In the spirit of the recent housekeeping we did in exchange for a room and board, I thought I'd do some tidying up of some tidbits that didn't fit elsewhere
A few more observations about the Maori and why their current situation in NZ is probably better than Canada's native situation.
-They didn't have residential schools here
-They signed a treaty with the government in the mid-1800s that gave them certain sovereignties. This treaty was only recently rediscovered and is has actually helped to lay the groundwork for retribution.
-It has been said that the older the native civilization, the harder it was to assimilate into western civilization. The Aborigines of Australia were a civilation over 50,000 years old. The natives in Canada had been on the continent perhaps 10,000 years. The Maori were in NZ for about 500 years.
There's sheep everywhere here. They're cute, but the novelty has worn off. There's used to be more sheep and less dairy cows, but with the invention of synthetic materials, wool has lost out big time, and not just in clothing, but in carpets and other industries as well. Many farmers with sheep say the wool only brings in enough money to pay the shearer. Merino wool of course has a market, but it's a specific type of sheep only suited to the more continental (hotter, colder, drier) climate of south-central South Island.
We're often warned about the strength of the sun here, or rather the "hole in the ozone above New Zealand".
I finally looked into it.
There is a hole above the Antarctic, which is much bigger than anything over the Arctic, because the ozone depleting reactions are catalysed by the colder temperatures at the south pole. Outside of that, there aren't holes per se, only depletion. Between 35-60 degrees in the northern hemisphere, the depletion is about 3%, and at the same latitudes in the southern hemisphere, it is about 6%. So there is some truth to the matter, but very rarely a thinner area of ozone drifts over NZ (in which headlines are plastered with warnings) where depletion gets up to about 10%. Those events are rare, but are probably why everyone here is convinced there's a hole. The sun does feel strong to us. It's almost entirely overhead at noon. We're both worried about the effects of lathering on sunscreen day after day (note too mention how sticky it gets), and while it's better than nothing, there is certainly something to be said for just wearing long sleeve shirts, pants, and a hat.
The biggest volcanic eruption of the past 70,000 years was from what is now Lake Taupo in New Zealand and was 50 times bigger than the Mt St. Helens eruption.
New Zealand has the most golf courses per capita. One course for every 10,000 people. Haven't seen them, but I did look it up to verify. The green fees are considerable cheaper.
Costs. Prices seem on par or a bitter higher at face value, but usually with the exchange it ends up beign a bit cheaper. Some deals on produce, but most goods seem pretty similar. A small rental vehicle in Auckland costs $60/day. Gas works out to $1.40 CDN. A hostel dorm is $20-25 CDN. Paid $25 for our surfboard and wetsuit rental and use of a car, all for 4hrs. Tax is included in all the prices, which not only makes things easier, but reduces the shrapnel in your wallet. Buses don't need exact change. Many goods here are much more expensive than home. For example, Amy's sleeping pad costs triple here, albeit in the NZ equivalent of Lake Louise. My day-hiking pack back home would cost double here. And so forth. Someone mentioned the cause for this being some law that companies must order through an "importer", thus adding another middle-man in the long chain of goods production and distribution. I'm sure we could be getting cheaper food if we could get to farmer's market more or stop at roadside stalls, but hitchhiking has made that tricky. We figure we're spending $15-20 a day on food, each, just from supermarkets. We've heard ski hills are cheaper, but maybe that's just the tiny ones. Most big hills are probably in the same range of exorbitance as North America.
The biggest volcanic eruption of the past 70,000 years was from what is now Lake Taupo in New Zealand and was 50 times bigger than the Mt St. Helens eruption.
New Zealand has the most golf courses per capita. One course for every 10,000 people. Haven't seen them, but I did look it up to verify. The green fees are considerable cheaper.
Costs. Prices seem on par or a bitter higher at face value, but usually with the exchange it ends up beign a bit cheaper. Some deals on produce, but most goods seem pretty similar. A small rental vehicle in Auckland costs $60/day. Gas works out to $1.40 CDN. A hostel dorm is $20-25 CDN. Paid $25 for our surfboard and wetsuit rental and use of a car, all for 4hrs. Tax is included in all the prices, which not only makes things easier, but reduces the shrapnel in your wallet. Buses don't need exact change. Many goods here are much more expensive than home. For example, Amy's sleeping pad costs triple here, albeit in the NZ equivalent of Lake Louise. My day-hiking pack back home would cost double here. And so forth. Someone mentioned the cause for this being some law that companies must order through an "importer", thus adding another middle-man in the long chain of goods production and distribution. I'm sure we could be getting cheaper food if we could get to farmer's market more or stop at roadside stalls, but hitchhiking has made that tricky. We figure we're spending $15-20 a day on food, each, just from supermarkets. We've heard ski hills are cheaper, but maybe that's just the tiny ones. Most big hills are probably in the same range of exorbitance as North America.
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