Kiwi men leave American girl happy but single

San Franciscan Deirdre Hussey did not quite find love at the Middlemarch Singles Dance in Otago, but she's glad she came.

The single Californian journalist was sent half-way across the world to attend the back-of-beyond bash, after joking to her American friends that the New Zealand male was "more manly".

And the blokes on show at Middlemarch lived up to expectations.

"Honestly, everyone I met last night was exactly what my perceptions of New Zealand men were - very sweet, very nice, very kind to me. And they were a lot of fun," Ms Hussey, 34, said yesterday.

Despite not finding the man of her dreams, Ms Hussey was returning home happy she made the effort.

"I couldn't have asked for better. Honestly, I was really nervous." Middlemarch had the All Blacks to thank for the jet-set guest, as it was after watching a televised test match with friends at a bar in the United States that the seeds of Ms Hussey's sojourn were sown.

After claims the Kiwi male was a superior species, her friends rallied around to raise the $1200 required to get the city girl to the country ball.

"I was hoping to come here covertly, but somewhere along the line that went awry."

The dance itself was somewhat less rustic than imagined.

"I thought everyone would be two-stepping, so I was impressed," Ms Hussey, originally from New York, said.

Ms Hussey will have a few days to appreciate New Zealand scenery before heading home to answer questions about her friends' investment in a plane ticket.

Others had more luck, with many abandoning inhibition.

"There was a lot of PDA [public displays of affection]. It was pretty gross," Winchester's Emma Bowan, 20, said.

Shelley Price, 21, said the problem was not with the men themselves. "North Canterbury has a lot of talent, but they are all your mates," she said.

Dave Macdonald, 27, agreed that in a small community it paid to swap genealogies before getting too friendly.

The first Middlemarch singles dance was organised in 2002 in an effort to ease the pining of the young men of the district.

Last night's function was the biggest yet, with 600 turning out.

- NZPA