“Daisy Nabhitha Kittredge,” I said, taking her hand in mine, “I love the hell out of you. Will you marry me?”
She said, “I could want a baby. Don’t know why. They’re nothing but trouble.”
Now, we were both laughing. “We can have a baby,” I said. “We can have three. I’m not going to lose my mind, remember? I’ll be around. That means half the trouble will be mine.”
“Even if she’s a girl?” she said. “Another girl?”
“Hey,” I said. “Don’t knock girls. Girls are awesome.”
“They’re sweet,” she said, “and they smell good.”
“That’s right,” I said. “They’re strong, too. Girls kick ass.”
“A girl, then,” she said, “and a boy. But only because half the trouble will be yours. And only because you’ll be such a good father.”
“I’ll be an old father,” I said, “if you don’t let me up off this floor. Quartz tile. Hard as hell.”
Her face was lit up like Christmas. She was laughing, and so was I, when I put that ring on her finger, and when I took her head in my hands and kissed her, she was smiling still.
Daisy Nabhitha Kittredge. That was her name. She’d chosen it herself.
Maybe she’d even change it.
Explore More
Tunnel Beach, Dunedin
Wanaka, New Zealand
Wanaka Lavender Farm (NOT run by a cult!)
That Wanaka Tree
The Escape Song (Sisters Are Doing It for Themselves)
Exhale (Daisy’s song)
A beautiful yurt
A Kiwi Glossary
A few notes about Maori pronunciation:
The accent is normally on the first syllable.
All vowels are pronounced separately.
All vowels except u have a short vowel sound.
“wh” is pronounced “f.”
“ng” is pronounced as in “singer,” not as in “anger.”
across the Ditch: in Australia (across the Tasman Sea). Or, if you're in Australia, in New Zealand!
agro: aggravation
air con: air conditioning
All Blacks: National rugby team.
ambo: paramedic
Aotearoa: New Zealand (the other official name, meaning “The Land of the Long White Cloud" in Maori)
Aussie, Oz: Australia. (An Australian is also an Aussie. Pronounced “Ozzie.”)
Babygro: onesie
bach: holiday home (pronounced like “bachelor”)
backs: rugby players who aren't in the scrum and do more running, kicking, and ball-carrying—though all players do all jobs and play both offense and defense. Backs tend to be faster, leaner, and more glamorous than forwards.
barney: argument, fight
bench: counter (kitchen bench)
berko: berserk
Big Smoke: the big city (usually Auckland)
bikkies: cookies
billy-o, like billy-o: like crazy. “I paddled like billy-o and just barely made it through that rapid.”
bin, rubbish bin: trash can
binned: thrown in the trash
bit of a dag: a comedian, a funny guy
bits and bobs: stuff (“be sure you get all your bits and bobs”)
bollocks: rubbish, nonsense
boofhead: fool, jerk
booking: reservation
boots and all: full tilt, no holding back
bot, the bot: flu, a bug
box of birds: everything’s fine (this is more of a rural South Island saying)
box of fluffy ducks: everything’s even finer
Boxing Day: December 26—a holiday
brekkie: breakfast
brilliant: fantastic
bub: baby, small child
buggered: messed up, exhausted
bull's roar: close. “They never came within a bull's roar of winning.”
bunk off: duck out, skip (bunk off school)
bust a gut: do your utmost, make a supreme effort
caravan: travel trailer
cardie: a cardigan sweater
chat up: flirt with
chilly bin: ice chest
chips: French fries. (potato chips are “crisps”)
chocolate bits: chocolate chips
chocolate fish: pink or white marshmallow coated with milk chocolate, in the shape of a fish. A common treat/reward for kids (and for adults. You often get a chocolate fish on the saucer when you order a mochaccino—a mocha).
choice: fantastic
chokka: full
chooks: chickens
Chrissy: Christmas
chuck out: throw away
chuffed: pleased
cinder: gravel
collywobbles: nervous tummy, upset stomach
come a greaser: take a bad fall
cot: crib (for a baby)
crook: ill
cuddle: hug (give a cuddle)
cuppa: a cup of tea (the universal remedy)
CV: resumé
cyclone: hurricane (Southern Hemisphere)
dairy: corner shop (not just for milk!)
dead: very; e.g., “dead sexy.”
dill: fool
do your block: lose your temper
dob in: turn in; report to authorities. Frowned upon.
doco: documentary
doddle: easy. “That'll be a doddle.”
dodgy: suspect, low-quality
dogbox: The doghouse—in trouble
dole: unemployment.
dole bludger: somebody who doesn’t try to get work and lives off unemployment (which doesn’t have a time limit in NZ)
Domain: a good-sized park; often the “official” park of the town.
dressing gown: bathrobe
drongo: fool (Australian, but used sometimes in NZ as well)
drop your gear: take off your clothes
duvet: comforter
earbashing: talking-to, one-sided chat
electric jug: electric teakettle to heat water. Every Kiwi kitchen has one.
En Zed: Pronunciation of NZ. (“Z” is pronounced “Zed.”)
ensuite: master bath (a bath in the bedroom).
eye fillet: premium steak (filet mignon)
fa soifua: goodbye (Samoan)
fair go: a fair chance. Kiwi ideology: everyone deserves a fair go.
fair wound me up: Got me very upset
fantail: small, friendly native bird
farewelled, he'll be farewelled: funeral; he’ll have his funeral.