In reply to:

I think he's right - about Zild and Strine anyway. We do tend to pronounce the two words - mayor and mare - the same. MaxQ might have a different take on it.

Mais non! Every good Kiwi knows that mayor and mare are homophones, pronounced exactly alike. That's why I mentioned that my Dad's lapse in this regard was one of the signs that gives him away as a steenkin' furriner.