A walk around a Kiwi house

Well, hello there, and welcome to my home. I’m going to show you around a bit and point out some of the things you might find different. Many’s the laugh I’ve had with foreign friends about the contrasts between our ways of life, small though they may seem.

 

The first thing you’ll notice is that many of our houses are set well back from the street, and often above or below it due to the consistently hilly landscapes. One place I used to live in was at least three stories above its mailbox! Often, too, you’ll find two or three houses sharing one of these steep driveways, which only split off into individual properties near the top. Also because of the hills it’s very common that a house which has two storeys at the front might only have one at the back. We take advantage of this by burrowing into the hill to make room for garages. At the front you’ll almost always find a veranda, and at the back a terraced area, usually home to the trusty barbecue. Beyond that, the steeply sloped backyard rises to the fenceline.

 

So what else might you notice as you stand in front of my house? Well, you might check out the windows. None of that double-glazing for us, since the winters aren’t cold enough to warrant it. And they’re probably hung with lace curtains. While the windows are larger than others I’ve seen across the world, only one panel opens. The exception of course is if you live in one of the colonial villas, styled after English models with sash windows and double opening panels.

 

Once you get over your awe at the lush trees surrounding the house, you finally get in the front door. Which is actually the back door in our case, but never mind. Being a run-of-the-mill 60’s house, this one has an aluminium sinkbench in the kitchen, with two taps over the sink. Now I have it on rather good authority that you folks call those faucets, but whatever. Main thing is, there’s two of them, and not a mixer. Those are popping up all over now in new kitchens and bathrooms, but here we’ve still got the old style.

 

Moving through to the living room you’ll probably feel right at home. A lounge suite, TV, bookshelves and piano. The polished jarrah wood floor is a deep russet colour. At its other side is a wall consisting mostly of a glass sliding door, which leads to the veranda.

 

Up the little hallway you’ll find the three bedrooms, the laundry, and the bathroom and toilet. Yep, these last two are in separate rooms. All-in-one bathrooms used to be as scarce as hens’ teeth, though they’re definitely gaining popularity.

 

So let’s finish up with a nosy in the fridge. It’s significantly smaller than those I discovered in the US, being only a little wider than my shoulders. Inside you’ll typically find lots of milk, veggies, yoghurt, fruit, cheese, dips, eggs, and down below in the freezer, lamb steaks and chops and shanks and knuckles - we do like our lamb - and ice cream, and a fruit pie or three.

 

That’s pretty much it as far as my place goes. Of course there are plenty of houses with views of the ocean or mountains or verdant bush or farmland, and those are the lifestyles we all aspire to. Around here, it’s not so hard to do - it’s truly affordable, if you want to live in the middle of nowhere!