For those of you who would like to test your knowledge of all things kiwi, feel free to take my very lame quiz. You can put your answers in the comments or keep them to yourself (or answer on facebook if we’re linked there). I will update this post with the answers in a few days.
(Sorry for the delay – answers are now at the bottom of the page!)
- this (above) is a… grasshopper/weta/ kiwi/tuatara?
- Auckland is the capital of New Zealand – true or false?
- Which is NOT a food? pavlova/rosti stack/marmite/kiwi/kumara
- is a dunny the same thing as a loo?
- which was the first thing called a kiwi – the fruit, the people or the bird?
- roughly how many million people live in New Zealand? and in Auckland?
this (mountain above) is… Mt Wellington/One Tree Hill/Rangitoto/Mt Auckland?- Auckland city has approximately how many dormant/extinct volcanoes… 2/25/50/100?
- how many trees are on the summit of One Tree Hill?
- what is a bach (pronounced “batch”) – a type of… food/house/beach/drink?
It’s pretty hard to come up with a quiz…
See you soon with the answers!
Jo:)
So here are the answers:
- a weta – an ancient and very ugly, but generally harmless, insect. The big spike on her bum is her ovipositor – her egg layer. We found her dead and about to be eaten by a wasp on Rangitoto.
- false. Wellington is the capital.
- trick question – in NZ we would never call a kiwifruit a kiwi – a kiwi is an endangered bird and thus not something you should eat. So the answer is kiwi! A pavlova is a giant meringue, a rosti is a fried potato cake, marmite is (to some people inedible) yeast-derived sandwich spread, a kumara is a kind of sweet potato.
- yes. they are nicknames for a toilet.
- the bird. The fruit (also known as Chinese gooseberry) looks brown and furry like a kiwi, so we call it a kiwifruit.
- roughly – 4 million in NZ (woohoo! it used to be 3) and 1.5 million in Auckland.
- Rangitoto (I don’t know if there is a Mt Auckland – not that I know of… but Mt Wellington is in Auckland!)
- 50 – some are hills, some are craters filled with water (lakes, basins), some have been quarried – we sit on a hot spot, and the next volcano could come up anywhere…. (and of course we’re “long overdue” for an eruption!)
- One Tree Hill has no trees on the summit. The one tree got cut down in an act of protest, but it wasn’t even really the one tree… more info here – it is said that when Maori and Pakeha (white NZers) live in peace a totara will once again grow on One Tree Hill.
- and finally, a bach (known as a crib down south) is a small, usually shabby, beach house which might have a dunny out back and has just enough space for you to sleep while you’re visiting your favorite beach for a bit of fishing, surfing, swimming, or other fun in the sun. They were generally owner-built, sometimes in great locations. I have a post about the remaining baches on Rangitoto to share with you… soon…
Thanks for playing!
adventures in the here now 
1. Creepy.
2. False. Because the largest cities are never capitals.
3. Pavlova?
4. I think so!
5. I’m going to guess the bird? And that the fruit was named after them because they’re both brown and fuzzy. (Right?)
6. NZ… 2 mil. Auckland, 1.5 mil. :D
7. One Tree Hill. Because it’s an awesome name for a mountain.
8. Um…. 2. Although it may be 25. I’m torn.
9.
9. Seven.
10. House or beach.
(No help from google. All guesses. More fun that way!)