I can hardly believe that it’s been over a month since I stepped off the plane in Auckland. Well a month and a half now as I’m back in Europe for work and my poor blog took a backburner for a week. My bad. It’s been 30 days of ups and downs, highs and lows, everything you might expect from a big move abroad.
New Zealand has been everything I wished for and more. It’s almost hard for me to articulate my feelings and emotions so far on this adventure. That being said, it takes a lot for me to be at a loss for words. Born an overly verbose person who has trouble shutting up at the best of times, I’ve spent the past few weeks contemplating this big transition abroad and how best to share it with you all in the least wordy way possible.
Reflecting on my first month in New Zealand, if I had to sum up my experience in one sentence, it would be, “wow, that was a learning experience.”
Let me just tell you, I’ve learned a whole hell of a lot. From improving my kiwi slang vocabulary to acquiring some profound life lessons, the old adage “you’re never too old to learn something new” has never been more true than my first month down under.
Check out 20 things I’ve learned during my first 30 days in New Zealand
1. New Zealanders are the friendliest people in the world
Before I bought a one-way flight to Auckland, I had heard mysterious rumors of the friendliness of the kiwi people. And over the years when I was backpacking around the world, I often met people from New Zealand, and I was struck by how kind they were. That being said, I was not prepared for just how friendly and sweet EVERYONE is in New Zealand.
And I mean EVERYONE! Not even exaggerating.
From the shopkeepers to the bartenders to the average person walking down the street, if there is one thing you can always count on in New Zealand is just how lovely and friendly everyone is.
Moving abroad is scary. Moving abroad to a new country without knowing a single person is absolutely terrifying. However, picking a place with super friendly people has made all the difference.
If I don’t leave New Zealand in a year a completely changed person, I don’t even know myself.
2. What Kiwi really means
Kiwi is the name of people from New Zealand as well as New Zealand’s flightless bird. Kiwis as we know them in America are called kiwi fruit. This is an important difference, as I’m sure you can imagine, especially if kiwis are your favorite fruit.
3. Driving on the left is fun, until you get to a roundabout, then it’s terrifying
If I die in a road accident while living in New Zealand, there is a 80% chance that it happened in a roundabout. While in general I think there are a more logical way of directing traffic, it doesn’t make going through them in the wrong direction any less scary. I pretty much scream every time I go through one here, especially the ones with double lanes.
4. The more sheep than people rumor is not false
So the rumor that there are more sheep than people in New Zealand is not exactly false, as I quickly found out. After leaving sprawling urban Auckland, the complete lack of people took me by surprise. Driving down to Wellington, I would drive for ages and sometimes not see other cars.
Once you get outside of the cities in Wellington, you quickly realize that there are just not a lot of people about. New Zealand really is the end of the world. And yeah, there are a lot of sheep. Everywhere.
But now that spring is here, all the lambs have been born which means adorable, fluffy, baby sheep EVERYWHERE!
5. New Zealand is freaking expensive, but not as expensive as Australia
When I was packing for New Zealand, I made an executive decision to leave my hiking boots at home. I figured I since NZ is such an outdoorsy place, I could pick up a nice pair once I got here. My old ones needed to be tossed and I didn’t want to waste the luggage space.
What a stupid decision, my god!
I went to go buy hiking boots in Wellington, and the pair I wanted was 450 NZD – that’s roughly 375 USD which is roughly twice as much as back home.
Because everything is virtually imported to NZ, things are expensive. For example, I usually drop around $80 on my weekly groceries.
But then I went to Australia and realized NZ was cheap in comparison.
Looks like I’ll be hiking in my running sneakers!
6. NZ has the worst internet in the entire world
No, I am not exaggerating. I’ve had better internet in Africa. In Jordan. In rural Turkey.
When I first heard rumors of shoddy internet in NZ before moving there, I laughed it off. I thought those stories were not up to date or relevant any more. Boy, was I mistaken.
As I understand it from my tech friends, NZ is literally at the end of the under-the-ocean-magic-internet-cable. Literally, it’s the last stop for internet, which means it’s really bad, really slow, and really expensive. It’s also limited. LIMITED!! I didn’t even know limited internet was a thing!
Without a doubt this will be the hardest challenge I have to overcome this year.
7. There are a lot of foreigners in New Zealand
New Zealand is an amazing, empty place. I think one of my favorite things about this country is that it’s so remote with so few people. That being said, there are a surprising amount of foreigners to be found around the islands.
NZ has a very open working holiday scheme which means many people from around the world can come and easily get a visa to work and travel around the country. Also NZ is a popular travel destination. Pretty much everyone I’ve met has NZ on their travel bucket list.
This means there are lots of foreigners around town, which for me is both a positive and a negative. Negative because I want to go native and fit in with the locals which can be challenging, but also awesome because I get to make friends with people from all over the world.
8. But no Americans in NZ
That being said, there are NO AMERICANS IN NEW ZEALAND. Fellow countrymen, where are you?
This past month (ok, month and a half) I have flown to NZ from the US, and I have flown from NZ to Europe. From San Francisco, Auckland is a 12 hour direct flight. From Wellington to London, it took me approximately 40 hours of travel time and 4 flights.
How many Brits have I met so far on my journey? Dozens. Germans? A million. How many Americans? One.
What the hell?
Expect a lengthly post about this phenomenon shortly.
9. Rent is per week not per month
Completely random but for those curious-minded folks, apartments are listed with rent prices per week not per month. It’s a confusing but interesting phenomenon which somehow makes the extremely high cost of living more palatable.
And speaking of apartments, they are called flats like in the UK and the deposit is called a bond. Speaking English is hard.
10. Getting the bill in the restaurant
The first time I went out for a meal at a sit-down restaurant in New Zealand, I was surprised by several things. Firstly, the food is phenomenal. Seriously, there are some damn good restaurants to be found in this part of the world. And don’e even get me started on brunch.
However, at the end of the meal I was confused. When were they going to bring the bill? We sat and waited and waited and waited before getting the attention of someone to bring the check. Quickly they explained that you pay at the register and not at the table. Soon I figured out this was standard around NZ.
Can anyone explain this to me?
Instead of having the waiters bring you the check, it’s standard for you to get up when you’re finished and head to the register to pay directly.
This is not universal but I’ve definitely encountered it way more here than anywhere else in the world.
11. Likewise, you usually have to go up and grab a jug of water and cups
Same goes for water. Most of the time they don’t bring water to you, even if you ask. They have sinks or jugs set up for you to grab it yourself.
I haven’t decided how I feel about this yet. It’s an internal struggle between my inherent laziness and my urge to be in control of everything. First world problems.
12. The brunch culture will blow your mind
Hi my name’s Liz, and I am addicted to brunches.
Heavy pancakes. Crispy French toast. Fluffy poached eggs smothered in decadent Hollandaise sauce. Swoon.
One of my favorite things about home was brunching with friends on the weekends. One of the things I hated most about Spain was the total dearth of brunch spots to be found. Lucky for me, NZ is the best of both worlds and has an amazing brunch scene. Everywhere.
13. NZ has the best coffee in the UNIVERSE
In addition to a great foodie scene, there is a thriving cafe culture which means awesome coffee all the time.
I have not had a disappointing cup of joe since I arrived which says a lot considering I’m the world’s biggest coffee addict.
And just like there are new words for everything in NZ, I’ve learned a lot of new coffee vocabulary too. For example, when I get a nonfat or skinny latte, here they call it a trim latte. Makes me feel so classy.
Same goes for a flat white, a type of espresso coffee in New Zealand. A new favorite.
14. Wellington is actually the coolest little capital in the world
I talked before about how much hype Wellington was getting and how it initially put me off living there. But then I arrived and fell head over heels in love with this city.
Proudly named the 2011 Lonely Planet “Coolest little capital in the world,” the buzz around town actually lives up to expectations. In short, Wellington rocks, and I am so so SO happy I decided to make it my home.
15. Everyone in Wellington knows someone who works for WETA or the Hobbit
Sometimes I have to remind myself that not everyone is as big of a nerd as me, and they don’t realize that part of Wellington’s fame comes from the fact that it’s home to WETA, the design studio behind the Lord of the Rings.
Now with the Hobbit franchise in full swing, WETA employs tons and tons of people, which means when I go out at night, there is a good chance I’ll meet someone somehow associated with the project. That is, if they ever leave the studios.
I think you can imagine my reactions when this happens.
16. Finding Peter Jackson has been harder than I thought
One month into my time in Wellington and I have yet to find and shake hands with the most famous son of New Zealand (apart from Sir Edmund Hillary), the man, the myth, the legend – Peter Jackson.
Of course I count this as a giant failure. Luckily I still have 1o months to go.
Anyone can make an intro for me?
17. Windy Wellington lives up to its name
Wellington is nicknamed “Windy Welly” and let me just say, a more accurate epithet never existed.
I’ve been to some windy places over the years, but nothing could have prepared for Wellington. Most days it’s just average level of winds that will mess up your hair and might blow your skirt up. However, in just a month I’ve witnessed some wind storms where I thought the world was ending.
I’m talking wind that will blow your clothes clean off. One week we had 140 km/h winds for three days. I couldn’t leave the house. Those are the moments where you realize you’re living at the end of the world.
18. Earthquakes
My first week living in Wellington we had an earthquake. I had gone out for a wine tasting that evening, so it’s safe to say I was pretty sloshed by the time I rolled home a few hours later. Climbing into bed, I was closing my eyes when the room started to shake. My hopes that it was just a big gust of the famous wind were dashed when my roommate popped his head in to check on me.
I’m from Virginia. We don’t get earthquakes. I don’t know how to react.
I know there are more and more bigger earthquakes happening in New Zealand, and let me just preface this by saying I am SO not ready for a big one.
In fact, they are so prevalent, many Kiwis I’ve met have an earthquake app on their phone that let’s them know about them. Can I just stick with Candy Crush?
19. No drunken behavior
I learned real fast my first month in NZ that I had to bring my passport out with me to the bars to show ID. I haven’t had to show ID to go out drinking since living in the US, let alone bring my passport.
NZ is also pretty vigilant about drunken behavior. They don’t let belligerent people in bars and will kick you out without a second thought.
One of my last nights in Wellington I was out at a bar with friends and while we were waiting for drinks, a group of young drunk guys were getting rowdy on the dancefloor. Suddenly, I saw one of the bouncers head over to kick him out. Causing a scene, eventually the guy picked him up and carried the dude out on his shoulders. The kid was so waster he was high-fiving and cheering everyone on his way out. Hilarious.
20. The wildlife is slightly different from what I’m used to back home in Virginia
21. Shit happens and you can’t plan for everything
So basically I’ve had the worst luck in the entire world my first month in New Zealand. I legally cannot write the specifics so far, but let me just say there’s a reason I’ve not been online as much as I meant to. My first month was a struggle, but I’ve been trying to make the best of it.
Something bad happened which I’m trying to deal with that’s costing me a lot of money.
If anything, it’s been a good lesson on trying to look on the bright side and be positive. Fingers crossed it will all work out for the best.
22. No matter where you are in NZ, you are approximately 15 minutes from somewhere spectacularly beautiful
New Zealand is ridiculously beautiful. No matter where you are in the entire country, you are likely a stone’s throw away from a place that will make your jaw drop open in awe.
This is probably my favorite thing about NZ. I need beautiful landscapes and lush natural spots to feel comfortable and at peace. Lucky for me, New Zealand has that in strides.
23. I already love New Zealand to pieces and I never want to leave
Only a month in and I can already see myself settling in NZ permanently. It already feels like home to me.
My whole life I feel like I’ve been searching for that special place where I can settle down. Maybe it’ll be New Zealand.
Have you ever been to New Zealand? Is it on your bucket list? Ever transitioned abroad before? What’s something you learned in your new country?
About the author
Hi Sheree
Pleased to read your balanced point of view and take on NZ. I lived in Akl for 5 years – found NZ horrendously expensive in comparison to Australia. I’m pleased to have relocated elsewhere in the world where living costs in general is heaps cheaper ito food, accommodation, public transport and especially the internet. To find a job in NZ with a reasonable / livable salary is near impossible. Kiwis friendly ? Sorry to say, definitely do not find Kiwis friendly by any stretch of imagination – to be honest, find them quite vindictive ! Kiwi girls ….well, crude, ruff and scathing tongues don’t rate highly on my “like you” list. By all means, a trip / holiday in NZ may be worth it but make it a short one !
ive got alot of making up to do .im starting the bull rolling soon to get my working visa ive been offered a job out there .hope to lived there for good too .i keep hearing good and bad things .but then again you cant listen to everyone .you wouldnt go anywhere in the world hehe .ive been offered around 25 nz money but if it is expensive .i wouldnt be no better off .then again london is not getting any better and very expensive ..uummmm this is going to be a tough one ..any off you lot from england who has taken the move there …has it work out ..speak soon
I’m a New Zealander 38 years now. Yes you’r right
yes you are right an i am a kiwi
haha, bugger mate, lol, you lived in auckland!!! this is not new zealand! its just another world wide city that just happens to be within nz curfews,
as for pay, its not the best, but they seem to pay better if you are not just a labourer.
to be fair i’d have to assume nz is better shot of you.
It really depends which part of nz you go to. North island is way friendlier and urban wellintonians are an extra thoughtful,creative bunch. The south island has beautiful scenery. Cost of living is high compared to wage, but govt jobs pay very well, as do corporate ones. Don’t expect a free ride in brainless industries,nz values skill and education over braun. As to kiwi girls, they are far less gendered than other cultures, and don’t require three inches of make up to go to the local shops,which may not be your ideology, but to each their own. Likewise, kiwi girls are fairly straight up, call it the way they see it, and are usually comfortable being one of the boys. Personally, I hope that never changes.
I’m disappointed to say, that I disagree, due to a massive turn around, mainly due to american TV shows. Inches of makeup is becoming more common (especially in high schools) and if ‘being one of the boys’ means ‘screwing one of the boys’ then maybe.
Sadly
Well I’m a Kiwi who has lived all over the world – California for 4 years, Barcelona for a year, London a year and Hokkaido for 6 months with lots of travelling in between to all the corners of the globe…and I rate NZ higher than anywhere except my beloved 2nd home Lake Tahoe (it’s on even par with that beauty of a spot).
That first poster obviously got burnt by some catty crowd of cougars or something.. lol, obviously every country has some bad eggs, but I think the batch is the best here in NZ.
So much awesome pride here, and our internet is now world class thank you very much, according to Ookla (the #1 Net Index for Gloabl Speeds, don’t you know) we have an average of 20mbps speed now (up from 16mbps last year if I recall correctly) which is 6mbps faster on average than Australia even, our Tech hubs are booming and NZ is moving into a better space globally.
I love living back here in NZ – as long as I can buy my US candy from the various international food stores here (looking at you Jolly Rancher and Ike & Mike) then I’m happy calling NZ home!
I am an American who recently moved to Mission Bay, Auckland. I find a lot of what you say as accurate. The roundabouts — stresses me out every time and I also scream through them. Haha! In any event, I love it here and not sure I ever want to go back. I do make a decent salary, so I am surviving. However, it is EXTREMELY expensive here. I am STILL getting over the shock of how much things cost. I saw a “sale” for Guess jeans for $109.99 at St Lukes the other week and I almost had a heart attack. I can probably get them in the States for $30. But I do understand that everything is imported in and NZ doesn’t have the same buying power. I also miss Netflix, but I learned my trick around that. The restaurant and bill issue was odd to me as well. Now, I read that some people who commented on here suggested that was an American thing. I’ve been to Mexico, France, and Italy…and the bill was brought to my table…every time. So, so far, I do see that trend as a NZ thing. However, I don’t mind it. I’ll gladly walk up to the register and pay the bill. The food is DELICIOUS. Everything is fresh and less preserved than food from the States. The internet is slow as f***. And I am still processing why unlimited data is not offered on mobile phone plans. But, I’ll survive. That’s not a complaint. First world problems. And I do find kiwis friendly, but they are also passive aggressive. Because they are so polite, you can’t really read them when they’re upset with you because they don’t come out and say that. It’s very indirect. And, finally, VERY few Americans here. Maybe that’s a good thing. I don’t know. To top it all off, I am African American. So it is a challenge to find someone to do my hair or find hair products (haven’t found that yet). But still, I have seen three Americans here (two visiting and one living here). That’s OK. If I wanted a country full of Americans, I would’ve stayed in California. Nevertheless, this country is beautiful and I am loving it so far. It is definitely a learning experience in how “privileged” we are in the States and how we are perceived.
Hey, I lived in NZ for 5 years and have nappy hair and I was concerned about getting my hair done while in NZ but I found a lady on K Road “Afro Hair Salon” and she use to relax/straighten my hair every 3-6 months. Check her out. I miss her as she has done my hair the best.
Toyia!!!
Ooooo…I am looking for someone to correspond to living there. Please let me know if you would be interested as we are a black interace family wanting to make flight.
thank you
Hello Toyia, Thank you soo much for posting your experiences in new zealand. Ive been trying to find posts from African americans like myself of people who live there. I will be arriving in new zealand in january and staying a few months. I wanted to ask you are there many african american males there? Im from new york and wanted to know just so i can get a feel on if it will be a awkward thing walking around most parts. I hope you read this and can help me out with some insight. Thanks !!
I am going to assume by crude, rough and scathing you are actually talking about how honest and straight up kiwi girls are. We say how we feel, if we like you, you most definitely know. If you do something we don’t consider appropriate, we have no problem telling you that either. Since I have moved away from New Zealand, this is something I miss in a population! Many other nationalities seem to have a problem with saying their true emotions, making it difficult to understand how they actually feel. So really, I think you should be grateful that kiwis are honest, and not two faced in the slightest.
This blog post is sheer fantasy clickbait. After one month in New Zealand, you think you are qualified to make superficial generalizations and declare kiwis to be the friendliest in the world? Everybody in almost every country (maybe not Syria at the moment) will be your friend, sweetie, when your show up all perky with glazed eyes, a big grin, and form-fitting attire.
I am an American who has lived here for many years. The reason there are so few Americans is that most of my fellow countrymen couldn’t stand the place and left. This who remain are often trapped by circumstances.
As for Australia, 15% of the New Zealand population lives there, and if there were enough jobs, I reckon most kiwis would simply leave NZ for Oz if they could find work and accommodation. And no, most of Australia is not more expensive than New Zealand, unless you are comparing Perth to Invercargill.
hahaha i love your straight up response. Its funny how people are usually nice and friendly to attractive women and blah humbug with men. I asked someone else what it was like in new zealand and i cant wait for her response. Im african american male from new york and will be living there for a few months. Am i going to be looked at like a martian?lol any insight would be amazing. thanks
I recommend you read this thread to get some real perspective:
http://e2nz.org/whats-it-like-to-live-in-nz/vox-pop/chapter-1/new-zealand-is-turning-into-a-really-racist-country/
I really don’t understand why you say internet is so shitty. We pay $80 per month, which includes 160GB of unlimited data, and the phone bill. I don’t know what plan you were on. There will always be vindictive people everywhere you go in the country. It also depends WHERE you lived. Most small towns have super nice people. I am a kiwi girl and find this horribly rude.
You are a bit confused, are you? If you have 160GB limit, then it isn’t unlimited, is it?
I think Lizzi means the Internet is slow here because all the content is hosted outside NZ – like in America, or sometimes in Australia. Yeah, I know, it can be hard to accept that we suck in this regard but we only have a few websites here. Also, unless you live in the expensive areas in Auckland, the best you can get is DSL 4-5Mbps downstream. That’s really slow compared to Japan, Korea, Europe and even the US. Most people were still using dial-up until a few years ago here, if you are old enough to remember.
We do have a bad bully problem here, so I can see why people say girls are mean and rude. Hopefully you won’t grow up to be like that, tho.
Hey Liz!
So happy to have found your blog! I’m an expat living in South Korea with my husband! Your adventure here is coming to a close, and we will actually be moving to WELLINGTON next month! I will be stalking your blog for amazing advice, and I’ve already ready this post like five times.
ps. good god. Sorry about all the rude comments. People these days.
Brilliant write up. I’m from Kentucky and have been living in NZ for almost 8 years. It is a great place but many of the things you said are certainly true!
Ok, my theory on the going up to the till to pay for your meal, and having to get up to get your own water is that there is no culture of tipping in NZ. My experience of travelling to the States is that service is very attentive (sometimes almost too attentive), I assume this gives the customer no reason not to leave a tip? Not sure which custom is better, but as you say, it’s easier once you know what is expected.