Australia and New Zealand
Video Chat with People from New Zealand
New Zealand, or Aotearoa in te reo Māori, is two main islands with very different moods. On the North Island you might meet someone from Auckland, the biggest city, from Wellington, the windy capital, or from geothermal Rotorua; on the South Island, from Christchurch, Dunedin or adventure-loving Queenstown. English is the everyday language, spoken with a Kiwi accent and plenty of slang. Te reo Māori is part of daily life too, in greetings, place names and on the news, and New Zealand Sign Language is also official.
New Zealand is among the first places to start each new day: twelve hours ahead of GMT, or thirteen during its summer. A Saturday morning coffee in Auckland lines up with Friday evening in London, while New Zealand evenings fall late at night or in the early hours across the Americas. Rugby is an easy opener, and so are tramping (hiking) on the Great Walks, beaches and surf, Māori culture, and food like pavlova, a hāngī cooked in an earth oven, and a proper flat white.
New Zealand at a glance
| Flag | 🇳🇿 |
|---|---|
| Official name | New Zealand |
| Capital | Wellington |
| Region | Oceania · Australia and New Zealand |
| Official languages | English, Māori and New Zealand Sign Language |
| Currency | New Zealand dollar ($, NZD) |
| Calling code | +64 |
| Time zone | New Zealand Time (Pacific/Auckland) |
How to say hello
A friendly local greeting makes a great first impression.
| Language | Phrase | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Māori | Kia ora! | kee-ah OR-ah | Hello! / Thanks! |
| Māori | Mōrena! | MOR-eh-nah | Good morning! |
| Māori | Kei te pēhea koe? | kay teh PEH-heh-ah KOH-eh | How are you? |
Tips for chatting with people from New Zealand
- "Kia ora" is used by people of every background in New Zealand, so it's a natural hello whatever language you end up chatting in.
- Kiwi slang is worth asking about: "sweet as" means great, "chur" means thanks, and "jandals" are flip-flops.
- Take care with Māori place names, such as Whanganui, where "wh" sounds close to an "f"; people appreciate the effort.
- Mind the date line. From Europe, their morning is your evening; from North America, their lunchtime usually meets your late afternoon or evening. Our guide to the best time to chat across time zones does the math.
Only meet people from New Zealand
Omlet matches you Worldwide by default. To meet only people from New Zealand, use the country filter, the only filter Omlet has:
- Open Omlet and press Country on the control panel.
- Search for New Zealand and select it.
- Press Start. Press Next to meet someone else from New Zealand, or switch back to Worldwide any time.
Your first day is free: you add a card through Stripe to start it, and nothing is charged that day. When the 24 hours end, the country filter costs $3 one time, charged to that card, unless you cancel before then in Settings (if you cancel, you can still pick a country until the day ends). It's not a subscription, and it stays unlocked on that device and browser. It doesn't carry over to other devices or browsers, and clearing your browser data removes it. There's one free day per device, home network and card. Payment goes through Stripe, so Omlet never sees your card number.
The filter works both ways, and matching can be slower when fewer people from New Zealand are online. Chatting itself is free, and Worldwide matching never costs anything.
Your own country is detected automatically and shown to the people you meet as a flag.
Nearby countries
Other countries in Australia and New Zealand: