Don’t the Kiwis just love to get one up on us Aussies?
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They love to let us know the celebrities we claim as our own; Russell Crowe, Keith Urban, Richard Wilkins - all born in New Zealand.
The Australian Christmas tradition of a pav, two inches thick with cream and fresh berries, is actually a NZ dessert.
And let’s not even talk about the rugby.
New Zealand may be my place of birth, but having left the land of the long white cloud, moving to Tasmania as a one-year-old, there’s not much (including the accent) that I seem to have that links me to the place.
Except of course for my beloved family. Spread out from one end of the South Island, to the very tip of the North.
And don’t they love to give me flack at every chance.
Even my mum, who lives in Tasmania, has full-on texting taunts with my brother who lives in New Zealand when the Wallabies play the All Blacks!
Usually I am pretty good at throwing a few stats their way to stamp the Australia supremacy.
But on a flying visit back – to celebrate a major birthday milestone for my birth father – the moment I walked in the room it was our political landscape that was the laughing stock.
They couldn’t help but fall about the place joking about who was our prime minister.
Had it change again in the past 10 minutes? Should I check the news in case there was a different one from when I flew out of Tasmania?
To make it even worse, they all love their prime minister, even the ones who didn’t vote for her!
She is cool, she is calm, she’s a new mum, and she’s the pride of the country.
I had nowhere to go. I had to retreat and graciously accept defeat.
The relationship between these two countries that I am so deeply connected to feels at times like a fight with your brother.
You can call each other names, belittle each other’s character and tease relentlessly.
But when push comes to shove, you will always have one another’s back.
This is how it feels between the Aussies and Kiwis. Each country can enjoy the healthy rivalry, pointing out each other’s weaknesses and highlighting your own strengths.
But when the chips are down, both nations know they have a friend in the other.
And there is no better example of that than the ANZACS
When it comes to prime ministers, New Zealand is clearly leading the way! And to be fair, I doubt we will see victory on the rugby field anytime soon. But just like my family, this beautiful country will always have Australia’s back. It’s a nice feeling.