eNZees Blog

10 Things You Didn’t Know About New Zealand

by Jill Schuman | October 05, 2016 | 0 Comments

Te Araroa Trail in New Zealand, photograph by Margaret Hedderman

The Te Araroa Trail in New Zealand, by Margaret Hedderman

The idea for eNZees Foot Soother was born in New Zealand. Sure, you might know it as a land of hobbits and elves or a place of unparalleled natural beauty, but did you know that only 5% of the population is human, the rest being animals? Or that the first commercial bungee jumping began in New Zealand? Check out these ten crazy facts you didn’t know about New Zealand and you’ll be sure to add this beautiful country to your bucket list!

  1. Did you know that roughly a third of the country is national park land?
  2. Before it was hunted to extinction, a giant flightless bird called a moa once roamed across New Zealand. It stood 12 feet tall!Moa and Haast's Eagle
  3. New Zealand had no native mammals, with the exception of bats, before humans arrived.  
  4. Hector’s dolphin which lives in the waters around New Zealand is one of the smallest dolphins in the world.Hector's dolphin
  5. The kiwi fruit is not actually native to New Zealand. It’s from China.
  6. No matter where you are in New Zealand, you are never more than 80-miles away from the ocean.
  7. The longest place name in the world is found in New Zealand: Taumatawhakatangihangaoauauotameteaturipukakapikimaungah-oronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu. It means the place where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, who slid, climbed and swallowed mountains, known as the land-eater, played his nose flute to his loved ones.
  8. The kea is the world’s only alpine parrot and is incredibly endangered, as are many of the native birds and plants in New Zealand.kea alpine parrot
  9. New Zealand appointed an Official National Wizard in 1990.
  10. New Zealand was the last habitable land mass to be populated by humans when the Maori migrated to is shores from roughly 1250-1300 AD.

Tagged: endangered species new zealand, facts about new zealand, hector's dolphin, kea alpine parrot, new zealand national wizard, ten crazy facts about new zealand, things you didn't know about new zealand