After 18 hours of flight, we finally touched down in Auckland, New Zealand. We've finally succeeded in getting ahead in life. We're now a day (16 hours) ahead of the northern hemisphere.
This is a standard New Zealand/Australia plug. Aside from requiring an adapter, the plugs in our hotel room were interesting because they required you to switch them on to use them. This was probably something specific to the hospitality industry, but it's a nice energy conservation feature. I have to admit that at least on one occasion I thought my electric shaver was broken before realizing that the plug was turned off. It took a little adjustment.
At first glance, this appears to be a hand sanitizer, but it actually replaces toilet seat covers in a public restroom. The antibacterial gel is dispensed onto toilet paper that is used to disinfect the toilet seat.
This toilet in our hotel room highlighted the Kiwi culture of water conservation. All of the toilets throughout Auckland had two buttons. The small button was for liquid waste disposal and the larger button was for solid waste disposal. The type of waste dictated the amount of water used. A very intuitive and effective way to conserve water. The tank's water level was also about a 1/3 of the water level in American tanks.
Okay. We didn't spend as much time in the toilet as the start of this blog implies, but this was truly a gem of a sign. In some Asian cultures the toilet is in the ground and a squat method is used. Auckland has attracted a large Asian population so my hypothesis is that some Asians were using their traditional Eastern method on a Western toilet. I suspect some injuries or "missing the mark" were occurring and prompted this sign.
As I mentioned, Auckland has attracted a large number of Asian immigrants and tourists. The New Zealanders that we did meet were visiting from other parts of the country. They were very friendly and hospitable. You see so many Chinese immigrants during a typical stroll down a downtown street that you have to be reminded that you're in New Zealand.
What's significant about this picture? Well, if you look closely, you'll see a young, Black couple seated on the first bench. Asians are well represented in the Kiwi country, but Blacks are not. We didn't see many Blacks during our trip so this was picture worthy for us. 😁 When I say not many, if we encountered a thousand people on this trip to NZ and Australia (which is likely), I estimate we saw maybe 10 Blacks. It's possible that our arrival to each city (Auckland and Sydney) created a boom in the Black population.
Phone booths are still prevalent in NZ and Australia albeit with a twist in this case. You're hard pressed to find one in the US nowadays. I got to thinking about the irony of this phone booth. The owner of this phone booth recognizes we're in the 21st century and is advertising the Free WiFi zone. So you're entering the phone booth, when you notice the wifi sign and decide to take advantage of the free service. You grab the device that you're most likely to be carrying that could leverage a wifi signal.....you're mobile phone! My conclusion is that the sign is bad for the phone booth business or is the phone booth business a bad sign?
Even during the winter, it was a common sight to see Aucklanders riding bikes for exercise and transportation. Auckland winters are moderate with temperatures in the low 60 degrees F. We had great weather during our trip. Our shuttle driver from the airport mentioned that it had rained for two months prior to our arrival. However, we were blessed to see nothing but sunshine.
Notice the yellow bicycle signal on the left. Overall, New Zealanders seemed to be environmentally aware and had a pretty active and healthy lifestyle. Bicyclists were common and the city had an infrastructure to support them.
Even during the winter, it was a common sight to see Aucklanders riding bikes for exercise and transportation. Auckland winters are moderate with temperatures in the low 60 degrees F. We had great weather during our trip. Our shuttle driver from the airport mentioned that it had rained for two months prior to our arrival. However, we were blessed to see nothing but sunshine.
I did experience some segregation. Riders and walkers are not allowed in the same crosswalk lane. Kidding aside. This is some of the infrastructure that caters to the cycling population.
After you adjust to the hemispheric differences, the cultures are not vastly different between NZ and the US, but we do have different names for the same object. For example, a highway is called a motorway and abbreviated MWY on street signs. A restroom/bathroom is called a toilet.
After you adjust to the hemispheric differences, the cultures are not vastly different between NZ and the US, but we do have different names for the same object. For example, a highway is called a motorway and abbreviated MWY on street signs. A restroom/bathroom is called a toilet.
One remnant remaining from British colonialism is that garbage/trash is called rubbish. This was our favorite. We're weaving it into our daily lexicon, but it hasn't caught on outside of the Glover household. We'll use any excuse to weave it into a sentence.
This was our grocery store during our trip. It was a block from our apartment hotel and open 24 hours.
We found it interesting that NZ labels publish energy data instead of calories.
What? Starburst Sucks. That's not nice and I personally like Starburst. What did Starburst ever do to them? Oh........wait........never mind.
This has infringement written all over it.
I guess marketing studies found that New Zealanders are more receptive to "bubbles" than "crispies".
This was our grocery store during our trip. It was a block from our apartment hotel and open 24 hours.
By the way, a shopping cart or buggy (depending on your geographic location in the U.S) is called a trundler in NZ.
Now this was a contrast in cultures. Harris Teeter gives out free cookies to kids while their parents grocery shop. Kiwi's hand out fresh fruit. I'm just saying...
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