favorite things, pt. 3

Okay, here's the third and final installment of my favorite New Zealand things. I've mentioned L&P several times so I figured I should definitely include it on the list of favorites. L&P stands for Lemon and Paeroa. It's a combination of lemon juice and mineral water (originally from the town of Paeroa). The first time I tried L&P I wasn't sure what I thought of it but I thought it was good enough to try again. After I "tried" it several more times I realized that I must really like it. It has a pretty unique flavor but could be compared to Ginger Beer.


Another thing I love about New Zealand is the fact that there is an Indian restaurant on almost every corner. I'm a new comer to the joys of Indian food. I first tried it last January when we were in London and was instantly hooked. I still haven't had any Indian food that compares to what I had in London but Punjabi Dhaba is a close second. The chicken curry is fabulous. We're planning on having dinner there before we fly home Wednesday. It's oh so good.

Another thing we both like about New Zealand is the money. The money system here makes so much more sense. Okay, I totally avoided a pun there. Anyway, the smallest bill that they have is a $5 note. They have a $2 and $1 coin which I really like. Brooke was saying that she read something the other day that said the U.S. would save about $35,000 a year if we converted to a $1 coin instead of using a paper note. The reason we haven't made the switch is because Americans are so stuck in their ways. Many countries have already made this type of switch but the U.S. is way behind. The smallest coin they have here is a 10 cent piece. Yes, that means no pennies. They use the Swedish rounding system which means... well it means a couple of things but the best thing in my opinion is that you never see prices like $4.99, $28.99, or anything .99 which is great. Um, the coins have cool Maori designs too.

The last thing to put on my list of my favorites is the people. We have been privileged to meet some really great folks over here and have been the recipients of much warm-hearted hospitality. We have hopefully started what will be long friendships with people here. We are looking forward to seeing family and friends back home but several here will be missed.