 Hey, welcome back to my YouTube channel. Today we're going to talk about some interesting things, interesting facts, fascinating things about New Zealand that you may not be aware of. So you're not going to want to miss this video. I'm going to go through 10 surprising things about New Zealand because I've recently learned some new things about New Zealand and I thought you guys might not know this either. So here we go. If you don't know me or are new to my channel, we are a family of six that have moved to New Zealand from the US and we just kind of share our journey. So welcome if you are new to the channel and if you are moving to New Zealand, definitely reach out to me because I have lots of resources to help you. But without further ado, let's jump in and talk about 10 surprising things about New Zealand. Now not all of these were surprised to me, but I just thought maybe my audience isn't aware of all of these. Number one, New Zealand has its own species of a flightless parrot. Yeah, it's called the kakapu and it's flightless. There's a lot of flightless birds. We've got the kiwi, we've got the moa that is now extinct. It's just, yeah, it's just such a safe place. They don't need to fly away to get away from their predators. But anyway, also the kakapu is one of the heaviest parrots in the world. So it's just very interesting. You know, maybe because it's not working out and flying all the time. But it is, I guess, running around. So very interesting. A flightless parrot in New Zealand and it's heavy. Number two, New Zealand is home to one of the largest marine reserves called the Marlboro Sounds in the South Island. It's kind of in the north part of the South Island. It's over 4,000 square meters. And it's huge. I just didn't realize that it was one of the biggest. This is not the biggest, but it is one of the biggest in the world. And number three, and I may have mentioned this before, this was not new information to me, but did you know that New Zealand was the first country to give women the right to vote in 1893? So it was really the pioneer to equality among the genders back in 1893. So it was the first one to give women the right to vote. Good on you New Zealand. Number four, now this one I added because not a lot of people know this. Did you know that New Zealand has such a large DIY culture? Like they're very self-sufficient. They like to know how to do things themselves. People will build their own houses. I mean, you know, probably less and less these days, but it's definitely I've seen it. I've seen just DIY everything. And so they just they just don't think about hiring people. They think about just figuring it out and doing it themselves. So it's just amazing. Like even in all the places I've rented, like the landlords, maybe like retirement age and they are just do DIYing everything because that's the culture here. Self-sufficiency, figure it out yourself. Number five, the political system. It's one of the unique ones of the world. They have a parliamentary democracy, which means that you don't like vote in a person, like a president. You vote in a party and the head of the party is then now your prime minister. And then they also have a constitutional monarchy, which essentially everything is, you know, the queen, the king. I guess the king now is on top of that. And so they don't really like they're not going to come and like take over the government. They don't really do that. They have the prime minister. New Zealand runs on its own. It wouldn't be to their benefit, but the fact of the matter is, is that they could, is that they are essentially the head. The monarchy is the head. Number six, number six. Did you know that New Zealand has one of the largest ski resorts in the southern hemisphere? I think Australia beats us a bit, but Coronet Peak is one of the oldest ski resorts and ski. So if you love snowboarding, if you love skiing, you're going to want to come here. And so there's lots of skiing in Australia as well, but typically New Zealand will have more snow in general and they have higher peaks than they have in New Zealand. So you're going to want to go check out the Queen's Town Wanaka area for skiing. Number seven. And depending on how much you like wine, you may be aware that it's one, New Zealand is one of the largest wine producers in the world with, hold on, I wrote it down, 329 million liters of wine produced every year. And it's amazing if you haven't tried it. So if you're in the States and you want to try, I know that they sell it at Trader Joe's. I believe they sell it at Costco. And I think you could get it probably at Whole Foods as well. So check out New Zealand wine. So good. And number eight. New Zealand is very sustainable and uses so much renewable energy. 40% of its primary energy is using renewable resources. 80% of the electricity that is produced in New Zealand is using renewable resources to produce that. It's amazing. You definitely notice living here that sustainability, environmental concerns, always a big deal. They have done an amazing job at, you know, just caring for their landscape and for the earth and for for the energy that they have. It's just, it's amazing. It's really noticeable when you come here. Number nine. I did not know this. I did not know that New Zealand has one of the largest southern hemispheres, larch, I'm going to read this because I don't want to say it wrong, largest dark sky reserve. It's called Deorkee Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve. And it's in the Mount Cook area. So kind of in the middle of the South Island. And that is why the stargazing is amazing when you're in the South Island. It is just amazing. So definitely if you're traveling to New Zealand, definitely hit the South Island. Okay. And then look up. And number 10. I wanted to throw in something a little bit more unique. It is a growing tech area that you may not be aware of. Like it's not as big as other parts of the world, obviously, but like is growing. You know, like Datacom I think is the biggest, but they have like Rocket Lab, you know, is it's not it's one of its headquarters, I believe is in Auckland. Zero is a big company. So there's a lot of new kind of innovative tech happening in New Zealand. And so being such a small country and such a small population, it's a bit impressive. So I wanted to add that. Well, I hope you enjoyed the video this week. Please comment below and let me know with some unique things or surprising things that you learned maybe when you came to New Zealand or that you like to share with your friends, like little fun facts. Comment below, share them. I love to read all your comments and I hope you enjoyed this video. I will see you next week.