I always go “Ouch!” and wince when I see th’ egg they lay too, mate! You’d kick like a mule if ya had to unload one o’ those beauties just 'cause of biological imperative! 
I saw a kiwi bird have a go at an American zoo-keeper with th’ long beak. Pays to keep on the bird’s right side, believe you me!
Oh yeah, the kiwi eggs would feed a family of five. I saw a kiwi in a portable cage at the National Zoo here in DC - they have a “Meet the Kiwi” feature once or twice a week. It was cool. Didn’t have a go at anybody 'cos he was behind Plexiglas, but it looked like he wanted to.
Well, if we have to have a national symbol, it’s cool that they chose one that hunts at night, and would have your guts for garters as soon as look at you.
Just a pity we have to work so very hard to keep 'em from extinction. 
BNB has a mad passion for Finn.
oh yes she does.
come on now.
I want NZ candy.
who’s game for a trade?
‘Bout th’ only “NZ” candy I’ve seen is th’ touristy stuff. Boiled sweets flavoured like kiwifruit. That what you mean?
Just doin’ a link for ya, BNB. Interestin’ experiment!
boiled…
sweets?
sounds fun!
I always wondered why Almond Joys were always two-piece and not single candy bars. I mean the Cold War is over - can’t we have a reunified Almond Joy?
Hey, I am working at your alma mater, home of the Chargers…well I have no idea what college you went to. In that case, is it your “alma grand-mater”?
Cuate!
so nice to see you!
and you work at H.E?
Are you a teacher? I shall have to catch up with you and see who all is still there.
as for college I went to UT and UTA.
Icey,
thanks for the promotion of my thread.
so, you are telling me then, that NZ has no national candy of its own?
what do you eat?! Are all your candies imports? You know, I have heard of the rivalry between you and Australia. This just might give them the lead…
(reminds self that the finn is from NZ).
nevermind. you guys win.
Sadly, BNB, I think th’ Aussies had th’ jump on us Kiwis way back. The only items of really NZ confectionery for Homesick Kiwis on this site are Moro Bars and Whittakers Chocolate. I’d go with th’ Moro Bar, meself.
Virtually everything else on the page seems to be made by Pascals, which is Australian, last time I looked.
Cool to know there are Finn fans out there! Awesome! 
Oh, and yeah, boiled sweets are exciting – not! This link explains what I meant. Sorry, I reverted back to my English roots there, for a moment.
Neill Finn is going on tour and has a February 5th show at The Vic in Chicago. I hope to go.
With Almond Joy
You can share half and still have a whole…
Sorry, I don’t know the rest of it.
no Johnny. That’s part of the “Big Lie” ™ the japanese mafia wants you to believe.
the real reason is so that when you see Marvin the Mound Mooch coming your way, you can shove the two halves in your mouth a whole lot faster than a big long piece.
trust me.
anya marie-
he’s not making it to Dallas.
yet.
wolfy,
those boiled lollie things.
can you explain better?
I mean, those pictures…
well, they have nothing in common!
for example:
category:
kisses:
small little bits of candy in a mound-like shape.
chocolate bars:
bars that are (ready for this?) chocolate or cover in chocolate
brittle:
candy that is brittle and breaks into pieces.
and then there’s the NZ entry to the world o’ sweets:
boiled candy:
um, it can be small, or not. it can be gummy, or not. It can have a coating, or not…
you kooky kiwis always gotta do things different, doncha?
p.s.
which came first: the bird or the fruit?
I wouldn’t put th’ boiled sweets as our national iconic entry into the world of sugary goodness, BNB – for that, I’d plug the Moro Bar.
As for how better to explain the English hard boiled sweet – try this site (very scientific looking, should be interesting for any paper you write up on your experiment!).
So, it’s concentrated sugar, heated up, then cooled to form the sweet or candy. For the kiwifruit flavoured ones, that’s just an artificial addition.
The bird came first, o’course. But the kiwifruit variety or cultivar that you’d see most often in NZ, Australia and the west coast of the US is the “Hayward”, which was developed only a mile or so away from where I live. They named the cultivar developed from the Chinese gooseberry parents “kiwifruit” (1950s) because, well, the brown furry skin reminded them of th’ bird, and it was a great selling point.
Heh. Here, tho’, they have a new brand name: “Zespri”. Th’ ways of ad agencies, I tell ya …
Wolfie,
First off, thanks for being a fun embassader to NZ.
you have been a swell sport!
and so I was looking at that site you sent me, and I have another question.
possum fur.
you wear possum fur?!
is there some other species of possum in NZ?
At school once we took in an orphaned possum family.
The whole time we couldn’t wait for them to grow up, because no doubt about it: they smelled strongly of piss.
In my back yard we have a possom we call “gramps” (as he is old and in pretty scraggly). He is my dog’s arch nemesis.
[Andrew Dice Clay]
Whatta these people do, wake up in the morning and flip a coin? “Heads I want hair pie. Tails, balls across the nose.”
[/Andrew Dice Clay]
Cheers, BNB!
The possum you folks have over in North America is one of the last remnants of the marsupial population of mammals in your hemisphere: Didelphis marsupialis. “Ours” (different species, still marsupial) were introduced from Australia in 1837 (more info here) to establish a fur industry. Instead, th’ little bustards ended up destroying native birdlife and trees such as th’ pohutukawa and rata. In Australia, the possum is a protected native species. Here, it’s open season.
Some of the “possie” products the tourist industry makes up from the fur are shown here, while the gradually becoming more and more famous “nipple warmers” are detailed on this page.
NZers don’t actually go around wearing possum fur. We sell it to tourists, so we can spot them in the herds at th’ airports. Better than tranq n’ tag, that way.
oh I am dying of laughter over here.
i see it didn’t link directly.
scroll down and look for the g-string…
Try this link.
Not only are we good rugger players, but we are known for our warped sense o’ humour …