New Zealand, a little Different.

One of the wonderful things about travel is experiencing how other cultures differ from our own so I thought you might appreciate reading about some of the differences between Canada and New Zealand as per our observations…..

Ok, so first off, we have been in umpteen towns and cities and unless one is at a crosswalk with a crosswalk signal, crossing the road is a bit dodgy.  As in, no one will stop for you so you must aggressively make your way across to the other side.  And sometimes that means you go halfway, wait for the traffic to clear, then scamper to the other side.  And don’t forget, you are doing this in a place where vehicles drive on the opposite side of the road so for me anyway, I always have to be reminding myself, look right first!

It is legal to pass stopped school buses here in either direction, but your speed has to be down to 20km/hour.  Luckily, we haven’t had this situation as I for one would not feel right passing a stopped school bus regardless of my speed.

Speed limit signs are everywhere and somewhat perplexing in that they often post a limit sign that no one in their right mind would drive.  As in 100km/hr on a road where even my brave sister is pushing it to drive at 80km/hr.  And by the way, in almost 6 weeks we have driven on more twisty and turny roads than I have ever encountered in my life; all the twists and turns have a speed sign (sometimes as low as 15km/hr, giving you an idea on just how sharp some of the corners are) so you will be dropping from 100km/hr to 65km/hr, back up and then down again.

Motorcycles can pass you inside and outside.  Yikes!  I am used to this from France but it still throws me when a motorcycle comes up between the vehicle and the side of the road.

Taxes are hidden on items and there is no tipping culture; rather the effort is made to pay workers a living wage.  Sometimes we have seen a tip jar (or a ‘wine purchasing fund’ jar in the case of one café) but generally that is rare.  So although a restaurant item might seem expensive, say, $23 for a salad A: you can almost guarantee the salad will be one of the best you have every eaten (and trust me, I know my salads) and B: if in Canada and the salad cost $18 by the time you added tax and tip you would probably be spending at least as much on that meal. Oh! And C: our dollar is a little stronger than the NZ dollar, by about 15%, so that helps too.

We have yet to find a muffin that didn’t look and taste like cake disguised as a muffin.  However, I can personally attest to the fact that the scones made are varied (date! Spinach and cheese!) and delicious.  And served with a generous slab of butter.  So, so good!

Grilled sandwiches are called toasties.  As a in a cheese toastie. 

Every place we have been has a water station so you can help yourself to a pitcher for your table and refill to your hearts content.  Makes so much sense; why would you tie up a server’s time for more water when you can pour your own?

Often, though not always, you place your order at a counter, are given a table number and the food is delivered when ready.  This doesn’t apply to the finer restaurants (she says, as if she has actually had much experience in finer restaurants) but does apply to many cafes and more casual eating places.  We aren’t sure if that’s a cultural thing or if it is a reflection of service industry staffing issues (Help Wanted/Reduced Hours due to Staffing Issues/Opening Late due to Staffing Issues/Closed certain days due to Staffing Issues/Be patient with us, our staff are overworked and we don’t want them to quit- signs are everywhere).

Almost every electricity plug we have used has it’s own on/off switch.  So if there are two plugs in one panel there will be two on off switches, both on the plug.  Usually there is also an off/on wall switch for the stove and one for the oven as well.  So you have to remember to make sure to turn on the plug when charging a device etc.

There are no screens on doors or windows and yes, there are nighttime creepy crawlies.  Not so much in urban areas but we have a hard time understanding why in more rural settings there are no screens to keep mosquitoes etc out. 

Many of the beds in homes we have rented have heating pads.  Although at first that seems strange in a warm country it makes sense when you realize that a lot of homes don’t have central heating.  And it can get down to single digits in the winter.  And there is even snow in some of the mountain areas.

Walking in the woods (or tramping as it is called here) feels so much safer for a fraidy cat like me because there are no wildcats, bears, moose, coyotes, cougars, wolves etc.  Also makes driving easier, despite the crazy speed limits, as you don’t have to worry about anything bigger than the pesky possum being on the road.  There are also no squirrels or snakes.  Or at least no land snakes, there are apparently sea snakes which I for one hope to never encounter. 

Okay, that’s almost a thousand words on differences we have noted.  I will no doubt hit ‘publish’ and we will think of a bunch more but I hope this gives you a glimpse into how this beautiful country differs from our lives in Canada.

From Ahipara, overlooking the 90 Mile Beach,

xo