New Zealand resembles Australia but is typically greener and hillier. New Zealand’s South Island is more mountainous that the North Island. If you can see large mountains on the horizon then odds are you are on the South Island. The direction these mountains are in relation to you can also be useful in pinpointing. A useful clue to identifying New Zealand is to look for small white poles with red reflectors on them besides the road at consistent intervals. The red on these poles wraps right around the pole and I have only seen this occur in New Zealand. The red on Australian small, white poles is contrastingly a circle or rectangle. New Zealand have unique bollards lining their highways that have a red/orange strip that stretches around the higher part of the bollard. The red strip doesn’t quite stretch around the rear of New Zealand bollards. New Zealand also has red shields throughout the country that denote their highways. New Zealand has red highway shields containing a number that are unique to their country. New Zealand street signs are typically blue or green in colour whilst Australia normally has white street signs. New Zealand street signs are blue or green in colour. This contrasts Australia’s white street signs. Signs in New Zealand are most commonly found on white posts and poles. This includes street name signs. This contrasts Australia where signs in general are most commonly found on metal poles. New Zealand mainly use all white road lines. On occasions, New Zealand has some form of yellow centre line. If you see a yellow centre line, you are much more likely to be in New Zealand than Australia. New Zealand houses are often white in colour and bungalow-style. White coloured houses are much more common in New Zealand than Australia and this can be another clue to distinguish between the two countries. I’ve noticed a lone piece of metal (normally silver or white coloured) wrapping around most New Zealand utility poles. Tasmania has an olive coloured wrapping as opposed to the New Zealand silver coloured wrapper. There are a number of different types of New Zealand utility poles however I most commonly see three distinct styles. The first style has an indent running vertically down it. The second type of main New Zealand utility pole is wooden and cylindrical. The third type of main New Zealand utility pole is concrete with large holes inside of it. Concrete utility poles are more abundant on the North Island of New Zealand whilst wooden utility poles are more abundant on the South Island of New Zealand. This can be a good way to decide which island to pick when making your guess. There are poles with holes found on the North Island, with a concentration around Auckland and on the far south of the South island. New Zealand’s speed limit signs look different to Australia’s and are circular cut-outs. In contrast, Australian speed limit signs appear on a white rectangle. New Zealand ‘GIVE WAY’ signs are written in red writing. This contrasts Australian ‘GIVE WAY’ signs which are written in black. Additionally, New Zealand has a triangle preceding a ‘GIVE WAY’ intersection whilst Australia lacks these triangles. The greater Christchurch region of New Zealand features a large number of tall hedges that skirt the side of the road. It is often possible to work out which major New Zealand city you are located in based on the street signs. Dunedin has the common blue New Zealand signs with white lettering with the added orange corner. Invercargill has the common NZ signs featuring a blue background with white lettering as well as these yellow tips on the top and bottom at the end of the sign. Wellington has unique looking signs featuring a white background and green lettering. Street signs in Christchurch have a white, vertical band on the end of the standard blue and white NZ signs. Street signs in Auckland are the standard blue and white colours with a white arrow on the end of the sign. Note that this arrow can be found in some other NZ towns/smaller cities.

Bollards in New Zealand have a red strip which wraps around the top of the bollard. This strip wraps the whole way around the back and part of the front. The front or back of the bollard often contains a thin yellow or white reflector.

These bollards are unique to New Zealand.

New Zealand uses white licence plates with black text, which appears mostly white through the blur.

Some vehicles have custom licence plates which make the sides of the licence plate appear blue or black.

The most common pole type found in New Zealand is made of concrete and has one long indent which runs most of the way up the pole. Most concrete poles have small silver possum guards. Circular wooden poles can also be found, but are less common. You can also see concrete holey poles in New Zealand.

Give-way signs in New Zealand have a white border and red text.

Australia’s give-way signs use black text.

New Zealand intersections often use give-way triangles painted on the road.

Australia does not use this design.

The majority of directional and warning signs in New Zealand are held up by white posts. Warning signs are diamond-shaped and painted yellow.

New Zealand often uses blue street signs with white text, particularly in rural areas. While street signs of other colours can be often seen, blue is by far the most common.

Australia almost never has blue street signs.

New Zealand normally uses white outer road lines. Yellow dashed outer road lines can be seen in populated areas. Roads with no outer lines can be seen on smaller roads. Inner lines are either a single dashed white line or unbroken double yellow lines.

Australia does not have yellow inside lines, apart from regions with snow.

New Zealand uses black-on-yellow chevrons with a thin black border. White on black chevrons are very rarely used.

Australia’s chevrons have the same colours, but do not have the border.

New Zealand uses green directional signs. If the sign is on a state highway, the highway number will always be shown in a red crest.

Brown signs indicate the direction to landmarks.

Bridge markers can be found on most paved roads in New Zealand. If the sign is on a state highway, the highway number will always be shown in a red crest on a white marker. The yellow marker indicates the name of the river or bridge.

Some bridge markers indicate very small streams or culverdens which can be hard to find.

In terms of plants, it is very common to see ferns growing in forested areas in New Zealand.


Road Lines:

New Zealand uses a yellow divider line and white shoulder lines.

There are some cases where you can find just white dashed lines which means that you can pass other drivers.

You can also find these in cities, then they tell you that there is no parking in this spot.

You can also find Green bus lanes and red or green bicycle lanes in urban areas.

Road Signs:

New Zealand has these green signs that are on most major roads. That red shield is important as it is the New Zealand State road system.

New Zealand uses Diagonal warning signs, and they appear on White wooden poles. The exception is pedestrian crossings, which have black and white striped poles.


Electricity poles:

These concrete poles are mostly found in Suburbs and urban areas.

The wooden poles are mostly found in rural areas, but they can also be found closer to urban areas. There are some areas of the country that are replacing these poles with the concrete ones above.

These metal poles are found mostly on large highways and near some major cities.

New Zealand uses Yellow poles for their traffic lights. There are found in major cities quite frequently.
