MrsFychan

15 THINGS NO ONE TOLD YOU ABOUT LIVING IN NEW ZEALAND. - halfthisworldaway

as we all know the last one is pushing it a bit

Charismatic

Tipping in New Zealand is great sport, the look of utter confusion and mental arithmatic (they assume this is part of the transaction) is something you can't put a price on.


Also there is one exception to this rule, you always tip for pizza delivery. Always, always, always.

mikelincs

Whoever wrote that need geography leson, winds from the south are freezing.. yes they are, why.. they say because the come from the ARTIC, now last I heard that was at the North Ploe. I suggest the author might have meant ANTartic.

BEVS

Or for us they may have meant our own arctic . We have one y'know.

It is probably missing a word here, Arctic Region.
I think we can live with that.

mikelincs

Where's that, google doesn't seem to know..

LittleGreyCat

Nailed it with the Wattie's!

Tom H

Great coffee!!!!!

Where??

jmh

She's whizzing around the world on her bucket list (which doesn't include NZ) and has assumed her little part of NZ is the same all over.

I don't see people walking around in the supermarket in bare feet. Here, you ask for the bill in a restaurant but go up to pay in a cafe.

Most people in the UK would know that a 'northerly' is cold because it comes from the North. I suspect she wasn't watching the weather forecasts much when she was at home. People pay in cash frequently. Not sure why it's different where she lives. And I've lived here for 20+ years and never experienced an earthquake.

Pom_Chch

I would say it's pretty accurate, if a little exaggerated in areas! It seems like a bit of a laugh really, not yo be taken too seriously

Pulaski

I "C" what you did there, .... or do you mean that cold wind is delivered on an HGV?

scrubbedexpat094

Pretty accurate as far as I'm concerned. Though I have to rely on OH's viewpoint on coffee as I only drink tea. They're sh1t at making that!

I hate seeing people on escalators without shoes on, especially children. Goes through me. I did have to walk barefoot through the supermarket and local mall once when my flip-flops snapped. I felt really self-conscious and couldn't wait to get home to wash my feet...ugh!

jmh - haven't noticed any difference between restaurants and cafes reayment. Always go up to the till to pay.
Since we first arrived in 2005 I have noticed an increase in the number of tips jars by the counter. I'm a miserable cow and ignore them. I will tip service staff personally if I receive excellent service.

As Pom_Chch says, just a bit of fun.

Hazelnut

The coffee thing is definitely true but more, in my experience, on north than south island. I also had the worst ever coffee I've ever bought in NZ as well as the best ever. I embraced the barefoot thing and was happily wandering out some places without shoes or socks on after just four days...

Bo-Jangles

I agree most people queue to pay and it does my head in especially when 12 people all from the same group want to pay their own bill. Tipping can be fun as Charismatic says, it takes people by surprise but noticed recently some have added an opition to tip yes / no on the Eftpos machine.

Bare feet not much in evidence in my circles except for some kids going to school and a few scuzzy unwashed folks in Pak n Save.

Coffee is coffee as far as I am concerned - some good some bad and I don't know why NZ holds itself out as some kind of special coffee centre of the world. Whoppee doos, much like places all over the world we have people that have the recipe and know how to mix the right quantity of brown stuff with varying quantities of frothy hot milk / or not as the case may be.

And I agree very true about the cash, we hardly ever have or need any. In the UK I would never have dreamed of using credit card for small amounts but here I just chuck everything on the card, even $2 and get a bit pissed off when some places blank out the credit option or charge you % for doing so.

Pulaski

Probably just unmodified US-sourced software.

LittleGreyCat

Try Atomic Coffee Roasters in Kingsland, Auckland.

The street in Kingsland has loads of decent coffee shops - a bit like a slice of Sydney where they do take their coffee seriously.

Confession: my son bought me an Aeropress as a birthday present so I have been sampling coffee roasters as well as just cups of coffee.

Coffee Roasters New Zealand, Max Coffee, Kerikeri, NZ in Kerikeri is another cracking place to visit - a little industrial unit with the roaster and grinder in the back.

Admittedly you can buy a cup of really bad coffee anywhere in the world.