Why are NZers called kiwis...

Found this on another site, it was news to me :)

After the original ANZAC battalions had landed at Gallipoli and been fighting for a while they were starting to suffer from scurvy.

The Aussies had taken all the oranges in the region and the British had already spoken for the entire lime stocks, so the NZers had to settle for the now famous brown furry fruit. A daring resupply mission was mounted, and despite heavy losses the front lines now had enough vitamin C to keep fighting.

The Australians would make fun of the NZers from then on and call them Kiwis - but the NZers had the last laugh. Turkish snipers found it very easy to target the bright orange fruit of the Australians, whereas the brown fruit carried by the NZers was much better camoflagued.

Very interesting, but here's another slant on it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwi_%28people%29

Aah, memories of smelling Kiwi boot polish... Strangely, my brother and I enjoyed polishing Dad's shoes. Now I know how it was named.

Esp since the Kiwi fruit is an import from China. It's not native to New zealand.
Origin: The kiwifruit is native to the Yangtze River valley of northern China and Zhejiang Province on the coast of eastern China. The first seeds were brought out of China by missionaries to New Zealand at the turn of this century. Early nurserymen in New Zealand, such as Alexander Allison, Bruno Just, and Hayward Wright, recognized the potential of the fruit and it soon became a popular backyard vine. Several plants were sent to the Chico Plant Introduction Station in California and exist to this date. In addition to New Zealand and California, kiwifruit is also grown commercially in such areas as Italy, South Africa and Chile.

[quote:5c046859d8="drphred"]Esp since the Kiwi fruit is an import from China. It's not native to New zealand.
Origin: The kiwifruit is native to the Yangtze River valley of northern China and Zhejiang Province on the coast of eastern China. The first seeds were brought out of China by missionaries to New Zealand at the turn of this century. Early nurserymen in New Zealand, such as Alexander Allison, Bruno Just, and Hayward Wright, recognized the potential of the fruit and it soon became a popular backyard vine. Several plants were sent to the Chico Plant Introduction Station in California and exist to this date. In addition to New Zealand and California, kiwifruit is also grown commercially in such areas as Italy, South Africa and Chile.[/quote:5c046859d8]

Some folks (including some Aussies who don't want NZ to get all the credit, perhaps?) call them "chinese gooseberries".