Not a great surprise really AO.
NZ is as English as it gets outside the UK in many ways. In the 70's even TV was a diet of Coronation St (still on), Basil Brush and Dr Who etc. The phone boxes were the same, even the emergency number, 111. I'm guessing back then many people would have had relatives of English origin, in my case Grandparents and Dad. The classic English roast was a weekend treat. Yorkshire pudding, yum. (can never forget the roast aromas wafting through the house). Most cars were English as were the books I read as a kid...