Kiwi Curiosities.

Let me just preface this by saying - I am really enjoying my trip to NZ. The countryside is spectacular and the people are very friendly and helpful. However (and you knew there had to be a "however" in there somewhere) there are a few Kiwi idiosyncrasies and, dare I say, shortcomings that I feel compelled to blog about.

Ignoring the reversal of Left and Right and North and South there are other quirky things about NZ which sometimes baffle me. The country seems to have a strange love for marshmallows and everything marshmallow - they put them on the side plates of all their hot chocolates (and we're not talking about small marshmallows that could easily melt in a steaming mug of hot coco, we're talking the honking ones you'd combust over a campfire, bot fates make them strangely almost palatable) and they even make some strange dessert with them (most places call it lollipop slice or some such playful name) which seems to consist of (but I REFUSE to try it to be more exact with the ingredients- YUCK) marshmallows (both white and pink, of course) and some mysterious brown binding material that looks vaguely like fudge, but I can't imagine it tasting like it, and adhered to the outer circumference of the confectionary amalgamation is shredded coconut. It looks ghastly but is flogged in most coffee shops. I guess they expect people to buy a hot coco and a Lollipop Slice and get their total marshmallow fix.

There are other culinary shortcomings that NZ offers. Their milkshakes, for instance consist of iced milk blended with milk, the result being, icy milk - not the creamy shake my Canadian taste buds were expecting. Oh, and harkening back to that hot coco, a more accurate name would be tepid coco, but I suppose that wouldn't sell as well. Paninis seem to be another thing that NZ just hasn't got the hang of yet, stuffing a kaiser bun with filling and then flattening with an iron does not a panini make. A plain black coffee also seems to be an elusive beverage (though I don't drink it, so I'm not as indignant about coffee). Wholesome bran muffins are as rare as snow in the Sahara and though scones are plentiful (chalk one up for British influence) they are almost as solid as the Moeraki Boulders. I think Second Cup could make a killing if they came down here and set up shop.

But in other ways I am surprised about how some things are done. For instance, during a hike along a steep cliff top trail there was no guard rail keeping the overly daring (my polite phrase for dumb dumbs) from plummeting to their death over the side of the cliff (maybe it's because they live on two reasonably small islands, it's their way of culling the heard). I know NZ has laws against people rampant suing, or maybe they naively still expect people to have some common sense and personal responsibility for their actions and their safety instead of feeling compelled to bubble-wrap nature for the protection of people.

In stark contradiction to the expectation that people use common sense, the folks in charge of NZ highways and motorways have posted a series of very blunt signs touting the dangers of drink driving (drinking and driving) or driving while tired or speeding; most are actually very creative and we have begun to amass a list of them.

One challenge Kiwi drivers do seem to suffer from is locating the indicator lever in their cars, I imagine this is due to the fact that the lever on the right side of the steering wheel maybe that makes it harder to operate. They also have a propensity for traffic circles; sticking them in city, town and village alike. Though I must admit, at 6am when there is nothing else on the road - bopping through a traffic circle is must nicer than sitting at a red light watching nothing go though the intersection as you impatiently wait for the light to go green.

Another adjustment I have had to make is attempting to wash hands or face in a sink with a hot tap and a cold tap (unless you fill the basin, you either freeze or burn whatever skin covered surface you are trying to wash). A great thing that most NZ bathrooms have are a dual flow toilet (my name for it) which allows the user to either do a half flush or a full flush; so that if you have errr, a more substantive amount to flush a full flush is warranted, otherwise you could just use a half-flush and conserve water use.

Technologically speaking, NZ seems a bit behind the times. Ignoring the fact that I have looked in every major city from Wellington on the North Island to Dunedin on the South Island in a vain search for my type of camera battery, in fairness to NZ, my camera is a very new model) , their so-called high speed Internet leaves a lot to be desired, correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me that 54Mbps is a bit on the slow side of high speed. Flickr uploads will most likely not happen until after the trip.

All in all there are some things I'd like Canada to adopt about the way things are done down here and vice versa - NZ could learn a thing or two from Canada (just as long as it's the good things, not the bad ones).