Along with Bill (Andrew’s brother) and his wife, Gwen, we’d been planning to visit either Australia or New Zealand or both since around 2018. However…
Andrew was selected to be the new general director of Hawai’i Opera Theatre, starting in April of 2019, so that was the first delay. Then…
COVID happened, and travel restrictions continued into 2021. Getting Hawai’i Opera in shape post-COVID took up way too much of 2022, but by 2023, the schedule was looking better. Andrew managed to find a couple of flexible weeks straddling the end of October and beginning of November, so we decided to finally make it happen. Given the two-week span, it made more sense to focus on one of our two possible destinations, and narrowed it down to New Zealand.
Next, we hammered out the details, picked a travel agency to help us get around, and we were on our way!
First, we’ll need some new vocabulary words…
| How they say it: | How we say it: | Example: |
| Lift | Elevator | “Take the lift to your room.” |
| Ground Floor | First Floor | “Take the stairs from the ground floor to the first floor.” |
| (no equivalent) | Coffee | Coffee drinks all use espresso instead of drip coffee. |
| Slim | Non-Fat or Skim | “Do you want full or slim milk?“ |
| Americano | (Espresso with Hot Water) | An Americano is as close as you get to black coffee. |
| Flat White | (Espresso, Steamed Milk, No Foam) | If you’re not sure, just ask for a Flat White. |
| Long Black | (Espresso, Hot Water, Foam) | “I’m lactose intolerant, so just a long black, please.“ |
| Trainers | Sneakers | “That restaurant doesn’t allow trainers.” |
| Wee | Small, Tiny | “Look at the wee lamb!“ |
| Boot | Trunk | “I’ll put your bags in the boot.“ |
| Way Out | Exit | Way out ⇨ (road sign) |
| Give Way | Yield | Give way to oncoming traffic (road sign) |
| Chips | Fries | “Did you want tomato sauce on your chips?“ |
| Tomato Sauce | Ketchup | “Did you want tomato sauce on your chips?“ |
| Capsicum | Bell Pepper | (On menus) |
| Aubergine | Eggplant | “What’s with all those aubergine emojis?“ |
| Courgette | Zucchini | “Courgettes, like everything else, grow well here.” |
| Freisian | Holstein | “Those are Freisian dairy cows.“ |
| Lucerne | Alfalfa | “I think that field is lucerne.“ |
| Tāne (Māori) | Kāne (Hawaiian) | (On men’s restroom doors) |
| Wahine (Māori) | Wahine (Hawaiian) | (On women’s restroom doors) |
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