I grew up in Wellington and really only noticed it when Lyn Of Tawa (Comedienne Ginette McDonald) brought forth the accent in glorious pastel shades. I don’t think I heard it in the southern/eastern suburbs where I grew up, but Tawa really wasn’t that far away and once it was on the telly, I certainly noticed rising inflections in the wild.
But I think the OP ws asking how we perceived different accents.
I said before that I noticed some strong US accents, but I grew up with mum’s side of the family speaking in strong Glaswegian brogue and dad’s family still verbally stuck in Central Otago.