Culture Shock in New Zealand: 11 Things That Surprised Me in NZ

Even though it’s quite literally on the other side of the globe from where I live, I didn’t expect to experience much culture shock in New Zealand. After all, it, too, is a westernized, British-colonized country like mine.

And yet, after spending more than two weeks here, I’ve picked up on some things that are noticeably different. Some are downright shocking and others just kinda made me go, hmmm. So here are the 11 things that definitely made me think a little bit on my December 2024 trip around New Zealand.

1. The animal control issues

Look, it’s complicated; I get it. Being a relatively small island nation, I understand how strict you need to be regarding your fragile ecosystem. But the enthusiasm the kiwis show for killing wildlife has been one of my biggest instances of culture shock in New Zealand.

Back when the continent that would come to be known as New Zealand was still an uninhabited natural environment, its only wildlife consisted of a plethora of birds and a couple species of bats. That’s it. Besides the bats, there were no other mammals.

Then, the colonizers did what colonizers do–f*ck it all up. They brought over rats and dogs and all kinds of rodents. Then, when those became a problem, they brought over things like possums, stoats (basically a weasel), and more to hopefully eat/control the other ones. Did that work? Of course not.

Too many invasive species

Now, New Zealand has some big invasive wildlife issues. The symbol of New Zealand–the kiwi–is critically endangered, as are tons of other indigenous birds, thanks to the voracious appetites and cunning intelligence of the possums and stoats.

Again, I get it. But it’s still jarring to see how enthusiastic New Zealanders are about killing them all. “The only good possum is a flat possum,” is something I learned on my first day in NZ. At several stops I saw donation boxes – “Help us purchase more of these machines that kill the animals here.” (With pictures of the machine and the dead animals next to it.) I saw several signs posted around Wellington basically humble bragging about all the methods they’re using to kill animals.

At the Kiwi Park in Queenstown, the girl giving the presentation about kiwis went off about how we need to kill all the stoats. OK – I get that we need to save the kiwi, but I’ve never seen someone who works at a wildlife conservation center be so aggressive about killing a different kind of animal. As someone with a background in wildlife conservation who has worked as several places like this one, I was shook.

I understand there’s no easy solution to this problem, and that slimming the population of invasive species is necessary. I think it was just the murderous enthusiasm that shocked me and the utter lack of any empathy whatsoever for these so-called predators, and all the while waxing poetic about New Zealand’s natural environment.

Definitely pick up a copy of Culture Smart New Zealand before your trip to get acquainted with your new destination!

2. The invasive species argument in general

Besides the possums and stoats, the other invasive pest I learned most about are the pine trees. Pine trees aren’t native to New Zealand and were brought over by Europeans to expand the lumber industry.

From one source, I learned about the importance of the lumber industry in New Zealand – one of its biggest exports. I saw lumber forests and lumber trucks everywhere. From other sources, I heard about how invasive the pine trees are and how they must all be cut down. (I literally hear Saruman’s voice in my head here: “Rip them all down!”)

On one trip into the mountains, our guide found a little pine sapling and cheered on her colleague as he ripped it from the ground. She explained that if we do that once per day maybe we could make a difference… all the while New Zealand if profiting wildly from its lumber industry. So… I’m confused?

The 200-year plan

But the most shocking part of this was when she explained that New Zealand has a “200-year plan” to rid itself of all invasive species. Umm, you’re joking right? Maybe I’m just a skeptic, but that sounds absolutely hopeless. Lady, we crossed the line of no return a long time. While she’s saying this, I look around and see 8 more tiny pine saplings just in that same area. (Not even counting the massive pine forests that cover half of the country.)

I feel like, at this point, you need to just do the best you can to preserve what you’ve got and keep the problems at bay. A 200-year plan to return New Zealand back to its uninhabited days? No chance. Ridding the entire country of its pine trees? When NZ makes around $6.5 billion dollars a year in lumber exports? Methinks not. Believe me, I am all about environmental preservation, but I also know how powerless we are against the almighty dollar.

OK and maybe they hate the pine trees but, umm, judging by the size of their pine cones, it looks like they’re doing alright here!

Necessary disclaimer

All that being said, I know I’m just a brief visitor to New Zealand so I really can’t speak to how the country should be run or how they handle their invasive species issues. I’m definitely not educated enough on the subjects to fully understand their struggle. These are just my observations and my account of these issues as a source of culture shock in New Zealand.

Also read: 17 Things That Shocked Me in Mexico

3. The wind in Wellington

Just before arriving to Wellington, New Zealand’s capital, our guide mentioned that it’s sometimes called “Windy Welly.” That’s adorable, I thought. It’s also a gross understatement. It wasn’t until I’d already left NZ that I learned Wellington is the windiest city in the entire world. Well, I guess I’m glad I got the full experience.

My first night in Wellington was totally fine. A light breeze at most. I slept with my balcony door open that night and it was relaxing and pleasant. The next day? MY GOD. I’m pretty sure what I experienced here would be considered a category 3 hurricane here in the US. And they’re just like, “Ho hum, just another breezy day in Windy Welly, la-di-da.”

Braving the wind

Despite the wind (or just totally underestimating it), my husband and I still wanted to go get beer and food. We bundled up and headed across town on foot. Nay, we got violently pushed horizontally across town. At several times, I was physically air-lifted off the ground. At one point, it was like I was walking against an invisible concrete wall; I literally couldn’t take a single step forward. We saw a pigeon that had gotten swept up and thrown into a car at an intersection.

I stopped to help a bumble bee that was struggling to walk down a sidewalk. From a couple yards ahead, my husband turned back and I could barely hear him shout over the wind and now pelting rain, “You can’t save the bee! We gotta keep moving!” Man, it was pretty dramatic there for a minute.  

After we made it back to our hotel, I decided to do some laundry. One of the walls in the hallway/lounge area where we waited was just a large window/set of glass doors. There were several times where we (and others) legit feared for our safety. We were 10 floors up in a large hotel and the entire building shook fiercely. The sounds of the wind were bone-chilling.

Actual wind speeds

I just checked the historical weather data for that day, and the base wind speed was 40mph with wind gusts of 70mph. That’s just a few mph shy of a literal hurricane. And in Windy Welly, it was just another day.

Also check out: 17 Things That Shocked Me in Belize

4. The sun

While preparing for my first trip to New Zealand, one piece of advice that I saw repeatedly was, “Wear Sunscreen!” This isn’t out of the ordinary at all, but it was the voracity with which these words were spoken that got my attention.

As it turns out, that, again, was an understatement. Remember that hole in the ozone layer you learned about in science class? Well, that hole is pretty close by, and the ozone layer is significantly thinner over New Zealand. Ergo, the sun is so much more intense in New Zealand than it is everywhere else. And what that means, is that you’ll burn exponentially faster here than you’re used to.

UV levels in New Zealand are considered “extreme” with a pretty consistent 12 out of 14 on the UV index. That means, without sun protection, you’ll burn from just 12 minutes of sun exposure.

Not-so-fun fact: Australia has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world; New Zealand is a close second.

So much sunscreen

And you know what? That was no joke. It won’t take long for you to figure out how intense the sun is here. You really do need to slather on the sunscreen even for a few minutes of exposure, and then reapply every hour or so. I had to buy more while I was there, and I discovered New Zealand stores don’t even sell anything less than SPF 50.

One of the most interesting pieces of culture shock in New Zealand I picked up was the prevalence of sunscreen bottles everywhere. I first saw this at the Hobbiton movie set, then at restaurants, bars, and breweries all over. Wherever you go in NZ, you’ll find giant pump jugs of sunscreen out for public use. (Similar to how we provide hand sanitizer everywhere here in the US now.)

Temperatures mean nothing

Likewise, when you’re getting ready to head out for the day, checking the temperature is a waste of time. Regardless of what the forecasted temperature is, if the sun is out, it’s going to be scorching hot.

On our first day in Queenstown, I was walking to the Kiwi Park with my husband and some friends and we were dying in the heat. We guessed it was about 85°F. Nope! Turns out it was 58°F. Again, we were shook. But when the sun goes down, or a cloud passes by, it’s chilly.

So, when traveling around New Zealand in the summer, you can more or less ignore what your phone says the temperature is. Instead, rely on whether the sun is out or not and always bring light layers to take on and off ad nauseam throughout the day.

5. The barefoot people

And no, I’m not talking about my time at Hobbiton here. I mean actual barefoot people just walking around New Zealand. What’s the deal, y’all? Of all the culture shock I experienced in New Zealand, this has to be the shockingest.

I mostly saw this in Queenstown and it horrified me every time. It’s perfectly OK to go barefoot – where appropriate. But just living like that, in your daily life? Going to the grocery store? Going shopping? Ew. Your (previously white) feet are BLACK. As someone who’s pretty strict about her foot cleanliness, I find this so appalling. Surely I’m not alone, right?   

Don’t you worry about, like, stepping on broken glass or other sharp things? Isn’t the pavement hot in the summer? What about poo??? I honestly can’t even fathom this. For more on this horrifying topic, check out this article on Australia and New Zealand’s barefoot way of life from the New York Times.

6. How often I saw my name

Ashley is a fairly common name here in the US; at least, it used to be. But I hardly ever see it anywhere, and I only actually know one other person named Ashley. Outside of the US, it’s like it doesn’t exist. But in New Zealand, I saw it everywhere.

7. The lack of crosswalks

In one of the more concerning pieces of culture shock in New Zealand, nowhere else have I been in the world where crossing the road has been so difficult. Sure, in the bigger cities like Auckland and Wellington there are crosswalks where they should be. But in the rest of the country, you’ll be hard pressed to find one. Even in Queenstown, which is by-and-large a pedestrian town.

Furthermore, cars will not stop for you. You can wait at a corner all the live-long day and no one will stop to let you cross. You can step right out into traffic and they’ll still only stop within an inch of hitting you. Even if you do find a zebra crossing, cars will not stop to let you cross. Even if you are in the zebra crossing, cars will blaze past you until they physically can’t without hitting you.

Unlike the US and many other countries, cars are not obligated to stop for you here. (Compound that with the fact that traffic is probably coming from the opposite direction than you’re used to and you’re really in for it. It’s a miracle I didn’t leave NZ in a wheelchair.)

All over, you’ll find perfectly good intersections where you’d naturally expect there to be a crossing, but nope. At one intersection in Taihape, there was even a sign posted whose general gist was: “There used to be a crosswalk here but we removed it; best of luck.” That was just one example of many where I saw they had purposely removed a zebra crossing. Honestly, why go through the extra trouble and expense to remove a crosswalk?

“People don’t stop!”

In Nelson, I visited Jens Hansen, the jeweler that created the “One Ring” for the Lord of the Rings movies. Their studios are split between two buildings that are across the street from each other. Walking from one side to the other with our guide, a Jens Hansen employee, I asked him how scary it was to walk across the street while carrying a tray of jewelry that can total in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

He looked me in the eyes and goes, “VERY.” He continued, “In fact, two of our employees have already been hit crossing this street. People don’t stop!” He also said they’ve been talking to the city for a while to try and get a stop sign there.

8. All the Maori elements

Another little bit of culture shock in New Zealand I experienced was seeing all the Maori elements integrated around the country. Maybe it’s because I come from a place that has tried (pretty successfully) to eliminate all traces of its indigenous cultures, but this was definitely something I noticed and appreciated.

I (vaguely) knew about the Maori before I visited New Zealand, and then learned a bit more from the NZ customs and culture book I picked up too. Still, I expected to find a modern relationship with them akin to what we have here in the US. I.e., seeing evidence of Maori culture in things like historic place names and little else.

Instead, Maori influence was everywhere! Besides the many place names, most signage and written text was presented in both English and Maori. There are several Maori channels on TV, Maori art all over, many people speaking the Maori language, and much more. Even more subtle elements like the street crossing lights in Wellington.

Don’t get me wrong, several race relations issues like income inequality, higher incarceration rates, higher unemployment rates, and systemic racism still exist for the Maori (a minority). So, New Zealand is far from perfect, sure, but I do appreciate that they haven’t gone out of their way to sweep Maori culture under the historical rug.

9. The super strict alcohol laws

Another thing that shocked me in New Zealand is how strict they are regarding alcohol use. Even though we have many of the same rules here in the US—no drinking in public, no underage drinking, etc.—the enforcement of these rules in NZ is unavoidable.

At every single bar/restaurant we visited that served alcohol, there were the same 4 or 5 signs posted in one or two places around the bar. In big letters, bright colors, super noticeable. And maybe we have similar notices here in the US, but I certainly never see them. If we do, they’re way more subtle (and thus, meaningless). And maybe that’s not all that shocking, but that’s just the most subtle example.

Regardless of what town or city you visit, you’ll see NO ALCOHOL ZONE signs everywhere. On light poles, on street corners, on buildings, and even clearly painted on the sidewalks. Really, it felt like overkill. Thing is, I don’t actually think there are any “Yes you can drink alcohol here” zones, so wouldn’t just the entire outdoors *gestures vaguely* be considered a “No alcohol zone?”

I’d imagine NZ’ers grow up with an understanding that you can’t drink in public, just like we do in the US. Are this many reminders really necessary? Are these merely directed at European tourists who are used to being able to drink anywhere? Is this actually a huge problem they have? I personally never saw anyone even attempt to drink in public.

Maybe it’s gone too far

Beyond those examples are the restaurants’ strict adherence to the rule that you can’t bring in any outside food or beverages. I get that; that’s pretty standard here in the US too. But, it does feel like they’ve taken it too far.

For example, on my second night in New Zealand, my husband and I were having a beer at our hotel bar (which is also part of the restaurant, which is also where the breakfast buffet is). A man and his son wanted to just sit in the lounge area and hang out, but they’d brought a chocolate bar with them. The bartender pretty assertively told him they couldn’t be there. There was so much confusion as to why, until he explained that he wasn’t allowed to consume his candy bar there. He literally made them go outside to eat it.

Forgetting all about that weird occurrence, the next morning I brought what was left of my coconut water down to breakfast with me. I gave my room number to the lady at the stand but she told me I couldn’t come in because I wasn’t allowed to bring in my own water. She literally made me go put it back in my room.

Since this was only my second morning in New Zealand, I figured it was a rule specific to that hotel, but still found it off-putting. As I spent more time in NZ and saw how oddly strict their drinking laws are, it started to make more sense. Even so, it was 7:00 am and it was a bottle of water. Did they really like I was trying to smuggle in some hooch to wash down my scrambled eggs? Pump the brakes guys.

10. The super strict dog laws

Something else that stood out in terms of culture shock in New Zealand were the super strict laws towards dog ownership. My only guess is that it comes from their desire to protect their indigenous wildlife, but still. I don’t even have a dog and I still found myself pretty irked by some of these rules. Here in the US, half the time I’m borderline pissed at how lax we are with dog rules, and I was still struck by what I saw in NZ.

I understand (and appreciate) things like not allowing dogs inside supermarkets, etc. But there are “No Dogs Allowed” signs everywhere, even in places that didn’t seem to make sense. Walking around Nelson, we ended up on a paved path near the ocean–a fairly large and long sidewalk surrounded by little more than trees, bushes, and grass. And there was a sign that read: “Walking dogs allowed only during non-busy times.”

This was a public sidewalk outside the residential area, and you’re going to tell me I can’t walk my dog here? And why only during “non-busy” times? Do they not want dogs and people interacting? And what exactly constitutes a “non-busy” time? What happened to you to make you this way, NZ?

Additionally, earlier this year, the city of Christchurch began considering a law that would put a cap on how many dogs a person can walk at once. And that’s on top of the current law that already exists that professional dog-walkers must take a course and pass an exam before they’re allowed to walk dogs in public.

The least dog-friendly place I’ve ever been

There were “No Dogs Allowed” signs in every outdoor park and natural area we visited. Every public park in the cities, next to every beach and camping grounds, and pretty much just everywhere I went. This includes: public roads, private roads, parking lots, and any sort of boating area or wharf. (So, nowhere?) For those reasons, I imagine, I hardly saw any dogs in New Zealand.

I really can understand the fear of dogs getting loose and killing the indigenous birds they’re so fond of, but these issues seem to go deeper. No dogs on the beach? No dogs in the parks? Or on the wooded trails? No dogs… in all the places you’d think dogs would only be allowed? Also, with their aggressive desire to kill all the possums, stoats, and rats, you’d think they’d actually be pretty keen to allow dogs in these places.

11. Just all the weird rules in general

Beyond the alcohol laws and the strict dog rules, there were just so many other random and weird rules. I wish I’d taken pictures of them all to keep track, but every time I saw one, I thought, “That can’t be right…”

One example is how skateboarding is prohibited everywhere. For that reason, every city we visited has a public skate park. I guess skateboarding is pretty popular in NZ? Regardless, I never saw a single person skateboarding at any of the skate parks. The only place I did see people skateboarding was on the plaza of the National War Memorial in Wellington (aka, the kind of place where skateboarding is universally banned anyway, because duh).

But I think my absolute favorite weird New Zealand rule was one I saw at our hotel in Nelson. Next to the pool was a sign of rules–your standard stuff like “no running” and “no alcohol” (of course). Last on that list however was “No cell phones allowed in pool area.” But you can go grocery shopping without shoes on? What. On. Earth.

Like this post? Have any instances of culture shock in New Zealand you’ve experienced? Let me know in the comments below. Enjoy your trip to Middle Earth!

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