New Zealand, known for its beautiful scenic landscapes, is also famous for its incredibly friendly, welcoming people. During your motorhome travels, ask for directions, strike up a conversation, have a chat and meet the locals!You’re likely to find a welcoming smile, someone keen to help you out and perhaps give you some helpful advice and local tips.
We’ve put together a few bits of interesting, quirky, trivia about the uniqueness of New Zealand that could be great conversation starters when you’re road tripping in your comfortable Wilderness motorhome around our beautiful country.
1. 95% of NZ’s population are animals, with just the remaining 5% being people.
2. All parts of the country are less than 128 kilometres (79 miles) from the sea.
3. The clearest water in the world is found at Blue Lake, in Nelson Lakes National Park.
4. New Zealand was the first country to start organised commercial bungee jumping.
5. The 10-cent piece is NZ’s smallest denomination.
6. Aotearoa is the Maori name for New Zealand and means ‘land of the long white cloud’.
7. New Zealand is about the same size as the UK, but has a much smaller population.
NZ’s population is only about 4 million compared to the UK’s 65 million.
8. There are more people living in Auckland city than in all of the South Island.
9. In The Lord of the Rings trilogy movies, the beer they drank on camera was called ‘Sobering Thought’, a custom NZ brew.
10. NZ’s flightless bird, the Kiwi, is the logo for the Royal New Zealand Air Force.
11. New Zealand has a National Wizard.
12. Living in the South Island is a giant carnivorous snail.
13. Gisborne airport has train tracks running across the middle of the runway. It’s not uncommon for trains and planes to have to give-way to each other.
14. Chinese gooseberries was the original name for Kiwifruit.
15. This is probably not a surprise to many, but rugby union is New Zealand’s national sport.
Now that you know a few fun facts about New Zealand you’re more than ready to spice up a conversation with a friendly Kiwi during your campervan journey and learn even more about this unique and gorgeous country.
Whether you’re travelling through the cities or the country towns you’re bound to feel at home.
