In reply to:
CK wrote: "...Zild and Strine, which are markedly different from each other.."
I think they are very similar. The accents are undeniably fused.
Sorry, belligerentyouth, but the accents are quite undeniably NOT "fused" - confused, granted, but not fused. The accents are similar, but "Joined together into a whole" - absolutely not! Both Australians and NZers are very aware of the significant differences, particularly in vowel sounds. Just ask an Australian and a NZer to say the following sentence
"In Sydney, I picked up my pen to write six numbers down on my order for fish and chips"
and then see if you still think that the accents are fused.
The other point to remember is that CapK's post was about more than accent differnces -it was about divergence between Strine and Zild, and that divergence is significant. Zild still shows a preference for UK usage and spelling, while Strine is drifting Statesward, and Zild's integration of Maori words has accentuated the difference. Zild and Strine are, to borrow the words of Gimli, "Like, and yet unlike" 
Noho ora mai, ka kite ano
