Rugby, wine and beer fan should fit in nicely

David Huebner and New Zealand should make a perfect fit. Photo / Mark Mitchell

US Ambassador David Huebner should fit in just fine in New Zealand: he loves rugby and drinking beer and wine.

"The rule in our family was 'beer before sunset, wine after sunset' and since I'm from a German family we started that routine at a very early age."

Mr Huebner presented his credentials to Governor-General Sir Anand Satyanand yesterday, then celebrated over lunch with a fine north Canterbury pinot noir (Mt Beautiful).

Then he held a press conference to introduce himself to the media.

"Being from California, I am a compulsive wine drinker," he said. "I am going to use most of my State Department shipping allowance to bring my wine cellar over, although based on what I've had at lunch I may not need to do that.

"It was superb and I am looking forward essentially to drinking from the top of the North Island to the bottom of the Mainland." He has a love of rugby and has seen the Hong Kong Sevens every year since 2000.

Mr Huebner said he would spend the first months in the job listening and he would speak when he had something to say.

He revealed that as a child his family thought him "developmentally challenged" because he did not speak or even make normal sounds for his first four years.

"One day, a few weeks after my fourth birthday, I walked into the kitchen, I tugged on my mother's skirt ... said, 'I'm hungry. What's for dinner?'

"I don't remember this but I am told the poor woman fainted to the floor.

"My grandfather told her, 'Look, I've been telling you he's just waiting until he has something to say'."