Video transcript: What's the most surprising thing about New Zealand?

Transcript for a video featuring Audit New Zealand staff talking about what surprised them when they first arrived in New Zealand.

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Title: What's the most surprising thing about New Zealand?

Nicol Stevens (Audit Manager)

So not having been in New Zealand before, everything was a surprise for us. We were not really sure what to expect, but when we landed I was surprised by how clean the capital was and that was really encouraging for me. I was also surprised by how efficient the public transport systems work in Wellington, and the public services.

Leon Pieterse (Audit Director)

What surprised me, living in New Zealand, in the beginning, because everything is so different but so similar. You know, the weather is different, the signage, the fact that although it’s an island it’s still a first-world island, so I was quite surprised with the level of infrastructure in New Zealand. But I was also surprised with the people – how similar they were. 

Clarence Susan (Audit Director)

I think the biggest surprise was that everybody accepted us as foreigners coming in to the country. I say everybody, and I mean really everybody. You do find the odd exception but overall everybody accepts you for who you are. They deal with you as if you’ve been a born native, which is really good.

Naudé Kotzé (Audit Manager)

The phrases and the terms they use for certain things. When I first went to go on holiday, everybody was referring to a “bach”, and I didn’t know what a bach was. Later, I discovered a bach is actually a holiday home. So it’s just to get used to the lingo and the terms that they use here.

Anton Labuschagne (Audit Manager)

When you come, you’re living with friends for a while, so everything – when you convert it – seems mind-bogglingly expensive. As an example, on average if you have a cup of coffee here it’s about four to five dollars, so when you convert it you’re thinking, “Fifty rand for a cup of coffee! I’ll never have coffee in my life while I live in New Zealand.” But as time goes by, you kind of learn that’s the normal price and actually you start to think, “It’s only five bucks – that’s OK.”

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