[Avalon]

Ah, the bottle tops.... after a few fights & a lot of swear words I got it sussed...

turn ring pull ring away from you, put finger through hole, and pull away from you and the bottle, this loosens it, then pull backwards towards you... the middle then kind of splits open....

Make sense?? It works for the ginger beer bottles too!
Im glad I drink Monteiths :laugh :laugh :laugh

[Milliemoo]

LOL I'm normally a Summer or Radler girl, but the Mac's was on special :o

Milliemoo

[jubjub]

Wahooooooooooo BEER :p

Thanks :cheers

Milliemoo

:nice1 :cheers

Enjoy, and glad I made sense (for once!)

[Moorf]

Im bloody glad I drink Monteiths :laugh

:laugh:laugh

[speckythecky]

"3) GETTING AROUND: Now Auckland is a major traffic mess. "

its been 10 years since we were in Auckland and as we are thinking of coming to NZ again we have been looking through our old guide book in which I wrote the comment - 'don't drive in Auckland - there are no road signs'
We got totally lost every time we went into the city. Is it any better now?

[gil]

"3) GETTING AROUND: Now Auckland is a major traffic mess. "

its been 10 years since we were in Auckland and as we are thinking of coming to NZ again we have been looking through our old guide book in which I wrote the comment - 'don't drive in Auckland - there are no road signs'
We got totally lost every time we went into the city. Is it any better now?

Speckythecky,
We arrived here (Auckland) just over 2 months ago, having never ever been here before and with all the forum warnings about Auckland traffic ringing in our ears. Our experience has been a very pleasant surprise! We have not got lost once (mind you, OH navigates!). We have driven in the CBD and the suburbs, north, south and east (where we live) without difficulty.
Everything seems well signed, better than UK as all streets have a lovely eye-level or higher green sign showing their name which ain't the case in Cardiff, at least!
We have seen some loony driving but, and I would stress this, no worse than we ever saw in UK or Europe.
Yes Auckland is big and sprawls across a large area, but, in my opinion, armed with a map book such as Wise's, it's fine to get about.

Good luck!
Gil

PS Even our 18 year-old who'd only pased her UK test in July was fine. She bought an old banger and only got radically lost once.....someone gave her directions from Howick to Sylvia Park (shopping :uhoh) saying (and they had actually written this down) "whatever you do, don't go down Botany Road", so, what did she do?.....Yes, went down the Botany Road and ended up near the airport......hardly Auckland signage's fault!

[Sam B]

These are the things that have surprised me so far (4 days):

The air smells mediterranean, like the mediterannean section of the biome at the Eden project, or holidays on Greek Islands - I think it comes from those flowering trees with the fluffy flowers on them, mmmm.

Everything looks clean and shiny and bright, Cambridge looks like the shopping street at Eurodisney - little neat rows of wooden colonial style houses.

MAD birds everywhere - FANTASTIC! Spend the whole time saying "LOOK AT THAT WIERD BIRD!!!!"

Cicada noises make it sound really foriegn.

Consistently good food in cafes and great coffee. Much better than UK.

[Cardy]

Hi there
dont want to hijack the thread but welcome to Cambridge. We have been hee since last march and love it and we also love the cafes .

Cardy and Bev :nice1

[Sam B]

See you in Deli on the Corner then!

[Moorf]

Oh, I've thought of another one - I'm shocked by the lack of Maori culture / history here in Canterbury. There's a show at Willowbank and some floorspace in the museum and a meeting house that does tours/shows but it's not well represented and in a bit of a grotty area.... just a thought...

[sarahw]

Good one Moorf - I think a lot of places in NZ don't make enough of the Maori culture & history.

I've just thought of another - the size of the spider in my shower this morning, :o well its been living there for a week & a half because I'm too scared to get it outside (we luckily have another shower so I don't smell!) - she who can deal with wetas, skinks, mice & even dead possums & rats!! even my 'lean mean killing machine' cat didn't manage to dispose of it!) :exit

[Avalon]

Oh, I've thought of another one - I'm shocked by the lack of Maori culture / history here in Canterbury. There's a show at Willowbank and some floorspace in the museum and a meeting house that does tours/shows but it's not well represented and in a bit of a grotty area.... just a thought...
Mum and Dad went down to Si last year on a short holiday - and got talking to some locals. They were also saying about how few Maoris there were on SI. That might account for the lack of culture you see. ?

[oldtimbo]

Great thread!! We have now been in NZ for just over a year, and on the whole, we just love it. There are a couple of things that shocked me initially, but not to extremes.
Party pills on sale in every bottle shop/dairy etc. I dont have a clue what these perfectly legal pills contain, but judging by the state of some of the younger members of staff on my firm on a monday morning, I dont think they can do you much good.
The willingness and indeed downright eagerness of many workers, specially in the construction industries, to grab a case of beer for consumption while DRIVING home from work. This is an almost daily occurance where we live. I am not saying that these guys get drunk, but some certainly sail very close to the wind. Unfortunately we only have two local cops here in Whitianga, so the majority of the culprits get away with it. Oh, and yes, I have dobbed a couple in both to police and company bosses.

[*Paul]

I doubt they're breaking any law unless they get over the limit, despite the stupidity of that behaviour.

The first year I was here (second time around) I was on the phone to the police every weekend with complaints of cars racing around the CBD, most of the occupants drinking, and amazed that the cops where nowhere to be found. Now I'm well-aware that they have bigger fish to fry with very little staff, and in any case this sort of behaviour is mostly accepted here and is mostly not illegal.

31 years ago when I came to NZ for college (at Canterbury in Chch) I was astonished to see students at a concert throwing empty beer bottles (stubbies) across the room with no regard to whom they might hit. That sort of thing hasn't changed either - someone threw a beer bottle at our car as we were leaving the Mission concert last Sat night, same thing - entertainment for morons.

[Sue]

I have been shocked by the length of time you have to wait at a red traffic light, i have almost fallen asleep in the mornings at the one on PAH and Trafalgar in Mt Eden, AKL. I absolutely love the libraries - great reads and really efficient staff. I hate having to park in someone's backyard and pay them $20 each time i go to watch the cricket or rugby in Eden park. lack of parking sucks. I love going for walks in my neighbourhood - people are friendly and everyone says hello.

[Trigirl]

one interesting thing. according to each country's stats: in england and wales (according to the UK dept for transport) there were 578,000 roadside breath tests in 2004. in NZ (according to land transport NZ) there were 2.3million.

if you are interested in the ministry of transports take on alcohol and driving the most recent update is here http://www.transport.govt.nz/assets/NewPDFs/NewFolder/alcohol-crash-facts-may-2006.pdf

[gil]

I have been shocked by the length of time you have to wait at a red traffic light

I'm amazed by the fair sharing of trafffic lights. OK, it means each light seems to wait a while, but you do get a fair crack of the lights at any intersection (sorry, junction) unlike some in Cardiff (where we came from) whcih seemed to give you approx 2 seconds compared to 10 mins the opposite way!!

Gil

[willowshouse]

MAD birds everywhere - FANTASTIC! Spend the whole time saying "LOOK AT THAT WIERD BIRD!!!!"


Just thought I'd share ... I saw my first Pukeko today!

(black bird with large red beak for those not yet twitching)

[NooDleS]

I'm amazed by the fair sharing of trafffic lights. OK, it means each light seems to wait a while, but you do get a fair crack of the lights at any intersection (sorry, junction) unlike some in Cardiff (where we came from) whcih seemed to give you approx 2 seconds compared to 10 mins the opposite way!!

Gil

Tell me about it. Driving into Cardiff (well including the entire journey through the Caerphilly Borough) it seems like nothing but 100metre sprints!!

Is the blood/alcohol limit much different to that here in the UK?

[gil]

Click on this link that Trigirl posted above and page 6 details it for NZ....

http://www.transport.govt.nz/assets...ts-may-2006.pdf (http://www.transport.govt.nz/assets/NewPDFs/NewFolder/alcohol-crash-facts-may-2006.pdf)


Gil

PS I don't envy you your daily commute!

[sarahw]

one interesting thing. according to each country's stats: in england and wales (according to the UK dept for transport) there were 578,000 roadside breath tests in 2004. in NZ (according to land transport NZ) there were 2.3million.

Don't they have to have a reason to stop you in the UK though? i.e. speeding, or dangerous driving, or lights not working before they can pull you over & breathalise?

Whereas they just set up roadblocks in NZ & check everyone that goes along that street within an hour or 2 - its a nice kind of surprising. I've been breathalised twice since moving here in road-block tests & it certainly makes you feel a lot safer knowing that everyone on the road in front & behind has been checked on your way home late at night! (they also set up cars so if they see someone turn round in the queue they can nab them too!)

[jen]

I'm shocked (or at any rate confused) by seeing so many food items that brag about being "export quality". I mean, isn't that kind of insulting - "oh, this isn't the normal icky stuff we feed to you locals, it's the GOOD stuff that we'd send overseas if we didn't have a ton of it to offload on sale right now"!

I'm also shocked at how long it can take to get internet set up at home; our digital cable install appt. is for two weeks from now, and it wasn't easy to get some companies to even return emails/calls asking about their service which didn't seem to bode well. Cafenet isn't very convenient for where we are (Island Bay) so for now I"m sneaking in a $6/hr library internet visit here and there.

Jen

[gil]

so for now I"m sneaking in a $6/hr library internet visit here and there.Jen

$6/hr? :eek: It's $2/hr at our local library! (Howick)

Gil

[Sue]

Guys, I used to pay a dollar for 30minutes at the library in Mt Eden when I wasnt set up at home - it used to be pretty slow and the kids there were playing all these crazy pc games. the library staff were great though, they came in and shooed of the kids not using the pc's for homework and freed them up for us adults. I have to say that the other thing that really gets me mad is the fact that I am asked for ID whereever I go, I am 26 and wasnt allowed into a few places cos' I didnt have any ID except for a certified copy of my passport cos' my original passport is with immigration at the moment getting my RESIDENCY stickers ($600) stuck on. so now i have to lug around my SA ID, my SA drivers licence and my cert. copy of my passport till my ID arrives. Am going to the boys2men concert in ST James theatre tonight and am taking all my ID's with me. One thing I do love though is how everyone goes into holiday mode when a long wkend is coming up and everyone goes into wkend mode on like thursday afternoon. In South Africa it was work work work till the last second even if the next day was Christmas. I used to work shifts in SA so I hadnt celebrated the last 3 christmas's and New years at home, this was my first double bash in a long time cos' I now have a cushy dayshift job here. I also love the 2$ stores. I post cards home quite often and it is so cheap to get cards there and other stationary as compared to a Whitcoulls or paper plus. another positive is this super forum, its great to know that people have been through all the same things as you and are also willing to share advice for the things that lie ahead.

[*Paul]

I have been breathalyzed countless times in Napier in the last three years, same with my elderly parents. I always take a taxi if I'm going to drink more than one beer. I'm not sure it's all that effective as the penalties are not that severe (compared with California) and the 6-month loss of licence is frequently ignored.

Two days ago at 10:30am I looked out my window and a driver had crashed into a sign post in the centre city walkzone. Then she got her car jammed between a bollard and a streetlamp. After going forward and reverse several times and ripping off the mirror, she drove off. Dozens of people witnessed this and she was caught quickly. Cops said she was very drunk. It would have been comical if there weren't so many people standing around that could have been hit.

[willowshouse]

You reminded me .. over here kids library books get fines on them if you return them late - I only made that mistake once!!! :D

Dawn

[gil]

They do indeed, 10c per book per day! :D
Gil

[KerryS]

I have to say that the other thing that really gets me mad is the fact that I am asked for ID whereever I go, I am 26 and wasnt allowed into a few places cos' I didnt have any ID except for a certified copy of my passport cos' my original passport is with immigration at the moment getting my RESIDENCY stickers ($600) stuck on. so now i have to lug around my SA ID, my SA drivers licence and my cert. copy of my passport till my ID arrives.

I'm 31 and still get asked for ID loads of times. Not so much when going out as I tend to put on more make-up, but just popping to buy a bottle of wine or something from New World with my hair scrapped back and bare faced I am always asked. I quite like the fact that they think I'm 5 years younger than I am!
Get your NZ driving licence - it is accepted as official ID everywhere and is very easy to get...

[Trigirl]

everywhere i've been asked (and im fast approaching 33!) has accepted my uk driving licence (the plastic bit that lives in my purse) without question.

[Sam B]

This shocked me a bit - we were in a quite nice cafe in Taupo, and I asked where the toilet was. I was led through the kitchen, where a woman was chopping salad and had to make way for me, to the toilet, which led straight off the kitchen with only 1 door between the kitchen and the toilet!! I'm sure that's illegal in the UK. I don't think you can have a loo striaght off your kitchen even in your own home?

[Moorf]

They do indeed, 10c per book per day! :D
Gil

Hmmm, in Chch libraries you could not charge children - they have seperate cards and those cards won't charge for late fees. :no

[willsken]

Hmmm, in Chch libraries you could not charge children - they have seperate cards and those cards won't charge for late fees. :no

Now why does it sound as if this made you very sad? :laugh

[DB]

...they do swear alot over here!

Hmmm.... I dont believe we swear any more than anyone else does, but we have defined a word or two to be not swear words, whereas the rest of the world still keeps them as swear words.

Which is funny, 'cos as a five or six year old I remember the teacher ("Miss") berating a fellow toddler for using the word "stupid" to describe another kiddie, as it was a very stong word, suggesting that the word "silly" was quite strong enough...

[speckythecky]

I have thought of something else that surprised me, the signs for historic sites - whatever happened here 25 years ago or maybe up to 50 years ago. It is as if nothing important happened more than 50 years ago. There doesn't seem to be much of a celebration of maori history.

[Debbie P.]

Hmmm, in Chch libraries you could not charge children - they have seperate cards and those cards won't charge for late fees. :no

Well, speaking as a librarian, complete with comfy cardie and specs (NOT!), I totally agree with fines whether you're a child or not! Sorry to be a meanie, but what about other users?

:exit Runs for cover...

[SarahEDH]

I think library fines might be the only kind I don't mind, because I know the money supports something good. Maybe that's why I'm subconsciously lax about getting books back on time -- not usually a law-breaker otherwise --

[willowshouse]

I'm not some secret library hater! It was just a 'heads-up'..

They don't stamp the books here with a return date (they issue a receipt which my kids always lose) and if your kids are anything like mine they get out 15 books each, and every day they are late will cost you $3.00 (30 x 0.10).

[Moorf]

I'm not some secret library hater! It was just a 'heads-up'..

They don't stamp the books here with a return date (they issue a receipt which my kids always lose) and if your kids are anything like mine they get out 15 books each, and every day they are late will cost you $3.00 (30 x 0.10).

It was a popular request at the library from parents too who would prefer stamped books to those receipts...

We had to constantly keep an eye on what parents put on the child's card - so many adults abused them as they knew they wouldn't get fined when returned late... they'd chuck them in the return bins so they didn't have to go to the desk and be spotted returning "Advanced Car Mechanics" on a 2 yr olds card.. late. :roll

[jubjub]

If your library has it, register online with an email address, and the email you when its a day late, I renew online immediatly and dont get charged... its also good for reserving books, they email when then arrive in your local library..

One thing that springs to mind as expensive is cereals..... we used to pay just over £1 for sultana bran, its over $9 a box here....

[sarahw]

I was in New World today & decent icecream & iced lollies aren't cheap - not talking budget ones here talking tasty unusual flavours etc. the $7 mark was what was on the pricetags (OK I was in Whitby New World renowned for being expensive but $7!!! 'scuse me!!) Waiting until I go to Pak'n'Save tomorrow!