Today all over the new there has been a story about these australian couple from fushnchups.co.nz that posted a blog about New Zealand slagging us off to the aussies and other parts of the world. I think this is a typical Kiwi vs Aussie rivalry that will always go on. But have a look and see what you think of the website which is Fushnchips.
Here is the article that was posted on the NZ Herald website.
An Australian couple has upset Kiwis with an online expat guide which warns that Auckland is a “horrible soulless city” and its inhabitants are “hobbits” who cannot dress properly.
The anonymous duo have used their website, fushnchups.co.nz, to attack their new home here, rubbishing everything from the country’s beer to its major cities and lack of worldliness.
“I was horrified that I couldn’t buy a copy of The Age, even in the major bookstores. True story,” wrote the bloggers, a professional couple in their late 20s.
They sum up the largest city, Auckland, as horrible and soulless, a comment the city’s tourism chief executive, Graeme Osborne, took exception to.
“Maybe they’re just envious that Auckland recently rated ahead of every Australian city as a tourist destination,” Osborne said.
“They should get in touch with me personally and I guarantee I’ll change their impression.”
The couple also trashed Rotorua, a popular tourist destination famed for it sulfuric activity, saying it “absolutely stinks”.
“It smells like the whole town let rip at once,” they say on the site, set up as a guide for Australians contemplating making a move over the ditch.
“Can blokes (in Rotorua) get away with letting out a silent-but-deadly in bed next to the missus?” they ask.
“How do people tell when their eggs have gone off?”
Ruth Crampton, from Destination Rotorua, said the Aussie bloggers had missed the point.
“It’s the smell that makes us special,” Crampton said.
“And didn’t they read that scientists have discovered the gas which causes smell is great for men’s sexual arousal and prowess?
“That’s a reason to visit.”
The New Zealand beer brewery, DB, took exception to an open letter on the site which says the national brew is lacking in hops.
“They can’t be serious,” a DB spokeswoman said.
“We’ve got some of the best beer in the world.”
The bloggers also waded into touchy trans-Tasman waters, laying claim to pavlova and Phar Lap, but adding “you can have Russell Crowe”.
Professor Philippa Mein Smith, of the NZ Australia Connections Research Centre at the University of Canterbury, said the comments were “pathetically rude” and did nothing to help the two countries relate.
Picking up that the young pair were from Tasmania, she decided to give some back.
“Isn’t Tasmania the butt of all the jokes over there?” Prof Mein Smith said.
“They’re just attacking us because they themselves are at the bottom of the pecking order back home.”
– AAP
I think it is important to realise that New Zealand is a great country to live in and then realise that this country is the country we all live in and grow up in. Most of the People I know that have visited this place love it and have always enjoyed their stay. This is a tourist destination most people around the world long to come to to visit and experience the Kiwi culture. Auckland is Auckland.
At the end of the day we have a multi cultural nation and I am proud to be part of it. But people are able to have their own opinion but when it comes to being on a website like theirs its a little rich. But hey you cant look at it just as a negative. Its a little bit of a laugh and if i were reading about it from some other country id probably be quite interested to see what the whole thing was about.
The great thing is that New Zealand is as well as being multi cultural is a very diverse country. There is a vast difference when you go from one part of the country to the next. Every city you visit is different and every rejion is different. I have lived in so many places in New Zealand and I can say that not one place was the same. As with anywhere you have the good places and the bad but I think the people of New Zealand make this a good place. Most people are friendly and because of the diverse culture you can learn a lot from different people.
I have had a good look through their website and it is funny in a way. It has a quirky nature that I know the Australians have which is great fun most of the time. But are the things this couple have been saying a little over the top. In their blog they call it a “piss take”.To some people maybe yes and to some people maybe no. Everyone has their own opinion.
I would be very interested in seeing what people think of this story.
9 thoughts on “Fushnchups.co.nz bagging New Zealand – What A Laugh!”
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Personally, I think the blog is very humorous and clearly tongue-in-cheek. It’s no different to what any bunch of Aussies and Kiwis would say to other down at the pub.
As a Kiwi living in the UK, criticism like this is almost a daily occurrence and you simply need to develop a thick skin and take it for what it is, banter. The fact is most people are desperate to live in or visit NZ but the place isn’t to everyone’s taste. The sooner Kiwis learn to take a bit of criticism the better the country will be for it.
Well all I can say is have alook at your OWN BACK YARD AUZZIE
Joe, can you make a difference
Deon you have a great blog but these comments do nothing to enhance it. Sure negative comment is fine but this what do you think.
I totally agree with OutofTouch, the world is serious enough without some journalist with nothing better to write about than a couple of Aussie jokers. Im also a Kiwi living in the UK and get to hear alot of great comments about NZ almost everyday, but with this you have to take the good with the bad and their website seems pretty harmless! We all laughed at the Mitre 10 advert making fun of Aussie’s being lazy, so let’s not try and get all ‘wound up’ about a bit of friendly banter when it comes back our way!
Good point both of you make and is kinda true.
We do need to lighten up. Im not sure if its the economy or what but everyone is very up tight at the moment.
Go the Wallabies! Especially in 2011!!
LOL Steve your one of them are you. hehe
Hey if they are from Tasmania like myself, [ And a fine specimen I am too, Ive got ‘Errol’ in my bloodline.] I recon they are saying all that, To keep the bloody Sydney~siders out of the housing market, Keeping it real, And Because they love it So so much and just don’t want it to change Yes they love it, The pies are Great, We all know that, The beer is,… Yeah, it’s Fabulous, Tassie’s LOVE NZ Oh so much . Tasmanian’s have always been and are always ragged by The mainlander’s, [The Big Island] At any given opportunity, So I recon…maybe? they are taking the piss out of them, Those Aussie Bastards who live on the Big Island, Cause lets face it , Tassie’s and Kiwi’s are so alike, New Zealand is just proof Tasmainans can swim.