Gidday Phil, Just around the corner in this case means just that, I can walk to nicks place in 10 minutes. Yes distances here in NZ are quite different to you larger land masses, we are an island nation, where I live I can swim in the Pacific then drive across town and take a dip in the Tasman within 45 minutes.
You can drive from one end of the country to the other in approx 2 days although a CMP would take a bit longer
Seasons greetings from sunny New Zealand.