I think New Zealanders have a fascination with what outsiders think about the place. I thought this article in slate.com was interesting (not just the title – “Girls Go Wild, Adventures in NZ” 
), especially this comment -
I was in a far-away, windswept South Pacific idyll, where the headlines are as often as not about algae, troubled whales, and overturned sheep trucks. The news of the world resonates with a muffle.