Odds and Ends as we Farewell New Plymouth

There are a number of good memories that we will take away from our time in New Plymouth. We wanted to share some of the funner ones with you.

First, I have had the following thought at least once every day that I’ve been here — “New Zealand — brought to you by the color green.” If you’ve never watched Sesame Street, you won’t get the reference, but I must say in New Zealand green is the new green. There should be a reference in the dictionary for “green” that says “see New Zealand.” You see every shade imaginable, and it is very, very good. I will very much miss all the trail walking — both in town and out.

Signs, signs, everywhere a sign. . . Okay, so when I’m not having Sesame Street thoughts, I am thinking of the lyrics of this song (my mind is going/has gone to mush. . .). While we have our share of signage in the states too, it’s just the little differences that have caught our eye.

For the mail/circular delivery people —

For pedestrians/trampers —

For drivers? —

Happy, clean signs —

As I’ve said, my mind has gone to mush. . . but in a good way.

More fun language usages. We mentioned some local expressions in one of our earlier blogs, but wanted to add a few more here.

Fun with plurals. So, while in the States there is sports coverage, here it is always referred to as Sport. As in, full coverage of weather will be provided right after Sport. However, the school subject of math (States) is always referred to as Maths here.

New and different terms. A homeless individual is termed a rough sleeper, and a car inspection is referred to as a Warrant of Fitness. (We finally had to ask about this one, as we kept seeing car service businesses with signs for WOFs.) In athletic competitions, while in the States one may be sent to the penalty box, here one can be sin-binned. Other examples — anti-clockwise (NZ) rather than counterclockwise (US). (And for Bob and Beth’s relatives — Beth still doesn’t know which way this is.) Athletes get injured in the states but here they just get niggled. If you wanted to get a job here you would look in the paper under “situations vacant.” To make a recipe here, you might use a “kitchen whiz” rather than a food processor. The space between a lawn/sidewalk and the street is “misspelled” as a kerb rather than curb.

Verbing a noun. One common noun (at least for us) that we have heard frequently used as a verb is “farewell.” This is used whenever someone has died, as they are then “farewelled” at their funeral or memorial service. Also, while we might see a particular action as a likely “eventuality,” here, if something doesn’t come to pass it wasn’t “eventuated.”

Fun travel term. To travel from New Zealand to Australia is to go “across the ditch.”

I will miss leisurely breakfasts spent reading the local and Auckland papers and noting new word terms/uses while noting (for both good and bad) that New Zealand faces similar issues to the US in trying to appropriately care for the aging and vulnerable populations in terms of health care, child and protective services, treatment of prisoners, etc.

There is a store here in New Plymouth called Taranaki Hardcore. I’m not sure what exactly that means to the store, but Bob and I have seen it lived everyday by the many individuals out and about barefoot. Yep, no shoes. Yesterday at the park at the base of a mountain, a young girl had a winter coat on but no shoes. (However, usually the barefooters are just as likely to be in shorts and short sleeved shirts while I have my long pants and jackets on.) The weather has not been what most would define as no shoes season. Spring has just sprung for pete sake (really, we got to spring forward with the clocks for the 2nd time this year.). Anyhoo, Taranaki Hardcore. We’re still working on that one.

We will miss weather forecasts that can show the whole country in one shot and include reports on the current and forecasted weather conditions for all major cities (usually up one coast for both islands and then up the other).

We will miss all of the great food, as we have continued to eat our way across the world — Thai, Indian, New Zealand (seafood, cheese, pies/pasties, veggies — kumara!), Chinese. . .

And we will definitely miss the beautiful dogs. Jess is the sweetest girl ever. She is impossible not to like. She also loves to eat and likes to have her belly rubbed. She doesn’t get around as well as Baz due to her age, but she likes to try to hang with him as much as possible — joining in on barking at the neighborhood cat and starting out her walks with her version of a jog. Baz is gorgeous. He always draws compliments on the color of his coat while we’re out walking. He is super active (usually walking us) and knows what he likes (greeting other dogs, running off leash) and what he doesn’t (skateboarders!!!). He is a fun walk and likes his loving in the evening as well.

We are blessed. Next up. . . Wellington, the D.C. of New Zealand.