New Zealand is a beautiful and fun-filled country. I like to call it the adventure capital of the world. Learn all the fun facts about New Zealand in this post.
Named Aotearoa in Māori, meaning “Land of the long white cloud”, New Zealand is well-known for rugby, kiwifruit, geothermal wonders, geysers, glaciers, adventure sports, you name it.
Unfortunately, the country’s border has been closed to non-citizens and non-residents since the news of the pandemic broke out. That means for two years, the country hasn’t welcomed international tourists, students or most businesses visits. But there is good news and that is that the government has announced plans to ease these restrictions. It will happen in phases but by the end of this year all restrictions will be lifted completely and New Zealand will become the travel destination of choice, once again. Read more about this on previous post here.
It is always good to do some research on a country you plan to visit that way you are not taken unawares by certain cultures and practices. Culture shock is a common thing tourist experience when they travel and the longer you stay in a new environment, the more culturally shocked you’ll be until you adapt/acclimatize or naturalize. Learn more about culture shock from things to consider before you study abroad.
On that note, here are some fun, interesting facts about New Zealand. I’ll begin with the country and culture then finish up with the people. You can call it New Zealand People and Culture. These are what is…… and what I have seen from my Nigerian perspective. Let’s get to know some things you might not know about New Zealand.
More fun facts in video at the end of this post.
1 – New Zealand is far from every where
Located in the middle earth, the closest countries to New Zealand are Australia and the pacific islands like Samoa. Travelling to and from New Zealand to countries besides the aforementioned will take you nothing below 11 hours. If you take-off or arrival destination is Nigeria, it will take you nothing less than 27 hours and that was pre-covid. With the current situation surrounding covid and international travel, my suggestion is to block out two days for travel to/fro New Zealand.
2 – Longest name for a place
New Zealand holds the Guinness world’s record of longest place name. The 1000-foot hill is located in NZ’s North Island near township Porangahau on the south side of Hawke’s Bay. It is a Māori name consisting of 85 characters. Many have attempted to pronounce the name but have failed woofully. Watch me attempt to pronounce the name in this video.
Also give it a try, if you want, Ready?
It’s Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu meaning “The summit where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, the slider, climber of mountains, the land-swallower who travelled about, played his kōauau (flute) to his loved one”. Locals call it Taumata or Taumata hill.
3 – World’s steepest street
Yet another world record for New Zealand. Baldwin street located in Dunedin hold the Guinness world record of Steepest street in the world with an official maximum gradient of 19 degrees. Imagine if you lived at the top and didn’t own a car. The title was taken away from it one time but later restored. Find out why and which street it was given to temporarily before being restored on Dunedin: things to see and do.
4 – Opposite seasons
Because New Zealand is on the southern hemisphere, the seasons are direct opposite of what you’ll see in temperature countries in Northern hemisphere. Winter in Northern hemisphere is Summer here, spring there is autumn here and this applies to all the seasons in temperate climates. It get really hot in summer.
The increase in UV transmission caused by the thinning of the ozone layer during summer is compounded by the sun being more directly overhead, so that UV has a shorter path through the atmosphere (Stats NZ).
New Zealand is also a country of firsts.
5 – The first country to see the sunrise
The East coast of New Zealand is the best place to see the sunrise. It lies between Bay of Plenty and Hawke’s Bay. Gisborne, a city on the east coast, is the first city to greet the sun good each morning every day throughout the year.
Yes! Samoa is the first country to see the new day but due to the earth’s curvature, Gisborne see the sunrise first.
6 – The first country to allow women vote
Still on breaking world records, Aotearoa is also the first country with universal suffrage meaning they were the first to approve the right of women to vote. The year when this happened was 1893.
On 19 September 1893 the governor, Lord Glasgow, signed a new Electoral Act into law. As a result of this landmark legislation, New Zealand became the first self-governing country in the world in which women had the right to vote in parliamentary elections.
NZ History
7 – The most southerly capital
New Zealand’s capital, Wellington, is the southernmost capital city in the world even though it is located on North Island.
8 – More than one official language
There are three official languages in New Zealand. They are English Language, Te Reo Māori, and Sign Language.
English is predominantly spoken. Māori is the language of the native people who originally inhabited the islands before the British colonizers came. You’ll see both language used on signages, names of places, buildings, informercials, commercials etc all over New Zealand, e.g. Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park.
Also interesting to note is that the National Anthem is in two Languages: English and Māori. It is first sung in Māori then in English. The Aotearoa is the Māori name for New Zealand.
9 – Indeed an island
No matter where you are in Aotearoa, you are never more than 128 km from the seaside which makes sense the next fun fact more relatable.
10 – No shoes, No problem
Walking barefoot is a normal occurrence in the Land of the long white clouds. This sightings become pretty frequent during summer.
11 – Animals rule and sheep is king
New Zealand has the highest ratio of animals to humans in the world with sheep leading the chart. Livestock business is huge in NZ and there are so many animals. The population of animal in NZ is so high that only five percent of NZ’s population is human. Yes!! You read right!
The human population, ~5.1 million (2020), is very small compared to animal population in New Zealand. Some of these animals are denizens of New Zealand e.g. bats, birds and sheep.
Sheep outnumbers New Zealanders. There are more sheep than people, people!!! It used to be that for every one person living in NZ, there were 22 sheep (1982), this number ratio to 7 sheep to 1 person in 2014. Now, the sheep to human ratio is 5 sheep per person. For cattle, the ratio is 2 cattle to 1 person.
Meanwhile, lamb, whether raw or cooked, is very expensive. Isn’t it ironic?!
12 – No Snakes
There are no snakes!! The last time a dead snake was found in the drain, it was breaking new!
The colder waters, and generally complex and every changing climatic conditions of NZ are not ideal for snakes to adapt. Both land and sea snakes find it very difficult to survive. Which is good for me because I wouldn’t be going on those hikes if it weren’t so. Also no deadly spiders, killer jellyfish like their neighbours in Australia, where everything wants to kill you.
Though no native snakes, sea snakes are considered native species under the Wildlife Act 1953 as seen on Auckland Museum website. And it is illegal to kill, harass or posses without a permit any one of them. Yimu!!!
13 – A third of the country is a national reserve
Nearly 30% of the country is a national reserve protected by the Department of Conservation. Lush vegetations, mountains, glaciar, geothermal areas.
Because they Maunga (mountains) are at the heart of Māori’s identity and are celebrated, you may require special permission to fly drones on some of this national reserves. Learn the NZ drone rules and regulations on the Aviation Security Service site.
They also take their biodiversity very seriously. So, if you’re visiting make sure to check the MPI website for what you can bring or send to NZ.
14 – More than one type of Kiwi
Be ready to be confused when you say Kiwi. Here, the word kiwi has three different meanings and usage.
A kiwi is a fruit, the kiwi fruit (which is not even native to NZ. It comes from China!); go for the gold one, it’s YUMM!! New Zealanders are also nicknamed Kiwis. Lastly, a kiwi is also the flightless bird with long beak. It is NZ’s most famous native species and the national animal of the country. The bird is what inspired the nickname for the people of NZ.
So there, a kiwi is a bird, a fruit and a person.
15 – Volcanic country
NZ is located on the pacific ring of fire so it is a volcanic country. Some of these volcanoes are still actives. The city of Auckland is built on volcanic field, it has the most volcanoes in NZ (53 of them). Rangitoto is the Auckland’s landmark volcano, the youngest in NZ and it is still active.
16 – Lot of butter and cheese!!!
There is plenty of butter and cheese to go round. We produce an equivalent of 100 kg butter and 65 kg cheese each year for every person.
17 – Shop till you drop on Thursdays only!
In New Zealand, 7am is the typical opening time for cafés and these close by 3pm. Meanwhile, trading hours for shopping outlets and malls are quite different than for cafés.
Typical opening times for shops in New Zealand is at 9am and closing time by 5:30pm (range between 5-6pm). So, if you plan on doing shopping after work, think again! Why do shops close by early?
The reason is often attributed to allowing staff spend quality time with their loved ones. A good cultural argument but not sure about the economic impact.
However, you’ll find that shops trading hours are extended to 9pm on Thursdays. The common reason is to allow people do their shopping on payday rather than wait till the weekend. Most people get paid on Wednesday or Thursday.
18 – Houses are pretty cold
NZ rental houses are really cold in winter; for some houses, even summer feels like winter. (I’m not sure what the architect, designers, builders, home owners, policy makers and every person involved were thinking when those houses were built). This applies to old builds. Newer builds are way better.
The quality, mainly insulation and ventilation, of some of these rental properties are so low meanwhile cost of accommodation keeps rising. As a tenant, you end up spending so much on energy bill trying to stay warm!!!
The government has enforced the healthy homes standards. It had always existed but became a law on July 1, 2019. Landlords and home owners are now required to comply or face penalties up to $7,200.
For more fun facts, check out this video.
