Sorry - I’m admittedly not Aussie but it doesn’t sound like the Aussie six, it sounds to me like the word sex. In fact, the first time I encountered a NZ accent, it was from a girl from the south of NZ, and her accent was VERY heavy (which is how I could distiguish it from Aussie, at the time I’d just moved here.) Anyway, she said “6” when I asked her how many of a thing we had left, and I had to ask her to say it three times. Then I managed to not giggle. But I was sure I’d heard her say “sex”.
Densely populated is a perceptual thing. Towns in NZ seem bigger (because of bigger properties, especially when compared to the UK), and are larger and more spread out. In rural UK areas, you go from village to village every 4-5kms. In NZ, it’s more like 20-30kms.
And there are visibly large areas that are obviously sparsely inhabited - just drive through the Desert Road or from Dunedin to Christchurch, or across the Southern Alps, or …
They’re our antipodes. Their “selvas” (forests) aren’t tropical ones, but moderate-climate ones. It’s further south than Australia (most of the northern-hemisphere people I know have serious problems with the notion of places where places get colder the further south you get). The similarity in climate and vegetation between some parts of NZ and of Spain prompted some entrepreneur to guess that kiwifruits might grow well in Spain (they do). There’s kiwi birds and kiwi fruits, and then the people themselves are also called kiwis. Their national team(s) wear black. The only time ever I’ve watched a rugby game, it was some sort of farewell party to an All-Blacks player who was leaving the team after an eternity; the poor French never stood a chance. They’re better drinkers than the Aussies, who in turn are better drinkers than the Brits (this isn’t difficult). During Sanfermines, visiting neozelandeses often congregate in La Ciudadela (Citadel Park); they’re considered “very polite, nice guys” by the neighbors, as well as darn good eye candy by the female neighbors. And apparently all the guys of any color do those maori dances, or at least they do them when they’re getting ready to go have fun in downtown Pamplona.
Something I find out periodically and forget periodically is that NZ’s population is about 4M. That fits into any of Spain’s four most-populous “urban areas”.
I think Gleena has been taken in by listening to a Mainlander accent (we call the South Island the “mainland” half in jest). Some Aussies say the Kiwi “six” sounds like “sux” rather than “sex”, but even that is probably just a regional variant. I definitely do say New Zillund, though.
I’ve heard some nasty things about Americans from a few, but they’re just that – a few. Most Kiwis don’t mind and even like Americans, we just don’t like being pushed around when we have a moral stand to make.
Honestly, it’s one of the first things I thought of too. But I do know why: “The Thorn Birds” by Colleen McCullough. What I took away from that book is you have sheep, priests, horses, big wild pigs that’ll kill you as soon as look at you, independent women, and lots of nice beaches.
Other than that… you aren’t Australian and you have Wallabies.
Even when I was living in NZ and had never lived anywhere else, I could hear that some people said New Zillund. The accent is noticeably stronger in some.
Yep, Civil Partnerships
Prostitution is legal (but not soliciting)
Legally Nuclear Free (thus upsetting the US)
NZ has certainly shifted rapidly to a very liberal socialist position over the last few years, and moved away from the far more rightwing US-favouring position of Australian politics. In my opinion, anyhow.
And cheap NZ lamb still annoys the heck out of EU farmers.
Truly, it is beautiful. Still, looking at it I’d be more inclined to say “Hawaii” or “Virgin Islands.” Please keep in mind that I acknowledge that this whole “No beaches in New Zealand” preconception I have/had is/was entirely irrational.
And, MelCthefirst, while you are entitled to take exception, I’d rather you didn’t-- at least not on my account. I’m not here to offend. As I mentioned, I speak on this matter from a position of ignorance. You see, I’ve probably only considered the idea of NZ (in addition to everything else I’ve learned, I’m now using this spiffy abbreviation) a few times in my life:[ul][li]The first was probably during my “randomly spin a globe and offer a cursory examination to the landmass on which my finger lands” phase. Perhaps I noticed the city of Christchurch and thought, “Hmm, they must really like Jesus!” It doesn’t seem such great a leap in logic for a young fundie’ish Christian who hadn’t really considered the other side of the planet, does it? Had Wikipedia or the internet existed at that point in history, I might have examined the matter more thoroughly.[*]The second time I thought about New Zealand was when I heard that a LotR movie was being made there and that they’d gone and done something nutty like put Frodo on the currency because they were so pleased to have Peter Jackson & Co. hanging around. Sure, I like LotR, but that wasn’t really enough to make me care about New Zealand. Also, I think the media portrayal of the people there being so very excited about the LotR production made NZ seem a bit “country” to me.[/ul][/li]Since I seem to have struck a chord with the “deeply religious” remark, let me once again emphasize that I don’t know what I’m talking about and that it popping into my head at all is probably just a manifestation of something I erroneously assumed as a child. Just sayin’ is all. Actually, now that I think of it, I’ve a new perception of NZ-- namely that they’re touchy about their religion.
No, not touchy as such (yeah, I know it was a joke but,) it’s just that New Zealand is so non-religious that we are curious how someone gets the perception you had. I hadn’t really considered the effect a city name like “Christchurch” would have.
The latest census shows that just over half (55%) of NZers consider themselves christian. There are a small percentage that are religious non-christians, and there are some that decline to answer the question. However 35% say they are not religious. In the 20 - 24 age group it is just under 50%. By comparison, 80% of Americans consider themselves christian.
Having such a small population, we are also statistically unlikely to be really good at something on an international scale. This means there is a tendancy to grasp onto those things that we are very good at. So rugby union, the America’s Cup, netball, nice scenery etc, gain a much higher profile than they might deserve on their own merit.
[ol]
[li]Heinlein is a Grand Old Man of Science Ficition.[/li][li]You are not.[/li][li]I conceded change could well have happened.[/li][li]I hope the Bank repossesses your hemorroids & foreskin. [/li][li]Soon.[/li][li]With a [del]fork[/del] court order.[/li][/ol]
Can we talk about strange realities? Two that come to mind are:
The scarcity of “mixing” faucets. In any house older than about 10 years, a sink will probably have separate hot and cold water faucets - if you want warm, you must draw a sinkful of water.
The scarcity of window screens. There’s no shortage of insects that you don’t really want indoors, but screens that will keep them out are few and far between.
(Don’t get me wrong: I’ve been to NZ 8 times for a total of at least 6 months, and I love the place.)
