NZ Dairy and Other Important Topics

Just a quick update before I get into my topic (dairy!) for the day. I've arrived safely and happily in Dunedin and have moved into my flat. I live at 6/480 Leith Street, Dunedin NZ, 9016. One of my flat mates is American (Jen) and from California. My Kiwi host (Tim) is an education major and this is (I think) his 5th semester hosting international students. My forth flat mate is currently MIA. I spend a lot of time in flat 4 because my friend from AustraLearn, Jenny can cook and my flat mates are never around. Anywho, eventually I'm sure I'll take pictures of the flat and post them. 

Now, on to more important topics: 

Before setting off on my little journey, my father told me that there would only be goat milk in NZ. Of course he just made this up (I love you, Dad!), however as it turns out the dairy in NZ is exceptional. All of the cattle is free range, so I guess that makes for better dairy. 

I kid you not, the first time I had sour cream here, I think my head exploded. Seriously. And the yogurt is excruciatingly think and rich. And only sold in individual cups and large tubs. And of course, the milk is most excellent. 

So for the record, there are a lot of cows here as well as sheep. I've also seen goats, ostriches, llamas or the alpaca-things that look like llamas, cats and dogs. Also, an interesting fact for those of you who love interesting fact-oids, NZ is the second largest producer of pine lumber in the world. And pine trees are not even native here. 

After WWII the NZ planted many kinds of trees to see which would be best for harvesting and some type of pine won. Apparently pine trees mature in only 20 years or something like that. This story also explains why I went on a hike through a California Redwood forest during my orientation in Rotorua, for those of you who were confused. 

And lastly, for those of you who want to know what its like to watch TV in NZ:

In between watching American shows, this is my favorite commercial.