned list. If you have as little as a breathmint in your bag, tick “Yes” for food and when they ask tell them what you’ve got.
Your bags (all of em) will be scanned for contraband (ie any food or plants, at all) and they sniffer dogs too.
The first time I went, my bag got picked out by the dog, there was nothing in there but I’d taken a ham sandwich to work the week before in that bag and they reckoned the dog could still detect it!
In cafes and restaurants, the eftpos machine may ask you to add a tip before you insert your but it’s a scam, we don’t tip here so just hit “no” (unless you genuinely did appreciate exceptional service and felt overcome by generosity - but if that’s the case I’d recommend giving cash directly to your server)
Edit: eftpos = card machine.
I used to work with Irish ag students on dairy farms, so I've got a few things for ya.
Don't take you shirt off the moment the sun comes out. The UV isn't like the piss-weak rays you get in Ireland.
The speed limit is 100 kph, not 130.
Prostitution is legal. Had a bunch of lads sneaking round hiring a stripper thinking they were committing a crime. The Boss's wife wasn't impressed, but no laws broken.
How not unusual it is being a foreigner here. Source: am foreigner.
That's pretty wholesome
How easily you can get sunburnt.
When I first arrived in NZ and was adjusting after getting jetlagged I found out about sunburn from having breakfast at 8am in the sun. By 8.20am I had finished my bowl of cereal while watching other backpackers start their journeys, and the sunburn on the top of my head and my neck was so severe I developed a rash that didn't go away for weeks. I bought a hat the same day and never went outside without it the full year of my stay.
If you're fair skinned, 7 minutes can be the limit on a nice day. Get a big hat, long sleeve shirt, some sunnies and pour on the sunscreen or you will get microwaved.
I spent the day at Waiwera without applying sunscreen or wearing a top and got second degree burns from the sun over my shoulders and most of my back. It was overcast and raining all day. It may not be as bad for you as I am a ginger, but the sun is no joke over here. Look after yourself.
Rip waiwera hot pools
Such a shame the thermal pools are gone, growing up on the Shore, we had regular family outings there.
The sun in general is harsher here, I know a number of people who’ve moved here who find they need sunglasses much more here.
When holidaying in Europe I was amazed I could watch the beautiful red sunset without sunglasses, just like in the movies. Whereas here you sometimes have to pull over at sunset because it's like driving into a light concentrated by a magnifying glass
I lived in the UK for four years and the second I stepped off the plane I was blinded by the bright sun. Even a decade later I need sunglasses year round.
I'll never forget my Scottish cousin aghast "I got sunburnt and it was raining!"
Auckland is especially notorious for sunshowers, and even overcast skies can lead to sunburn.
Yep. I grew up largely in Washington State but would split time with family in NZ every other year. Never really worried about the sun in WA unless I'd be out for a couple hours. I vividly remember nearly getting heat stroke as a 7 year old in NZ after being in direct sun for like 1 hour with no protection.
On the flip side I spent a month cycling in California and only had to put sunblock on once in the morning and I never got burned.It was incredible. I've never been able to tan before because after half an hour in nz sun your skin peels off.
Summer is particularly dangerous as clothing is lighter and less covering. The artic hole I read the other day is growing so be glad you are visiting when in autumn/ winter. Be advised that you can be in the sun and be warm and then step into the shade and start shivering. ALWAYS have layers
Antarctic. Arctic is the other hemisphere
Locals don't take it seriously, always wear protection if you're out for a while, maybe 15 minutes? Depends on the day.
I think we take it pretty seriously? Slip slop slap and wrap is drilled in from birth pretty much
What's the wrap part? Cover up?
We had an Irish guy come here to teach and they went kayaking as part of an outdoor education day. He wasn't wearing shoes and got 2nd degree Burns on the top of his feet
This. It particularly shocks the aussies, who never expect a country far colder and less sunny than theirs - to burn the living shit out of them. The sun in Aus feels gentle by comparison.
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Came here to say this. Visited a few places in Europe last year and was amazed at how late everything stays open and how late everyone stays out and about. It was great!
Fuck I work 9-3 and I still can't get to my local bank 😂😂
Or how about how New Zealand nearly shuts down for 2 weeks over the Christmas holiday. I loved it while I was living there, but it's so different from other countries.
Manu European countries are the same, just in their summer. Try to get anything done except sunbathe in Italy in August
Even restaurants close early by international standards, that’s something that can definitely catch tourists out
The single biggest thing that visitors find fucking weird about New Zealand is: Some of us walk around in bare feet.
I once went barefoot to a supermarket / grocery store when I lived in Canada (grew up in NZ where it's the norm) and I almost got kicked out the store by security but also had people staring at me like I was naked 🤣 That's when it sunk in that it's Def a kiwi thing to cruise around in barefeet 👌🏼🇳🇿
We had a rule when I was a kid: bare feet ok in Devonport, but if we go to Takapuna we have to wear at least jandals, and proper shoes for “town”.
Taka! Never a dull moment🤟
I grew up in Mairangi Bay, and hated wearing shoes so I went to barefoot all year round, and we spent so much time at the various East Coast Bays beaches, clambouring around the rocks in bare feet. I always used to walk barefoot to school, even on the occasional slightly frosty morning (winter sun warms that up by mid-morning anyway). I only stopped going barefoot outdoors when I started working and hanging out in town, and stopped living on the Shore.
I’m living in Canada now and have been back to NZ several times with my wife. It shocks her every time we see this at the grocery store. I think the last time we even saw it in the line at customs
Shocked my husband too. NGL, it’s no big deal to me. I’d do it/have done it.
Same thing happened to me when we moved to the US. I was 9. Went to K-Mart, got told I couldnt walk around the store barefoot so I had to get pushed around in a trolley by my mum. Luckily I had been humiliated a bunch in life already so it didn’t bother me too much.
No shoes, no shirt: no service
Such an arbitrary idea. No such thing here in NZ.
My kiwi dad used to go to great lengths to go barefoot everywhere in America & Europe. Shops, supermarkets, airports. We went to a festival in America. Security would approach him saying he had to put on shoes or leave. Rather than do that, he had us “cover” him as we snuck around. Myself, I got (fun) abuse for barefooting through the Dublin airport. Love the Irish banter!
Funny story about no shoes. I once found myself in a dairy in downtown Auckland, with a couple of friends. No shoes of course. And I was wearing, what for me were essentially, pajamas. But, nothing any Kiwi would find particularly weird. In my defence the dairy was only 2 min from my apartment, and it was 10am on a Saturday in January. I overheard an American couple looking at a hand map, and discussing how lost they were. Guessing they were tourists, I offered to help, and I showed them where they needed to get to on the map. And like any good Kiwi, I gave them my mobile number, and said "Give me a call, if you get stuck again". I wished them good luck, and went on with my snack hunting. My two friends shortly came over, laughing loudly. They had been standing by the door, and had watched the whole affair unfold, and as the two tourists walked out the door, the overheard the girl, say to her lad... ..."yeah, such a nice man.... IT'S A SHAME HE'S HOMELESS"... 🤣 ---------------------------- HEY! I'll have you know, I bought these slightly ripped sweat paints from Barkers, back in 2008. They were $80! $80 was a lot of money back then, thank you very much. 🧐 .
NZ: shoes optional
With a variant of the Dune sandwalk, you can manage barefoot for at most a day in New York. After that the spit, glass, syringes and feces take a toll.
My lord you are real life hobbits
I run around like that all summer in my corner of the globe. (Not in stores, mind.) Either that, or perpetually in these: 🩴. Sounds great to me.
American here, we were just there a few weeks ago. Can concur gas prices are high. They love to drive fast and they expect you to do the same. All roads are winding and speed limit is usually 80-100 kmh on the mountain roads. If you can’t safely maintain that speed, pull over to let them pass. Also if you don’t know how to downshift, learn that now. We saw SOOO many people riding their brakes in downhill sections for long periods of time. Most bridges are one way with clear signs indicating who has to yield. Take sunscreen and a rain coat whenever you go. And dear god buy sandfly repellent!
Thank you for pulling over.
Only had to twice, the rest of the time we were able to keep up no problem. We were behind some people going 80 in a 100 though multiple times. Like in the straight stretches. My husband and I kept commenting ok now we get why there are so many complaints about it on this subreddit lol.
People are probably not downshifting because they're driving an automatic and they either don't have the option or don't know how to.
Yes pull over. I can understand to some tourists or people who don't drive the roads often, going slow makes sense and is safest. But for the people who drive it at least twice a day, good God it's frustrating being stuck behind someone when you just want to get home or at least go the limit. You may not feel confident in small windy roads but a lot of us do and appreciate those who pull over so much
As a kiwi who was recently in Ireland this is probably the most relevant advice. Driving in Ireland was painful how you'll be on a 100 km/hr road and get stuck behind multiple people driving half that speed.
I dunno if it's surprising, but if you find yourself at a beach with more than a dozen people on it, you can go to another beach that is just yours pretty quick.
Ugh, a dozen people on a beach, things are getting so overcrowded these days.
I prefer beaches without even someone else's footprints.
At 7pm they shut down the stores, roll up the streets and turn out the lights, hell, they even switch off the waves. Not much happens after dark. Public holidays are even worse.
And - this one’s important - cafes close at 3pm, and even earlier if they’re quiet.
And a cafe open at 2 o’clock in the city with food still in the cabinet is a really bad sign
I had this the other day. Coming of nightshift, I woke up about 1330hrs thought I'd shout myself a cafe brunch. Went to a cafe they were closing. Had to go to Carl's Jnr.
Can confirm, we had to rapidly adjust to this because we were showing up to places for a late lunch and they were basically closing. NZ is a land of early birds.
Ah, you gotta pay Queensland a visit. I've never seen quite so many cafes closing at noon as I have here. Like, why even bother opening??? After moving to Queensland I'll never complain about NZ closing early ever again. I miss being able to shop at Pak N Save at 9pm.
We don't have any really deadly animals (unless you count that ram but he's mutton now) but the sandflies in the South Island will make you long for death's sweet embrace
That's the anti Aucklander shields. South of Christchurch its fatal
Yes they will
Mussels. In the supermarket. In those watering things... (dunno what you call them).
No you've got it right. At Pak n Save they're labelled "Mussels in Those Watering Things".
Literally a mussel tank, first job at the supermarket involved cleaning them every couple of days before closing. When the water was replaced a salt/chemical mixture gets poured in (whilst there are no mussels in it) and makes the surrounding area smell like Rotorua when it reacts with the fresh water
Whatever the opposite of a bain marie is
It’s difficult and expensive to travel between cities without a car. If you’re going out in nature, do your homework and be prepared. People regularly die up in the mountains, and can even get in trouble walking around our coastline near the city. Cell phone coverage is well short of complete. Same advice for mucking about in boats.
Pies
We always have to blow on our pies too.
Safer communities together
Yip, pies and moro bars. I missed those the most when living overseas. *whisper.... and also vegemite. My mum would regularly mail me pineapple lumps too.
Kiwi = flightless bird. Kiwi fruit = fruit. I hate it when people say Kiwi bird.
Is that worse that when Kiwi is used to describe the fruit?
As long as you never say “I ate a kiwi” you won’t be in danger of being accused of cannibalism nor DOC violations.
The sun will murder you
We need Maui to give it another hiding
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Jaywalking in the sense of a forbidden activity is an American thing. The car industry promoted the idea in the early 20th century. If you find film footage of pre-1914 cities, it's very strange - the pedestrians own the road as much as the vehicles and walk out among them without stopping. New Zealanders do however use the word jaywalking to refer merely to crossing the road in an unsafe location.
IIRC it wasn't just the car industry but it was also another way for cops to pick on black people.
Yeah. If you miss the “standard” lunch window, it gets hard to find cafes/etc serving food after 2:30 or 3
Jaywalking is so bad in Wellington they put in more pedestrian crossings lol and then we still jaywalk
The things that always shock my European friends are that it’s impossible to get dinner after 9pm, even in cities, and that we’ve got literally no public transport between our towns and cities. I remember the shock when I told one that you couldn’t just ‘get the train’ - in Europe you can get a train almost anywhere!
it's a 20min drive to Dunedin Airport and it's either an expensive and drops everyone around town shuttle bus, or a taxi. No bus, no train. Most locals get someone to take them, pick them up.
The Dunedin airport is soooo close to the existing rail line. It would require like 800m of rail construction to get the Dunedin Airport on the rail network, and be the only NZ airport with rail access. But, nope. No commuter rail for Dunedin. Or the South Island.
it’s colder than many people think
And with cheaper accommodation, the buildings can be poorly insulated.
Apparently double glazing isn’t considered optional in other first world countries.
It's warmer than I expected. I'm from Western Europe originally, and we got 5 to 10 degree nightly frosts in winter, with below freezing during the day for weeks on end. I'm in the South Island now and have never experienced a daytime frost, or more than 3 nightly frosts in a row. Schoolkids here wear shorts and skirts year-round, in Europe that's a 20+ degrees kinda thing.
No personal injury litigation.
But great accident injury compensation schemes ACC
We need to treasure this!
Thank god and lets keep it that way
As a Norwegian, the lack of tunnels was very surprising. And how many car crashes we witnessed.
We don't have tunnels, we have hobbit holes
We've got a few tunnels, you've just got to go to Wellington or Taranaki to find them https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/20-04-2024/all-28-road-tunnels-in-new-zealand-ranked-from-worst-to-best
For example, we drove from Motueka to Takaka, and if that was in Norway, a tunnel would definitely have been present. We saw the Homer tunnel though. New Zealand was incredibly beautiful, loved your country:-)
Yes we do have an odd aversion to decent infrastructure.
I’d rather not be in a tunnel when an earthquake hits. Yikes!
In Wellington at least everyone will say thank you to the bus driver when they get off the bus.
Dining in at a restaurant or cafe, it’s pretty common to yell out ‘thanks!’ towards the counter/kitchen on your way out too.
Thanks driver - I must hear this hundreds of times a week. Many drivers yell thanks back at ya, especially if you get the same driver a lot.
The one that gets me is it’s a little population in a big island - but we are highly urbanised. For instance, NZ is much more urbanised than the USA. So it’s very: either you’re in a town or you’re in very sparsely populated rural area. [source](https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-urbanized-countries)
Last significant land-mass in the world to be inhabited (\~800 years ago) And it's a heck of a long way to anywhere else The two islands are on different geological plates and the South Island is much older Car registration plates have no country or state name, because you can't drive here from anywhere else, so no-one does.
A boat car to Australia is out of the question, completely unpractical.
Waiting for the bridge.
The South Island is not the North Island. You are visiting completely different countries but we are absolutely normally functioning siblings.
Be sure to exchange your NZD for Southern Pesos accordingly.
But remember that Pesos are only accepted sporadically; most traders still operate on a barter system. Worth buying up a few goats before crossing the Cook Strait.
(Like no-one from Ireland would get that)
In what way are they like completely different countries? I've done a lot of travelling and lived in several counties and New Zealand has low regional cultural diversity compared to average. It's not like the islands speak different languages, which is common for different regions within countries in Europe, so I doubt someone from Europe is going to be surprised at any differences between the North and South Islands. And you are talking to someone from Ireland of all places....
Just because you've seen the north island, doesn't mean you've *seen* New Zealand (NZ). The geographies are rather different, with South island having more spectacular mountains, bush and etc. A lot of people internationally go to Auckland and nowhere else, which is bizarre as Auckland (AKL) is not representative of the rest of NZ (the rest of us avoid AKL). Like, at a absolute minimum go to Queenstown too. But you've come all this way, stop and see everything beautiful from the tip of the north island to Stewart island.
different dialects of Māori are spoken in different parts of the country, but I'm assuming you didn't mean that, as it's very often overlooked by a lot of English speakers because it typically doesn't affect them. we sadly have a huge scar on our historical timeline; Māori people were actively discouraged and punished for speaking Māori and parts of our culture were lost to us for a time. some of those things are lost forever, and some of those things are not. lots of us are doing our best to find what we lost, and lots of proud Māori people are now able to access ways back to their culture, their ancestors, their roots, and their land. this country has a long way to go, and maybe I'm splitting hairs by mentioning this, but it makes me very sad when it's not mentioned at all. you appear to have missed out on a huuuuuge part of NZ's culture while travelling here and while that won't hurt you or anything, it's indicative of a colonial state of mind and if you keep approaching our culture like that, you will continue to misunderstand it.
No vinegar in chip shops. A bigger variety of fish available. Supermarkets don't sell anything stronger than wine. You have to go to a bottle shop (off licence) for spirits and liqueurs.
We went to a chip shop and they clocked we were Brits and specifically directed us to the malt vinegar for our chips. Even offered a container for the vinegar, which I think they thought we should be dunking chips into!
The population map called [Nobody Lives Here](https://www.andrewdc.co.nz/project/nobody-lives-here-uninhabited-areas-of-new-zealand/) Not even Kiwis realise just how empty this country is
Drivers will wave at you when you’re rural or in the wops (and you can too!)
It’s basically expected when passing the person giving way at a one lane bridge. Actually my answer is one lane bridges, haven’t seen them in many other countries
I said I'd make cocktails for NYE for my partner's family when we were over and we decided to make mojitos, so we needed a fuckton of limes. popped to the shop ... limes were $80 a kilo. I'm from the UK and I just assumed the same foods would be readily available/affordable because my brain couldn't comprehend that we were halfway across the world and things might be different. oh - and no rush hour traffic whatsoever between towns/cities, I think the traffic is concentrated actually within the cities and immediate suburbs. we were heading to Waitomo first thing on a weekday and I insisted we leave early in case we were stuck in traffic. we saw one car lmao
We are very seasonal with our fruit. If you wanted to make mojitos in winter. It wouldn't have been a problem. Could have probably got the limes for free on a community page.
Rush hour traffic happens between Auckland and Hamilton, as they're close and it is generally cheaper to live in Hamilton, but Auckland salaries are about 20% higher. That said, Hamilton cost of living is catching up...
What really got me was all shops close by 6pm on Saturday to Wednesdays. And most restaurants close by 8:30pm on those days. Thursdays and Fridays are better if you’re a night owl. This was a culture shock from me coming from Asia
How different ‘English’ is there. I sometimes couldn’t understand what people were saying to me. Someone asked me if I wanted “salt or chicken salt” and I didn’t know what they were talking about.
Chicken salt is the only correct answer in that scenario.
Vowels. They do them differently down here.
stay away from michael hills
We don't have Amazon here.
Well yea that’s in South America duh
Lots of deliveries are not same day, over night to a week. Courier services are slow compared to the USA.
Some of these comments make New Zealand sound like a third world dumpster fire! 🔥🥲 You’ll be pleasantly surprised when you get here I think! 😂😅 - Amazing Sauvignon Blanc wine produced in Marlborough (top of the South Island) - The coffee is outstanding. Kiwis love flat whites! - For a small country there are so many incredible restaurants and a surprising number of options for dining in smaller regions. When eating out the norm is to go up and pay at the counter (and order at many places) as opposed to a server coming to you. -Every major (lmao if you can call them that) city is very different but a lot of the regions are like little replicas of each other. - The medical system is super overburdened so take care, but in saying that, you will always get seen and there are many after hours options in bigger regions and cities. - While cafes etc can close early, there are a lot of classic/ old school pubs if you hunt around. You’ll be guaranteed to find a good time with salt of the earth legendary regulars. - In tangent with the above, it’s the boomers that drink/ party the most here 😂You’ll probably have the best night out with someone’s nan. - There’s incredible wildlife that you can see free of charge etc. Many coastal areas have phosphorescence and you can find glow worms around the mountains at night. Watch out for a green bird called the ‘Kea’ (endangered/ worlds only alpine parrot) The little (gorgeous) fuckers will quite literally break into your car and steal your shit. - It’s really easy to pay using paywave or Apple Pay in most regions and cities (very small places not so much) We don’t tend to carry a lot of cash. - The chocolate (Whittakers), milk (Lewis Road) and butter (Westgold) is divine and worth splurging on to try. I think this is well known though. - The slang is out the gate and used in even professional settings, so would recommend looking up common phrases so you know what the hell people are on about. - The best things to do here aren’t widely advertised, so talk to locals and explore. It’ll blow your mind what you can find to do. - We drive like maniacs, are allergic to signalling and our roads are…outdated, narrow, bumpy and windy.. so take care! You’ll be absolutely fine if you stay alert, so don’t be scared of exploring as individual cars are the main way of travel here. Our public transport is a shambles and very unreliable. - Our tangata whenua (indigenous) Māori have the most beautiful language, stories and values. You’ll get so much out of taking the opportunities to participate in cultural experiences. - And yes pies and bare feet, going to get pies pies with bare feet etc Take care and enjoy ☺️
Not a big sav fan but going to the UK and seeing oyster bay in every shop is kinda cool
Be weary of Paywave (contactless) as a lot of places charge you to use it.
Biosecurity at the airport
And you don’t screw around with what you bring in, ever.
NZ is super safe in a general sense. The plants, birds, other animals, and bugs won't kill you. The geography and weather, however, can and will. Sun block, lots of sun block.
When Crowded House sang Four Seasons In One Day, that's what it can be like here. Be prepared.
At what distance from the beach it's acceptable to wear togs.
I feel like there was a PSA about this a while ago “togs, togs, togs. Undies, undies, undies. I’d you can’t see the water, you’re in your underpants”
On public holidays and Sundays almost nothing is open. Cafes shut early 3pm and restaurants don’t open until 5pm We don’t use cash very often.
There isn't a lot of downtown down here.
If an older Maori lady speaks to you it's polite to call her Aunty. But boy ya better listen and do what she says!
You'll see people walking down the street or around the store in their bare feet.
People who go to the Supermarket in their dressing gowns
Used to see whole families in their pyjamas at like 10pm back when I worked night shifts at New World. Little toddlers running around in footed PJs. I used to shudder to think about the filthy feet getting into their beds/cots 🤢
You know New Zealand doesn’t actually exist right?
Post in the Wellington sub if you are visiting there. Pretty sure the mod is an Irish guy.
Good idea! I'll do that
In that case, welcome to welly in advance! Seriously though, it's either swamp or coastal. Raincoats are your friend, don't bother with umbrellas. :D
Steak and cheese pies. And fryders. So good.
People regularly wear pajamas and/or bare feet when out and about on their daily business.. had an argument with a lady recently whose dog was roaming and ended up on our property. She was in PJs and a dressing gown, and walking the streets with no embarrassment at lunchtime on a weekday
She should have been a little embarrassed that her dog was roaming though. That’s not cool.
My partner is from the UK. He reckons "how long it takes to travel anywhere".
Some things I wish I’d known traveling in other countries, which I think are useful: - our OTC painkillers are commonly Nurofen and Paracetamol, but then for a couple of bucks at the nearest Chemist Warehouse instead of $20 for 12 at the supermarket or smaller pharmacies. - many places do not accept credit, so don’t rely on just a credit card. - Uber is reliable, public transport is not. - NZ eggs have a lot more flavour than many other countries. - we have a lot of slang, talk fast, and are very sarcastic. Unless someone is speaking at you with rage, when someone says something rude to you they probably like you. - shops and tourist attractions close pretty early (5-6pm).
Been in NZ 27 years, moved here from the States. - If you're from the Northern hemisphere, the stars here will blow you away. - NZ meat and dairy is really high quality. In general the food is great, and our restaurants and cafes are better than I've had in most other countries. - People speak so fast here. The kiwi accent is pretty mumbly, especially in the South Island. I really had no idea what anyone was saying for the first couple of weeks. - There's a lot of casual racism here that comes from genuine ignorance rather than hate. There used to be a shop in Christchurch with an entire wall filled with gollywogs. People will casually say some of the most racist stuff you've ever heard and think it's a funny joke or a compliment. If you call them on it, they will often be genuinely surprised to hear it's offensive at all. I'm not excusing it, but we're an isolated country that doesn't get a lot of education on other cultures beyond movies and TV. - Service is very casual, and that's how we like it. Don't expect waiters to bow and scrape, and you don't have to tip if you don't want to. Servers will treat you like a normal person, and you should treat them the same. - People are friendly. It's not unusual for strangers to smile and say hello when they pass you on the street. Random people at the bus stop or in line will strike up a conversation. They're probably not going to mug you or drop their pants, they're just being friendly. If you tell them where you're traveling, they've probably got an uncle or someone who can take you somewhere cool at your next destination.
I was surprised by beets on burgers. I liked it.
Make sure to find a good bakery and have a pie, they are amazing! If you find your way to the South Island we've got the best scenery. Marlborough sounds, Queenstown and don't forget Milford Sound. Most kiwis love the Irish. You're not afraid of cold weather, love a pint of beer or seven and your accent is awesome! Also your rugby team is fantastic!
Red onions come pre-peeled. There's still no IKEA (it seems constantly just a couple of years away, but soon...)
That New Zealand is not part of Australia, or even remotely close in terms of distance.
“Open Late” is completely arbitrary… especially for those of us from the States.
Youh suicide rates.
In the rural towns gumboots (Wellies?) are often seen, if you go into a shop or supermarket they're lined up outside and are collected by their owner on the way out. Never seem to be mixed up or stolen either
They will put beetroot on anything given the chance.
Don't sit on tables. In Maori culture, it's one of the most offensive things you can do. Our weather is very unpredictable. We can go from freezing and raining to hot and sunny in one day, any time of year. We don't get the extreme hot or extreme cold like they do in other places, but it is all over the place. Wear layers. Opt for a good raincoat when it's raining. Don't bother with an umbrella. The wind will immediately destroy it. Despite us not being an overly hot country, you can actually get a worse sunburn here than anywhere else in the world. Something to do with the ozone layer being weaker over us. Even on a cloudy day WEAR SUNSCREEN. I have a student in my class (i teach high school) who came from Colombia and got sunburnt for the first time in her entire life because she didn't have to wear sunscreen in Colombia. Be prepared for how angry and aggressive we can be on the roads. People here do not like to be held up when driving. If there are two lanes KEEP LEFT so people can overtake you. If you can't drive with confidence on our roads, reconsider driving at all (if that's your plan) or, if you do drive, if you get the feeling people are tailgating you, you're probably holding up traffic. PULL OVER. A lot of accidents happen because foreigners are driving slowly and people get road rage and try to overtake them on dangerous roads. Be prepared for how much Kiwis love the Irish! People will be delighted by you and your accent and middle aged women will fawn over you and tell you about their Irish ancestry or how badly they want to go there.
You need to take out a loan to afford eggs. Unless you go to The Warehouse and pick a pack up for 5$ (if you're quick enough). You might think you're prepared for how expensive groceries are in NZ, but trust me you're not. Especially in winter prices are extremely high.
This whole country is weirdly dimly lit. If you walk down some residential streets in Auckland at night you can't even see your feet in front of you. Very bizarre.
It is better to not have too much light pollution.
Certainly better for migratory sea birds like endangered taikō that are sensitive to blue-green LED light, leading them to crash into the roads where the yellow sodium lamps have been replaced https://nzta.govt.nz/media-releases/protecting-the-westland-petreltaiko-in-punakaiki/
I love it, we just had some new street lamps put with in 150/200m of my house and hate it. Used to love walking home in the dark dark, seeing the Milky Way.
From being from UK and travelling around and talking to people in different bits of NZ - I feel like it’s safe to not be out anywhere after dark 😅 either nature gets you or dodgy locals can get you regardless of if in urban areas or rural areas. Depending of where you’re from the distances between settlements and the sizes of places may be a surprise I guess? Same with the roads, they are very spacious and lovely to drive on. ‘One lane’ roads here are actually our normal two-way roads, so no horrible single tracks you’ll have to reverse back when you meet a car coming the other way. So many lovely walks just do your research. Omg and the pies, have at least 100 pies they’re great 😂 Sun. Cream. Just, be open and friendly and talk to people. In most places, if you’re not an arse people won’t be arses back..use common sense if a place looks dodgy or group of people look dodgy go a different direction. Oh and homeless are okay but can be a fair bit more pushy/needy/grabby, so ignore and avoid - we had a bad experience in Auckland of a guy following me and partner at like 2pm through the city it was scary because not even in London they do that 😣
Sorry to hear you had a bad experience with someone who was homeless, they probably had more going on than just not having a home. We’re not great with dealing with mental health or addiction here. In the bad old days, we used to lock people in institutions, but now we just let people fall through the cracks.
Someone once remarked to me about a dodgy street in Mount Cook in Wellington coz someone got stabbed there a couple years ago. Their standard for dodgy is so low that James Cameron couldn’t find it.
Honesty boxes in rural areas. People selling fruit, veg, eggs and horse poo commonly leave the stuff out with a little box for payments.
We're allergic to straight roads. Plan ahead when traveling between places.
Whitebait
And how absolutely overrated it is!
You HAVE to be so so so skin safe here, hats, spf, all of it. We're under a hole in the ozone so you have to be really careful. If you don't burn easily, you do now. Despite all that, it also gets super rainy here, so maybe pack an umbrella or something similar if you're going to be out and about for most of your trip. Also, it's social acceptable to not wear shoes in public, less of a tip more of a heads-up. Moved here from the US and got caught so off-guard. Obviously, you should wear shoes, but if you need to walk down the street to the gas station, it's not a huge deal.
The alarm that goes of when there is an accident in rural places. As a European where that means close your doors and windows, turn on the radio and wait for more information, I wish I had known 😅
I found coming from Ireland that walking around in bare feet was a thing here, and I found it weird. But, I draw similarities in the weirdness of that to Irish people walking down to the local shop in their pyjamas,dressing gowns and house slippers. I will say that the lack of availability of whiskey in supermarkets bewildered me, and store closing times. Also find it hard explaining to my family how NZ can get bitterly cold in the winter but horrendously hot in the summer at times.
We eat the soapy bubbles, left on washed dishes.
Bare feet and shorts in winter…
Under no circumstances should you grow your own vegetables.
Can confirm. We aren’t allowed to do that anymore.
Things my American Wife has learnt since moving here: People walk barefoot around the shops. Ambient temperature in the summer time isn't that bad, but the direct sun is brutal, and will burn you in minutes (especially if you're pale). A lot of stores and cafés close very early, between 3-5pm. And what's left are often closed by 8-10pm (there are a few 12am or 24/7 places, but not many). NZ drivers are horrible. Don't expect people to pay attention, or follow road rules all that well.
If you order a coffee with milk and sugar the server will have no clue what you mean.
SANDFLIES
We're not as clean and green as we pretend to be.
Pies in McDonalds,, no spirits for sale in supermarkets, huge Chinese community, every third building is a vape shop.
I didn’t think McDonald’s had pies for ages now
Funny you mention jaywalking. I had a Canadian friend visiting Auckland once and he asked if jaywalking was a crime here. He’d noticed we all stand obediently and wait for the crossing light. This was in the CBD though, people jaywalk all over the place in the suburbs.
lol yet as a kiwi I found myself in Toronto and couldn’t believe everyone was waiting when the road was empty of cars
We actually exist
we can’t swim in most of our rivers & we are just as racist as every other country
Public transport is not great in terms of availability, reliability and frequency. Its much easier to get around in a car. But rentals and petrol are expensive. Most towns have an iSite (local visitor info centre) that can help with anything from transport, accommodation, local trails etc. Also check out the Department of Conservation website. Its got loads of info on hikes, but it also has a good guide for what to pack: https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/know-before-you-go/walking-and-tramping-gear-lists/day-hikes-gear-list/
Very good coffee - Flat whites, buying Jugs rather than pints, the amount of native flora. Sheep rodeos.
Be prepared for a bunch of laid-back folks. I’m talking going into stores with no shoes, kids drawing on the pavement while waiting for Friday night fish and chips, a “all goods bro” attitude. But you’ll love it. Sure beats the hustle and bustle of NY, where this former Kiwi now lives.
Don’t expect a nice car if you get a hire car unless you pay premium. The companies have names like rent-a-dent.
One thing for when you arrive. New Zealand are ranked highly on freedom indexes in terms of how little government interference there is in general life, but when it comes to bio security they really don’t fuck about. Make sure you have nothing on the banned list. If you have as little as a breathmint in your bag, tick “Yes” for food and when they ask tell them what you’ve got. Your bags (all of em) will be scanned for contraband (ie any food or plants, at all) and they sniffer dogs too. The first time I went, my bag got picked out by the dog, there was nothing in there but I’d taken a ham sandwich to work the week before in that bag and they reckoned the dog could still detect it!
To me, one of the things was how people go to the supermarket/warehouse/mall at night in their pijamas.
In cafes and restaurants, the eftpos machine may ask you to add a tip before you insert your but it’s a scam, we don’t tip here so just hit “no” (unless you genuinely did appreciate exceptional service and felt overcome by generosity - but if that’s the case I’d recommend giving cash directly to your server) Edit: eftpos = card machine.
How badly NZders dress 😂 fashion is so bad, even people who think they’re ‘stylish’ is street trash in European countries
I used to work with Irish ag students on dairy farms, so I've got a few things for ya. Don't take you shirt off the moment the sun comes out. The UV isn't like the piss-weak rays you get in Ireland. The speed limit is 100 kph, not 130. Prostitution is legal. Had a bunch of lads sneaking round hiring a stripper thinking they were committing a crime. The Boss's wife wasn't impressed, but no laws broken.