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Now that the crowds are starting to diminish and the weather has improved, so has my mood and I'm really starting to like this country. However, my experience here continues to be a bit polarized. I got pretty drained during my first six weeks here, dealing with the massive crowds and crummy weather. But I’m glad I came to New Zealand so I could see what all the fuss was about. The crowds and the rotten weather were the "Bad," but there's a lot more that's "Good" about this country.
The best part of New Zealand is definitely the people. The Kiwis, young and old, have all been terrific. Without hearing a person speak, I can usually tell if they’re Kiwis, Americans, or Germans just by the way they react to me. Kiwis are definitely the friendliest and will often come up to me and start chatting away. Germans are the least outgoing or friendly, while Americans are somewhere in between. Most American tourists here are nice but can be a bit arrogant and obnoxious. During my Doubtful Sound cruise last week, I ran into a group of 60-somethings from the U.S. who epitomized the phrase “Ugly Americans” – loud, crude, and rude. Jeez, no wonder we Americans have such a bad reputation overseas.
Another thing I love about New Zealand is the scenic and geographic diversity. I’ve said it before but this country is as scenically diverse as the U.S. but in a much smaller package. During my six weeks here, I’ve seen areas that reminded me of every one of the 50 states – and all in a country the size of Oregon or Colorado. When you travel around New Zealand it seems much, much bigger than its modest size would indicate on a map. That's largely because of the scenic diversity but also because of all the narrow, winding roads here which limit how far you can travel in one day.
Americans might look at this relatively small country on a map and think to themselves, "I bet I can see it all in a week." Sorry but there's no way. Not in a month, or even several months. I've driven about 5,000 miles around the country so far and there are still a lot of places I haven't seen. In contrast, although I love Oregon, I can't imagine driving 500 miles around Oregon (let alone 5,000) and enjoying it nearly as much. Although I've been in New Zealand for almost two months, it would probably take me another few months to get a good feel for this country because there are so many places I haven't been to yet. There is a heck of a lot to see and do here.
The towns and cities here are great and are much more vibrant and interesting than towns and cities in the U.S. That's partly because they're much more oriented towards pedestrians than to vehicles. The U.S. is dotted with plenty of towns and cities that have decaying downtowns while the strip malls and Walmarts on the outskirts flourish. There's hardly any of that here in New Zealand. Urban planners in the U.S. could learn a lot by coming over here and studying how cities are supposed to work.
Another thing I like about New Zealand is that every town or village, no matter how small, has at least one fish and chips takeout shop. Fish and chips are even better, dare I say it, than bratwurst, which is my staple travel food in the U.S. And they're infinitely better than the mutton sausages that I was living on during my first week here (yes, they taste as bad as they sound).
Best of all, fish and chips are really cheap. Most fish and chips shops charge only about 75 US cents for each piece of fish. Chips (which Americans call French fries) are charged by the scoop, usually about 75 cents per scoop, with each scoop equivalent to three large orders of McDonald's fries. Largely thanks to the weak New Zealand dollar right now, you can get a large meal of fish and chips (three pieces and a scoop of fries) for about US$3. The same takeout meal in the U.S. would cost about six or seven dollars. What a deal, huh? But remember to bring along ketchup – oops, I mean "tomato sauce" – and, of course, malt vinegar. I carry mine in the trunk of my car. Oops, I mean the "boot."
Something else I like here is the game of cricket, which I’ve gotten hooked on. I watched my first televised cricket game a month ago in Whakatane and, being well-steeped in American baseball, sat there all afternoon completely dumbfounded. It was an interesting experience, though, trying to figure out a sport just by watching it on T.V. without having the luxury of anyone explaining it to me. Over the next several weeks, I watched cricket almost every night and gradually learned the rules, and now I think I understand the game fairly well. I’ve been pulling for New Zealand’s national team, known as the Black Caps, in their current televised series against Australia and South Africa.
Watching American football is a great way to waste three hours, but watching Kiwi cricket is a great way to waste eight hours. Honestly, once I turn on a cricket match at 4 p.m., I usually end up watching it until it’s finished at midnight, especially if the Black Caps are playing. Cricket is something like American baseball except each team bats only once (until all 11 players are out), there are only two bases instead of four, and there are no foul balls. Best of all, the players don't go on strike every four years. Since the teams in cricket don't alternate at-bats like they do in baseball, it's not unusual to hear the announcer say that one team is ahead by "only" 273 runs.
So like I say, there are some things about New Zealand that I don't care for, especially the crowds this time of year. But there's a whole lot more about New Zealand that I've come to love.
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