43. Russell Crowe, an acclaimed Hollywood actor of movies like The Insider, Les Misérables, and American Gangsters, is actually a citizen of New Zealand. His ace acting also earned him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
44. Most of the early European settlers of New Zealand were actually convicts serving jail term in Britain. Her Majesty decided to relieve them off their sentence, to colonize more land and packed them off to a lifelong vacation to the Maori land. It was a win-win situation for all, except for the Maori people, who were forced to eat the invaders in a bid to scare them off.
45. The small population of New Zealand produced three Nobel laureates all of them related to chemistry and biology. A nice choice for such an organic place.
46. The Hatepe eruption in New Zealand was so great that the skies in China and Rome turned red. It formed a huge crater in the region and today it is known as Lake Taupo.
47. New Zealand isolation nurtured an extremely rich biodiversity, which was a melting pot of a plethora of species. But the subsequent arrival of humans to the islands wiped out the entire population of many species. The list is long but three most prominent species are Auckland Islands Merganser, Chatham Islands penguin and New Zealand quail.
48. If Australia has the iconic flightless bird emu, New Zealand answered back with its native flightless bird Moa. Sadly, both are extinct because of their crappy genes.
49. The namesake of New Zealand’s people is Kiwi. A flightless, innocent bird that also happens to be almost blind. Though the size of a chicken, it’s an expert in the field of laying eggs. It holds the peerless record of laying the largest egg, relative to its body size.
50. Kakapo, only found in New Zealand, is not only the world’s only flightless parrot but also the largest one. It natural to wonder why most birds in New Zealand are flightless. The answer is; they never evolved wings, as the islands were isolated for thousands of years. When other bird-eating species did come, along with human migration, they became easy prey and were wiped out of existence.
51. Though the Twin Islands are a paradise for reptiles, New Zealand is a country with no snakes. Of course, there are a few in the sea but you can safely lie on land, without the fear of one. The government actually has an ongoing anti-snake policy, to safeguard its fragile ecosystem.
52. 1/3 of the land in NZ is protected by the Government for its rich biodiversity.
53. The Land of the Long White Cloud is the only land which originally didn’t have any mammals, except bats.
54. A special kind of seal found on the southern island has a nice coating of fur and is called the fur seal. Another rare tourism treat of the southern coast is the Sperm Whale watching. The annual migration of these gigantic mammals takes them to the shores of New Zealand.
56. Speaking of Hollywood, the American cinema giant frequently uses New Zealand as its filming backyard. The Lord of the rings, King Kong, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Adventures of Tintin: The secret of the unicorn, the piano, Avatar and The Hobbit trilogy….all were filmed here yet, most of New Zealand remain uncharted.
57. New Zealand also nests the world’s cleanest natural freshwater lake. Blue Lake (Tasman) is so clear that the water has a faint blue-violet natural color to it, only found in laboratory prepared distilled water.
58. Te Waikoropupu Springs or the Pupu Springs is a spiritually significant water-body, famous for its clear and pristine water. The horizontal visibility of 63 meters makes it second only to Antarctic glaciers.
59. Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, is the nearest capital to the south-pole.
60. The Milford Sound was named the world’s top travel destination in 2008, by Trip Advisor.
61. Baldwin Street, in Dunedin, New Zealand is the world’s steepest street. For every 2.86 meters, you travel on the road, you gain or lose 1 meter of vertical length, making the slope 19 degrees.
62. New Zealand was the last major landmass to be populated, and most of it remains untouched by humans.
63. New Zealand is literally the tip of an iceberg, or rather a submerged continent. The Zealandia is an entire underwater continent; the only part above water is the country of New Zealand.
64. The Kiwi Fruit is the only thing that has a kiwi name but is not native to NZ. It is actually endemic to China.
65. The Taonga pūoro was and remains the traditional musical instrument of the Maori People. It’s shaped like a whale tooth and made from is made from timber, bones, and pounamu (greenstone). It was used both during wars and prayers to God.
66. The Maori people were obsessed with canoes. They soon converted the trees of New Zealand into the largest war canoes in history, the Waka.
67. The Kapa – Haka is a traditional Maori war cry and dance that New Zealand’s official rugby team shows off at the start of any match.
68. The Maori people have a strong sense of culture. They have their distinct music called Waiata. They also used a unique form of cooking, by the use of hot stones, called Hangi.
69. New Zealand has a long culture of tattoos before it was cool. The Maori tattoo locally called moko was painted on the skin, with a chiseled bone and a red natural gum.
National anthem "God Defend New Zealand"