Dissecting the Edge

Outside Online writer, Stephanie Pearson, takes a month-long tour of NZ, in a bid to discover “why everyone wants a piece of the Kiwi magic.” After interviewing a slew of overachievers, including Icebreaker’s Jeremy Moon, Peter Jackson, and Adventure Philosophy co-founder Graham Charles, Pearson concludes that in NZ “resourcefulness starts at birth.” “Kiwis are game to give virtually anything a go,” she says, “whether it’s perfecting a grape varietal, climbing Everest, or taking a two-year OE hiatus in their twenties to see how the rest of the planet lives. From sport and travel to business and culture, NZ’s traditional strengths have been infused with 21st-century verve and advertised with a global reach … But to boil the country’s essence down to statistics would be like describing Manhattan solely in terms of the height and breadth of its skyscrapers. Factor in the triple play of the current zeitgeist – bungee jumping, Hollywood hobbits, and sauvignon blanc – and you’ve only accounted for half the spirit of NZ.”