I’ve got a few fun random facts to share with you today, particularly about my home country of New Zealand, and all in order to give you a chuckle. So be prepared. You will hear it here first. Unless you’ve already heard it somewhere else. The first picture I’m sharing is of a cute little Kiwi bird.
- Cute, right? New Zealanders are named after the Kiwi. Why? Because these Kiwi birds don’t live anywhere else in the world except New Zealand. They’re also flightless and shuffle around on two feet, just like us. 🙂
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Wacky fact number two: New Zealand is home to the longest place name in the world, which is still in use today. A famous peak in the Hawkes Bay in the North Island is named Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwenuakitanatahu. Yep, and here’s the picture to prove it. Hands up if you can say it. Anyone at all? All you need to do is break it down into manageable syllables. 🙂 Yeah, just don’t ask me where to start. Because even I’m struggling with this one.
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Another interesting and wacky fact is only five percent of New Zealand’s population is made up of humans. The other 95% consists of animals. One animal we have a lot of is the sheep. In fact there are 9 sheep to 1 person. Here’s a picture below to prove just how many sheep we have. They rule some of our roads.
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Next fun fact. There are only four million Kiwis, and we’re all extremely industrious. Check out the picture below and spot the Kiwi.
And last but not least, I’m going to leave you in envy. Here’s a picture of one of our gorgeous beaches, because that’s what New Zealand is renowned for. Oooh yes, and this one is a stunner.
I hope you enjoyed this post. I certainly had a ball putting it together for you. Don’t forget to drop me a comment if you’d like to. I love hearing from you guys.
Also, if you’d like to read one of my books from my thrilling new Young Adult Fantasy Romance series then by all means, check out the book links below to pick up your copy of PROTECTOR or WARRIOR.
Buy PROTECTOR (Book One) at: Amazon Kindle / B&N Nook / iTunes / Kobo
Buy WARRIOR (Book Two) at: Amazon Kindle / B&N Nook / iTunes / Kobo
–ooOoo–
HAVE A GREAT WEEK. CATCH YA LATER. 
Thanks for the fabulous post. New Zealand is the best place in the world, so everyone should go there. If you are an adventurer like me, they will let you almost (hopefully) kill yourself in a 100 different sport adventures. And yes, people do die, (3 bit the dust the first week I arrived there), but what a great place to die in. It has every type of typography you can imagine from sunny beaches to glaciers. You can dive with a thousand wild dolphins, watch whales, deep sea fish, kayak, raft down a 21 foot waterfall, (I remained upright) hangglide, mountain trek (best views in the world and you can sleep in nice cabins with comfy beds at night), watch penguins march, look at giant fox bats hanging from the trees above you, see the results of earthquakes and volcanos, I’m telling you this tiny country has every stuffed into a tiny country, so if you go, stay at least a month, two would be better, because it’s like a Hollywood stage set, with so much crammed into a small space.
If you only visit one country in your life, make it New Zealand!
And here’s an irony. While many of the youth admitted they didn’t care for Americans (all that polyester and they travel in buses) they liked me a great deal.
Joanne failed to mention it, but they have an excessive amount of fuzzy antlered deer as well.
Oh and the Australians make jokes about all those sheep and velcro gloves, but I won’t go there.
Sounds just AMAZING! And you sound amazing yourself living life out loud with all those adventures!!!
Hey, Liza. I loved reading about all your adventures Down Under. Loved it. I have to say we do try not to kill our tourists, and I’m so glad you made it out alive. 🙂 We definitely do lead the way in extreme sports. Bungy-jumping was created by a New Zealander, and of course we have some fabulous locations to bungy jump. New Zealand is certainly one wicked place to live.
Great post, Joanne. I’ve always wanted to visit New Zealand. And that last picture sealed it for me. You are so fortunate to live in such a beautiful place.
Hey, Gemma. I continuously thank my ancestors for braving the high seas back in the 1850s and making the long journey from England out here. They did good. I truly wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.
Loved this post, Joanne! Thanks for bringing a smile to my face to start my day (yeah, it’s morning here). I would love to visit New Zealand someday. What a great, beautiful, fun place to live!
Hey, Mae. Are you back from holiday? You’ll have to make your next holiday a long-distance one to New Zealand. I think it’s just a short 22-hour flight. No problem, right?
Great to see you here. 🙂
Yep, back from vacation, Joanne. Who knows…maybe one of these days I’ll do that 22 hour flight and vacation in New Zealand.LOL. I understand everyone who visits doesn’t want to leave!
LOL. So great to see you’re back. Hope you had a fabulous holiday. I don’t know about you, but it seems just a few days ago you left. Holidays whizz by far too fast. Chat to you later.
I want to visit so bad!! I mean, I’ve always wanted to visit New Zealand, but the picture of your beach is amazing! We have one beach in Texas and it is a soupy shark nursery. We still go and have a blast, but if my kids ever laid eyes on a NZ beach, they’d never be satisfied with our brown waves again, haha. great post!
Hey, Tera. I love that you dropped by. I probably don’t realise how lucky I am. These kinds of beaches are just the norm for us. I see I need to travel more.
Thank you for this wonderful and charming share! I would love to visit New Zealand! The photos you shared are wonderful and the beach photo, yes, really does make me envious! Thank You and keep these posts coming!
Hey, Carolyn. You just put a smile on my face. I’m so glad you loved the post. I’ll be sure to keep them coming.
How fun! My sister in law lives in New Zealand with her husband. We always tease him about being a kiwi but I never knew where it originated from. Great read!
Hey, Katie. A lot of people are unaware of the Kiwi bird and that we’re named after them. Some people think we’re named after the Kiwifruit. LOL. The Kiwi bird is indigenous to NZ, so you’re off the hook for not guessing of it’s existence since you probably haven’t seen one before. I love that your sister-in-law and her husband live here. We’re just flying into Spring at the moment. The weather is fantastic.
New Zealand is one of my favorite places in the world. It’s magical! I prefer it over Australia, even – doh!
Hey, Cd. I love that you prefer NZ to Aussie. Make sure you say that to your Aussie hubby for me. (Which I imagine you already have.) Kiwis just love to tease our Aussie neighbors across the ditch. I think you may be a closet Kiwi. 🙂
I spent a great deal of time in Australia as well, diving for the great white sharks and rafting a class 4 river in Tasmania, but hands down, New Zealand won all categories.
Someday I hope to visit New Zealand. It’s beautiful!
Hey, Donna. Definitely swing on by. 🙂