
Deep in New Zealand - Petiver
http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2016/10/27/deep-in-new-zealand-going-bush/
======
tedmiston
New Zealand is great, and Wellington is a wonderful city. I've even seen a
little Maori before in the museum and recognized the style even if I don't
know the words. But. I have no idea what I just read.

This excerpt from the publisher's site might help, though I didn't take away
the same meaning personally:

> Going Bush

> Kirsty Gunn

> Kirsty Gunn meditates upon her childhood in New Zealand, revisiting in
> writing the landscapes she once explored through sight, sound and touch.
> Struggling with the stifling norms of colonial society, the young girl
> becomes fascinated by ‘the bush’ – that fringe of sodden, savage vegetation
> bordering the town’s tidy gardens and parks. Both threatening and
> irresistible, the bush becomes a powerful metaphor for the wild, with all
> its contradictions: marginalised but intrinsic, feared but desired.
> Interweaving essay, memoir and narrative, Gunn explores the influence of
> this disquieting presence on her early life and how it was able to provide
> her sustenance during the painful years of growing up.

~~~
sfink
I just happen to be on vacation (sorry, "on holiday") in NZ right now, and I
just did an 8km hike or so on Urupukapuka Island, barefoot. And I found it
amusing that the only thing I encountered that was the least bit painful was
when walking on a manicured patch of lawn at my pickup spot - something
growing under the grass was kind of stabby.

The lack of snakes and relative lack of nasty spiders did factor in to my
decision to go barefoot, fwiw.

~~~
dzhiurgis
> Urupukapuka Island

I've just went sailing two weeks ago up there. Just like the rest of New
Zealand, it was gorgeous. The beauty of this country is impossible to
describe. I don't think there is any better place in the world.

------
JusticeJuice
Somewhat off topic to the article, but if you ever get the chance to go deep
into New Zealand Bush, do. There's nothing quite like it, the air is thick and
wet, it has an incredible smell. Stuart Island is particularly good.

~~~
mablap
Is the NZ fauna as bad as Australia's? I have spent a lot of time walking in
North American forests, and I feel pretty safe in them, even with possible
bear presence (I was in Alaska twice and it was majestic). I'd be scared to
walk in a forest/bush in New Zealand or Australia.

~~~
nnethercote
NZ and Australia have very different fauna. They might look close on a world
map but the distance from Sydney to Auckland is over 2000 km.

Just one example: Australia has a wide variety of mammals (mostly marsupials,
e.g. kangaroos). NZ has very few native mammals, but it does have a huge
assortment of unusual native birds. (Indeed, birds fill a lot of ecological
niches that mammals normally do.) In fact, there's an ongoing effort to get
rid of all non-native mammals:
[http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/12/22/big-
kill](http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/12/22/big-kill)

Finally, the "all the Animals in Australia want to kill you" idea is popular
and kind of amusing, but hugely overblown. Yes, there are deadly animals but
you typically have to be doing something unusual or silly to encounter one in
a dangerous way. Plus there's no poison ivy...

~~~
houk
We do have this though -
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendrocnide_moroides](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendrocnide_moroides)

~~~
smegel
True story - during WW2 when US soldiers were stationed here, some clever
larrikans told the yanks that particular leaf made good "toilet paper".

I am surprised we are still allies.

~~~
thomasfoster96
The relationship during WW2 wasn’t always great:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Brisbane](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Brisbane)

------
danparsonson
Interesting tidbit: in Maori, the 'wh' digraph is pronounced like an 'f', so
e.g. 'Whakarewarewa' sounds like 'Fakarewarewa'

[http://www.tetaurawhiri.govt.nz/learn-te-reo-
maori/whakahuat...](http://www.tetaurawhiri.govt.nz/learn-te-reo-
maori/whakahuatanga-pronunciation/)

