Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Number-Eight Wire
You might, on your travels, hear the phrase 'number-eight wire' and wonder what on earth
it means. It's a catchphrase New Zealanders still repeat to themselves to encapsulate a na-
tional myth: that NZ's isolation and its pioneer stock created a culture in which ingenuity
allowed problems to be solved and tools to be built from scratch. A NZ farmer, it was said,
could solve pretty much any problem with a piece of number-eight wire (the gauge used for
fencing on farms).
It's actually largely true - NZ farms are full of NZ inventions. One reason big offshore
film and TV producers bring their projects here - apart from the low wages and huge vari-
ety of locations - is that they like the can-do attitude and ability to work to a goal of NZ
technical crews. Many more New Zealanders have worked as managers, roadies or chefs
for famous recording artists (everyone from Led Zeppelin and U2 to Madonna) than have
enjoyed the spotlight themselves. Which just goes to show that New Zealanders operate
best at the intersection of practicality and creativity, with an endearing (and sometimes in-
furiating) humility to boot.
Ironically, the person responsible for the nuclear age was a New Zealander. In 1917 Ernest Rutherford was
the first to split the nucleus of an atom. His face appears on the $100 note.
