Daniel Asks About New Zealand #6 

I would point out that we were one of the first countries to use EFTPOS, we've actually often been a testing ground for tech

My favourite holiday by far is Christmas although, I think, as a country, we don't spend nearly as much money or energy on decorations or anything like what some countries do, for us it's about taking time off for the summer and being together with our family and friends. You guys are about to experience the phenomenon that is the NZ Christmas/New Years break.... here, the entire country basically shuts down for around 3 weeks from Christmas Eve. I mean, many shops will be shut, businesses close down, no one bothers trying to book tradespeople etc etc, because almost nobody is at work. From the beginning of December the stress rate ramps right up as we try to cram 2 months of work into 1 month including preparing for Christmas day and our summer holiday, its absolutely crazy and then around Christmas Eve we travel to which ever family or friends we're spending the Christmas/New Years period at and we RELAX. The 3 week break over this time is just basically spent eating, drinking, swimming and holidaying. It's awesome. Beach towns' populations swell by like 300% as we all flock to the beach and get ready for New Years Eve which is the next big event. Most people won't go back to work until around the 9th of January. Personally, we have around 75 people coming to spend Christmas Day at our place and then we pack up and head to the beach on Boxing Day (traffic will be a nightmare) where we will be camping until the end of the 1st week of January and I can't wait!!

The biggest holiday by far is Christmas/New Year. That's not from a religious perspective, or even in terms of festive traditions (though we have a few). It's basically a massive holiday that goes on for a month. Don't expect to get anything done in New Zealand from Christmas Eve to mid January.

The classic kiwi christmas, beach, BBQ, beers and a NY party {most likely with some kiwi band doing a summer tour and playing at a festival somewhere.} The Christmas shut down is something else, the entire country just operates at about 30% for 3 weeks. Prepare for that, because it's going to shock you how difficult it will be to get anything done. Well just pack up and leave, head off to a beach somewhere, stay with friends and family. Sit back, switch our phones off and just relax. The other day that is special to kiwis is Waitangi day. New Zealand's national day. Every year on 6 February, we all commemorate the first signing of New Zealand's founding document: Te Tiriti o Waitangi, The Treaty of Waitangi, on 6 February 1840. It's not an extended holiday, just a single day off but its importance to who we are as a nation makes it a really special day for a lot of us. Time to reflect on where we are headed as a nation, to remember and honor what was signed all those years ago.

Aussie here, with an American wife … Thanksgiving is difficult because it falls on a Thursday, a work day. We tried it a few times on the following Saturday but it is not easy to do the same sized spread with less lead time and no US family to pitch in and provide dishes. Over time we accumulated expat friends (including Canadians) and that made things easier because we could get different people to provide the various dishes. Remember that you do have to order ahead if you want a turkey. The other drawback is that the weather is warming up by late November and that big meal isn’t quite as attractive. One thing we have done on occasion is to do a thanksgiving menu in the winter when some people do “Christmas in July” which they take as an opportunity to have a traditional northern hemisphere festive meal in a time of colder weather.

The main holiday in NZ, that most people spend a good deal of time, money and effort on is Christmas. Food, decorations and of course presents. People will travel all over the country to spend it with family. I cant think of another holiday that people are willing to travel for or spend as much money. This is one thing I have always envied about America, it seems that the holiday spirit, enthusiasm and willingness to celebrate is much greater there. It seems like a unifying experience and I wish we had that a bit more here in NZ :)

For me, even as an atheist, Christmas/ Boxing day. Usually lovely and sunny. Seeing family. Eating and drinking too excess and watching TV. I terms of purely the holiday... it's a toss up between Waitangi Day and ANZAC day. The NZ national day, in the summer. Or Celebrating the New Zealand armed forces. But my grandfather's fought in WW2

Oh there are fishing charters you can go for, they are such a good time

Christmas would be the most celebrated, I live in Australia now and haven't had a Christmas in NZ in 6 years but I'm making the trip back this year. I miss a good Christmas hangi with my maori family sitting around eating and laughing in the morning then going to my Samoan side and having an umu with more laughs, so 2 big feasts with both my parents sides of the family. At the end of the day you probably gained 5kg but it was all worth it. Another holiday I miss is Guy Fawkes, I'm from south Auckland so Guy Fawkes lasted at least a month there, I still have so many good memories of letting off fireworks with my immediate and extended family all together having a BBQ to celebrate.

I don't think it's one particular holiday but more a holiday period. Because Christmas and New Year are only a week apart and in summer it's when nearly everyone has a couple of weeks off to go away somewhere and chill out. Many businesses close for those two weeks so families have time to go anywhere to do anything.

Can confirm, but the biggest holiday is definitely Christmas/New Year. Almost the entire country shuts down for the week. An important holiday that I don't see mentioned by anyone else is whenever NZ beats Australia at a sporting event. It may not be official, but it's definitely observed.

Tech is an interesting one - there are consumables (more expensive isn't necessarily bad as you're more inclined to keep longer and potentially less in landfill) and advancements. Maybe looking at the banking systems would help. NZ has standardised ways to pay (EFTPOS) and transfer money between bank accounts. No need for 3rd party services. Re: holidays, Christmas is the big one. Most businesses will shut for a 2 week period. Easter is also nice as you get a 4 day break but I'm really interested in Matariki. It's a new holiday (2022 was the first time it was observed) and involves reflecting on recent losses and the beginning of the Māori lunar new year. ANZAC day is also very special (for me anyway) and we always try get to the dawn service.

It depends on what you mean by "celebrate". In the traditional sense, the only holiday you could really say New Zealand celebrates is Christmas, which does typically involve copious amounts of food and also a nationwide shutdown of many businesses for a couple weeks or more. But if we take a broader definition of celebrate to include "do something for", then Easter is pretty big in New Zealand. While most people like to go away for any long weekend, having both the Friday and Monday off at Easter allows for big excursions across the country, so if people are going to "do something" for a holiday other than Christmas, it will at least be Easter (also, make sure to buy your alcohol early, because liquor sales are banned on Good Friday and Easter Sunday).

Christmas as a holiday but ANZC day is special for us as so many Kiwis’s have laid down their lives in the name of peace and a world free of megalomaniacs, which of course is why many of us look at the rest of the world right now at so many of the power hungry egomaniacs and start to question why our grandfathers and fathers went to two world wars .While I do agree we don’t get the range of tech here as elsewhere I don’t agree we lag behind the rest of the world in getting it (in all circumstances) I love tech also and have found products delivered here at the same time as elsewhere, possibly because a lot of it is shipped from across the ditch with NZ being seen as the same market .The real problem for importing is the weak NZ dollar. When I’ve compared what I pay and plugged it into an app like XE prices paid else where are comparable at a currency level. Eg Canon R5 camera at B and H in New York US$3900 , NZ price NZ$6680 which on a currency basis makes it cheaper here by NZ$200 😀

It is my understanding that Aotearoa means land of the long white cloud. 2022 was the first time we celebrated Matariki as a public holiday here in Aotearoa New Zealand, and a lot of us are still learning about it. I know people who celebrate Thanks Giving here, but it isn't really that big here. Perhaps the original meaning for it might be specific to the US. Although, we could all be thankful and perhaps it may take off here someday. (And of course, you have already discovered Martha's Backyard if you need anything that you cannot find here). Personally, I haven't got into Halloween. To be honest, I don't think I like it that much. All the holidays are my favourite, but Christmas is the one that I put the most effort into, followed closely by Easter. Labour weekend is always good because you begin to get that summer vibe, (even if the weather doesn't always reflect that).

Land of the long white cloud is the english translation of Aotearoa, the maori name for our beautiful country.

Christmas.. because that's our summer holidays, so for teacher like yourself that's almost six paid weeks of relaxing at the beach in the sun...

In Newzealand we have our holidays we love all of them i believe our most celebrated holidays is Newyears as no matter what religion what your family status and the time of year its the one holiday that most people celebrate then its Christmas for most of us then Anzac day for remembering our past and our great country

Number one is Christmas. I am a Kiwi but lived in US (Kansas) for a while. 4th July there reminded me of Christmas here in New Zealand - it was summer and it was all about family. Of all the holidays in NZ, Christmas is when family gets together. The rest are more a chance to get away and have a break. But if you want to know what Christmas is like in New Zealand, think 4th July without the parades and the fireworks.

The Maori name of New Zealand is "Aotearoa" literally means "The land of long white cloud".

Here in New Zealand 🇳🇿 the holiday I love to commemorate the most is ANZAC Day to honor the soldiers that gave their lives for us & some of these guys were 17 yrs of age which was incredible & sadly I feel it is drifting into obscurity with our young. I'm not really a Xmas person but saying that with our Xmas being in summer it's more a BBQ, Family and Beach, etc thing.

I also want a house someday, but to get one where I grew up I’m going to need to be a multi millionaire nowadays. Which is disheartening. Some people blame foreign investment being allowed by the National party for the inflated house prices, but who knows exactly.

Christmas (plus New Years) definitely first of all, then probably Easter. We don't make a huge deal about Halloween. We used to do fireworks for Guy Fawkes, but don't really celebrate it anymore. We commemorate ANZAC Day and Waitangi Day, just in a relatively low-key way. I suspect Matariki will probably become one of the most celebrated and popular over time, it certainly got off to a good start this year.

For our family, Christmas is our main celebration. An all day affair, Stocking and gifts in the morning for young. Adults purchase one $50 neutral gender gift where we have a lucky dip/game around that. Then Xmas lunch and outdoor activities like table tennis and cricket, feasting the rest of the day till dinner.

Health insurance is a private Taz. New Zealand are 36th out of 38 for taxation in the OECD. New Zealand is so little tax and red tape than the USA

Hmm... this question was harder to answer than I expected. We celebrate most of the standard holidays - New Years, Easter (some places have Easter Festivals) and Christmas (usually as friends and family), only time we can buy fireworks is for Guy Fawkes (November 5) which has a pro/con audience. But alot of the towns and regions have their own. My city (Gisborne has a wine festival, two food festivals, a wine festival, a beer festival and Rhythm and Vine at New Years Eve - huge music event as well as Fire in the Sky (Jan 2nd so not to clash with the last day of RnV and a lot of District Council summer activities for the kids). The AMP Show may be back doing the rounds again next year (was cancelled for most regions this year) and the Gypsy Fair is still going (they just left Gisborne this weekend). I know Tauranga has some major music events each year and is one of the four/five cities in New Zealand to have Armageddon each year (our version of ComiCon). Some places do celebrate Pasifika events, Maori events, Diwali and the Chinese New Year so keep an eye on the local paper or bulletin boards or randomly placed posters. Each town has their annual Santa Parade's as well www.bayofplentynz.com/events/annual-events/