OK....for those of you that never passed Geography, listen up.
New Zealand has
NOTHING to do with Australia.
We are two TOTALLY different places each with unique people, culture and landscapes.
From the two countries closest points we are 1760 miles (2833 km) in distance away.
It's about a 3-4 hour flight from one country to another.
I posted this because there are a lot of people who think we are one in the same, far from the truth.
It's like me or people down under saying: "America, oh yeah, close to Brazil."
Or "Canada and America are one in the same", which of course, is not true.....you get my point.
There was one thread that said to watch out for the Cyclone in Australia NZ, which is 3500 miles away from me. lol
That's the same distance (slightly more) from New York to London. Don't worry Hemi Challenger, kind thoughts.
We have different accents, terrain and are fierce rivals in sports. (Rugby, Cricket, League ANYTHING)
The Australians on this board would be just as offended. Calling an Aussie a kiwi is like calling a Japanese man a Pacific Islander and vice versa. They are patriotic like us. We are in good terms with each other and are known as "Cousins" across the ditch. We are Australia's biggest tourist % and Australia is New Zealands.
As you can see from the attached map we are quite far apart, we are the smaller nation (4 million on land bigger than the entire UK). Australia has 20,910,000 people. We are both classed as being from "Down Under".
Hope that helps clear up some confusion.
Cheers,
NZ440R/T