Monday 29 May 2017

Fun facts about NZ

 Now that we've been in New Zealand for, what, about six weeks, I thought it was time to share some interesting (playing it fast and loose with the word interesting, you might say) trivia about the place.

I fell into the Aussie trap of thinking that it would be pretty much the same as Australia.  And, in a lot of ways, it is.  We talk pretty much the same, except they get their vowels all mixed up in a really endearing way.  For some time I was referring to my sister-in-law's cat as Pippa.  Turns out its name is actually Pepper.

There are also plenty of marked differences, albeit small, that keep reminding you that this is a whole 'nother country.  Can't get here by bus.
 There's no Kmart, Target, Big W... but the Warehouse is amazing
 In Australia you get so used to having so many shops to choose from.  If Target don't have it, check Big W.  If it's not at Big Dub, you'll probably find it at Kmart.  But here (or in New Plymouth anyway) the only big cheap discount department store is the Warehouse, and it sells pretty much everything.  I mean, everything: mobile phones, TVs, furniture, clothes, plants, milk, nappies.  And it's all decent quality and CHEAP. 
There's no eBay or Gumtree
 Now, this is a little annoying.  I don't know what everyone does with their secondhand goods here.  There's a site called Trade Me which sounds promising but it works like eBay so if you have an old couch or whatever to sell you have to list it with a reserve and wait for the auction to end.  You can't just stick it on Gumtree for $100 and have it gone the same afternoon.  And so when I'm looking for an old swing set or cubby house for J, there's nothing on Trade Me.  No bags of kids' clothes for cheap.  Where does it all go?  I am here and ready to buy, people. 

They sell booze at the supermarket  
Cue choirs of angels singing.  Take note, Australia.  A decent reason to move here if for nothing else. 



They don't know what cordial is 
No one drinks cordial.  They all drink this powdered stuff called Raro.  Most people don't even really know what cordial is.  I know. 

There's no Triple J, ABC or SBS 
I mean, well, obviously there's no Australian Broadcasting Corporation in New Zealand.  But I hadn't realised how much of the quality programming we take for granted comes from those channels.  Here there's commercial TV which is pretty dire (it's basically a never-ending loop of British game shows like The Chase and Tipping Point, with news in between), or the Maori Channel which shows a lot of great classic movies, or Al Jazeera.  I think we need to get Sky (the NZ version of Foxtel).
They use Americanisms 
Or what I consider to be Americanisms.  I guess NZ is kind of in between Australia and the US if you squint your eyes and tilt your head.  They say cell phone instead of mobile, sweatshirt for jumper, and if something's good, it's neat.  As an example: "Eh bru, look at the neat cell phone pocket on this sweatshirt I got at the Warehouse." 

Chemists are only open during business hours 
Again, this might only be because we're regional but I was very disquieted to learn that if I need over the counter meds outside of 9-5 Monday to Friday I am bang out of luck.  Combine this with the fact that there's no bulk-billed after hours locum, and it basically means that if you - or, worse, one of the kids - takes ill on a Saturday afternoon - or, worse, in the middle of the night - you have to go to hospital.  I MEAN COME ON.  Needless to say I'm stockpiling drugs in a slightly obsessive fashion. 

They have petrol station forecourt attendants 
Remember in the 80s, when there was someone to greet you and pump your petrol for you?  They still have that here!  I love it!  It's such a redundant service! 

On a side note, how good is the name of this suburb?  Snappy!

Petrol is $1.80/L 
Yup.  You read that correctly.  Frankly I would say let's forgo the forecourt attendants and give us the fuel a little cheaper. 

They call shopping trolleys "trundlers" 
Ok so this fact is a little dull.  But the word trundlers is vaguely amusing.  And they are the bane of my tiny life because the back wheels don't turn side to side so you have to steer them differently and for some reason it's taking me a long time to adjust.  I don't know.  Yeah.  Let's move on.

Trundler hahaha

Unfortunate placement of that pole there, hey

There are no fly screens
There are plenty of flies but for some reason no one has fly screens.  I quite like it for being able to lean out the window to pass B his beer or whatever, but it means you can't have airflow and security at the same time.  It feels weird and exposing.  If the door's open, it's open to anyone who wants to come in.
Well, that kind of abruptly concludes our little list.  I hope you learned something today.  I've been learning many things these past weeks and I'm sure there's many more to come.  I'm still having to hold up and examine each coin before I hand them over in the shop, for one thing.



Briefly in other news, our shipping container full of all our stuff arrives within the next two weeks.  We got a teaser today when B drove his car down from Auckland which had a few boxes packed in it.  Oh I love my things, you guys.  We have been lent a whole house worth of stuff by B's generous family and friends but ultimately there's nothing like your own stuff is there?


When that container arrives it's going to be CHRISTMAS in our house!




4 comments:

  1. Firstly: trundlers. STOP IT! So good.
    I was going to ask you if they had Target/Big Dub etc...how weird?! And no ebay? What the heck?! Is this communist China?!
    The thought of an open past 5pm chemist or doctor just blows my mind, so that's not a NZ thing, just a rural thing I'd say. I've never had the need to go to a chemist or doctor out of business hours though, but if we need to yes it's straight to emergency at the hospital. Touch wood neither Eleanor or Harriet have not been back to hospital since they left at 4 days old! Friends and my sisters use the at home doctors in Melbourne but yeah no such thing out of the city.
    And in terms of grog in the supermarket, I buy my wine at Aldi, totally in the supermarket...is Aldi in WA? When we were living in SA it was just coming to Adelaide...

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    1. It never occurred to me that they wouldn't have the same stores here?! No eBay or Gumtree is a disaster and clearly I need to set one up and rake in the profits.

      I didn't realise that they sell booze at Aldi... is it Aldi homebrand wine!?

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  2. I would move there just so someone can fill up my tank with petrol. That is a job I hate doing!!
    Sounds like you need to start your own version of gumtree over there!

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    1. I know right! That and Muzz Buzz is sorely needed. No drive through coffee except for McDonalds

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