Geez! You tackle one Kiwi and another one comes at you!
I've read Bill Bryson's book and found it to be not only hilarious but an accurate and kindly summing up of the country. He is a keen observer.
As an outsider (American) he accomplished something that probably couldn't be done by a local and I have recommended his book to people coming here for the first time.
To place things in perspective, I've lived here for 65 years now and got around a fair bit. I've yet to encounter a funnel web spider,box jellyfish,blue ringed octopus (wonder what you have to do to them to make their ring blue?), paralysis tick, stone fish or toxic caterpillar.
The only serious quake we've had here in living memory would be the one in Newcastle and strangely enough that area is heavily mined?
David