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New Zealand’s relative youth as a country makes it a vibrant and forward-thinking place. Its physical isolation from the rest of the world meant that for many years the country had a tendency to look outwards, first to Britain and then to the USA, mimicking cultural tips and aspiring to attain the vibrancy displayed in western mainstream culture. With time, however, has come confidence.

The country has always possessed a unique worldview. Its pioneer mentality and desire for fair play created an egalitarian society far more quickly than many of its western counterparts – it was the first country to give women the vote and the first to instigate a welfare state. And while these aspects of its political and social history have perhaps been overplayed at times (New Zealand’s maternity laws provide rights for working mothers that lag way behind that of their UK contemporaries, for example), they retain the belief in the right for all members of society to be supported and looked after.

The result is an optimistic outlook, with an admirable capacity for hard work and openness to new ideas. That’s not to say that New Zealand doesn’t remain a fairly conservative place. For all its bright ideas and young creative talent, it remains rather charmingly old-fashioned. This is still a country where the reopening of a local pie shop can make front-page news.

New Zealand has always regarded itself as a Christian culture (God Defend New Zealand is the name of the national anthem, after all), and while ostensibly this is still true (the 2006 census saw more than 55% of the country affiliated with some form of Christianity) it’s not really something that controls day-to-day life.

It’s been a long and sometimes rocky road, and there’s still a long way to go, but it’s undeniable that Maori culture now pervades New Zealand like never before, with a rebirth of interest in the language and history that is coming largely from a younger generation, keen to hold onto a heritage they feared might one day be lost.

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