spiders and other nasty bugs
initially it sounded like NZ is relatively pest-free, but when it comes to insects, i think it may be even scarier than where i live! (home of the black widow and some other nasties, e.g. there was a redwood tarantula in our house once)
to me, whether or not a spider is poisonous is merely a secondary consideration to whether it is just plain HUGE and SCARY. it seems like there are plenty of big scary arachnids in NZ, some of which like to wander into houses... it's not a deal-breaker on moving or anything (well maybe i should check with hubby, hehe :-P ) but i'm trying to mentally prepare myself. here's some links if you'd like to do the same!
there seem to be plenty of wasps/bees as well. then there's weirdo stuff like the (in)famous weta!
scary spider info at te papa:
http://www.tepapa.govt.nz/TePapa/Eng...s/Spiders_Web/
"complete" (hopefully) bug list with pics, distibution, behavior...
http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/re..._list_pics.asp
- I agree, not so much "oh my god I'm gonna die" but "oh my god HOW big?" 
Topical too - I've been down a Robocan for 4 days and in that time 2 spiders have dropped onto me from the beams and 2 found their way into my bed 
both brown, both harmless and both pretty damn big.... although I do remember seeing similar brown ones in our barn in Scotland... still, barns good... beds bad...
