#RANDOMNZFACTS I've been fielding a few questions about American's living in NZ, so ima break it down for you all.....

#EPICTHREAD

The climate in Auckland is very similar to Northern California. The culture is very cosmopolitain, with over 160 languages spoken in Auckland alone

San Francisco with 3/10 of the pretentious dickheads.

Wellington is akin to Portland/ Seattle in both climate and culture. Coolest little capital on the planet. Queenstown is a resort town, very similar to Vail or Steamboat Springs Colorado.

Rotorua is a resort town in the North island with deep indigenous culture. We call it "RotoVegas." Taupo, one of the biggest supervolcanoes on the planet, has a huge lake in the caldera of the collapsed volcano and is full of tourists year round. Normally.

ok, so thats the lay of the land. Now let me tell you about the lifestyle.
We have Universal Healthcare. It is backed up with a private option if you so choose, and our ONE health insurance company runs its own system of clinics and hospitals.

Our public system is funded by fuel levies, vehicle rego levies, tobacco and booze taxes, Payroll levies , etc. We don't have an insurance provider soaking us for hundreds of $ a month in payments. Emergency care is ALWAYS free, in a main hospital or a system of A&E clinics

I can go visit my family doctor (GP) for about $50 for a 15- ish minute appointment . He acts as a triage and can order follow up tests etc at no charge. Every specialist above the GP level is free. Most tests are free. All vaccinations are free. Athletes foot to cancer is free.

All accident care and rehab is free, supplied by a private NGO called the Accident Compensation Corporation. If you fall down the stairs at you house of get hurt at work. Covered. Even tourists.

The victims of the volcanic eruption at White Island will never recieve a bill for treatment in NZ. A Covid paitent, no matter the level of care will pay $0. Most medications are heavily subsidized, and many pharmaies will cover the co-pay to bring customers in.

I mentioned tobacco levies above. A pack or red Marlboro (25) costs somewhere in the neighborhood of $34. a 200 cig carton costs nearly $200. That is scheduled to rise to $80 a pack within 5 years. A bottle of JD rocks in at $80-90.

The average home price in Auckland is slightly south of $1 million. (price prior to Covid) A 3 BR/ 2 ba freestanding house in a decent area rents for around $600- 900 a WEEK, not including utilities. 1 ltr of gasoline as of today is around $2. 1 gallon is 3.8L. Math.

Employees get 30 days paid vacation every year. Families get maternity and paternity leave. Midwives are free, and various charities run social services for new mothers.

We are a secular nation for the most part, but all major faiths are represented. In any city are various churches, mosques, temples and shrines. We even have a few whackadoodle megachurch firebrands, but only their congragations take them seriously.

The houses of faith are not on EVERY corner like in some US cities.

You can go to any weekend market, see colourful Samoan Christians, Even more colourful Hindu garb, Muslim women wearing hajab or full burka, Dour Catholics, perky new age goddesses, athiests, buddists ..

You'll hear Bollywood, Kpop, heavy metal, EDM, Bubblegum Top 40, African and Carribean roots hiphop, Show tunes and oldies. Not much country though.

Our Police are for the most part, unarmed, with the exception of patrol sergeants and the Armed Offender (SWAT) Squads.. the firearms they carry are locked in the boot of the car, unloaded. Tazers are on the streets , but AFAIK, are rarely used.

The NZ military is tiny. Our Air force is focused on transport, rescue and coastal patrol. Not a single fighter or bomber. a few C130's and modern helicopters. Our navy has 3 (4?) capital ships. Lightly armed multi-purpose frigates. Mostly used for humanitarian missions in the SP

The NZ army and the SAS are some of the most respected fighters in the world, although their main mission is peacekeeping. We have no main battle tanks or attack helicopters. Our SAS has operated side by side with the US Special Forces and Tier 1 operators.

There is no NZ Marine Corps.

There is no NZ Military Industreal Complex.

NZ is not as small as you think. A population of just over 5M, spread over 2 main islands and several smaller ones, with 80% of the population in 3 cities. You are never more than 120 km from an ocean.

We have cosmopolitan cities, small townships, grand alpine ranges, high desert, huge, fertile plains, deep dark rainforests, rugged coastlines and calm sandy beaches. Crater lakes, lava tubes, sea caves, Geothermal moonscapes, and live volcanoes. Auckland has over 50 volcanoes.

None that we know of in Auckland are active, but at least one is dormant. The majority of the Central North Island volcanoes are active or dormant. Mount Ruapehu is an active mountain with skifeilds on both slopes and surrounded by population centers.

A very good portion of NZ's energy is renewable, with Geothermal, wind and hydro power making up a large chunk of the sustainable generation. We still burn some coal, but we are backing off of that where we can.

Our Government is right now, a coalition of 3 parties. Labour, led by Jacinda Ardern (QUEEEN!) NZ First, a centre right, or left, depending on which side of the bed Winston gets up on, and the NZ Green Party, a progressive left party.

We have centre-right National, who ran the previous government, ACT, a Libertarian mob (ugh) and a smattering of smaller parties, some even veering into Alt-right territory.

NZ uses a Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) voting system which makes it unlikely that any one political party will win a majority of the seats in the House. The party with the most votes usually needs to form a coalition or agreement with another party or parties.

There is racism, sexism and bigotry in NZ, Make no mistake, but we are doing our best to educate our culture out of that. I personally try to be better every day. We still have a gender pay gap, but again, working on closing it.

SS Marriage is legal. Gambling is legal. Prostitution is legal, regulated and safe. Abortion is no longer a crime. We are about to vote on a public referendum on the full legalization of Cannabis for those over 20.

I need to take a break for tonight. It's just gone 11 PM and daddy needs his beauty rest. I'll pick up again in the morning. HMU with any questions you have. I have been in NZ for 20 years now and I'm pretty familiar with how it all fits together. ;)