Here is a common question: ‘Why do New Zealanders and Australians sound so similar when they are separated by a sea that takes three hours to fly over?’ The answer is straightforward. The first English-speaking settlers of New Zealand were Australian seal-hunters from the penal colony of Port Jackson (Sydney). Later settlers were mainly British. The New Zealand accent grew from an Australian foundation spiced, with inputs from the different regional accents of the British Isles – English, Scots, Welsh and Irish.
There is a tendency in New Zealand English to shorten the long ‘e’ sound found in beg, said and leg, into a short ‘ee’ sound of the type found in seek, leak or peak. So when a New Zealander tells you to do something ‘ageen’, you know they want you to do it ‘again’.
A true clincher to decide whether you are listening to an Australian or New Zealander lies in the pronunciation of the letter “i” in the famous fish and chips test. If your companion likes eating “feesh and cheeps,” he or she is Australian. If, on the other hand, they prefer “fush and chups,” you are undoubtedly hearing a New Zealander.
| Term /Expression: | Meaning: |
|---|---|
| A feed | A meal |
| All good | This basically means ‘everything’s fine’ or ‘no problem’, |
| Angus | Someone with an anger problem |
| As | Commonly use “as” as an amplifier to the preceding adjective. For example, “cheap as” = "really cheap" |
| Aye | It has many different uses so you will need to listen carefully to know meaning in each particular situation. |
| Bro | Use it in place of ‘man’ or ‘mate’ or ‘dude’. It can be used towards anyone. |
| Buggered | Very tired |
| Can’t be bothered | Used when someone is too lazy or just simply doesn’t feel like doing something. |
| Chilly bin | A cooler bin, used for keeping drinks cold. |
| Chocka Block | Crowded/busy |
| Choice | Simply means “good” or “cool” and is used similarly to “sweet as”. |
| Chur | Generally used in place of “cheers” or “thank you”, but in some situations can also mean “OK” or “No problem”. |
| Cuppa | A hot drink, usually short for “cup of coffee” or “cup of tea” |
| Cuz | While technically short for “cousin” this is mostly used as a term of friendship or to casually address someone |
| Dairy | A convenience store, corner store, or mini supermarket. |
| Faa | Considered as shortened version of “far out”, express both excitement and disappointment. |
| Fizzy drink | Soda |
| Gap it | Can simply mean “to leave” or can also mean to “run away”. |
| Gizza | Short for “Give us a”, which actually means “Give me a” |
| Hardout | Has many translations, it can amplify an adjective, shows something is awesome or amazing |
| Heaps | Means ‘a lot’ or ‘very’. |
| Honest to who? | Loosely translates to “Really?” Often the response will be “Honest to G”, which means Honest to God. |
| Hot chips | French fries |
| Hungus | Someone who eats too much |
| Jandals | Flip flops. e.g. Havaianas |
| Jumper | A jersey or sweatshirt |
| Kai | Maori word for food |
| Kiwi | Can refer to either a New Zealander, or the country’s national bird. |
| Macca’s | McDonald’s |
| Mean | An adjective to describe something as really amazing or awesome. |
| Mince | Ground beef |
| Mint | Loosely translates to “cool”, or “awesome”. |
| Not even | Loosely translates to “No way” or “That’s not true”, but can be used in various different contexts. |
| Ow | This can be combined with “Not even” and is used somewhat like an exclamation mark. |
| Reckon | It is a synonym for the word “think”, for example instead of saying “I think so” you could say “I reckon”. |
| Scull | To drink a usually alcoholic drink in one go without stopping. |
| Shot | Has various meaning like, expressing thanks, expressing joy, or to give encouragement. |
| Shout | This is the Kiwi form of the verb ‘to treat’, such as treating someone to a meal or a drink. |
| Suss | Has 2 different meanings, 1- To take care of a task. 2- To describe something suspicious. |
| Sweet as | Means ‘no problem’, or sometimes can just mean a simple “OK”. |
| The wops | Really far away, the middle of nowhere. e.g. She lives out in the wops. |
| To the days | This is pinned to the end of a word or phrase, and means ‘extremely’ or ‘very’. |
| Togs | Swimsuit |
| What a sad guy | This is said when someone does something super uncool. |
| Yeah nah bro | Basically means “Umm” or can just be used to fill space, can be used to start a convo if nothing else to say |
What do the experts say?
The food in New Zealand is incredible, and New Zealanders are rightly proud of their paddock to plate cuisine. Almost everything is sustainably grown and processed, from lamb and seafood to vegetables and fruit.
About 20 percent of New Zealand is made up of National Parks, Forests, and Nature Reserves. And they’re all free to enter!
The Māori cultural experiences and performances offered throughout the North and South Islands are well worth seeking out. If the opportunity presents itself, definitely take part in a hāngī
Looking for a great restaurant in New Zealand? Try The Bunker in Queenstown, Plato in Dunedin, Manu in Christchurch, and Oppies Fish & Chips in Rotorua
All Blacks rugby is huge in New Zealand. If you’re a sports fan, be sure to check out a home game. The All Blacks typically play their home test matches during the months of July, August, September and sometimes October
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ExcellentBased on 5,137 ReviewsOur trip was great and your partners in Egypt met and exceeded our expectations.
Having the guides and drivers was a new experience for us but absolutely invaluable
We would recommend Goway to anyone.joe levackThanks very much Alice Teramoto for organizing such a fantastic trip for us!!!!
Everything went very smoothly, including our 15 flights and we loved all the experiences, activities and accommodations that you arranged for us.
Everything was top notch!!!Shelley MurphyWe had an amazing trip to Southeast Asia. We would like to thank Goway for organizing a memorable vacation. The tour guides were very personable, kind, respectful and knowledgeable about their countries. It was nice to be able to ask them questions and hear about their daily lives. They went above and beyond to make our trip as enjoyable as possible. We were so glad our tours were private as the guides were very flexible in accommodating us as I often could not fully participate after spending time in a hospital with food poisoning.
We enjoyed our time in Singapore. The driver who drove us from and to the airport gave us a compressive overview of daily life in Singapore. It was fascinating to hear how home ownership, retirement and driving was so different there.
The accommodations were excellent, the staff were all very kind and helpful. We have to particularly commend the staff at the Siesta Classic Ma May in Hanoi. Ann at reception was so kind to my husband when I was in the hospital asking him regularly how I was doing and arranging late checkout without being asked. And Suzie our Hanoi tour guide for rearranging a tour time for my husband then dropping him off at the hospital. She also managed to take me to see the Ho Chi Minh property on our way to the airport as I had missed so much of Hanoi. I would also like to thank Aurel Vion, the Goway representative from Paris, who personally called me while I was in the hospital to enquire how I was doing, cancel our Halong cruise and arrange an extra night in the hotel for my husband. It was much appreciated.
Hoang was super flexible with our tours in Hue and Hoi An as I was still very weak having just gotten out of hospital. We really enjoyed our visit to the private pottery museum and meet the owner and our ride on the Perfume River in a private boat and our voyage through the mountain pass to Danang. Andy, the tour guide who picked us up from the Boutique Hoi A Resort helped us avoid the long lineups in the Danang airport, again very appreciated. Tuan our tour guide in Saigon was also very accommodating. We really enjoyed our days with him relaxing on our private sampan to Cai Be and our trip to Can Tho to visit the floating markets. He also took us to the War Remnants Museum on the way back to Saigon as we had missed our tour of the Cu Chi tunnels because our flight in Danang was delayed 4 hours.
And poor Phil in Bangkok, he tried his best with the culinary tour. Unfortunately after the food poisoning we were being very cautious in what we ate. We did appreciate his tour of Chinatown and the great meal of Pad Thai. He also provided us with excellent directions so we could take the subway, skytrain and ferry by ourselves.
We will never forget how we were able to experience and appreciate cultures much different than ours.
We have only good things to say about Goway and certainly always recommend the company to all we know. We have already had an acquaintance of ours book a trip with the company.
And lastly we must thank Katherine Samsonkinai for arranging another excellent vacation. We will certainly continue to recommend her and will be calling her again to organize our next big trip.
Linda GrahamWe thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Egypt. We were a small group trip with only three people. The guides and transfers from Emeco were excellent.Always on time and very knowledgeable. Our transfer went smoothly due to these guides. They were very efficient and made sure we didn’t have to wait in lines too long. The Sun Goddess was a beautiful riverboat and all of our meals were excellent. One suggestion is to include tips . We were always trying to find the right amounts for tips. Also the times for most excursions were very early in the morning….5:30 or 6:00 and that was not on our itinerary. I understand the early times to avoid the crowds. All in all we were very pleased with GoWay and would use them again in the future. Thinking of South Africa Safari.
Also would like to thank our agent Elise for answering all of my questions and concerns. We felt very safe in Egypt. Sue ScarboroughAs a travel agent, it was very easy to work with Goway. They were very responsive, especially Osvaldo Gonzalez, even when the client wanted to make in-destination changes a day or two prior. My clients absolutely enjoyed everything about their trip to Costa Rica - they specifically mentioned that all the drivers and guides they had were excellent, friendly, and knowledgeable. I would not hesitate to use Goway again for a custom trip to Costa Rica. Shawna Woods RoyWe, three couples, all enjoyed our time in Peru, despite the small amount of time we had, and the fact one person had injury while on the cruise prior to arriving in Lima. We did want to experience Machu Picchu without spending as many days as others usually do, since we had been traveling prior to that already. Kajal at Goway was able to tailor a well packed three-day private tour for our small group of six. Every detail, from the moment we got off the cruise ship, to Cusco, to Machu Picchu, and back to Lima airport hotel, was well taken care of. Kajal was very efficient in helping with the requested itinerary, and in staying on desired budget, as well answered all questions in timely fashion. We were able to accomplish what we were not sure if possible, all thanks to Kajal at Goway.
Our experience in Peru was very positive. We felt the tours organized by Goway had enabled us to have great and impressive exposure to Peruvian culture and important historical sights - all 31 hours in 3 days!!! Condor Travel in Peru took care of us every step of the way. Every person we came across was very courteous, willing, and helpful. Help was always there and questions answered quickly via Whatsapp. All in all a great and positive experience we would highly recommend.KMI want to personally thank my Travel Agent Alice Teramoto who organized two spectacular trips for me! One to Australia and most recently Vietnam and Cambodia. She nailed it! I can’t express my gratitude enough! Both trips were flawless and hassle free! Every experience exceeded my expectations!
I spent my 60th Birthday in Vietnam on the Lunar New Year which was a complete thrill!
I highly recommend Alice and will definitely book with her again soon! Thanks so much Alice ♥️👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻AvrilMary G. was an absolute pleasure to work with. I partner with Goway often for Europe and typically have my go to rep, so stepping outside of that for a New Zealand itinerary had me a little unsure at first.
That hesitation quickly disappeared. Mary stepped in with confidence, handled all of my moving pieces with ease, and truly understood the level of detail I needed to take care of my clients.
She delivered a beautifully curated itinerary that exceeded expectations, and most importantly, my clients had an incredible experience in New Zealand.
I’m so grateful to have her as a resource and look forward to working together again.Nichole PierceJoanna was amazing!!! She was able to set up a ten day trip for me in Sydney in a matter of a couple of weeks. All accommodation and tours were amazing and the 24 hour help center was great and where able to call up the tour company and have them come and still pick be up when I had a mixup with the reservation. Would definitely recommend Goway to any friends and family and will definitely be using them again.Erica WolffI cannot sing Erin’s praises enough! She planned an action-packed two-week New Zealand itinerary that hit every single stop on our bucket list. Every experience was truly first-class and luxurious. While I found myself being price-conscious initially, once I saw the incredible quality of the experiences she curated, I knew it was going to be the trip of a lifetime. A huge thank you to Erin and Go Way Travel for making my 50th birthday so epic. We’ll definitely be reaching out for our next big adventure!Michelle
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