Driving around NZ ...

 Tyler Cowen remembers his time driving around NZ in the early 90s ...

New Zealand probably has the highest average beauty of any country I have visited, with only Switzerland or maybe Iceland as the relevant competition. ...

I had not yet realised that all stores, including grocery stores, in the smaller towns, would be closing early. And that many people did not have the habit of eating out in restaurants. ...

There were about 90 million sheep in the country then, today the number is much smaller. Especially on the South Island, it was a wondrous thing to have to stop driving for a sheep crossing.

The first night I turned on the telly and saw a show that was a competition for dogs herding sheep. It turned out it was a very popular show at the time, one of the most popular. Literally at first I thought it was some kind of Monty Python skit.

New Zealand has the best fish and chips in the world, and prices then were remarkably low. ...

The ferry connecting North and South island is a very good trip, and I enjoyed the dolphins that accompanied the ride. ...

Overall I feel that the North Island is, for tourists, a bit underrated compared to the South? ...

Invercargill ... was not worth the trip. I expected something strange and exotic, end-of-the-earth feeling, but mainly it was a dump ...

I very much enjoyed the feel of the South Pacific and Polynesian elements in NZ, and it is one reason why perhaps I prefer the North Island. Where else can you see that in developed country form?

Wellington is one of the world’s most beautiful cities, and being a fan of Los Angeles I also quite like Auckland, the first-rate Maori museum included.

His US commenters add...

The main problem with driving in New Zealand is having you stop every few miles to admire the views. ...

Speaking of driving, the drive to Milford Sound has to be one of the top 10 most beautiful drives in the world. The drive up the glacial valley to Aoraki (Mount Cook) is up there too. ...

It reminded me of old California. Nice climate, access to sea, good food, vineyards, hills, lots of room. Especially on South Island. Auckland is crowded. ...

They can have lunatic politics also. As an island, they tried to cut the world off to keep COVID away. That was not feasible. So they got COVID and economic collapse. ...

In the US, there is a lot of Second World War history, not much First World War history. The opposite is true in NZ. The bloodbath in Turkey is still vivid to them. You don't see Churchill statues in NZ. ...

New Zealanders were the least status-conscious people I've ever seen anywhere. The particular combination of British manners with a total lack of the British class system is underratedly charming. It's not just the interactions with people, btw, that bespeak the lack of status consciousness: you can see it in the modesty of the built environment as well. People's 'stuff' is there to function, not to show off, and until you go there it's hard to understand what the difference is because most of us are fishes in the water of status-consciousness, so we just take the show-offiness of stuff around us for granted. ...

Restaurant choices were a bit basic outside of the major cities but meat and produce at almost any grocery store are excellent, far better than home. ...

"Welcome and here's your milk." I found the perfunctory hotel milk to be odd, too. I asked my kiwi friends about it. "It is assumed if you are a person in a place you will obviously require some milk." ... 

Kiwis are literate, I am happy to say. I wish we were.

Locals will know more how sincere that is, but Aotearoa/ NZ seemed like a country that genuinely wants to acknowledge the past and the people who lived there before the West showed up.

Unlike Australia, they didn't live there very long before the West showed up. Human habitation of New Zealand, whether by Maori or by Europeans, is younger than Oxford University. ...

If you're looking for that 90s low-key vibe, it's moved to Tasmania. ...

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