A little bit about life in NZ

So, New Zealand is not the same as the US. Mostly this is a good thing...but then there are other aspects that make me miss the blatantly consumerist aspects of America. Anyways, here's a run-down of some of the more unique aspects of NZ for me, thus far:

First of all, there's that pesky bit about driving on the left side of the road. Then there's this silly law that says people turning left have to yield to people turning right in face-to-face traffic. What this amounts to is confusion regarding whether a blinker is legitimately signaling a turn, or quite possibly, prelude to an accident. Every time you come to an intersection and you want to go left (that is, turn a tight corner without crossing traffic) you have to stop and see if the guy tooling towards you at 80 km/hr is planning on turning the same direction you are and if he is, you have to let him go first...even though there might be people behind him, in which case, those people are allowed to go around him, before he turns and you remain sitting at the corner, confused about who the hell ought to be turning and when. Anyways, it's stupid. See diagram.


Other things about New Zealand. Well, it's full of sheep. And I don't just mean you see them a lot. It's more than that. You drive down a road: Look left - Sheep. Look right - Sheep. Look left - Sheep. etc. You could go an entire day without ever not seeing sheep on either side of you.

Pedestrian crossings: You, as a pedestrian, do NOT have the right-of-way...don't even think about it. If you step foot into a roadway and get clobbered by a tool truck..well, you should've ran faster. When you walk around in Dunedin (and even smaller towns) it's very common to see a person standing on the curb, leaning forward to peek up and down the road. This person is calculating how much time he or she has to scamper nimbly across however many lanes. Then, if traffic is heavy, they RUN. No one casually strolls across the street with the naive assumption that traffic will slow so they can make it. Hell no. They dart through traffic breaks with the full knowledge that cars will kill them. The exception to this is the infrequently constructed and sparsely distributed pedestrian crossing areas. Other than at traffic lights, where there are signals for pedestrians, these stripy-poles indicate the only safe legally legitimate place for pedestrians to be in the road. They are marked by a tall black and white striped pole with an orange circle or globe on the top. When a pedestrian steps a toe onto this walkway, under the heavenly protection of the orange globe, all traffic comes to a skidding halt while said pedestrian strolls across, perfectly safe.


Tea time: Tea time is one of my favorite parts of my experience here so far! It is generally accepted that you are allowed a morning and afternoon tea break, where the tea/coffee milk and sugar are provided by the employer. So at 10:30am and 3:30pm most Kiwis, Aussies, Brits, etc. can be found socializing in the tea room, sipping hot beverages and commiserating about their lives/research etc. I like to capitalize on the free tea, but, because I'm an American, I feel like a total poser and thus make my tea and quietly disappear back to my office or lab. Regardless, I think having a tea break twice daily is an excellent way to make employees happy and seriously believe that Americans should really consider incorporating it ;)

The houses...! The houses in New Zealand are really more like villas. Many are cottage-like, with large windows, fireplaces, and heavy wooden doors. The yards are called gardens and they really are more like gardens than anything else, because they're blooming with flowers and lined with shrubs and medium sized trees.

These flowers are blooming NOW! And it's autumn :)



The houses in Dunedin are built right into the steep hillside, which means that they're either built on a terrace or literally set back into the hillside. Mine is like that. In the front room the yard and grass are at foot level, but you go to the next room over on the same floor and look out the window and the yard is now 10 feet down! They're basically adorable. And quaint. Here's the not-so-great part: They're COLD. And WET. Apparently, settlers and home-builders didn't think insulation was even a little important. As a result, they houses are damp and cool all the time. Usually, they're colder than the outside temperature. An unhappy side-effect of this is that you have to wear layers when watching TV and your towels never get completely dry. Oh, and because of the moisture there is a constant battle between tenants and black mold. To combat the cold, we run heat pumps. Heat pumps are situated up near the ceiling and run on electricity. Their function is to suck in the cold air, remove all moisture from it whilst heating it, and then churn out dry, hot air near the ceiling where puny mortals at ground level will only feel tiny wisps of warmth anyways. In sum, the houses are perfectly adorable but basically non-functional.

Hiking and tramping! So much to see and explore! And accommodations galore. Wherever you decide to walk or hike, there is almost certainly a little hut in the middle of the trail for you to stay at. See my blog about tramping the Roaring Meg Pack Track for a description of Meg Hut, which I stayed in two weekends ago. For people who aren't so crazy about staying in a electricity-less hut, there are Backpacker's Lodges scattered all over the country. These usually cost around $30.00/night and are great little houses with bunks or regular beds. The catch is that you might have to share a room with strangers, but if you're the social type, that doesn't matter! I stayed in a super quirky Backpacker's last weekend. It was rigged so that little toys on strings raised and dropped from the ceiling when you opened the doors and there were things tacked all over the walls. There was a map of the world with pins for every person who's stayed there (I got to place the first pin for Michigan!) and a fridge that everyone wrote something on. Lots of fun!

The Toilet Tree -!


Map of the world complete with pins for each visitor. Mostly Europeans!


Graffiti fridge


Well, that's all I'm going to write about for now. Maybe I'll add more NZ info later!

Emily