New Zealand's post office has released a stamp series celebrating an A-Z of NZ cultural icons.
Watch out for that Q! Via Letterbox.
Hi to visitors from Coudal.com. I'm from the country right next door to NZ, and I don't 'get' half (well, maybe a third) of these either (!)
Michelle Park, originally from 'the 'Land of the Long White Cloud' offers an explanation of the above NZ icons...
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I'm a New Zealander, currently living in Melbourne, Australia. Here's a quick snapshot of what the New Zealand Icon stamps represent:
A is for Aotearoa: Maori name for New Zealand - popularly translated as "Land of the Long White Cloud"
B is for Beehive: the name of the executive wing of our houses of parliament - named for the shape, very much like a 'beehive'
C is for Cook: named for Captain Cook who mapped New Zealand, and whose boat, the Endeavour, appears on the New Zealand 50 cent piece.
D is for Dog: no ordinary dog.. but Dog - the main character in the comic strip Footrot Flats by cartoonist Murray Ball.
E is for Edmonds: iconic spiral bound cookbook - every basic recipe any New Zealand wife and mother needs to make her family happy. Best cookbook eva.
F is for Fantail: small native bird that flits quickly from one spot to another. Maori believes to see a fantail indoors means there will be a death.
G is for Goodnight Kiwi: animation that would play right before television would "switch off" for the night (in the years before 24 hour television).
H is for Haka: threatening war dance performed by warriors before battle. Now most well known to be performed by the All Blacks before an international rugby match. (check out Youtube for examples).
I is for Interislander: the name of the ferry that transports people and cars and goods between the North and South Islands.
J is for Jelly Tip: an icecream on a stick, two thirds vanilla icecream with the top third a jellified sweet raspberry tip, then covered in dairy milk chocolate.
K is for Kia Ora: Maori for "hi, hello, welcome" etc
L is for Log o'wood: Ranfurly Shield - trophy for provincial rugby competition
M is for Mudpools: thermal heated mud, most easily found in and around Rotorua. The mud is thick and creamy, like melted chocolate, and the hot steam bubbles up very much like porridge being boiled.
N is for Nuclear Free: New Zealand refused entry to American Navy because they would not confirm or deny onboard nuclear weapons - so we just said no to all American warships, and in turn the slogan became "Nuclear Free" and in turn the possiblity of nuclear power generation.
O is for O.E.: "Overseas Experience" the term used when a Kiwi decides to travel overseas (usually after University) to the UK and Europe.
P is for Pinetree: The nickname giving to Colin Meads, an extremely tall rugby player who was said to be as tall as a pinetree.
Q is for Quake: New Zealand has lots of earthquakes all the time.. as a child at school, we always had earthquake drills, we never had fire drills.
R is for Rutherford: For Ernest Rutherford, who split the atom.
S is for Southern Cross: the constellation of stars that are clearly seen from our country, and are shown on our national flag.
T is for Tiki: a Maori name given to this plastic (most often plastic, sometimes greenstone (similar to jade)) icon. Most known to be sold in tourist stores.
U is for Upham: Sir Charles Upham was a New Zealand war hero who earned two Victorian Crosses during WW2.
V is for Vote: New Zealand women were the first to earn the vote.
W is for Weta: fiece looking, but quite beautiful native "cricket"
X is for X-treme Sports: kiwis take sport to a whole 'nother crazy level. Nutcases!
Y is for Yarn: wool - New Zealand have bazillions of sheep!
Z is for Zeeland: Able Tasman discovered New Zealand, and named us for the old Zeeland in Holland.
Michelle Park
thejamjar.com
michellepark.com