Originally Posted by
ourquest
They live around waterways, so particularly rivers and beaches. If you are moving (ie walking or running) they won't bother you much because they are slow moving. Also wearing a light pair of long pants helps a lot because they stay low. If you need to stand still for a while, don't. Keep moving your legs will help. It's difficult to predict where you are going to find a lot of sandflies...sometimes places you expect them are free of them, and other places overun. In the latter, particularly if you are stopping your car at a beach parking, for example, you have to be very quick opening and closing your car door otherwise the car fills up with them remarkably efficiently.
As I mentioned on a recent related post, at least they don't carry any disease, be thankful for that. And don't let them spoil your enjoyment of New Zealand's spectacular landscape...a feature of the country which is given far too little emphasis on this forum.