Oh yeah, that seems about right. I haven't been back there in 15 years, but when I lived there I encountered some oddities like that (as an American), and that fact sounds familiar.
I was also a bit stunned when I had ketchup there, because it's different from American ketchup. Much sweeter, not much vinegar, if any. The hotdogs were also different. When I went to high school (i.e. college) there, one day they had "American hotdog day", and they were like no hotdog I had in America. They were more like those red hot link sausages (which I've never seen anyone eat in America even though I've seen them in grocery stores). So that with their own version of ketchup made for an interesting experience, and was a neat allegory for how different parts of the world see each other.
Great place, that NZ. I really do miss it. Maybe I'll go back once once they finally chill out about COVID.
Anyone in doubt that US vs. UK and the other colonies are very, very different countries need not consider "lemonade" (Sprite) or Marmite.
Just order breakfast with toast. Anywhere except the US, the toast will come out on a "cooling rack". They actually want their toast cold! I have never found any hint why anyone would want this, but I did read an Ian Fleming short story in which James Bond, while in New York on (IIRC?) a personal vendetta to gun down some Cubans upstate, complains that his toast is delivered "damp".
While I am here, fair warning: if you are in Boston and order a milkshake, you will absolutely not get anything even slightly resembling a proper milkshake. You have to ask for a "cabinet". I am not joking.
I was also a bit stunned when I had ketchup there, because it's different from American ketchup. Much sweeter, not much vinegar, if any. The hotdogs were also different. When I went to high school (i.e. college) there, one day they had "American hotdog day", and they were like no hotdog I had in America. They were more like those red hot link sausages (which I've never seen anyone eat in America even though I've seen them in grocery stores). So that with their own version of ketchup made for an interesting experience, and was a neat allegory for how different parts of the world see each other.
Great place, that NZ. I really do miss it. Maybe I'll go back once once they finally chill out about COVID.