I've visited Australia and New Zealand several times, and am struck by the stark differences between the two countries. There are many similarities, but the two countries can also look so very different. From the US, we often assume that they are more or less the same; the accents are hard to distinguish, so how different could they be? They both insist on putting pictures of the Queen of England on their money, and play really boring sports like cricket. Many people I've talked to in the states seem to think New Zealand is a region of Australia (even though it is over 2000km offshore). If you ever really want to piss off a Kiwi, ask them where in Australia New Zealand is.... they don't take it kindly. There is a sibling rivalry going on, and New Zealand is clearly the little brother in the deal.
To begin to understand the differences, you have to dig deep... as in the earth's crust. Australia is the lowest, flattest, and oldest continental landmass on Earth... If I remember my Geology 101 correctly, it was the core of the ancient super-continent Gondwana before all those plate
 |
| Uluru/Ayers Rock. |
tectonics broke things up and moved it all around. We're talking really really old (samples of rock 4.4
Billion years old have been found)... and not changed much by the tectonic forces that have shaped all the other continents. Because of the continent's great age, extremely weather patterns, and geographic isolation, much of the flora and fauna are unique (and strange to us). About 85% of flowering plants and mammals, and 45% of birds are endemic to Australia. As I mentioned in an earlier post, most the fauna here seems to be trying to kill us, and it turns out they've had a very long time to learn how to do it.
New Zealand is primarily made up of 2 large islands. These islands emerged from the largely submerged continent of Zealandia, which came into existence about 83 million years ago before sinking about 20 million years ago. The landmass we see today is the result of volcanic and tectonic uplifting, so it is geologically very young.
Before the arrival of humans around 900 years ago, the only mammals that were here are the ones who could fly or swim, and there aren't too many of them. This made it quite a paradise for birds, who didn't bother selecting flight as an important evolutionary trait. This has not worked out so well for several of the flightless avian varieties once the rats and men arrived on ships.
 |
| Moa... extinct |
 |
| Kiwi... endangered |
So, Australia is one of the oldest landmasses, next to one of the youngest in New Zealand. Humans are believed to have arrived in Australia over 48,000 years ago, while New Zealand was not inhabited until about 900 years ago (this date is debated). With those different origin stories, I guess we should be surprised that they have anything in common at all.
