This website has some great info:
http://medent.usyd.edu.au/fact
It seems that the Ozzies and Kiwis develop something of an immunity to the effects of the bites, while us tourists get to experience the full power and might of the hungry little midge.
With mosquitoes, you often sense the actual bite and have a chance to swat the little bugger. Not so with the sand fly. You typically do not feel the bite and the itching may not start for some time after the actual bite - even an hour later!
Also, with a mosquito bite the itch tends to diminish over time. The itch may go away and come back until it finally fades away completely, but it gets milder each time. Again, not so with the midge. I got bitten two weeks ago when I was sand boarding on the Opononi Dunes. The itch has persisted, fading and returning like a mosquito bite but with the same nagging intensity each time it returns. Not nearly as "itchy" as a mosquito bite but *@!#%*&! persistent.
Since my original bites, I have been bitten several times: on the hands, the elbows and legs. If I apply DEET and miss even a square centimeter, the midge finds it. Of course, unless I dip myself in Deet I will miss spots here and there - mostly there. So I am guaranteed to get bitten whenever I am at a beach or lowland bog or damp forest stream bed.
And I still have over a month of traveling to go. Oh, for joy.
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