An American In New Zealand...The Best Things

And finally the companion post to "The Worst Things" about New Zealand - here are some of the best things about this country: 

1. The food!
Like any foreign country, New Zealand has some signature food products and meals. It's always a fun and new experience trying unfamiliar foods in other countries. When I first came here as a moody teenager, I used to say that toffee pops and RJ's licorice were the only good things in NZ. 

Now that I've matured (a bit a least), I have expanded those ideas. New Zealand also has:
L&P - a fizzy lemon drink, that's kind of similar to sprite but with a stronger lemon flavor and more energetic fizz

Pineapple lumps - a candy that doesn't actually taste much like pineapple, but is pretty good nonetheless - made up of yellow taffy covered in chocolate

Fish and Chips - iconic takeaway meal of NZ

Feijoas and tamarillos - two fruits I hadn't tried before coming to NZ, and probably the healthiest thing on this list...

Tamarillo, feijoa

Pavlova - baked dessert comprised of a soft meringue covered in whipped cream and summer fruit, popularly served at Christmas (apparently there is some debate over whether NZ or Australia invented this!)

Hokey Pokey ice cream - "hokey pokey" is a kind of honeycomb toffee that has a lot of little holes in it, making it easier to eat. Cadbury makes a "Crunchie" chocolate bar that is a bar of hokey pokey covered in chocolate. Hokey Pokey ice cream is usually vanilla ice cream with pieces of hokey pokey in it, and it's a very popular flavor in NZ. Cadbury makes a version of this that's even better though, with chocolate and honey flavored ice cream. 

New Zealand also has great dairy products, like cheese and butter, which is known and imported worldwide. Also NZ is currently more innovative and adventurous with their pizza toppings than the America I left in 2009 was...their Domino's, (which only got here in 2003) has a pizza called "Mr. Wedge" that actually has potato wedges as a topping. (I haven't checked up on American pizzas since then though, so I don't know the state of things now.) Also "custard square", though often very bland-tasting, is worth trying for the novelty of having custard, between squares of pastry. 

Not to mention that it has a lot of "British" products that America doesn't have in supermarkets, like Tim Tams, (if you have access to these, you HAVE to try the "Tim Tam Slam") and Cadbury chocolate and ice cream.

Other fun fact: sweet potatoes are commonly called "kumara" here, as that is what the native Maori people call them.



2. Nature 



Pancake rocks

New Zealand is known for having beautiful scenery and natural formations. There's such a lot of them here in this small country, and they've got mountains and beaches very close to each other. Not to mention other things like glaciers, pancake rocks, caves, cliffs, rivers, geothermal activity like geysers, hot springs, and mud pools, and lakes. And in general it's a very green country, with nice forest areas bordering the highways, so there are always things to see out the window on a road trip!




The very green view from my window at home!

3. Relaxed and artistic lifestyle 

A decorated bus stop

(This is perhaps excepting Auckland, NZ's big city...) New Zealand is full of people who have a more relaxed, take-life-as-it-comes attitude to life. Sometimes, moving through life at a slower pace is a good thing that many foreigners can learn from. There are beautiful old buildings, retro art-deco inspired structures, and quirky, unique artworks and sculptures all around many NZ towns. It's quite refreshing. (Some of it's really great, and some of it is stuff you won't see anywhere else...perhaps for a reason!)

The "Bucket Fountain", Wellington, NZ

Plus, the widely-known fact about there being more sheep than people NZ is not obvious to anyone living there, I haven't seen any great number of sheep in my time here when driving between places.

4. Healthcare
Now, this was also on my "worst things" list, but the big plus about healthcare in NZ is that it's free! Here, they do have a free (or heavily subsidized) public healthcare system. People do also have their own private doctors that they pay for, but even in those cases prescription medicines are so much cheaper than they are in America. 

5. Environmentally conscious (and no nuclear)
New Zealand, being a very green country, is very keen to stay that way. New Zealand has legislation against nuclear weapons and energy. Environmental conservation and projects like recycling are well-publicized: recycling is collected from homes along with the trash, and there are "rubbish bins" (also known as trash cans) specifically for recycled goods in town. Also, most toilets in NZ have half- and full-flush options to save water!

6. Accessible culture 
Especially in Wellington, the country's capital, there are a lot of events with international origins. If a group or organization comes here they'll most likely be visiting somewhere within driving distance of anyone in NZ, whereas in a big country you may not have access to where they're performing. Plus even though it's a small country, New Zealand still has its own ballet and opera companies, symphony orchestra, food festivals, theatre, lots of international courses (eg. cooking, dancing) available, and not to mention, sports, such as the favorite of NZ, rugby. If you are a sports fan, NZ's rugby team, the All Blacks, is worth following. 

7. Random little positive quirks: 
- Carrying the gold coins they have (representing $1 and $2) makes you feel like a pirate, and their money is so colorful it seems like play money - and, the notes are very easy to tell apart
- No central heating means fireplaces/other cozier forms of heating, plus the opportunity to wear thick "grandma sweaters"
- Cheaper university ("tertiary") education
- Hobbits! And other Lord of the Rings memorabilia 
- The growing multiculturalism of the country
- The NZ accent makes this list too, as though it's utterly nonsensical but it can still be    
  charming to us foreigners...sometimes



All in all, though I personally don't want to live here forever, it's definitely a nice place to live or visit for awhile.