I just returned from almost a month in New Zealand. Readers may be
interested in how things are done there:
NZ is 100 percent metric! It is really nice to have NO ifp stuff at all,
with the exception of airplane elevations and some tour bus drivers who
give mountain elevations in both feet and metres (always spelled "re").
Also, the helicopter pilot who flew us up to a glacier had feet marked on
his altimeter, and the ad for the flight stated that he would fly to xxxx
feet elevation.
Some other observations: Almost all grocery items are in even g and kg
amounts. Fuel is per L. No ounces appear on soft drink cans, even though
they are obviously the same size as those in the USA; they are all 340 mL
if I remember correctly. Produce is priced per kg. Electric meters--the
ones I saw--were in KWH. Abbreviations are somewhat of a mess: kph, kmph,
kmh, and km/h are all used in all variations of caps and small
letters. Same with mtr, m, mtrs, etc. Government and esp. highway signs
seem to have the most consistency, and for the most part get it
right. Even though I was obviously an American, no one ever spoke to me in
ifp units, which was very nice.
For some reason they have a problem with apostrophes in NZ, as plurals
are often written with an 's, even on government signs, and it results in
km's, metre's, and the like. On cereal boxes nutritional info is given in
both kJ and calories. Fuel consumption is in L/100 km. I never heard a
single person use the word "foot" in a whole month (with the exceptions
noted above)--including young people. Beer is in 330 mL bottles (most is
lousy; some is pretty good).
Notebook paper appears to be A4 size. Pipe sizes look just like those used
in the US, especially the copper pipe, but the people at the hardware store
said that they come in "15, 20, and 32 mil" sizes, and PVC pipe is marked
as in 32 and 40 mm sizes. The pipe thread specs were said to be different
than those in the US. Commercial building space is listed as so many "sqm",
and I don't recall seeing m-2 (I can't do it right on this machine). Real
estate lots for sale ("blocks") are listed sometimes as in ha and sometimes
as in ha and acres; all government literature on national parks, etc.,
lists areas in ha. I looked into a truck being used by some construction
guys and noticed a tape measure marked just as in the US: feet and cm
both. I heard a man order replacement glass at a glass store: "I need a
400 by 510 piece of glass...."
That English heritage has not been lost is shown by many place names with
"miles" in them, such as Ninty Mile Beach, Ten Mile Crossing, etc. Used
car ads give "mileage" as xxx km--or at least the ones I saw did. Shoe
sizes are often shown in US measurements, rather than European. I saw a
large banner advertising a "5 K run" in Auckland--just like in the US.
"Cheers"
HARRY WYETH
