I have a customer that is ordering a birthday cake for her daughter. Her daughter is getting ready to leave for New Zealand, and she wants to do a New Zealand themed cake...Ok, so since I haven't been there, I google it...looks like oceans, beaches, a lot of green, and sheep....I know there is more to it than that...not sure how to come up with a cool tiered cake? Any ideas...this cake is just leaving me stumped....ANY IDEAS I would APPRECIATE>...thanks!

Perhaps you could incorporate her 'travelling' You know maybe like, plane tickets, Language dictionary, Travel guide, that sorta thing? Perhaps you could run that past the customer and see how she feels about it, perhaps teaming it with having the cakes them selfs decorated as suitcases? thats about the only thing i can come up with that doesnt include Sheep and trees lol!

New Zealand is home of the Maori people. Google maori tattoos and you'll find some nice designs to put all over the cake.

You could include a topper of a couple of kiwi fruit. New Zealanders call themselves kiwis....

Good luck!

Another thought is to have the New Zealand flag flying above...

thanks guys...I like the suitcase idea...I then suggested to her a small grouping in the corner of kiwi fruit and maybe a flower for that area? I haven't been stumped in a while, but this one is doing it for me....I guess because I don't know much about it, and everytime I google info I get green, green, and water...LOL

What about a suitcase cake with a passport on top. You can incorporate "bumper stickers" with the New Zealand bird, kiwi, etc., on the suitcase

Is she going with any particular group, or for a specific purpose?

ohhh you asked the right person! lol...as a big fan of Flight of the Conchords, who are from New Zealand, I know a bit about that place. They have the Wellington Ukulele Orchestra, longest fence of toothbrushes AND bras, yes they have sheep, mountains, they do a thing called Zorbing which is rolling down a hill in a huge clear plastic ball, the native people are called Maoris and those tattoos would look really nice on a cake, and they are also known for some really large sculptures like this kiwi http://www.jaunted.com/files/3873/Kiwi260GiantKiwifruit.jpg LOL...get it? New Zealanders are called Kiwis

OH! Also, Lord of the Rings was totally filmed in New Zealand and they used all of the people IN New Zealand in the parts...seriously, the whole island came

LOVE Flight of the Conchords! If New Zealanders are like those guys, I really want to go there.... Sorry, off topic. My bad.

Then I'm definitely moving there when I retire. Until then, I can work on getting that accent.

Well, my favorite actress (Lucy Lawless) is from New Zealand so I do know a bit about the island. The Maori tattoo idea is what I was going to suggest but I see someone beat me to it! lol

I like the suitcase idea, I would make it an open suitcase and have all the great things from New Zealand "inside" the suitcase. Kiwi fruits, cute sheeps and a ukulele. Have the passport resting up against the outside of the suitcase.

Love that last idea. Open suitcase with all the NZ stuff. Very cool idea . They are also know as the land of the long white cloud. Maybe have the suitcases sitting on what would look like a big white cloud. A fun project.

I went to New Zealand for a holiday and what struck me was how green the place was. It rains a lot! They have geysers as well (those stinky mud pools). And the most beautiful waterfalls.

If she is leaving soon, it is likely she is going for the skiing/snowboarding. I think if I were to do a grouping of things, I would put a snow capped mountain, a New Zealand flag, a Kiwi Bird (not the fruit), a Maori Tiki, a football decorated like the All Blacks (the All Blacks are the Rugby Union team in New Zealand and are the biggest thing there), sheep etc. And as someone else mentioned, it is the land of the long white cloud - literally! I remember flying and being mesmerised by how the cloud was just this long straight line that seemed to go forever!

If you google all the things people have mentioned, you'll find a lot of images to draw inspiration from.

Lord of the Rings Shire scene with all the things mentioned above.

Hobbits playing football (soccer in America) one team wearing All Blacks Jerseys and the other --oh say Australia's and score is in favor of All Blacks of course.

Mommy hobbit making a kiwi salad

Kid hobbot chasing/petting a kiwi bird.

a biker dude hobbit getting a traditional Maori tattoo

etc.

(gee, guess you can tell I too want to retire there and live in the shire!)

Oh no Doug! Please don't tell me you think Rugby Union (football) is the same thing as Soccer!!!!!!! It is completely different! For one thing the ball is closer in shape to your Grit Iron balls than a soccer ball ...

And of course the All Blacks should be playing the Wallabies. Personally, I think the Wallabies should be winning .... he he he

I like the suite case idea, but consider putting the New Zealand Flag with a passport hanging from the front or you can check out New Zealand's national symbols.
http://www.mch.govt.nz/emblems/index.html

I just went to New Zealand a couple months ago and these are the things that defined NZ the most to me:

Sheep, tons of sheep (there are 5 sheep for every 1 person on the island)
Rugby (New Zealand All Blacks)
Kiwi birds (there are even kiwi crossing road signs)
Maori culture (you could do a Maori Tiki symbol to represent this)

I loved New Zealand. I loved the culture, the scenery, and the people were some of the friendliest you'll find in the world.

How about a cake in the shape of New Zealand with a suitcase cake sitting on top of it surrounded by little fondant sheep, kiwis, soccer balls, flag, etc etc...with a blue fondant cake board underneath with maybe a shark popping out of it (a smiling shark of course - not a scary mean one)

I have just been browsing around and stumbled across this dicussion about New Zealand and unfortunately I presume I have missed the boat on being able to give some insight on all things "kiwi" for the cake you are making. I am proud to say I live in New Zealand. What I do have to comment on was the smile with which I read everybody's comments about New Zealand, its really quite funny to hear about how other people see us New Zealanders and I was chuckling away whilst reading. It was nice to see that it was all pretty positive!

Definitely love putting a hobbit in the design