You Know You Are In New Zealand When...

We notice several things that tell us we are in Christchurch and New Zealand, and decided to share some with you, in no particular order.  Don’t worry, we will still have our New Zealand quiz in another blog post, and no, this post won’t help you on the quiz.

Maori words on some signs:  Maori and English both are official languages of New Zealand.  Maori is not used in any other country.  

Colorful buses:  This is a photo of the Orbiter bus which has routes going clockwise and anti-clockwise around the outer areas of the city.  Most Orbiter buses are green.  Other common buses we take are the Purple bus which goes all the way to Sumner, a Christchurch suburb on the sea, or goes the opposite direction to the airport.

Cafes:  Unlike Wisconsin, which has numerous bars, Christchurch and all of New Zealand have numerous cafes; there is a real café culture here. 

Road cones:  Christchurch had thousands of road cones in 2011 after the earthquakes and still has lots today. 

Cabbage trees:  These are a native tree. Cabbage trees were used by the Maori people as food, fibre and medicine.  

A Penguin bus:  This takes tourists to the Antarctic Centre where you reportedly can sit on a snowmobile, experience wind chill in a cold room with fans blowing on you, and see penguins.  We don’t feel a need to pay the $59 admission fee to go there – we will just experience cold in Wisconsin this winter, minus the penguins.  

Lots of green and gold kiwi fruit – each kiwi fruit costs between 15 and 35 U.S. cents.

Murals:  These popped up all over Christchurch in the CBD (central business district) after the 2010-11 earthquakes.  Some still remain and others have been added. 

Eggs sitting unrefrigerated on supermarket shelves.  Hardly anyone puts eggs in the refrigerator here. 

Weather reports on line include how many clothing layers you should wear.

Notice the clothing layers recommendation on the left.

Earthquake check signs from the devastating earthquake in February 2011 still remain on some buildings.

Everyone has 3 wheelie bins:  red for rubbish, yellow for recycling, green for organics.  

Shopping malls and stores close at 6 pm most days, except some malls stay open till 9 pm on Thursdays and Fridays.

Mail is still delivered by bicycles in some parts of the city and by little motorized vehicles in other parts. 

Every house has at least some garden / flowers area.  This photo was taken outside a university dorm.  Christchurch is known as the Garden City.

Cheers!