New -Zealanders welcome people with Kia-Ora. Kia-Ora means "Welcome","Greetings","Hello", "Hi" and so on.
In general it's how they greet each other. Trust me it's not just words.
When I was about to start my journey from Auckland to Wellington (North Island) I went to catch the bus. The driver (Buzz) said Kia-Ora. And I was starring at him baffled having no clue what he was saying. Well he understood that I have no clue of what Kia-Ora is.
Then he said okay Kia-Ora is how we greet each other we hold hands (traditionally they used to hold shoulders) and we touch nose to nose and forehead to forehead and he came forward saying Kia-Ora. Being an Indian and never being in such close proximity of any male before, I was kind of hesitant but was ready to explore new ways and knew he is saying the truth so I held his hand and touched my nose to his nose (very carefully--did not want to miss the spot by any chance ;)) he said good we do that three times and I started laughing and did so. He said great "Kia-Ora" again welcome aboard. Probably he was the first friend I made in NZ. :)
Seriously I couldn't believe I did it being so conservative Indian, well not that I thought something different but it was definitely something I had never done before and my journey to things that I had never seen or done before started onwards.
Traditionally Maori people used to greet each other with Kia-Ora and they used to hold each other at shoulder and touch each others nose three times. Kia-Ora means "be well/healthy" and is considered as a greeting as in "Hi","Welcome", "Good Morning" ... and all that I mentioned above and more.
So KIA-ORA folks.
Have fun. :)
