Feeling Funny in NZ

New Zealand here and there, July 11-25th 2015

Before I actually came to New Zealand, my impression of the country was "immaculate white" meaning tons of snow. Of course, after my winter experiences in (North) China, (North) Japan, and Russia (anywhere), plus summer but in Mongolia, I have learned enough that the more snow doesn't necessarily mean the lower temperature. Nevertheless, my next impression of New Zealand was a country that gives mercury a hard time to crawl up the scale inside a thermometer, if you know what I mean.

"Phew! Luckily I have gone to those countries to prepare myself for a winter in New Zealand!" I congratulated myself.

"Wow! You are going to New Zealand!" said someone to me. "You should try to get a permanent resident there. Very few people are willing to live there, because it's too cold."

As usual, prior to my trip, I check the weather forecast to prepare what clothes to bring. "Uhm, maybe next week," I said to myself. And yet, the next week, and the next week, the numbers on the weather temperature forecast of the cities I was going to visit didn't get smaller, let alone minus. So I messaged a Russian friend working in New Zealand.

"Is weather in New Zealand in general colder than Russia or about the same?"

His answer in short: "Slightly warmer than Japan."

What?? To what I have experienced in Hokkaido, aside of the pouring snow that can cover one storey floor, it's maybe just autumn for Russia. And now he says New Zealand is warmer than Japan??

"So do you mean New Zealand is much much warmer than Russia?"

"Yes."

First city: Auckland. Uhm, during the day it reminded me of late summer in Shiretoko, Hokkaido. Then I traveled further South. National Park Village. Yay! Something whitish on the ground! The feeling was like when I saw snow for the first time. At last!

Then I read on a leaflet placed on my hostel's front desk: "bla bla bla... thanks to the snow making machine.. bla bla bla." What?? Snow making machine?? They have to make snow?? What I have known in those previous countries, people were busy removing snow, instead of making more.

In Tongariro National Park I asked a Kiwi fellow trekker, "Do you sometimes make snow here?"

"Yes, we do."

Another time I read something like thanks to the snow making machine was in Insight Guides New Zealand. Out of curiosity, I googled. You won't imagine that snow making is mentioned in Te Ara, The Encyclopedia of New Zealand.

To ensure there is enough snow in ski areas where weather conditions are unpredictable, some ski operations use snow-making machines, such as these at the Round Hill ski field, South Canterbury. The barrel of each machine sweeps from side to side, spreading snow over a wide area.

What had made me believe the numbers written on the weather temperature forecast was knowing that New Zealand is an island country like Japan. Places close to the sea have higher temperature, my Japanese boss taught me. A documentary from International Antarctica Centre mentioned something similar about the Antarctica Continent.

However! However! I was wrong on another thing about New Zealand which made New Zealand indoors a different story. I regret I didn't take a picture of the mini petite heater in my room in Arthur's Pass Village, where I finally experienced an ultimate winter: snow and temperature below zero. (That night it dropped to minus 4.)

While at the time of my travels 1 RUB was equal to 300 IDR, 1 CNY = 2000 IDR, 1 JPY = 110 IDR, but 1 NZD = 9300 IDR, I expected to live on high standards in New Zealand. That was where I was totally wrong. Bathrooms were one, heating systems were another. The more I thought about it, the more I felt life wasn't fair in New Zealand. With that same amount of money in those other countries, I would be able to afford a hotel of several stars instead of a hostel. I would have the luxury of indulging myself in a bathtub (some of my hostels in Russia did have one!) and feel the warmth like home in my foreign room.

So! All the time when people said New Zealand was freezing, maybe they meant indoors. :D

For a second, I stared at this. 737? Wait. Is it 7 hundred or 7 thousand? I tried to take a breath. Because if it were 7 thousand, I should significantly feel the difference. No hard feelings to all Kiwis. But to me it felt funny. That "height above sea level" makes it even look more funny. Let alone China or Japan, even in Indonesia, when the height is -- yes, above sea level -- 3000 meters, we don't bother much on putting a sign. When it is written, then it's only the numbers and the "m". Everyone understands already that it means "height above sea level". But 737? That's less than one thousand, isn't it?

Taps like these (including for dish washing) I found a common thing in my hostels. The left one is for hot water only and it's real hot like you can brew coffee with that. The right one is for cold water only and although the winter here is Mongolian summer, it's still winter. You won't want to gargle after brushing your teeth with that water from the right tap. But you won't want to burn your tongue either, would you?

I asked my Russian friend about this, because I knew he would understand my confusion.

"Simple. Close the hole, fill in the sink by turning on both taps until the water reaches your desired temperature."

Oh well, then that was what I had been figuring out. But it feels silly when I just want to wash my hands I have to fill in the sink and wait, like when I'm going to get into a bathtub. Then the bigger your hands are, the more water you need to fill in, don't you? Then again, when you want to rinse your hands, you have to empty the sink and refill it?? I wonder if there's a YouTube about steps on brushing your teeth with this kind of sink.

In New Zealand, there is one rule: Look outdoors. Looking at my shots taken outdoors, in the end, I regard the numbers of IDR lining up, worthwhile.You have seen them.