About life in New Zealand
It always takes time to adjust when settling in a new country with different laws, culture and language. Greenstone Recruitment helps candidates settle in as much as possible, with advice given about housing, education, immigration procedure advice etc. The team at Greenstone also put each new immigrant in contact with people in a similar position in their area. This provides an initial support group to help the settling-in process.
The clean and green NZ lifestyle
It's not what New Zealanders have that's important to the high quality of life - it's what we don't have! New Zealand doesn't have high crime rates, the NZ police don't carry guns and instances of corruption are virtually unheard of. There's no abject poverty or hunger, pollution, congestion, health issues and cramped city living that can be seen elsewhere.New Zealand is a unique country in which to work and live. Whilst being similar in size to the United Kingdom, Japan or California; New Zealand, with its North and South islands, only has a population of 4 million so it's easy to get away from the crowds.
New Zealand has diverse scenery and more than 15,000 kilometres of beautiful beaches. With stunning mountains, lakes and glaciers, it is scenically breathtaking.
Most cities and towns in New Zealand are within easy access of a coastline and mountains, supporting recreational activities:
- hiking
- snow ski-ing
- fishing/boating
- diving
You will find:
- rolling green farmland
- clean rivers and blue oceans
- safe harbours
- snow-covered mountains
- glacial valleys
- forests of ancient native trees
- friendly people
In contrast to the northern hemisphere, January and February are New Zealand's warmest months with July being the coldest. The climate is temperate with average temperatures ranging from 8°C to 17°C, but Summer temperatures occasionally reach the 30s in many inland and eastern regions. The average rainfall varies widely, from less than 400 mm in the central South Island to over 12,000 mm in the Southern Alps.
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Guide to Kiwi slang language
Like most former British colonies, New Zealanders speak English - albeit with a uniquely kiwi twist.
New Zealand has two official languages - Maori and English - though the use of Maori as a first language is not widespread. Even so, many place names are Maori in origin (try tongue-twisters such as Paekakariki, Turangawaewae or Ngaruawahia!), and most government agencies have bilingual names.
New Zealand English is, in itself, a unique language full of many colloquialisms foreigners will find challenging at times to decipher.
So, if you don't know how to rattle your dags, no worries mate - she'll be right!
Some common Kiwi colloquialisms you may encounter:
Farming
| Cockey | Farmer |
| "the girls" | The cows (as in dairy cows) |
| Tape | Tape for electric fence to divide an existing paddock |
| "The shed" | Usually the milking shed if on a dairy farm |
| Bike | Refers usually to 4 wheeler motorbike |
| 2 wheeler | Refers to 2 wheel motorbike |
| Rotary shed | Automatic milking shed where cows stand on a rotating platform |
| Herringbone shed | Automatic milking shed where cows stand in two rows on either side of a "pit" from where the milkers put on "cups" |
| Cups | Suction mechanisms on milking machines |
| Smoko | Break |
| Hairy | Young dairy farm worker |
| hard yakka | Hard work |
| Post Batten | Fence made of wooden posts with smaller supporting wooden "battens" |
| Silage | Decomposed maize or grass often stored in silage pits in the ground covered by plastic and fed out to stock as supplementary feed |
| Wrapped bale | Large round bales of hay, wrapped in plastic to create a decomposing effect (fed as supplementary feed) |
| Grass based system | Dairy farm relying largely on pastures for feed, very little supplementary feed |
| High input system | Dairy farm using substantial supplementary feed in addition to the grass grown on farm |
| Condition score | Condition of stock, particularly important before mating and during and after pregnancy |
| Plate Meter | Device to measure grass cover on the farm |
| Milk Solids | Measured in kilograms ("kgms") |
| Runoff | A supporting farm used to graze non-milking stock. |
| Young stock | Replacement heifers |
| Cross breds | New Zealand style cross between Fresians and Jersey dairy breeds |
| Composite Breeds | Usually in sheep - refers to the introduction of High fertility breeds such as East Fresian and Finns and crossing them with traditional breeds such as Romneys to push up lambing percentages |
| AB | Artificial Breeding (Artificial insemination) |
| Races | Fenced walkways for stock to be moved easily around the farm |
| Bobby calves | Four day old calves sold for slaughter |
Download the PDF file for Maori words and more general NZ slang terms 
Source: www.fourcorners.co.nz
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