'bleedin typical' or 'kiwi as'

I've been trying to think what makes NZ different from other places that I've visited. For me the most striking thing is probably the landscape and the lower hills in particular. They are very abrupt in that they rise very steeply from nothing and then look as if a green blanket of grass has been laid on top so that they and just one colour from top to bottom.
Flat White and silver fern.
The coffee here is excellent. I don't know if it's because they often use a double shot of expresso or that the coffee is just good quality but the flat white has been my staple diet here and I'll miss it madly. The silver fern on the top of this one is a nz emblem and displayed everywhere.

Sand Flies
little buggers. I have 4 bites that are itching like crazy as I type.

Fush 'n' chups

No overflow
Wierd. It's something I only noticed halfway through the trip so it may not be everywhere but our last 4 houses haven't had any. Maybe they're just very careful with tap/overflow safety.

corrigated iron rooves
About 90% of houses in the smaller towns and wop wops here have corrigated iron roofing. It's also used a lot for sculpture especially at the entrance to towns in the north island.

Barefeet
Ok so maybe not typical just to NZ but I like the way shops often have signs to leave your muddy shoes outside.

Language.
The nz accent isn't very strong to the Irish ear but there are a few things that make it different. Adding 'ay' to the end of a sentance for example. As in 'It's another hot one, ay' and also adding 'bro' or 'cuz' as a friendly gesture. Most kiwi is adding 'as' like 'sweet as' or 'hot as' without adding a noun after. On the other hand a friend here said a text I'd sent was very Irish because I'd sent 'I'll text you in the morning so' Took me a while to realise it was the 'so' that made it Irish.
People
The people here are genuinely friendly. Not in the smile-for-the-tourist kind of friendly but in a more relaxed way. In supermarkets I have found the cashiers start conversations with you as if they already know you. Here's a conversation I had with the cashier in Fresh Choice I hadn't seen before.
Her: Hi, how are you today?
Me: not too bad
Her: what've you been up to?
Me: er, trying to avoid the sun mostly. I'm not used to it.
Her: Yeh I can see you're a bit red, your necklace has made a mark too. Your top's lovely. Ok, you got everything? Bye and enjoy the rest of the week.

They want you to like NZ and to enjoy your time here. They are quite like the Irish were about 20 years ago getting giddy with excitement when a celebrity says they like the country. I think recently the Irish have stopped caring as muchbecause we were rich enough that it didn't matter what others thought of us but who knows, maybe that will change again now.
We are back in Wellington again after a long week of sorting through stuff we can't bring with us. Giving some away to Emma and Matthew's friends accompanied with long hugs and promises to write and email and to meet up again in Ireland when they're on their Overseas Experience. We even gave away all our weaving creations to a friend who was having a garage sale. We left Takaka after 6 great weeks there and drove 100km before we reached our first set of traffic lights. So today we'll head to the bright lights of the city and in the morning start our last 10 days of a new adventure before arriving home.