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- Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!news.mathworks.com!uunet!in1.uu.net!munnari.OZ.AU!comp.vuw.ac.nz!canterbury.ac.nz!southern.co.nz!hyphen!phil
- From: phil@hyphen.southern.co.nz (phil stuart-jones)
- Reply-To: soc.culture.new-zealand@news.demon.co.uk
- Followup-To: soc.culture.new-zealand
- Subject: The soc.culture.new-zealand FAQ
- Newsgroups: soc.culture.new-zealand,soc.answers,news.answers
- X-Posting-Software: NOSEpost v0.6c
- Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.EDU
- Summary: General and specific information about New Zealand and life here.
- This faq should be read by anyone contemplating visiting New Zealand or
- thinking of moving here. Please POST any questions, don't e-mail them.
- Keywords: faq, New Zealand, information, facts, culture, people
- Expires: 20 Dec 1995 00:00:00 GMT
- Message-ID: <phil.13i2@hyphen.southern.co.nz>
- Date: 13 Nov 96 00:44:39 +1300
- Organization: home
- Lines: 6949
- Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu soc.culture.new-zealand:69140 soc.answers:6511 news.answers:86609
-
- Archive-name: new-zealand-faq
- Posting-frequency: monthly, a pointer is posted to s.c.n-z on Mondays.
- Last-modified: 12 November 1996
-
- This is the soc.culture.new-zealand list of Frequently Asked Questions, and
- some hopefully useful answers.
-
- It should be possible to find the latest edition of this FAQ at:
- ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/new-zealand-faq
-
-
- *** PLEASE DON'T E-MAIL CONTRIBUTIONS TO ME ***
- *** E-mailed contributions will NOT be included ***
- *** E-mailed requests/questions will NOT be answered ***
- *** Replies to this message go back into the newsgroup ***
-
-
- I am NOT here to supply information on request or research obscure topics.
- I merely compile the information from the newsgroup and add whatever I
- think may be useful or relevant. If you really can't look something up for
- yourself, *ask in the newsgroup*!
-
- Like many people in New Zealand (and some other parts of the world) I pay
- for my e-mail by volume, both incoming and outgoing. E-mailing a request
- to someone you don't know without an invitation is often NOT appreciated.
- I very seldom respond to such mail. It particularly annoys me to receive
- requests for information which is in the faq...
-
- Contributions and comments are welcomed, but PLEASE POST THEM to s.c.n-z so
- that others can comment on their accuracy/relevance. If you quote bits of
- the faq for context, please keep it to a minimum.
-
- Thanks.
-
-
- I correct and amend the FAQ as information and time come to hand and post
- it on the tenth of each month. The subject line on the FAQ and the weekly
- reminder will be constant for the convenience of those who wish to killfile
- them.
-
- Hopefully this FAQ will reduce the number of requests from people who want
- to know all about NZ but can't be bothered finding a NZ embassy or travel
- agent or want all replies by mail 'because they don't read this group very
- often...'.
-
- My thanks to the contributors (listed at the end of section 2) without whom
- I couldn't (and wouldn't) have compiled this. Please remember that most of
- this stuff is quoted so I may not be to blame for factual errors! :-)
-
- ===========================================================================
-
- CONTENTS
-
- ==============================
-
- INTRODUCTION: History of soc.culture.new-zealand
-
- ==============================
-
- PART A: INFO SOURCES
-
- A1 HOW TO FIND NZers AND INFORMATION ABOUT NZ
- A1.1 On The Net
- A1.2 Elsewhere
- A1.2.1 Overseas Offices of the NZ Tourism Board
- A1.2.2 Traditional sources (libraries, newspapers, etc.)
- ------------------------------
- A2 INFORMATION FOR NZers OVERSEAS
- A2.1 NZ Consulates/Embassies Overseas
- A2.2 How Do I Get News From Home?
- A2.3 Expatriate Organisations?
- ------------------------------
- A3 INTERNET ACCESS WITHIN NZ
-
- ==============================
-
- PART B: FACTS AND FIGURES
-
- B1 THE COUNTRY
- B1.1 Where Is NZ?
- B1.1.1 General
- B1.1.2 Statistics
- B1.1.3 Dependencies
- B1.1.4 Time Zones
- B1.2 The Landscape
- B1.2.1 General
- B1.2.2 Miscellaneous Figures
- B1.2.3 Flora and Fauna
- B1.2.4 Climate
- ------------------------------
- B2 THE PEOPLE
- B2.1 A Short History
- B2.2 Maoritanga
- B2.2.1 The Moriori Question
- B2.2.2 Guide to Maori pronunciation
- B2.3 Demography
- B2.3.1 General
- B2.3.2 Major Cities
- B2.3.3 Age Distribution
- B2.3.4 Ethnicity
- B2.3.5 Official Languages
- B2.3.6 Religions
- ------------------------------
- B3 LIFE IN NEW ZEALAND
- B3.1 The Political Scene
- B3.1.1 Why 'New Zealand'
- B3.1.2 Constitution
- B3.1.3 Form of Government
- B3.1.4 The Justice System
- B3.1.5 Organisation Membership
- B3.2 Economy
- B3.2.1 Defence Against Silly Questions
- B3.2.2 Current Status
- B3.2.3 Currency
- B3.2.4 Stockmarket
- B3.2.5 Interest Rates
- B3.2.6 Taxes
- B3.2.7 Miscellaneous Prices
- B3.3 Life In General
- B3.3.1 Business Hours
- B3.3.2 Tipping
- B3.3.3 Cost of Living
- B3.3.3.1 Rent
- B3.3.3.2 Wages
- B3.3.3.3 Transport
- B3.3.3.4 Food
- B3.3.3.5 Consumer goods
- B3.3.4 Crime
- B3.3.5 Finding a job
- B3.3.6 Schools and Education
- B3.3.7 Universities
- B3.3.7.1 Teaching focus
- B3.3.7.2 Addresses
- B3.3.7.3 The University Hierarchy
- B3.3.7.4 Postgrad Study
- B3.3.8 Health
- B3.3.8.1 Water Supply
- B3.3.9 Communications
- B3.3.10 Misc
- B3.4 Holidays
- B3.4.1 National
- B3.4.2 Regional
- B3.5 Technical Stuff
- B3.5.1 Electricity
- B3.5.2 TV info
- B3.5.3 Video Conversion
- B3.5.4 Bringing Computers In
- B3.5.5 Telephone
- B3.5.6 Radio
- ------------------------------
- B4 COMING TO NEW ZEALAND
- B4.1 Travel To NZ
- B4.1.1 Travel Details
- B4.1.2 Agricultural Restrictions
- B4.1.2.1 Animal Quarantine
- B4.1.3 Overseas Embassies in NZ
- B4.2 Immigration Stuff, Points System
- B4.2.1 Assessment for the General Category
- B4.2.2 Employability
- B4.2.3 Work Experience
- B4.2.4 Age
- B4.2.5 Settlement Factors
- B4.2.6 Business Investment Category
- B4.2.7 Importing a Car
- ------------------------------
- B5 TRAVEL WITHIN NZ
- B5.1 Info Sources
- B5.1.1 Tourism Board
- B5.1.2 Maps
- B5.2 Accommodation
- B5.2.1 Youth Hostel Association
- B5.2.2 Backpackers
- B5.3 Transport
- B5.3.1 Cycling/Sea kayaking
- B5.3.2 Hitchhiking
- B5.3.3 Renting a car/campervan
- B5.3.4 Train Services
- B5.3.5 Cook Strait Ferry
- B5.3.6 Coach Travel
- B5.3.7 Driving
- B5.3.8 Commercial Tours
- B5.3.9 Flying
- B5.4 Misc Info
- B5.4.1 Film Developing
- ------------------------------
- B6 MAP OF NEW ZEALAND
- ------------------------------
- B7 CONTRIBUTORS
-
- ==============================
-
- PART C: THE SUBJECTIVE BITS
-
- C1 DEFINITION OF 'KIWI'
- ------------------------------
- C2 DESCRIPTIONS OF NZ CITIES
- ------------------------------
- C3 HOLIDAYING IN NZ
- C3.1 Places
- C3.1.1 Parks and Tracks
- C3.1.2 Beaches, etc.
- C3.1.3 Distinctive Features
- C3.1.4 Archaeology/Historical/Heritage Sites
- C3.1.5 Places To Go To
- C3.1.6 Places To Avoid
- C3.1.7 Temporary Attractions
- C3.2 Activities
- C3.2.1 Tramping
- C3.2.2 Skiing
- C3.2.3 Climbing/mountaineering
- C3.2.4 Watersports
- C3.2.5 Whale/Dolphin Watching
- C3.2.6 Pubs To Go To/Nightlife
- C3.2.7 Anything Else????
- ------------------------------
- C4 GENERAL CULTURE
- C4.1 Sport
- C4.1.1 Why do New Zealander Sportspeople Wear Black?
- C4.2 Food
- C4.2.1 What is Vegemite/Marmite?
- C4.2.2 Pavlova recipe
- C4.2.3 The Edmonds Cook Book
- C4.2.4 Laying A Hangi
- C4.3 National Anthems
- C4.4 The Gumboot Song
- C4.5 Some Works by NZ Authors
- C4.6 Other Bits
- ------------------------------
- C5 FAMOUS NEW ZEALANDERS
- C5.1 Cinema
- C5.1.1 Films
- C5.1.2 People
- C5.2 Music
- C5.2.1 Pop/rock bands
- C5.2.2 Blues
- C5.2.3 Country
- C5.2.4 Classical
- C5.3 Literature
- C5.4 Fine Art
- C5.5 Humour
- C5.6 Other...
-
- ===========================================================================
-
- INTRODUCTION: History of soc.culture.new-zealand
-
- The only record I have of the history of soc.culture.new-zealand is this
- copy of the CFD, kindly passed on through various people. It appears the
- archives of the original material may have been lost, and as this is a
- repost (of sorts) I'm not sure how any of the details relate to the
- original.
-
- ----------
-
- Newsgroups: news.announce.newgroups,soc.culture.australian,
- soc.culture.british,soc.culture.celtic,soc.culture.misc,nz.general
- From: gcwillia@daisy.waterloo.edu (Graeme Williams)
- Subject: CFD: soc.culture.new-zealand
- Date: 25 Feb 91 04:41:44 GMT
- [ I have the rest of the header if it'd be useful ]
-
- Z*******Z******* CFD: A New Zealand culture group *******Z*******Z
-
- This is a call for a discussion regarding the creation of a new
- newsgroup devoted to "New Zealand culture". Here is what I propose:
-
- NAME: This will need to be decided on, several suggestions are:
-
- soc.culture.newzealand
- soc.culture.aoteoroa
- soc.culture.kiwi
- soc.culture.nz
-
- MODERATION STATUS: The group would be unmoderated.
-
- CHARTER:
-
- The group will provide a forum for discussion of topics
- related to New Zealand. In particular such things as:
-
- News, politics, Maori and Pacific Island culture, music, sport,
- events, films, telly, jobs, farming, the enviroment, economics,
- tourism, places to see, trade, education, bungy jumping, pavlovas,
- the Goodnight Kiwi and Wal and the dog in Footrot Flats.
-
- In short anything and everything Kiwi, or related to NZ.
-
- Contributions and queries from people other than New Zealanders
- will also be most welcome.
-
- COMMENTS:
-
- I have had rather a lot of positive feedback via email regarding
- the creation of this group, some very enthusiastic. What I would
- like to see now is some discussion on the net amongst the various
- people interested. In particular we will need to decide on a name
- for the group.
-
- I have set the Followup-to: field to news.groups so all discussion
- regarding this proposal should take place there.
-
- So, if you're interested and don't subscribe to news.groups, SUBSCRIBE
- to it NOW! I want to hear publicly from all you Kiwis (and others
- interested) scattered few and far between all over the globe. Shake
- off the traditional Kiwi apathy cos "she'll be right" won't work
- here on the net. Get those fingers typing and tell us what you think.
-
- Cheers,
-
- Graeme Williams - a Kiwi in Canada
- gcwillia@daisy.waterloo.edu
-
- ----------
-
- That's it. Any comments or contributions to this introduction would be
- appreciated. Please post as usual...
-
- ===========================================================================
-
- PART A
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: A1 HOW TO FIND NZers AND INFORMATION ABOUT NZ
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: A1.1 On The Net
-
- Anyone searching for people in NZ might like to try searching the online
- telephone directory first. Try pointing your Web browser at:
- http://tdl.tols.co.nz/cgi-bin/wmain.pl
-
- -----
-
- Follow this newsgroup! You might also want to investigate the nz.* groups
- (if they are available to you) particularly nz.general. Corrections for
- any of these addresses would be appreciated.
-
- The faq is available from numerous sites, including:
-
- ftp site: ftp.demon.co.uk
- dir: /pub/ibmpc/misc
- including the internet access faq and immigration eligibility software.
-
-
- For those who want to know who is able to be contacted in New Zealand, Mark
- Davies of Victoria University has put the list of New Zealand Internet
- connected sites on the web at:
-
- http://www.comp.vuw.ac.nz/~mark/netsites.html
-
-
- Other info about NZ is available via WWW from:
-
- Michael Witbrock's NZ pages at http://nz.com/
- eg. http://nz.com/nz/NZNewsArchive/
- and http://nz.com/nz/MainPage.html/
-
- and Sam Sampson says:
- "We now have Stewart Island Pages on the akika tour of nz. Site is:
- http://nz.com/tour/Stewart Island/
-
- and
-
- Philip Greenspun's file (illustrated with 25 JPEG photos):
- http://www-swiss.ai.mit.edu/philg/travel/
- then click on "email from New Zealand" and all the old stuff is there.
-
- and
-
- Jennifer George's pages:
- Obscurities/infrequently asked questions;
- http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~jmgeorge/ifaq.html
- and home page
- http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~jmgeorge/nz.html
-
- and
-
- Pat Cain's ftp site/web page:
- http://www.dosli.govt.nz/lists
- ftp://ftp.dosli.govt.nz/pub/lists
- including the Internet Access in NZ FAQ, Tony Sutorius' NZ Internet Typical
- User Profiles FAQ and BBS Listings for Auckland, Waikato, Manawatu,
- Wellington and Christchurch.
-
- and
-
- David Lobb's site:
- http://www.tricky.com/davelobb.html
-
- and
-
- Jon Clarke's site:
- http://air.com.hk/~jonc
-
-
- Library sites throughout NZ.
-
- National Library of New Zealand:
- http://www.natlib.govt.nz/
- Email: visitors@natlib.govt.nz
-
- New Zealand Library Catalogues:
- http://www.canterbury.ac.nz/libr/nzopac.htm
-
- New Zealand Library and Information Association:
- http://www.netlink.co.nz/~nzlia/
- which gives details of the organisation, and links to related sites.
-
- Canterbury Public Library:
- http://www.ccc.govt.nz/Library/
-
-
- University of Auckland:
- http://www.auckland.ac.nz/lbr/libhomehtm
-
- University of Waikato:
- http://www2.waikato.ac.nz/library/
-
- Victoria University of Wellington:
- http://www.vuw.ac.nz/library/
-
- University of Canterbury:
- http://www.canterbury.ac.nz/libr/home.htm
-
- Lincoln University:
- http://www.lincoln.ac.nz/libr/libhome.htm
- http://www.lincoln.ac.nz/libr/nz/
- and their alphabetical list of NZ WWW Home Pages at:
- http://www.lincoln.ac.nz/libr/nz/nzalpha.htm
-
- University of Otago:
- http://librius.otago.ac.nz:800/home-page.html
-
-
- Library servers on the web:
- http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Libweb/
- http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/staff/morgan/alcuin/wwwed-catalogs.html
-
-
- Other sites:
- http://133.30.120.10:10080/=@=:www.ntt.jp/AP/oceania.html
- http://archpropplan.auckland.ac.nz/misc/sources9.html
- http://charm.wcc.govt.nz/extern/kennett/homepage.htm
- http://icair.iac.org.nz/nz/tourism/index.html
- http://liber.stanford.edu/~torrie/
- http://pluto.taranaki.ac.nz/pukeiti/locus.html
- http://pluto.taranaki.ac.nz/tourism/welcome.html
- http://www.actrix.gen.nz/general/nz-faq.html
- http://www.actrix.gen.nz/users/jbarton/index.html
- http://www.gphs.vuw.ac.nz:80/meteorology/meteorology.html
- http://www.govt.nz/ps/min/stats
- http://www.indirect.com/www/richardk/NZgraphic.html
- http://www.iol.ie/~saris/bpguide.html
- http://www.nzso.co.nz/
- http://www.pncc.govt.nz/
- http://www.rsnz.govt.nz/
- http://www.rsnz.govt.nz/cgi-bin/news?rsnz/news
- http://www.tricky.com/davelobb.html
- http://www3.waikato.ac.nz/waitomo/index.html
-
- A list of newspaper sites is at the end of section 1.2.2.
-
- The Wizard of New Zealand (also known as the Wizard of Christchurch) is
- pleased to announce that he will shortly reveal his master plans on a WWW
- homepage. Comments welcome to:
- http://www.chch.planet.org.nz/wizard.html
-
-
- For the ftp and WWW challenged; to get the FAQ (or any of the other WWW
- files mentioned), in ASCII form, send email to:
- listserv@info.cern.ch
- with the body of the message reading
- www http://the.URL.you.want
-
- A message to the same address containing only the 'word' WWW will give you
- some useful help and other options, such as retrieving batches of files
- and/or pictures, etc.
-
- Also, a recent copy may be obtained by mailing a request to Mark Moir
- (moir@cs.unc.edu) and asking very nicely.
-
- Also, try Gopher:
- gopher://gopher.wcc.govt.nz/ (The Wellington City Council)
-
- A quick check of gopherspace used to tell you all you never needed to know
- about someone but it appears that Lincoln and Waikato both intend to phase
- out their gopher servers. Some universities have a database of email
- addresses available. Try:
- www.<university>.ac.nz
- or
- http://www.comp.vuw.ac.nz/Technical/x500nzquery.html.
- or
- http://nz.com/NZ/EducationResearch/Universities.html
- which will send you to home pages (and all sorts of info including snail
- mail) of universities in NZ.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: A1.2 Elsewhere
-
- A1.2.1 Overseas Offices Of The New Zealand Tourism Board
-
- AUSTRALIA
-
- SYDNEY:
- Prudential Finance House,
- 84 Pitt Street,
- NSW 2000
- Ph (02) 231 1322, 221 7333
- GP Box 614,2100 Sydney
-
- BRISBANE:
- Ground Floor, 288 Edwards St
- GPO 2634, Brisbane, Queensland 4001
- Ph (00617) 221 3176
- Fax (00617) 221 7289
-
- MELBOURNE:
- Level 19 Comco Office Tower
- 644 Chapel Street, South Yarra
- Melbourne
- Victoria
- Ph (00613) 823 6283
-
- BRITAIN
- LONDON:
- New Zealand House,
- Haymarket,
- SW1Y4TQ
- Ph (071) 973 0363
-
- EUROPE
- FRANKFURT:
- 6000 Frankfurt am Main 1,
- Kaiserhofstrasse,
- Ph (069) 288 189
- Fax (069) 281 482
-
- JAPAN
- TOKYO:
- Toho Twin tower Building,
- 2nd Floor,
- 1-5-2 Yurakucho C
- Hiyoda-ku 100
- Ph (03) 508-9981
-
- PAN-ASIA
- SINGAPORE:
- 13 Nassam Rd,
- Singapore 1025
- Ph 2359966
-
- HONG KONG:
- 3414 Jardine House,
- 1 Connaught Place,
- Central
- Ph (05) 255 044
-
- UNITED STATES
- LOS ANGELES:
- 501 Santa Monica Blvd 300,
- Santa Monica CA 90401
- Ph 1 800 3885494
- Fax (310) 395 5453
-
- NEW YORK:
- Suite 1206,
- 432 Park Avenue South,
- New York, NY 10016
- Ph (001212) 447 0550
- Fax (001212) 447 0558
-
- CANADA
- VANCOUVER:
- 1200 - 888 Dunsmuir Street,
- Vancouver, B.C., V6C 3K4
- ph (604) 684-2117
- fax (604) 684-1265
-
- Air New Zealand also has offices at 1250 - 888 Dunsmuir Street
- ph (604) 640-4600
-
- --------------------
-
- A1.2.2 Traditional Sources (libraries, newspapers, etc.)
-
- Check libraries, travel agents, embassies, consulates. Year books,
- almanacs, census data(?) etc. are all usually available.
-
-
- The Lonely Planet guide has been described as 'very helpful'.
-
-
- The following book has been suggested as a useful source of information:
- New Zealand - a travel survival kit
- by Tony Wheeler
- published by Lonely Planet Publications
-
-
- The following CD is available:
-
- New Zealand Encyclopedia (TVNZ): An encyclopedia of NZ that covers lots of
- different areas. Over 1200 illustrations, 20 maps, over 20 minutes of
- videos (1994 version).
-
- Available from:
- The Electric Book Co.
- PO Box 34-422
- Auckland 10
- New Zealand
- Ph/fax 64-9-4159343
-
-
- If all else fails, try the:
-
- Auckland Information Bureau/Auckland Information Centre
- Aotea Sq
- 299 Queen St
- PO Box 7048
- Auckland 1
-
- Phone 366 6888
- Fax 366 6893? 358 4648? (Hey Lin! Which of these is right???)
-
- Wellington Info Centre
- Phone 801 4000
- Fax 801 3030
-
- Wellington is included because if you know how to send a fax via e-mail,
- use Wellington's fax number. They probably can't email you back.
-
- Christchurch Info Centre
- Phone 379 9629
- Fax 377 2424
-
- Lincoln University library keeps (or kept?) a list of all the NZ
- magazines/newspapers at:
- http://manuka.lincoln.ac.nz/libr/nz/nzserial.htm
-
- -----
-
- Newspaper Contact Information
-
- New Zealand Major Daily Newspapers: (>25,000 Circulation)
- Newspaper Postal Box City Circulation
- Phone Mngmnt Fax Editorial Fax
- New Zealand Herald (M) PO Box 32 Auckland 238,000
- 09/379-5050 09/303-0265 09/366-1568
- Otago Daily Times (M) PO Box 181 Dunedin 48,000
- 03/477-4760 03/477-5120 03/477-1313
- The Daily News PO Box 444 New Plymouth 29,000
- 06/758-0559 06/758-4653 06/758-6849
- The Dominion (M) PO Box 3740 Wellington 67,000
- 04/474-0222 09/474-0584 04/474-0350
- The Evening Post (M) PO Box 3740 Wellington 69,000
- 04/474-0222 04/474-0584 04/474-0237
- The Press (M) Private Bag Christchurch 100,000
- 03/379-0940 03/364-8496 04/364-8492
- The Southland Times PO Box 805 Invercargill 33,000
- 03/218-1909 03/218-4349 03/214-9905
- Waikato Times Private Bag 3086 Hamilton 41,000
- 07/849-6180 07/849-9554 07/849-9603
-
- New Zealand Other Daily Newspapers: (<25,000 Circulation)
- Newspaper Postal Box City Circulation
- Phone Mngmnt Fax Editorial Fax
- Ashburton Guardian PO Box 77 Ashburton 6,300
- 03/308-3089 03/308-9855
- Bay of Plenty Times Private Bag Tauranga 21,000
- 07/578-3059 07/578-0047
- Daily Post PO Box 1442 Rotorua 13,000
- 07/348-6199 07/349-0959 07/346-0153
- Evening News PO Box 92 Dannevirke 2,700
- 06/374-7081 06/374-9353
- Evening Standard PO Box 3 Palmerston North 24,000
- 06/356-9009 06/350-9525 06/357-6316
- Evening Star PO Box 3 Greymouth 5,600
- 03/768-7121 03/768-6205
- Hawkes Bay Herald Tribune PO Box 180 Hastings 20,000
- 06/878-5155 06/876-0655 06/878-5668
- Northland Times PO Box 96 Dargaville 2,900
- 09/439-8209 09/439-6505
- Te Awamutu Courier PO Box 1 Te Awamutu ?
- 07/871-5151 07/871-3675
- The Daily Telegraph PO Box 343 Napier 16,000
- 06/835-4488 06/835-6786 06/835-1129
- The Ensign PO Box 182 Gore ?
- 03/208-9280 03/208-9594
- The Gisborne Herald PO Box 1143 Gisborne 9,700
- 06/868-6655 06/867-8048
- The Levin Chronicle PO Box 547 Levin 6,400
- 06/368-5109 06/368-2366
- The Nelson Mail PO Box 244 Nelson 19,000
- 03/548-7079 03/546-2849 03/546-2802
- The Northern Advocate PO Box 210 Whangarei 15,000
- 09/438-2399 09/430-5669 09/430-5665
- The Oamaru Mail PO Box 343 Oamaru ?
- 03/434-9970 03/434-9723
- The Timaru Herald PO Box 46 Timaru 15,000
- 03/684-4129 03/688-1042
- Wairarapa Times-Age PO Box 445 Masterton 9,100
- 06/378-9999 06/378-2839 06/378-2371
- Wairoa Star PO Box 41 Wairoa ?
- 06/838-7194 06/838-6973
- Wanganui Chronicle PO Box 433 Wanganui 15,000
- 06/345-3919 06/345-3232
- Westport News PO Box 249 Westport 2,200
- 03/789-7319 03/789-7203
-
- New Zealand Non-daily Newspapers:
-
- Newspaper Postal Box City Circulation
- Phone Mngmnt Fax Editorial Fax
- Clutha Leader (N) PO Box 45 Balclutha 2,500
- 03/418-1115 03/418-1173
- Marlborough Express (N) PO Box 242 Blenheim 10,000
- 03/578-6059 03/577-6006 03/578-0497
- National Business Review* (W) PO Box 1734 Auckland 13,000
- 09/307-1629 09/373-3997
- Northern News (W) PO Box 1 Kaikohe ?
- 09/401-0123 09/401-2129
- Sunday News* (W) PO Box 1409 Auckland 119,000
- 09/302-1300 09/366-4670 09/358-3003
- Sunday Star-Times* (W) PO Box 1409 Auckland 195,000
- 09/302-1300 09/366-4670 09/309-0258
- The Independent* (W) 17 Victoria St West Auckland 10,000
- 09/303-3534 09/303-2999
- The New Truth* (W) PO Box 1409 Auckland 35,000
- 09/302-1300 09/366-4670 09/309-2279
- Whakatane Beacon (N) PO Box 243 Whakatane 8,600
- 07/308-8129 07/307-0719
-
- Type Note: Provincial Daily unless: (M) Metropolitian Daily
- (N) Non-Daily (ie. 2-5 times/week)
- (W) Weekly
- Distrubution Note: * = Nationwide Circulation
-
- The above information was kindly supplied by the NZPA & INL via Tony Randle
- For further information, please contact the NZPA.
- Phone: 04/472-7910
- Facsimile: 04/478-1625
- Postal Address PO Box 1599, Wellington
-
- -----
-
- Email addresses (some may be EMail to fax gateways).
-
- The owner of most of the above newspapers, INL has the site
- http://www.inl.co.nz
- http://www.inl.co.nz/websites.html
-
- Waikato Times http://www.wave.co.nz/times/
- The Dominion http://www.infotech.co.nz (the weekly computer section)
- The Evening Post http://www.evpost.co.nz/ (empty page still?)
- The Press http://www.press.co.nz
- Otago Daily Times (a domain name registered but inoperative as yet)
-
- also
-
- http://nz.com/nz/NZNewsArchive/
- http://nz.com/NetEdit/
- http://nz.com/NZ/Commerce/NetEdit/VOICE.HTM
- http://nz.com/webnz/
-
- Above and beyond all this, apparently you can read newspapers all over the
- world at:
- http://www.worldaccess.nl/~brien
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: A2 INFORMATION FOR NZers OVERSEAS
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: A2.1 NZ Consulates/Embassies Overseas
-
- Chase up a phone book. There are embassies and consulates all over the
- place. In countries where there are no New Zealand representatives, the UK
- representatives usually look after the interests of NZ nationals by
- agreement.
-
- For callers in the U.S. the New Zealand Tourism Board has a 24 hour number;
- 1-800-388-5494. Leave your name, address and particular interests and lots
- of free information on New Zealand will be mailed to you. During regular
- California business hours it might even be possible to get a real person on
- the line.
-
-
- New Zealand Embassy in Haymarket (UK):
-
- phone:
- 0171-930 8422
- 0891-200 288
- 0171-973 0366
- 0171-973 0368
-
-
- New Zealand Embassy in Washington D. C.:
-
- 37 Observatory Circle, N. W.
- Washington, D. C. 20008
- Phone: (202) 328-4800
-
-
- (Is this place open?)
- NZ Embassy
- Suite 1206,
- 432 Park Avenue South,
- New York, NY 10016
- Phone: (212) 447 0550
- Fax: (212) 447 0558
-
-
- TRADENZ
- NZ Consulate General
- NZ Tourist Board
- 780 Third Avenue, Suite 1904
- New York, NY 10017-2024
- Phone: (212) 832-8482
- Fax: (212) 832-7602
-
- They opened a couple of months ago. The NZ Tourism Board office at the
- same address has been open for business (to travel agents only) for several
- years. The office hopes to have full consular capacity "shortly".
- Currently it gives advice, dispenses forms and "aids distressed travelling
- Kiwis". The East Coast Manager is Anna Synolt and Peter MacDonald
- (pmac@pipeline.com.us) heads the office.
-
- There's a new e-mail address for the New York NZ Consulate/TRADENZ et al.:
- tradenz@pipeline.com
-
- It should be noted that the NY NZ Consulate only answers questions and
- distributes forms. All processing - issuing visas, renewing passports etc.
- - is performed at the Washington DC High Commission. The NY NZ Tourist
- Board deals only with travel agents etc. and will not answer questions from
- individuals.
-
-
- The West Coast Consulate:
-
- New Zealand Consulate-General
- Suite 1150
- 12400 Wilshire Boulevard
- Los Angeles
- CA 90025
- Phone: (310) 207-1605
- Fax: (310) 207-3605
-
- Mr. Terence Charles Baker is listed as Consul General.
-
- There is also a New Zealand Tourism Board located in Santa Monica, phone
- 1-310-395-748. Try also (is this valid???):
-
- NZ Embassy
- 501 Santa Monica Blvd 300,
- Santa Monica CA 90401
- Phone: 1 800 388 5494
- Fax: (310) 395 5453
-
-
- And in Canada, there is the:
-
- New Zealand High Commission
- Ottawa
- Phone: (613) 238-5991
- Fax: (613) 238-5707
-
-
- There are consul offices listed for the District of Columbia, Tennessee,
- Guam, and Washington State.
-
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: A2.2 How Do I Get News From Home?
-
- Check the notes on ftp sites; some current news may be archived there.
-
- Read soc.culture.new-zealand, and nz.general if you can get it. A weekly
- summary of NZ News is compiled and posted to soc.culture.new-zealand by the
- generous Brian Harmer (usually on Sundays). These postings are all
- archived on the WWW at http://nz.com/nz/NZNewsArchive/. To get a personal
- e-mail copy of the postings, send mail to:
- majordomo@nz.com
- with the line:
- subscribe nznews <email-addr>
- in the *BODY* of the message.
-
-
- "The New Zealander " is a new full colour weekly tabloid available in
- Australia for A$2.95. Like other publications we know of, the Dominion,
- and the Evening Post are among the sources of its articles, although it can
- presumably print articles verbatim.
-
- (I'll be interested to hear what Australian WYSIWYG readers think - BH)
-
- TVNZ has established a web page for those who want to see recent news
- items. Comment has been mixed, and like most graphic-laden pages is slow
- to load. Try
- http://www.tvnz.co.nz/
- particularly
- http://www.tvnz.co.nz/news/stories
-
-
- There is a thing called a NewZgram. It's like an aerogram but is printed
- with excerpts of news about NZ, including sections about sport, health,
- business, etc. It's 4 sides of a page long, sent fortnightly).
-
- Subscription Prices: 24 issues (12 months)
- NZ address surface NZ$36
- Australia/Sth Pacific - air NZ$55
- Rest of world - air NZ$67
-
- The address is:
-
- Peak Communications Ltd
- PO Box 54046
- Mana
- Wellington
- New Zealand
- Phone/Fax 64/4/2399123
-
- and/or???
-
- Newzgram
- PO Box 3882
- Christchurch, NZ
- Phone - 3-3559222
- Fax 3-3559337
-
-
- Then there is:
-
- New Zealand News UK is an Independent Weekly newspaper, covering NZ
- news/current events, United Kingdom jobs, NZ jobs, travel, migrating to NZ,
- shipping and accommodation/entertainment in London. There is apparently
- also a version called 'Overseas' with lots of info about visa requirements,
- etc. for Brits wishing to travel. Try calling NZ News on 0171 930 6451.
-
-
- NZ news is available free in London and by subscription elsewhere. It does
- contain a fair bit of London specific news, but has some quite good
- features on Emigrating and NZ lifestyles for people thinking of making a
- move to NZ. Prices in Pounds Sterling.
-
- 3 Months 6 Months 1 Year
- UK ú 8.90 ú 16.40 ú 28.00
- Europe ú 12.00 ú 23.00 ú 38.50
- World ú 20.80 ú 40.50 ú 57.75
-
- Make your cheque payable to New Zealand News UK and send it to:
-
- Circulation Manager,
- New Zealand News UK,
- PO Box 10, Berwick upon Tweed,
- Northumberland TD15 1BW
-
- Phone/Fax: (44) 0289 306677
-
- Or, have a look at the new net version:
- http://www.nznewsuk.co.uk/
- which apparently has no pictures, but a good selection of sports news.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: A2.3 Expatriate Organisations?
-
- There's an organisation in HK called the New Zealand Society. Point of
- contact is either the NZ Consulate in Central HK (Jardine House) or Grant
- Baird at a restaurant called Landaus. They meet regularly and it's fairly
- social.
-
- There's a Kiwi Club of New York for those interested in such things.
-
- Kiwi Club of New York
- c/o TRADENZ
- 780 Third Avenue, Suite 1904
- New York, NY 10017-2024
-
- Phone (212) 832-4038 x222 (Brenda Henderson)
-
- The club's secretary is Beatrice Cheer at bcheer@panix.com who can
- occasionally be found in s.c.n-z.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: A3 INTERNET ACCESS WITHIN NZ
-
- Public internet access is available from a growing number of sources
- throughout New Zealand, particularly around the main centres. Access for
- university staff and students (sometimes only post-grads) is usually
- available. For more detailed information, read Simon Lyall's monthly faq
- on the subject;
- newsgroups: (news.answers, nz.net.announce, nz.general, s.c.n-z)
-
- archive-name: internet-access/new-zealand
- ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/nz.general/Internet_access_in_New_Zealand_FAQ
-
- and also;
- http://actrix.gen.nz/general/internet.faq
-
- although:
- ftp://ftp.dosli.govt.nz/pub/lists/
- is slightly better and has a few other FAQs.
-
- ===========================================================================
-
- PART B
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: B1 THE COUNTRY
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: B1.1 Where Is New Zealand?
-
- B1.1.1 General
-
- New Zealand is in the south-west \_
- Pacific and has two large islands, \}
- one smaller island, and numerous \9
- much smaller islands. It is usual North )`-'7
- to refer to the main islands as 'the Island ( c`
- North Island' and 'the South Island'. ) /
- F,% n_/
- For a larger map of the main islands South J /
- see section B6. For a map showing Island / 6
- the dependencies, see an atlas... / /
- {_, /`
- Ascii maps are copyright, Stewart Island @ ~
- please do not repost.
-
- New Zealand = Aotearoa, Niu Tireni (uncommon, adulteration of 'New
- Zealand'), Land of the Long White Cloud, 'Godzone'
- North Island = Aotearoa (original name(?) referring to the NI only?),
- Te Ika-a-Maui[-Tikitiki-A-Taranga] (The Fish of Maui),
- Nga Ahi o Maui (verification and definition anyone?)
- South Island = Te Waka-a-Maui (The Canoe of Maui), Te Wa[h]ipounamu
- (Greenstone waters or Place of Greenstone)
- Stewart Island = Rakiura (The Land of Glowing Skies) or
- Te punga o te waka a Maui (The anchor of Maui's canoe)
-
- "Kiwiland" is slang for "New Zealand" and not very common. "Down Under"
- tends to mean Australia but may also include NZ.
-
- --------------------
-
- B1.1.2 Statistics
-
- For the main three: Latitude: 34 S to 47 S
- Longitude: 167 E to 178 E
-
- AREAS sq kms sq mi
- North Island 114,453 44,191
- South Island 150,718 58,193
- Stewart Island 1,746 674
- The Rest ?
-
- TOTAL 268,700 103,745
-
- COASTLINE: 15,134 km
- LAND BOUNDARIES: 0 km
- MARITIME CLAIMS:
- Continental shelf; edge of continental margin or 200 nm
- Exclusive economic zone; 200 nm
- Territorial sea; 12 nm
-
- Take a look at:
- http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/95fact/nz.html
- and
- http://www.govt.nz/ps/min/stats
-
- And Steve Israel (israel@spheroid.otago.ac.nz) invites people to look at
- his remote sensing page:
- http://spheroid.otago.ac.nz:808/courses/remote.sense/RemoteSense.html
-
- --------------------
-
- B1.1.3 Dependencies
-
- Antarctica (Ross Dependency): between 160 degrees east and 150 degrees
- west longitude together with the islands lying between those degrees and
- south of latitude 60 segrees south. The land is estimated to be between
- 400,000 and 450,000 sq km, with a further 330,000 sq km of permanent ice
- shelf. The main NZ station is Scott Base at approx 78 degrees south.
-
- The next two are part of NZ territory, and apart from the Chatham Islands,
- they are uninhabited except by research personnel.
-
- Antipodes Islands: a small group of outlying islands off the east coast of
- the South Island, latitude 49 degrees 41' South and longitude 178 degrees
- 43' east. Total area about 62 sq km.
-
- Auckland Islands, Bounty Islands, Campbell Island, Kermadec Islands, Snares
- Islands. The sub-Antarctic islands are integral parts of NZ. Actually,
- with the exception of the Kermadecs (to the NE of NZ) all those island
- groups are in the sub-antarctic, as are the Antipodes Islands. The Anres
- and Bounty Islands are marginal for being classed as sub-Antarctic.
-
- The Chatham Islands are well east of New Zealand (850kms) and have their
- own 'Time Zone' in as much as their clocks are always 45 mins ahead of the
- rest of NZ and I guess they keep in step with changes to and from NZDT.
-
- Lyndon Watson wrote:
- "The Cook Islands were originally under sole British administration and
- later under sole New Zealand administration. There was no condominium.
- The Cook Islands have been independent since the 1970s.
-
- "The Cook Islands are an independent state. At *their* request (not
- surprising in view of their small population and resources) they are
- represented in most overseas countries by New Zealand diplomats and New
- Zealand undertakes their military defence. They can change that at any
- time simply by notifying New Zealand, one government to another.
-
- "Not only could Cook Islanders vote in New Zealand elections before they
- became independent, but the can still do so even now under special dual
- nationality arrangements which *they* requested on independence. New
- Zealanders, of course, cannot vote in Cook Islands elections.
-
- "New Zealand has never colonised Niue or Tokelau. Rather the Niueans and
- Tokelauans have colonised New Zealand. In the case of Tokelau, especially,
- the population of Tokelauan descendants in New Zealand is now far larger
- than the atolls could possibly support.
-
- "Niue is internally self-governing but not fully independent. Their
- problem, like that of other tiny Pacific nations, is a lack of population
- and resources. They are so totally dependent on New Zealand subsidies that
- no one has been able to devise a viable scheme for full independence.
- Tokelau has the same problem in even greater form. Like Kiribati, they
- even stand to lose their home islands (atolls) altogether if the sea level
- keeps on rising they way that it has been lately. Most of the people who
- identify as Tokelauans are resident in New Zealand. Tokelau is talking
- about some form of autonomy or independence right now.
-
- "New Zealand has no strategic interest in these islands and has never
- settled them; they are a financial burden to us which we undertake because
- they are our friends and neighbours and have important links with our own
- population. In our own narrow self-interest, we should either give them
- full independence and cast them adrift, or simply incorporate them
- seamlessly into New Zealand, but the decision is theirs, not ours."
-
- --------------------
-
- B1.1.4 Time Zones
-
- New Zealand is 12 hours ahead of Greenwich mean time making it one of the
- first places in the world to see the new day. Summer time (or Daylight
- Saving Time we call it here) is an advance of one hour at 2am in the
- morning on the first Sunday in October and back to NZST at 3am in the
- morning on the third Sunday morning of March.
-
- NZST (GMT+12) or NZDT (GMT+13) October - March
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: B1.2 The Landscape
-
- B1.2.1 General
-
- NZ is a long narrow country lying roughly North/South with mountain ranges
- running much of its length. It is predominately mountainous with some
- large coastal plains and is a little larger than Britain, slightly smaller
- than Italy, and almost exactly the size of Colorado.
-
- The only 'geographical feature' New Zealand doesn't have is live coral
- reef. We have all the rest: rainforest, desert, fiords, flooded valleys,
- gorges, plains, mountains, glaciers, volcanoes, geothermics, swamps, lakes,
- braided rivers, peneplains, badlands, and our very own continental plate
- junction... As a result of the latter, earthquakes are common, though
- usually not severe (patience... :-)
-
- For more information, go to sci.geo.geology, and download the earthquake
- maps for this week. The little black line snaking through New Zealand is
- the plate boundary. A good URL for this is:
- http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/QUAKES/WEEKREPS/LATEST/world.gif
-
- Also try
- http://www.gphs.vuw.ac.nz/geophysics/geophysics.html
- http://www.civeng.carleton.ca/cgi-bin/quakes
- and
- http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/quakexe/quakes
- which lists the strong earthquakes worldwide during the last few days.
-
- You can get almost instant info about larger quakes from the US Geological
- Survey at:
- http://www.usgs.gov/research/environment/hazards/earthquake/
-
- Or try
- gopher://gldfs.cr.usgs.gov:79/0quake
- for a simple record of any quake. [not at all sure how this works. help?]
-
- --------------------
-
- B1.2.2 Miscellaneous Figures
-
- Mt Cook: highest point in NZ. A landslide in December 1991 lowered the
- 3764m summit by about 10 metres. NZ has 28 peaks over 3000 metres. The
- lowest (Mount Aspiring) is the only one outside Mount Cook National Park.
- Also within the park is the Tasman Glacier, which is about 20 kms long.
- The North Island's main mountains are all volcanoes: Ruapehu (2797m/9175'),
- Ngauruhoe (2291m), and Tongariro (1968m) in the centre, and Taranaki
- (2518m) to the west.
-
- Lake Taupo; 40.2 km long, 27.4 km wide, 606 sq km, depth 159m
- Lake Waikaremoana; 19.3 long, 9.7 km wide, 54 sq km, depth 256m
- The artificial lakes in the North Island deeper than both are Lake Ohakuri
- (287m) and Lake Whakamarino (274m).
- Lake Wakitipu 77.2 by 4.8 km, 293 sq km is 310m deep. It's noo but a puddle
- compared to Lake Hauroko (443m deep). Both are glacial in origin.
-
- --------------------
-
- B1.2.3 Flora And Fauna
-
- It is still hotly debated whether or not New Zealand was *completely*
- submerged between 60 - 30 mya. There are now two competing views as to
- NZ's biogeographic history:
- (1) the traditional view, that our biology - especially the vegetation -
- is a living example of a 'Gondwanan' fragment that has a lineage directly
- traceable back to when NZ split off from Gondwana (maybe as early as 90 mya
- or as late as 75 mya, depending on who you believe).
- (2) a more recent view, that actually almost none of our current plants
- and animals can be traced in a continuous lineage back to Gondwana, and
- instead have all arrived via long-distance dispersal from Australia and SE
- Asia, maybe even as recently as 20 - 10 mya. There is some compelling
- fossil evidence for this view. For those interested in this, an excellent
- though clearly biased account of this second view is given by Mike Pole in
- a recent review (The Journal of Biogeography, Vol. 21 pp 625, 1994).
-
- In any case during its time of isolation, birds have continued to arrive
- and develop in NZ without large predators, making them vulnerable to recent
- arrivals. The predators that have really been widely destructive were the
- mustelids, cats and European rat species. The most important impact of
- pre-Europeans was the widespread burning used in moa-hunting especially in
- the drier areas of the South Island.
-
- We have the worlds largest flightless parrot (kakapo), the only truly
- alpine parrot (kea), the oldest reptile (tuatara), the biggest earthworms,
- the heaviest insect (also the largest weta), the smallest bats, some of the
- oldest trees, and many of the rarest birds, insects, and plants in the
- world....
-
- NZ is home to the world famous Tuatara, a lizard-like reptile which dates
- back to the dinosaurs and perhaps before (260 mill years?). The only
- member of its order (Rhynchocephalia) it is now restricted to protected
- offshore islands which you have to have special permission to visit.
- Specimens are kept at some zoos.
-
- The only native land mammals are two rare species of bat.
-
- NZ's many endemic birds include the flightless kiwi, takahe, kakapo and
- weka. Far too many species of bird have become extinct since humans
- arrived on NZ included the various species of Dinornis (moa) the largest
- of which stood up to 2.5 metres high. While the rare takahe (Notornis
- australis) can be seen in semi-wild conditions at Te Anau, the Kakapo is
- too endangered to be on display anywhere (see quote below).
-
- For those who are interested, the following NZ CD is available:
-
- New Zealand birds: Information on more than 300 bird species, plus over 500
- photos, video clips of NZ attractions and birds, and 20 windows bmps.
-
- Available from:
- Protech International
- PO Box 324
- Nelson
- New Zealand
- Ph/fax 64-3-5451799
-
-
- There is also some unique insect life such as the Giant Weta and glow
- worms. Other than two spiders, there is a lack of any deadly poisonous
- things (snakes, spiders, etc.) which is why NZ Agricultural Regulations are
- so strict.
-
- The great kauri trees in the few remaining kauri forests in Northland are
- very old with some believed to be up to 2000 years old.
-
- Much of the South Island is still forested, particularly the West Coast.
-
- -----
-
- cakes@io.org (cakes) has provided the following article (advice on legality
- requested!):
-
- Reprinted without permission.
-
- RACE AGAINST TIME TO SAVE ANCIENT PARROTS
- Reuters, 19.01.96
-
- WELLINGTON, New Zealand.
- After a peaceful existence spanning millions of years, the survival odds
- seem stacked against New Zealand's native parrot, a fat, flightless bird
- called the kakapo.
- With only 50 kakapo left in New Zealand, Britain's World Conservation
- Monitoring Center (WCMC) recently placed the bird on its list of the
- world's 20 most-endangered species predicted to become extinct during 1996.
- "That bird has so much stacked against it," said Kevin Smith, president
- of the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand.
- Only one kakapo chick has survived into adulthood since 1990, although
- three more are almost there.
- "At the moment the clock is just ticking. Unless there are some chicks
- fledged in the next five years the kakapo's prospects are very bleak,"
- Smith said.
- Fully grown kakapo weigh up to eight pounds, heavier than most other
- parrots, and are bright green in color. Scientists say the bird existed
- without significant threat for millions of years.
- Their decline began 1,000 years ago when humans arrived in New Zealand,
- bringing predatory mammals such as cats, dogs, rats and stoats. Flightless
- native birds, including the kiwi, moa and kakapo, had not developed
- defenses against predation.
- "Some were literally eaten alive. The kakapo's only defense was to sit
- very still, and predators basically had meals on wheels," said Janet Owen,
- Department of Conservation (DOC) Director of Protected Species.
- She said kakapo populations were plundered as a food source by Maori and
- European settlers alike, and their natural habitat was largely destroyed by
- the clearance of rich forests.
- Hope seemed lost in the late 1960s when it was found all kakapo known to
- exist were male. Then the discovery of a single feather on Stewart Island,
- at the foot of the South Island, led to a hitherto unknown population of
- about 200 birds, including females.
- But cats discovered this kakapo haven at the same time. "By the time we
- could do anything about the cats, the population had plummeted to around 50
- or 60 birds," said Paul Jansen, head of DOC's Kakapo Recovery Program.
- The kakapo were moved in the 1980s to the relative safety of Codfish,
- Little Barrier and Maud islands, dotted around New Zealand's coastline.
- The nests need video monitoring as they come under constant attack from
- rats, and Maud Island is occasionally invaded by stoats swimming over from
- the mainland.
- The male kakapo abandons the female after mating, forcing her to leave
- the nest dangerously unattended while she feeds.
- What is more, kakapo are reluctant breeders mating only once every four
- or five years. They also have a history of laying infertile eggs.
- Despite the hurdles facing the kakapo, the WCMC's prediction of imminent
- extinction is overly dire, DOC says. While the kakapo is critically
- endangered, it is a national treasure which can be dragged back from the
- brink of oblivion.
- "Results will take a while because they're long-lived birds. We think
- they live around 60-80 years, so they won't be wiped out this year," DOC
- Director-General Murray Hosking said.
- Over the next 10 years the recovery program aims to establish a younger
- breeding population, although numbers will probably remain similar as older
- birds die.
- "Conceivably we will be giving help to the kakapo for at least the next
- five decades, if not longer," Jansen said.
- Smith is sharply critical of the amount of funding the government
- provides for endangered species research. DOC has a $660,000 budget for
- kakapo research in 1996.
- "We've become too insulated in New Zealand we don't realize just how
- special our native plants and animals are. There's a niggardly,
- pathetically small amount of money going into conservation, and we reap
- what we sow," he said.
- Smith said predation was causing the decline of New Zealand's bird
- populations in general, and forest habitats were gradually being destroyed
- by possums, deer and goats.
- "New Zealand's wealth has been generated out of the 75 percent of the
- country we've cleared. Unfortunately we're not using any of that wealth to
- save those species that are trying to survive in the little remnants we
- left them," Smith said.
- "The dawn chorus in our forests, which used to be a real feature of New
- Zealand, is in many places becoming more of a solo." Reuters
-
- I found this article on a bird-related web site - I can't recall which
- one as I've scanned many over the last few weeks. Recently I saw a
- television program on the Discovery channel, which highlighted the plight
- of the kakapo in much the same manner as this story.
-
- --------------------
-
- B1.2.4 Climate
-
- The NZ climate is temperate with no real extremes; the north tends to be
- warm temperate. Being an island nation, the yearly range of temperatures
- is quite small, around 10 degrees Celsius variation between winter and
- summer. NZ enjoys long hours of sunshine throughout the year making it an
- ideal year round destination. In winter the South Island mountain and
- central North Island do have heavy snowfalls providing great skiing.
-
- Summer: December - February
- Winter: June - August
-
- sunshine Temperature (C) rainfall rain
- hours mean max min daily av. (mm) days
- sum win
- Kaitaia 2113 15.6 29 0 1429 138
- Auckland 1904 15.7 28 3 23 14 1289 140
- Tauranga 2217 14.3 29 -2 1363 118
- Hamilton 1981 13.5 29 -5 1236 131
- Rotorua 1872 12.7 30 -4 23 12 1509 123
- Gisborne 2173 14.1 33 -2 1079 113
- New Plymouth 2157 13.4 26 -1 1514 142
- Napier 2187 14.3 32 -2 830 92
- Palmerston North 1764 13.2 28 -3 991 127
- Wellington 2008 12.7 27 1 20 11 1305 124
- Nelson 2372 12.2 28 -4 22 12 1005 96
- Blenheim 2449 12.9 32 -4 671 84
- Hokitika 1889 11.6 25 -2 2809 168
- Christchurch 1992 11.9 34 -5 22 10 668 85
- Timaru 1828 11.4 32 -4 586 81
- Milford Sound 1828 10.5 25 -3 6213 183
- Queenstown 1865 10.4 30 -5 21 8 832 93
- Dunedin 1645 11.1 29 -2 19 10 802 119
- Gore 1665 9.7 31 -5 894 137
- Invercargill 1595 9.7 28 -5 1040 157
-
- (some of the table above was pirated and I seriously doubt it's accuracy...
- Anyone care to confirm it?)
-
- Ross Levis kindly offered:
- All the weather links you should ever need are located on my ISP page at:
- http://www.enternet.co.nz/weather.html
- which links to VUW and shows some other Antarctic pictures.
-
- Frank van der Hulst and Tony Wilkes provided (combined and mildly amended):
- NZ Metservice forecasts, including TV-style maps showing forecasts:
- http://web.co.nz/weather/
-
- Satellite weather pictures from VUW:
- http://www.rses.vuw.ac.nz/meteorology/pictures/
- [ see also ...meteorology/maps.html and ...pictures/ir1/latest.jpg ]
-
- These are in mono. For similar maps in colour:
- http://rs560.cl.msu.edu/weather/
-
- Weather of the whole region, including NZ. Up to 3-day forecasts,
- including satellite pictures and maps showing isobars & sea surface winds
- over the Tasman & NZ:
- gopher://gilgamesh.ho.BoM.GOV.AU/1/1/Australian%20Weather%20Information
- gopher://gilgamesh.ho.BoM.GOV:70/11/Australian%20Weather%Information/Weatrts
- [ not sure if the second one is correct ]
-
- Latest (3-hourly) weather satellite images:
- http://geog.canterbury.ac.nz/weather/index.html
-
- The NZ sites seem to be somewhat intermittent, and often their latest
- images are 3 or 4 days old. The Aussie site is probably the most useful.
- Airways Corp also has a Web site http://www.airways.co.nz/index.html which
- contains articles from their latest magazine.
-
- Also at
- http:/www.sel/bldroc.gov/today.html
- are sunspot details and solar activity, which is of interest to radio hams
- (among others).
-
- Hugh Grierson adds:
- Point your browser at
- gopher://gilgamesh.ho.bom.gov.au:70/
- and follow the links "Australian weather information ..." -> "Weather
- Charts".
-
- There is also:
- http://www.xtra.co.nz/metservice/index.shtml
- but that requires a Java capable reader.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: B2 THE PEOPLE
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: B2.1 A Short History
-
- 900 AD (+/-) Maori arrived from Pacific.
-
- 1740's Europeans started to bumble around the area.
-
- 1800's Exploiters arrived (whalers, sealers, traders).
-
- 1830's Settlers started arriving.
-
- 1840's The 'Maori' Land Wars
-
- There were actually four separate wars (though some tribes fought in more
- than one):
- NgaPuhi, Northland (1840s)
- Taranaki,(1860s)
- Kingites, Waikato (1860s)
- Te Kooti etc (1860s)
-
- John Hopkins offers the following 'gratuitous comments ;-)' (sic):
- "The term "Maori Wars" has not been used for some considerable time, as it
- suggests that Maori were responsible for the wars - another example of "the
- winner" rewriting history to suit their own purposes. Recognised
- descriptions now are "the New Zealand Wars", or the "Land Wars" - the
- latter is preferable in some ways because it reveals what the wars were
- about. In particular, the invasion of the Waikato by English led troops as
- a pretext to force Maori to defend themselves and then confiscate their
- land for being "in rebellion" against the English Crown. A good reference
- is the Waitangi Tribunal report on the Tainui claim."
-
- 1893? Universal Suffrage.
-
- The 1945-50 Baby Boom
- There was a baby boom in 1945-50 after the survivors returned from the
- Second World War. The reasons should be obvious. (I think that it has
- been mentioned here that New Zealand lost a larger fraction of its
- population in the Second World War than any other Allied country except
- the USSR, nearly all of them young men). There was a lesser peak 20 to
- 30 years later as the products of the first boom had their own children.
-
- 1985 Internet gets going... :-)
-
- May 1994 The soc.culture.new-zealand faq gets posted!
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: B2.2 Maoritanga
-
- Maoritanga is Maori culture; a way of life and view of the world. It is a
- growing and changing part of life in NZ. The ancestors and all living
- things are descended from the gods, who are often embodied in specific
- mountains, rivers and lakes, which is why kinship and links with the land
- are so important. Maui was one of the earliest descendants and was
- responsible for slowing the sun to make the days longer, taming fire, and
- fishing the North Island (Te Ika a Maui) from the sea from his brothers'
- canoe (the South Island - Te Waka a Maui). Most Maori can trace descent
- from the chiefs of Hawaiki who sailed to Aotearoa in voyaging canoes from
- about 1200 years ago. The marae (particular area of land and buildings,
- containing the Whare or meeting house) is the focus of traditional Maori
- community life.
-
- The Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840, after Maori had petitioned Queen
- Victoria about the damage being done to their land and culture by
- uncontrolled land speculators and resource exploiters. Another influence
- was the wish of the British to prevent the French or Americans from gaining
- a hold on the new colony (Hone Heke flew the Stars and Stripes on his war
- canoe). The first article ceded to the Queen of England the right to make
- laws in exchange for the retention of full control of their lands, forests,
- fishing and prized posessions. The second article promised the Maori full
- rights to their lands, forests and treasured possessions (and fisheries in
- the English version). The third article gave the Maori all the rights and
- privileges of British subjects.
-
- Despite the egalitarian language, in practice the principles of the Treaty
- were often ignored. Dissatisfaction over the control of land in the North
- Island led to war in the 1860's with the result that much Maori land was
- confiscated. It was 100 years before the Maori protest movement had enough
- strength to come into the public eye, although certain key personalities
- have been supporting a Maori renaissance since the early years of this
- century. All environmental and planning legislation passed since 1986
- contains provisions for the support of the principles of the Treaty of
- Waitangi. Recent claims to the Waitangi Tribunal have resulted in some
- land being returned to Maori control. In other cases the resource
- implications are so complex and potentially vast that decisions on
- reparation have been delayed for some years. This is the case, for
- example, with the claim of Ngai Tahu, the largest and most powerful South
- Island tribe. The claim has been accepted in principle, but settlement
- appears to be some way away.
-
- Maori is now an official language of NZ, although outside the Maori
- community it is rare to hear it spoken except on ceremonial occasions.
- Maori have established various programmes for the revival of their
- language, particularly in pre-school and primary schools.
-
- Most Maori are now town and city dwellers, and many have lost touch with
- their original marae base. However there is a groundswell of regeneration
- of interest in the marae, and some people are returning to their tribal
- homes. In the cities, urban marae, sometimes catering for people of many
- tribes, have been established.
-
- Maori culture was transmitted orally, through the telling of stories, song
- (waiata) and the reciting of whakapapa (genealogies). It was also
- represented in stylised form in carvings and woven panels that adorned
- whare (meeting houses). There is a revitalisation of these traditional
- arts, especially as the marae movement gains more strength, and also
- because new marae, for example on school and university campuses, are being
- built. Maori traditional music was very effectively suppressed by the
- nineteenth century missionaries. Traditional instruments are now rarely
- seen but the Maori love of music survives in waiata, which today are a
- blend of remembered traditional waiata plus adaptations from western music.
-
- One of the most difficult things for any dominant culture to handle is the
- acceptance of real partnership with another group, especially one that for
- many years was regarded as inferior. The pretty or quaint sides of Maori
- culture, long exploited by the tourist industry, are not the whole thing.
- The real thing involves power and resource sharing, and this process of
- reallocation will cause debate and some strife within New Zealand for years
- to come.
-
- -----
-
- Brian Harmer:
-
- "To give an indication of how complex the Maori situation is, here are the
- names of some of the tribes. This section is evolving...
-
- Maori Tribes (this is not exhaustive), listed in approximate North to South
- geographic distribution (paraphrased from The Revised Dictionary of Modern
- Maori by P.M. Ryan, 1989 Heinemann Education)
-
- Te Aupouri
- Ngati Kahu
- Te Rarawa
- Ngapuhi
- Ngati Whatua
- Ngati Tai
- Ngati Paoa
- Ngati Tamatera
- Ngati Whanaunga
- Ngati Maru
- Ngai te Rangi
- Ngati Haua
- Ngati Mahuta
- Waikato
- Te Arawa
- Ngati Ranginui
- Whanau-a-Apanui
- Whakatohea
- Ngati Awa
- Ngati Maniapoto
- Ngati Porou
- Ngati Tuwharetoa
- Tuhoe
- Rongo Whakataa
- Ngati Tama
- Taranaki
- Te Aitanga-a-Makahi
- Ngati Raukawa
- Ngati Ruanui
- Ngarauru
- Ngati Apa
- Ngati Hau
- Rangitane
- Ngati Kahungunu
- Ngati Toa
-
- then to the South Island
-
- Rangitane
- Ngai Tahu
- Poutini
- Ngati Mamoe
-
- I believe most tribes had sub-tribes, and there was much ebbing and flowing
- as various groups conquered, or were in turn conquered and enslaved."
-
- -----
-
- Lyndon Watson wrote:
-
- "There are more in the Marlborough Sounds-Nelson region, e.g. Ngati Koata
- who broke off from Ngati Toa in the last century and sided with local
- tribes and who have just been in the news for getting Stephens Island back
- and promptly giving it to the Crown as a nature reserve.
-
- The question of tribal affiliation in the lower three-quarters of the South
- Island is a vexed one because some descendants of the tribes who lived
- there before the Ngati Mamoe and Ngai Tahu invasions from the North Island
- (e.g. Te Waitaha of South Canterbury-North Otago who claim to be the
- original 'Moa Hunters') claim to be members still of those tribes while
- Ngai Tahu consider that they (and, indeed, the Ngati Mamoe) are now at the
- most subtribes of Ngai Tahu. Tempers can get very heated round here over
- this matter.
-
- And it should also be mentioned that some do not like 'iwi' being
- translated as 'tribe', and 'hapu' as 'subtribe'."
-
- -----
-
- For more info on Maori culture and history, try:
- http://www.lonelyplanet.com.au/dest/aust/maori.htm
- which gives a brief overview of Maori history, and:
- http://tattoos.com/moko.htm
- which deals with the art of Moko.
-
- and
-
- For info on Maori history and lists several Maori writers:
- http://www.lonelyplanet.com.au/dest/aust/maori.htm
-
- Also:
- <http://iconz.co.nz/commercial/educator>
- <http://iconz.co.nz/~educator>
-
- And the Auckland City Art Gallery collection of Maori portraits by Charles
- Fredrick Goldie:
- http://www.well.com/user/wldtrvlr/auckgal.html
-
- Adam Gifford (for whom I have no net address) invites people to visit:
- http://nz.com/webnz/tekorero/
-
- Once Were Warriors homepage:
- http://www.flf.com/warriors/
-
- --------------------
-
- B2.2.1 The Moriori Question
-
- Simon O'Rorke provides the following quotes and opinions:
-
- In her book "The Prehistory of New Zealand" (Longman Paul, Auckland,
- 1987) Janet Davidson wrote:
-
- "...[during the 1890s]... many spurious traditions about [Maori] origins
- began to gain wide acceptance. Some of these still hinder the study of New
- Zealand prehistory today. One theory was the so-called 'Maruiwi myth',
- which suggested that the first inhabitants of new Zealand had been a
- different and probably inferior race to the later Maori. The resumption of
- intensive archeological work in the South Island during the 1920s and 1930s
- was partly in response to this theory.
-
- "[this] archeological work....demonstrated the Polynesian nature of
- moa-hunter assemblages and disproved the idea that the moa-hunters were an
- earlier and different race from the Maori. Yet the idea of the inferior
- and defeated Maruiwi or Moriori still lives on in the minds of modern New
- Zealanders, confused with the Moriori of the Chatham Islands who were in
- fact an isolated group of Polynesians, although very closely related to the
- New Zealand Maori."
-
- The Maruiwi was a Maori tribe (iwi) whose name is known from oral tradition
- but which did not survive to the time of the settlement of New Zealand by
- Europeans. Contrary to the assertions of the 19th century European
- mythologizers of Maori origins, they were not a pre-Maori people. They
- were probably wiped out in inter-tribal warfare during the 14th century or
- later, i.e. hundreds of years after Polynesians settled what is now New
- Zealand in the 9th century.
-
- The European mythologizers of Maori origins, in particular S. Percy Smith,
- who in 1892 founded the Polynesian society, noticed the similarity between
- the word "Maruiwi" and the word "Moriori", the name of the indigenous
- people of the Chatham Islands, which are located in the Pacific Ocean about
- 400 km East of New Zealand. They jumped to the conclusion that the Moriori
- were the descendants of (supposedly pre-Maori) Maruiwi survivors who had
- fled to the Chathams to New Zealand when Polynesians (Maori) first settled
- New Zealand. Until recently, New Zealand school children were taught this
- story as historical fact.
-
- Davidson has this to say about the Moriori:
- "Despite widespread popular belief that the Moriori were a vanquished group
- who fled to the Chathams from New Zealand, Moriori and Maori were unaware
- of each others' existence before the rediscovery of the Chathams by
- Europeans in the late 18th century. Sutton has recently strongly argued
- that the Chathams were settled from New Zealand between A.D. 1000 and 1200
- and became completely isolated after about A.D. 1400. No archeological
- sites of this early period have yet been excavated in the Chathams,
- however, and the possibility of settlement from elsewhere in East Polynesia
- cannot be entirely excluded."
-
- Why did the European myth of a people in New Zealand before the Maori
- arise? And why has it persisted despite clear contrary evidence? In his
- book on the struggles of the Maori since the European settlement of New
- Zealand, "Ka Whatwhai Tonu Matou: Struggle Without End", (Penguin,
- Auckland, 1990) Ranginui Walker put it very well:
-
- "The myth of the Moriori is essentially ideological in the sense of being a
- false consciousness as a solution in the mind to conflict generated by the
- colonisers' expropriation of Maori land. According to the myth, the Maori,
- as a superior and more warlike people, expropriated the land from the
- Moriori. Therefore Pakeha [Maori term for European settlers and their
- descendants] expropriation of the same land on the basis of their superior
- civilisation was in accordance with the principle of the survival of the
- fittest. For this reason the false myth of the Moriori has been one of New
- Zealand's most enduring myths. Pakeha need the myth for the endorsement of
- colonisation and Pakeha dominance."
-
- I can back up Walker's argument from personal experience. I have
- frequently heard (usually right-wing) European New Zealanders using the
- Maoris' alleged extermination of the Moriori in New Zealand as
- justification of European mistreatment of Maori. I would note however,
- that these days the justification tends to be in terms of a rather guilty
- "The Maori were just as bad as the Europeans" rather than the more
- self-confident social-Darwinist survival-of-the-fittest justification that
- was prevalent at the beginning of this century.
-
- --------------------
-
- B2.2.2 Guide to Maori pronunciation
-
- The five vowels; a, e, i, o and u, are pronounced in two ways:
- short long
- a as u in but a as a in father
- e as e in pen e as ai in pair
- i as i in bit i as ee in feet
- o as o in fort o as o in store
- u as u in put u as oo in boot
-
- Where two vowels are together: both are sounded but they are run together
- smoothly.
-
- The ten consonants in Maori: h, k, m, n, p, r, t, w, ng, wh.
- The first eight are pronounced as in English. The last two are digraphs,
- 'ng' being pronounced as the ng in 'singer', and 'wh' as wh in 'whale', or
- as a 'f'.
-
- From The Revised Dictionary of Modern Maori:
- The consonants:
- 'r' is not rolled.
- 'p' is soft.
- 'wh' is usually pronounced 'f', sometimes as 'h', 'w', of 'wh'.
- 'ng' has a softish 'g' and is pronounced/spelled 'ng' or 'k' depending on
- the area; usually 'k' in the South Island.
-
- In the book "He Whakamarama - A new course in Maori" the following
- describes 'ng' and 'wh':
-
- "When we say 'na', the tip of the tongue touches the roof of the mouth
- somewhere behind the top of the upper teeth. When we say 'nga', the tongue
- stays down with the tip touching the back of the lower teeth.
-
- "'Wh' differs from 'f' in this way. When we say 'f', the upper teeth
- firmly touch the bottom lip, but with 'wh' there is little or no pressure
- of the upper teeth on the bottom lip.
-
- The following:
- http://www.dia.govt.nz/dia/general.dictionary/maori
- may help with the preceding.
-
- -----
-
- Lachy Paterson wrote:
-
- "Te Reo Maaori will exist only if it is taught (and learnt) as a spoken
- language. This means that students should have a tutor of some sort who
- can actually talk to them (analog not digital!). While this would be
- difficult in another country, it should not be difficult in NZ.
-
- However, if people wanted to teach themselves the rudiments of Maaori/Maori
- grammar, then I would recommend
-
- He Whakamarama A new Course in Maori
- by John Foster (Heinemann)
- or
- Te Kakano (Stage 1 University text)
- Te Pihinga (Stage 2)
- by John C. Moorfield (Longman Paul).
-
- Kia manawanui."
-
- Lyndon Watson adds:
- "Yes, and to complicate matters there are some dialectical variations.
- Some East Coast speakers tend to replace 'ng' with the simple 'n'. And
- some South Island speakers replace it with 'k', but then it is spelled
- accordingly so there is no problem for the outsider.
-
- The 'wh' sound also seems to vary from place to place. I have heard
- elderly speakers in Northland say something very like the (proper) English
- 'wh' sound - 'h' followed by 'w' - and again some Eastern speakers use a
- plain 'w'. Pakehas tend to give up and fall back on a plain 'f'.
-
- Judy Shorten adds:
- "Say it in Maori" by Alan Armstrong is a really good little book with a
- limited English-Maori and Maori-English dictionary as well as a wide
- variety of phrases that cover many situations. There is also a page on
- pronounciation. I would recommend this little book for anyone wanting to
- have a very basic knowledge of the Maori language, but on the other hand
- most tourists travelling around NZ on tours don't have the time or the
- inclination to read even a little book about correct pronounciation and
- therefore make some rather hilarious attempts at trying to pronounce even
- the simplest names.
-
- References:
- The Concise Maori Dictionary, A.H. & A.W. Reed
- The Revised Dictionary of Modern Maori, P. M. Ryan's, reprint 1989,
- Heinemann, ISBN 0 86863 564 2
- Say it in Maori, Alan Armstrong
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: B2.3 Demography
-
- B2.3.1 General
-
- Total population is about 3.5 million. Over 70% of the population are in
- the North Island, largest centre is Auckland (over 1 million), capital is
- Wellington.
-
- 1975 3,071,000
- 1988 3,343,000
- 1990 3,402,000
- 1992 (July) 3,347,369
- 1994 3,541,000
- 2000 3,714,000
- Population Growth 0.88 %
- Population Density 32/sq mi
- Population Doubling Time 79 years
-
- Net migration rate: -2 migrants/1,000 population (1992)
-
- --------------------
-
- B2.3.2 Major Cities
- Latitude, Long Dist
- Population Longitude Code
-
- Wellington 360,000 41.17S,174.47E 4
- Auckland 890,000 36.52S,174.46E 9
- Christchurch 335,000 43.33S,172.40E 3
- Hamilton 100,000 37.46S,175.18E 7
- Dunedin 110,000 45.52S,170.30E 3
-
- --------------------
-
- B2.3.3 Age Distribution
-
- Age range Male % Female %
- 0-9 8.0 7.6
- 10-19 9.4 9.0
- 20-29 8.6 8.4
- 30-39 7.4 7.5
- 40-49 5.4 5.3
- 50-59 4.5 4.4
- 60-69 3.6 4.1
- 70+ 2.7 4.1
- Total 49.6 50.4
-
- Literacy Rate 99 %
- Urbanization 83.5 %
-
- --------------------
-
- B2.3.4 Ethnicity
-
- Data from the "1991 Census of Population and Dwellings" publications.
-
- Ethnic Group,
- for Population Resident in New Zealand
-
- Single Ethnic Group
- Total Percent
- European (1) 2,658,738 79.5
- NZ Maori 323,493 9.7
- Samoan 68,565 2.0
- Cook Island Maori 26,925 0.8
- Tongan 18,264 0.5
- Niuean 9,429 0.3
- Tokelauan 2,802 0.1
- Fijian 2,760 0.1
- Other Pacific 1,413 --
- Total, Single Pacific Group 130,158 3.9
- Chinese 37,689 1.1
- Indian 26,979 0.8
- Other Single Ethnic Groups (2) 25,926 0.8
- Total, Single Ethnic Groups 3,202,980 95.7
-
- (1) May include combinations of European groups e.g. NZ European and/or
- British and/or Dutch etc.
- (2) All Groups not included above. May include combinations of Other
- Groups, eg. Japanese and/or Korean and/or Middle Eastern Groups.
-
- There is a very good (not *too* technical) book on Maori Demography for
- further reference of those interested:
- Pool, Ian. 1991. _Te Iwi Maori: A New Zealand Population Past, Present
- and Projected_ Auckland University Press (dist. by Oxford Univ. Press
- outside of New Zealand)
-
- --------------------
-
- B2.3.5 Official Languages
-
- English, Maori. Pacific Island and Asian languages may be heard in cities.
-
- --------------------
-
- B2.3.6 Religions
-
- A Massey research project reveals that 28 percent of Kiwis pray, at
- frequencies varying between several times a day, to weekly. About 21
- percent of the population are regular churchgoers. The radio report on the
- topic said that over 60 percent of NZers believe in a God.
-
- And/or...
-
- 1991 census: (%)
- Anglican 22.1
- Presbyterian 16.3
- Catholic 15.0
- Methodist 4.2
- Agnostic 0.1
- Atheist <0.05
- No religion 20.1
- Object to state 7.6
-
- In 1981 (and I presume earlier censuses) there was simply a blank where you
- wrote your religion. In 1986 and 1991, there were half a dozen or so boxes
- you could tick, including "No Religion" and "Other" (with a blank space to
- fill in if you ticked "Other"). In 1981, Agnostic and Atheist accounted
- for 0.8 and 0.7%, so clearly many people who would write "Atheist" when
- confronted with a blank space would tick "No Religion" when such a box was
- an option. (I did this myself in 1986.)
-
- In 1986, "No Religion" got 16.7%, so this is growing fast, and is the
- second largest group. (It was less than 1% in the 1950s.)
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: B3 LIFE IN NEW ZEALAND
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: B3.1 The Political Scene
-
- Would anyone care to write a brief summary of the main political parties
- and post them to the net for comment?
-
- B3.1.1 Why 'New Zealand'
-
- It is simply "New Zealand" - not the "People's Republic of" or
- "Commonwealth of" or "Kingdom of" or anything like that. It used to be
- "The Dominion of New Zealand" pursuant to a long-forgotten dream of a kind
- of federal British empire that one of our early prime ministers (Bill
- Massey) was keen on, but the "Dominion of" bit was dropped several years
- ago.
-
- I have a long debate about the origins of the names for NZ which I'm still
- editing into shape. It may go in here.
-
- --------------------
-
- B3.1.2 Constitution
-
- New Zealand shares with Britain and Israel the distinction of being one of
- the three developed countries that does not have a codified Constitution on
- the U.S. model. When the country was annexed by Britain in 1840, the
- British parliament enacted that all applicable law of England as at 1840
- became the law of New Zealand. In 1856, the New Zealand parliament was
- given the power to enact its own law and nothing changed when full
- independence was achieved (26-9-1907) except that the British parliament
- lost its overriding authority. We have, thus, never had the problem that
- Australia and Canada have had of "repatriating" a constitution that was
- really an Act of the British parliament.
-
- Our constitution, like the British, consists of parliament's own
- conventions and rules of conduct, some legislation such as the New Zealand
- Constitution Act (1986, not enacted), and fundamental rules applied by the
- Courts which go back into English history. It evolves rather than is
- amended.
-
- The flag of NZ is blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side
- quadrant with four red five-pointed stars edged in white centered in the
- outer half of the flag; the stars represent the Southern Cross
- constellation.
-
- --------------------
-
- B3.1.3 Form Of Government
-
- Paul Gillingwater wrote:
-
- "Constitutional monarchy, with a single-chamber parliament.
-
- The monarch is said to "reign but not rule": except for a residual power
- to actually govern in the event of some complete breakdown of the
- parliamentary system, the monarch has merely ceremonial duties and advisory
- powers. When the monarch is absent from the country, which is most of the
- time, those duties and powers are delegated to the Governor-General who is
- appointed by the monarch for a limited term after approval by the
- government.
-
- Parliament is the consitutional "sovereign" - there is no theoretical limit
- on what it can validly do, and the validity of the laws which it enacts
- cannot be challenged in the courts (although the courts do have and use
- wide-ranging powers to control administrative acts of the government). A
- new parliament is elected every three years (universal suffrage at age 18).
- The leader of the party which commands majority support in parliament is
- appointed prime minister and he or she nominates the other Ministers of the
- Crown. The ministers (and sometimes the whole majority party in
- parliament) are collectively called "the government". Our system almost
- entirely lacks formal checks and balances - the majority party can
- virtually legislate as it likes subject only to its desire to be re-elected
- every three years.
-
- Until now, members of parliament have been elected on a single-member
- constituency, winner takes all, system similar to those of Britain and the
- U.S.A. As a result of referenda conducted in 1993, future parliaments will
- be elected on a mixed-member proportional system modelled on that of
- Germany.
-
- The administration is highly centralised. The country is divided into
- "districts" (the urban ones called "cities") each with a District (or City)
- Council and Mayor, but their powers are limited to providing public
- facilities (not housing) and enforcement of by-laws (local regulations)
- such as parking regulations. The Police are a single force controlled by
- the central government.
-
- The draft of the new electorate Boundaries under MMP is available from
- http://actrix.gen.nz/general/politics.html. There are 3 files:
- nth_isle.gif --> north island electorates
- sth_isle.gif --> South island electorates
- auckland.gif --> Auckland electorates"
-
- Ross Stewart (WWG IT recruiters, Akld, NZ) writes:
- For interest, we've put up (as best we can) details as to how seats will be
- allocated under MMP. Have a look at:
- http://www.clearfield.co.nz/wilson_white/mmp.htm
-
- Colin Jackson adds:
- Announcing the NZ Elections Home Page on the government web server:
- http://www.govt.nz/
- Material on the server includes:
- - A Guide to the MMP voting system
- - How to Enrol, with an Internet form
- - Maps of all the new electorates
- - A text search tool to establish which electorate(s) a given place is in
- - Results of the last election
- It will carry the results of the 1996 election as these become available.
- The address of the elections home page is:
- http://www.govt.nz/elections
-
- --------------------
-
- B3.1.4 The Justice System
-
- There is a four-level hearings and appeals system:
-
- Top level Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (London)
- |
- Court of Appeal (Wellington)
- |
- High Court (in all cities)
- |
- Bottom level District Courts (most towns)
-
- There is also the Small Claims Court which handles smaller personal
- disputes.
-
- Civil and criminal cases start in the District or High Court, depending on
- their seriousness and appeals go up the chain. Certain rare cases can
- start in the Court of Appeal. District and High Court judges sit alone or
- with juries. The Court of Appeal (and on certain rare occasions the High
- Court) consists of three or five judges sitting "en banc". The Judicial
- Committee of the Privy Council consists mainly of British Law Lords with
- New Zealand judges also sitting in New Zealand cases; in theory its
- decisions merely "opinions" for the benefit of the monarch as the fount of
- all justice, but in practice its rulings have the force of ultimate appeal.
-
- All judges are appointed by the government - High Court judges are
- nominated by the Law Society, but District Court judges apply for the job
- like any other. Various special-purpose courts (Industrial Court, Maori
- Land Court, Family Court, etc.) exist and have the same status as either a
- District Court or the High Court.
-
- For the NZ Statutes:
- http://io.kete.co.nz/gpprint/gptop.htm
- and there's a pointer to it from http://www.govt.nz/
-
- --------------------
-
- B3.1.5 Organisation Membership
-
- New Zealand is a member of the following organsations:
-
- ANZUS (US suspended security obligations to NZ on 11 August 1986), APEC,
- AsDB, Australia Group, C, CCC, CP, COCOM, (cooperating country), EBRD,
- ESCAP, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF,
- IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LORCS,
- MTCR, OECD, PCA, SPC, SPF, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIIMOG, UNTSO, UPU,
- WHO, WIPO, WMO
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: B3.2 Economy
-
- Since 1984 the government has been reorienting an agrarian economy
- dependent on a guaranteed British market to an open free market economy
- that can compete on the global scene. The government had hoped that
- dynamic growth would boost real incomes, reduce inflationary pressures, and
- permit the expansion of welfare benefits. The results have been mixed:
- inflation is down from double-digit levels, but growth has been sluggish
- and unemployment, always a highly sensitive issue, has exceeded 10% since
- May 1991. In 1988, GDP fell by 1%, in 1989 grew by a moderate 2.4%, and
- was flat in 1990-91. Current (1994) growth is around 2-4% and rising.
-
- The economy is based on agriculture (particularly dairy products, meat, and
- wool (68 m sheep, 2 m dairy cows)), food processing, wood and paper
- products, textiles, machinery, transportation equipment, banking and
- insurance, tourism, mining. Fish catch reached a record 0.5 m tonnes in
- 1988. Highly dependent on external trade, NZ is currently trying to move
- from being a primary to a secondary producer.
-
- --------------------
-
- B3.2.1 Defence Against Silly Questions
-
- Lyndon Watson wrote:
-
- "Look in on sci.economics and sci.econ.research.
-
- In response to yet another request from abroad about NZ's supposedly
- interesting economic past and present structure, Lyndon Watson composed the
- following.
-
- What is it with these idiots from Canada? This garbage seems to come round
- three or four times a year - is some fool teaching it to students there?
-
- Some notes for these twits (and their teachers) -
-
- 1. New Zealand was not subsidized from England, or anywhere else.
-
- 2. The nation did not at any time go bankrupt (or default on its
- debts, or become subject to IMF or World Bank or any other outside
- economic direction).
-
- 3. Our terms of trade worsened catastrophically in the early 1970s (not
- the 1980s) as a result of (a) the oil shock that also affected
- our trading partners and (b) the erection of tariff and quota
- barriers against our trade by the U.K.
-
- 4. The Labour government of 1972-75 and the National government that
- followed it tried to deal with adverse terms of trade by borrowing
- in foreign markets, with the result that by the early 1980s we had
- (and we still have) a debt ratio that looked bad even by Third World
- standards.
-
- 5. The Labour government of 1984-90 and the current National government
- have restructured the economy by abruptly stopping all state
- subsidies, removing nearly all tariff and quota barriers against
- imports, greatly reducing income tax and substituting the Goods and
- Services Tax on the sale of goods and services, greatly reducing the
- the state's involvement in trading activities and social services,
- and the reform of labour laws to promote individual workplace
- agreements.
-
- 6. The removal of subsidies and import barriers saw many incompetent
- and uneconomic businesses, many of which were reliant on subsidies,
- fail and the official unemployment rate exceed 10% of the workforce.
-
- 7. After a decade of restructuring, our net terms of trade are in our
- favour and the official unemployment rate is the fourth lowest in
- the OECD (currently just over 7% for the country as a whole, 5.9%
- in most of the South Island). A major current problem is the
- shortage of skilled workers in many industries."
-
- -----
-
- Kindly submitted by Paul Walker. These were published in the Christchruch
- Press on September 13th and 14th, 1995. Anyone prepared to archive these
- and the following references for ftp and such?
-
- BRINGING HOME THE CUP
-
- Michael Carter
- Senior Lecturer in Economics
- University of Canterbury
-
-
- When Australia wrested the America's Cup from the New York yacht club in
- 1983, Tom Schnackenberg was a member of the shore team (a sail designer).
- When New Zealand won the cup in San Diego, Tom was head of the design team
- and navigator on NZL 32. His progression from shore to ship was far less
- imposing than that in his native country. In 1983, a New Zealand
- challenge for the America's Cup would have been inconceivable. The
- domestic boat building industry was struggling. It had been decimated by
- the imposition of an ill-conceived sales tax in 1979, which cut turnover
- from $57 million to $8 million in two years.
-
- Like Schnackenberg, many of New Zealand's best talents lived and worked
- overseas, driven away by high tax rates and the lack of opportunity.
- Innovation was discouraged by regulations, import controls and selective
- taxes. The idea of a New Zealand team taking on the might of corporate
- America was laughable.
-
- At the end of 1984, I left Australia to return to New Zealand. Some of my
- Australian colleagues laughed. They saw New Zealand as a basket case, a
- joke, small isolated islands drowning in a sea of debt. My Australian
- friends wondered when, not if, Australia would have to come reluctantly to
- the rescue.
-
- Ten years later, how things have changed. Our triumph in San Diego is due
- in no small measure to the changes which have be wrought in the New
- Zealand economy over the last 10 years. Moreover, bringing home the Cup
- was only the most visible sign of the new vigour, confidence and strength
- in New Zealand and its people.
-
- New Zealanders are justifiably proud of the performance of Team NZ in San
- Diego. They could be even more proud of the performance of home team, of
- the radical transformation of their economy over the last ten years.
-
- Domestic critics talk of the "New Zealand experiment" as though New
- Zealand has pursued a lone path in recent years. Nothing could be further
- from the truth. Massive economic change has occurred throughout the world
- over the last fifteen years. Deregulation and privatization are universal
- trends. No country remains untouched, from Britain and the US to the
- former constituents of the Soviet block to Latin America, Africa and Asia.
-
- Around the world, there is a feeling that New Zealand has done it better
- than most. The Australians are now looking cautiously over their shoulder,
- as their economy is consistently eclipsed by their Tasman rival. The
- Economist regularly cites New Zealand as exemplifying the benefits of
- economic reform. Monetary economists pay significant attention to the
- Reserve Bank Act. Experts on telecommunications watch with interest New
- Zealand's system of light regulation. New Zealanders are employed as
- consultants advising on economic reform all round the world.
-
- >From the laggard of the OECD, New Zealand has emerged to one of the
- strongest economies in the world. It is an achievement to be proud of, an
- accomplishment which surpasses even the yacht races in San Diego. That is
- not to say that we have got everything perfect. Mistakes have been made,
- implementation of some policies was less than perfect, and there is still
- much to be done. But, from an international perspective, New Zealand's
- transformation in a single decade has been remarkable. At a time when
- some politicians are promoting a return to the past, it is sobering to
- recall the changes which have been made and to reflect on the way we were
- ten years ago. It is also interesting to remark how the opponents of
- change have often become its most vocal advocates, as exemplified by
- Federated Farmers and recently the Manufacturers Federation.
-
- Much of the current political debate on economic policy is futile and
- distracting, driven by poor memories and wishful thinking. If only New
- Zealanders could achieve some consensus that we have been moving in the
- right direction, debate could turn to the more constructive issues of how
- to secure continued growth and equitable distribution. Prospective
- voters could do their part by signalling more clearly to aspiring
- politicians that they want to build on the present rather than return to
- the past.
-
- Tomorrow, we look back to the way we were in 1984 and review some of the
- changes which have been made in our economic lives.
-
-
-
- LOOKING BACK TO 1984
-
- Michael Carter
- Senior Lecturer in Economics
- University of Canterbury
-
-
- Eleven years ago, the Fourth Labour Government came to power in a snap
- election. They inherited control of country whose economy had been
- devastated by years of mismanagement. Aided by a willing and able
- bureaucracy, they set about implementing an ambitious programme of
- economic reform. As New Zealand approaches its first MMP election, it is
- instructive to look back over these reforms, and to recall the way we
- were in 1984.
-
- One of the first changes was the freeing of the financial system from
- obstructive regulation and the floating of the New Zealand dollar. This
- has promoted a healthy, competitive and innovative financial system.
- People may rue market interest rates, but at least it possible to borrow
- when required. Remember the old days when obtaining a mortgage required
- appropriate obsequiousness before the bank manager, who exercised a
- patronizing and crucial power over investment decisions. Since it was
- floated, the Kiwi dollar has shown a remarkable stability in a world of
- stormy change. So stable has it been, that international bankers use it
- has a short term safe haven, and temporary resting place for funds. Why
- should we be alarmed at that vote of confidence? A strong currency is a
- manifestation of a strong economy. No country has every got rich by
- debasing its currency.
-
- One consequence of a floating currency is that New Zealander's are
- enabled to convert their currency at will. Remember the days when foreign
- exchange had to be squirreled away, carefully collected to finance meagre
- purchases. Funds for overseas travel were limited. Obtaining funds for
- small purchases such as magazine subscriptions required hoarding post
- office money orders.
-
- Similarly, ten years ago, there were an enormous range of import controls
- and prohibitive tariffs. Overseas trips where often shopping trips.
- Travelers would return laden with booty which was too expensive to
- purchase in New Zealand. The main beneficiaries were foreign distributors
- and retailers. It was a very inefficient way of restricting consumption
- of luxury goods to the rich.
-
- Exchange and import controls spawned a variety of ingenious rackets.
- Under one scheme, those with access to foreign currency could go to the
- top of the queue for a new car, while ordinary people had to spend three
- or four years on a waiting list. Consequently, the favoured few were
- enabled to buy a new car every year, and then sell it to the less
- fortunate for more than they paid for it. Such rorts are almost inevitable
- under a system of controls.
-
- The most spectacular result of the abolition of import controls was the
- flood of second-hand Japanese cars. The quality of the New Zealand vehicle
- fleet improved dramatically, and the cost of transportation declined. Of
- course, there has been a down side. Traffic congestion has also increased
- dramatically. But at least congestion is egalitarian. Vehicle ownership
- is widespread and not restricted to the rich and powerful.
-
- The relaxation of import controls and tariffs has also had a dramatic
- impact on clothing, footwear and consumer goods. The range of clothing
- readily available in New Zealand has increased dramatically, and prices
- have fallen. Since families spend a higher proportion of their budgets on
- clothing and transport, freer trade has been especially valuable to the
- less well off. This makes the Alliance's wish to reverse this change all
- the more imponderable.
-
- In 1984, New Zealand's production was guided by a system of subsidies,
- through which New Zealand taxpayers funded the lifestyles of those with
- political clout. Most pernicious were the agricultural subsidies such as
- SMPs. Naturally, farmers produced were the subsidies were highest, which
- tended to be were demand was lowest. The subsidies became capitalized in
- land values, another windfall gain for those of means. When the
- government abolished subsidies in 1984, land prices halved. For many
- individual farmers, this was devastating. But farmers as a whole soon
- recognised that the subsidy system was untenable. They soon became the
- most vocal advocates of deregulation, and New Zealand could mount a
- credible campaign against protection in world agricultural markets.
-
- Much political flak was attracted by the privatization of public owned
- businesses. Yet, this was part of world-wide trend. A recent book on
- privatization which I reviewed for the Press cited 120 countries.
- Privatization in New Zealand seems to have been handled more sensibly
- than in some other countries. This is because serious thought was given to
- post-sale market structure, which it is more important than ownership.
- For example, Ansett was permitted to fly in New Zealand before Air New
- Zealand was floated. Similarly, competition was permitted in
- telecommunications before Telecom was sold. The benefits in these cases
- are clear. New Zealand enjoys one of the best and cheapest telephone
- systems in the world. Competition in transport has certainly improved the
- quality of service.
-
- It is plausible to argue that current impasse between Telecom and Clear
- stems primarily from the Kiwi share obligation imposed on Telecom, which
- was explicitly designed to impede the consequences of competition in the
- residential market. The Kiwi share may have been one of the less fortunate
- ideas.
-
- A keystone of economic reform has been the Reserve Bank Act, which has
- succeeded in controlling inflation in New Zealand. Inflation adds to the
- uncertainty of investment decisions, and leads to arbitrary
- redistributions of wealth. Admittedly, the rapid reduction in inflation
- was achieved at considerable cost. However, nothing would be gained now
- by loosening the controls on inflation embodied in the Reserve Bank Act.
- Reform of the tax system was also important.
-
- In 1984, the top marginal tax rate was 66%, which left little incentive
- for additional effort. It provided ample incentive for avoidance and
- evasion which were widespread. The imposition of GST had two major
- advantages: avoidance was almost impossible and the tax fell on
- consumption and not saving. By cutting the rates but broadening the base,
- tax receipts have actually increased, which is why New Zealand is now
- repaying debt rather than accumulating it. The reformed system is also
- much fairer, since the opportunities for avoidance under the former system
- were very unevenly distributed.
-
- Reform reached beyond market institutions. "Tomorrow's Schools"
- revolutionized the ways our schools are run. There have been some hiccups,
- but by and large this seems to have been a successful and welcome reform.
- A recent review in the Press could find no one who wanted to return to the
- former system of centralized Ministry control. Similar decentralization
- in the health system has provoked more debate. However, it is notable that
- a recent careful survey by Consumer magazine detected widespread
- satisfaction with the health system. Much of the criticism comes from
- those working in the system, with a vested interest in protecting their
- working conditions.
-
- As in similar countries, the process of immigration was changed, from a
- system of regional quotas to a points system. Points are awarded to
- prospective immigrants for various criteria, and those with the highest
- points are admitted. The advantage of this system is its openness and
- transparency. On the whole, it is much fairer to immigrants. Other
- changes which come to mind include deregulation of shopping hours, the
- huge change in planning process embodied in the Environmental Protection
- Act, the auctioning of property rights in spectrum and fisheries and of
- course the Employment Contracts Acts.
-
- The changes which have been wrought have been massive. They have been
- guided by the desire to introduce openness, accountability and rationality
- into public decision making. It would be silly to pretend that all the
- changes and their implementation have been beyond criticism. We live in an
- uncertain world characterized by imperfect information and human frailty.
- Mistakes have been made and improvements are available. Inevitably, there
- have been winners and losers from change.
-
- Nevertheless, we need to look at the larger picture. Those with nostalgia
- for a lost past need to colour their memories with a degree of realism. Do
- we really want to return to the days of import and exchange controls,
- inefficient state monopolies, old broken-down cars, a gray, dull
- uniformity of relative poverty and quaint backwardness. That is the
- direction in which some politicians wish to lead.
-
- -----
-
- Following are a collection of references on the changes from Paul Walker
- who added: "The one problem they all have is that they were out of date by
- the time they were published. For a quick overview of the last 10 years or
- so check out":
- http://www.canterbury.ac.nz/econ/mike.htm
-
- Australian Economic Review; 0(104), Oct.-Dec. 1993
-
- Len Bayliss
- Prosperity Mislaid: Economic Failure in New Zealand and What Should be Done
- About it.
- GP Publications, Wellington NZ, 1994
-
- A. Bollard
- New Zealand Economic Reforms: 1984-91, Country Study No. 10.
- International Center for Economic Growth, 1992
-
- Alan Bollard
- The Political Economy of Liberalisation in New Zealand.
- New Zealand Institute of Economic Research Working Paper WP93/2
-
- Alan Bollard and Robert Buckle (eds)
- Economic Liberalisation in New Zealand.
- Allen and Unwin, 1987
-
- Alan Bollard and David Mayes
- Corporatization and Privatization in New Zealand in The Political Economy
- of Privatization.
- Thomas Clarke and Christos Pitelis (eds)
- Routledge, London, 1993
-
- Jonathan Boston
- Reshaping Social Policy in New Zealand.
- Fiscal Studies; 14(3), August 1993, pages 44-85.
-
- Jonathan Boston and Paul Dalziel (eds)
- The Decent Society?: Essays in Response to National's Economic and Social
- Policies.
- Oxford University Press, Auckland, N.Z., 1992
-
- Jonathan Boston and Martin Holland (eds)
- The Fourth Labour Government: Radical Politics in New Zealand.
- Oxford University Press, Auckland, N.Z., 1987
-
- Jonathan Boston and Martin Holland (eds)
- The Fourth Labour Government: Politics and Policy in New Zealand 2nd Ed.
- Oxford University Press, Auckland, N.Z., 1990
-
- Pat Colgate and Joselyn Stroombergen
- A Promise to Pay: New Zealand's Overseas Debt and Country Risk.
- New Zealand Institute of Economic Research Research Monograph 58
-
- Ajit Dasgupta
- Is New Zealand Slipping up? Some Borda Condorcet Measures of Relative
- Performance.
- Economics discussion Papers No.9311 Uinversity of Otago.
-
- Ian Duncan and Alan Bollard
- Corporatization and Privatization.
- Oxford University Press, 1992
-
- Stephen Gale
- The New Zealand Experience of Liberalisation and Deregulation.
- New Zealand Institute of Economic Research Working Paper WP 90/13
-
- G. Hawke (ed)
- A Modest Safety Net? The Future of the Welfare State.
- Institute of Policy Studies, 1991
-
- Warren E. Johnston and Gerald A. G. Frengley
- The Deregulation of New Zealand Agriculture: Market Intervention (1964-84)
- and Free Market Readjustment (1984-90).
- Western Journal of Agricultural Economics; 16(1), July 1991, pages 132-43.
-
- Susan K. Jones
- The Road to Privatization; The issues involved and some lessons from New
- . Zealand's Experience.
- Finance and Development, March 1991.
-
- Tim Maloney
- Has New Zealand's Employment Contracts Act Increased Employment and Reduced
- Wages?
- Working Papers in Economics No.135 July 1994, Department of Economics,
- University of Auckland.
-
- Peter Nicholl
- New Zealand's Monetary Policy Experiment.
- University of Western Ontario Papers in Political Economy: 31 October 1993
-
- Susan St John
- Tax and Welfare Reforms in New Zealand.
- The Australian Economic Review, 4th Quarter 1993
-
- Robert Stephens
- Radical Tax Reform in New Zealand.
- Fiscal Studies; 14(3), August 1993, pages 45-63.
-
- The Old New Zealand and the New
- New Zealand Business Roundtable, Wellington N.Z., 1994
-
- Simon Walker (ed)
- Rodgernomics: Reshaping New Zealand's Economy.
- GP Books, Wellington, N.Z., 1989
-
- Graeme Wells
- Economic Reform and Macroeconomic Policy in New Zealand.
- Australian Economic Review; 0(92), Oct.-Dec. 1990, pages 45-60
-
- P. C. Dalziel
- A decade of radical economic reforms in New Zealand
- British Review of New Zealand Studies 7, forthcoming (it may be out by now).
-
- Patrick Massey
- New Zealand: Market Liberalization in a Developed Economy
- Macmillan Press, 1995
-
- You could also check out the last 10 years or so of "New Zealand Economic
- Papers" and the "Reserve Bank of New Zealand Bulletin".
-
- Paul
-
- --------------------
-
- B3.2.2 Current Status
-
- Govt: going into surplus
- Business confidence: on the up and up
- Building: both business and residental are doing very well.
- Unemployed, welfare, students, solo parents feeling hard done by.
- Business (particular exporters), overseas investors very pleased.
- GNP 1988 (millions) $25,856
- GNP per Capita $7,734
- GDP: purchasing power equivalent - $46.2 billion, per capita $14,000; real
- growth rate - 0.4% (1991 est.)
- Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.1-1.4% (1993)
- Unemployment rate: 11% (mid 1994)
- Budget: revenues $17.6 billion; expenditures $18.3 billion, including
- capital expenditures of $NA (FY91 est.)
- Economic aid: donor - ODA and OOF commitments (1970-89), $526 million
-
- Exports: $9.4 billion (f.o.b., FY91)
- commodities: wool, lamb, mutton, beef, fruit, fish, cheese, manufactured
- goods, chemicals, forestry products, beer, wine
- Imports: $8.4 billion (f.o.b., FY91)
- commodities: petroleum, consumer goods, motor vehicles, industrial
- equipment
-
- Natural resources: natural gas, oil, iron sand, coal, timber, hydropower,
- gold, grass
-
- Land use: arable land 2%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and pastures 53%;
- forest and woodland 38%; other 7%; includes irrigated 1%
-
- ---------
-
- For an up-to-date outline on the current state of NZ's economy, look out
- for one of Brian Harmer's excellent weekly WYSIWYG news reports in s.c.n-z.
-
- --------------------
-
- B3.2.3 Currency
-
- Decimal system based on New Zealand dollar, with cent denominations.
- Coins are 5, 10, 20, and 50 cents, 1 and 2 dollars
- Notes are 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 dollars
-
- Major credit cards are accepted widely.
-
- --------------------
-
- B3.2.4 Stockmarket
-
- Same structure as overseas. Ours tends to fluctuate depending on the state
- of the world markets.
-
- --------------------
-
- B3.2.5 Exchange/Interest Rates
-
- Information on exchange rates is available from many daily papers, or you
- can get the information through www on:
- http://www.ora.com/cgi-bin/ora/currency?New_Zealand
-
- It's updated weekly, so it's usually a little out of date, but it's a good
- guide mostly.
-
- Current figures for main currencies (10/6/95):
- NZ$
- Aust$ 93.63c
- Pounds 42.56p
- US$ 67.65c
- Yen 57.78
-
- Interest rates are fluctuating between 6 and 10% depending on overseas
- markets. Fixed interest (1/4/95):
- % call rates 9.00
- % 90-day bank bills 9.04
- % July 1998 Govt Stock 8.21
-
- --------------------
-
- B3.2.6 Taxes
-
- New Zealand operates a Goods and Services Tax of 12.5% on ALL goods and
- services sold and this is usually included in the display price. The
- exceptions are purchases at duty free shops. Visitors cannot claim refunds
- on this tax however when a supplier agrees to export a major item to a
- visitors home address then GST will not be charged on the goods or the
- freight.
-
- Income tax (as at May 96):
- $1 - $9,500 - 15% (allowing for the low income rebate)
- $9,501 - $30,875 - 28%
- $30,876 + - 33%
-
- changing to:
- $1 - $9,500 - 15% (allowing for the low income rebate)
- $9,501 - $34,200 - 24% (up to $38,000 and down to 21% on July 1st 1997)
- $30,876 + - 33%
- on the July 1st 1996.
-
- Apparently family support will also increase with a guaranteed minimum
- family income, and a new independent family tax credit.
-
- For wage and salary earners virtually nothing is tax-deductible except the
- first $1500 of donations to churches, schools, and other charities, and
- then only at a 33% rate (ie max $500).
-
- There are various rebates for things like low incomes, children, donations,
- Housekeeper, Home/Farm/Vessel Ownership, and others.
-
- Government Revenue Source(1990) How it was expected to be spent(1990)
- Income Tax $16,950 Education $3,912.5
- Goods and Service Tax $5,500 Health $3,791.1
- Other Direct Taxes $360 Transport $711.6
- Excise Duties $1,670 Administration $2,769.0
- Highway tax $670 Development of Industry $1,231.3
- Other Indirect Tax $790 Government Borrowing $575.1
- Foreign Relations $1,733.7
- Social Services $10,292.1
- Total $25,940 Total $25,016.4
-
- On a regional scale, all local authorities fund their activities (with some
- limited back-up from central government) from 'rates'. These are taxes on
- land owners, assessed annually as a fraction of the 'unimproved' (i.e. land
- only) value of the land. Each local authority sets its own rates and they
- can be challenged as unreasonable in court - some Wellington City rates for
- the current year have just been thrown out by the High Court.
-
- Note that we do not have overlapping local authorities as in the U.S. Any
- given place is controlled by one, and one only, local authority - either a
- "city" or a "district" - and so the only taxes that people pay are local
- authority rates and central government taxes.
-
- There are still some anomalous levies and taxes on certain goods - a high
- excise duty on wine, for example - that should not really exist in the GST
- environment.
-
- --------------------
-
- B3.2.7 Miscellaneous Prices
-
- litre of petrol; $0.90 - 0.96
- loaf of bread (700gm/1.5 pound loaf); $1.60 - 1.90
- butter (500gms); $1.60 (on special)
- milk (2 litre bottle); $2.70
- eggs (dozen) $3.20
- apples (1kg/2lb); $0.60 - 1.20 depending on season
- fresh fruit/veges - much cheaper than US city and much nicer/fresher
- frozen chicken (2 kg/4 pounds); $6 (good special price)
- sausages (3 kg/6 pounds); $10
- steak; $10/kg often much more.
- coffee (kg, beans) $22
- ice cream (2 litres); $3
- cheapest hamburger at McDonalds; $0.95 (a LOT more for a big mac)
- 12 cans of beer; $13.
-
- restaurant prices; much less than the US
- clothes/shoes; much more expensive than the US
- 60 watt light bulbs; $1 each
- university textbooks; $80+/-
- queen size mattress (without base, reasonable quality); $500
- Sony G14 34cmv TV 14 inch; $439
- top-loading automatic washing machine (5 kg loads); $919
-
- cars: used Holden Commodore VL automatic 1987 (i.e. 8 years old); $12,700
- new Honda Civic (fairly typical for NZ size cars); $33,170
- auto insurance for that car; $250/annum (depending on policy, age of owner)
-
- electrician charges; $30 per hour
- doctor - standard consultation; adult $35, child $10-20
- treatment in public hospital (eg maternity unit, 3 days); free. The trick
- is to have something so urgent that they let you in. That's not so easy
- unless you're pregnant. Waiting lists can be months long.
-
- For housing rental - see under 'cost of living'.
-
- -----
-
- House prices.
- The following table is taken from the New Zealand Herald, Wed 20 Dec, 1995.
- Median price ($) by district of real estate for November 1995.
-
- Dwelling total
- District House Unit Section 1995 1994 1993
-
- Northland 110,000 89,000 35,000 108,000 97,500 96,250
-
- Auckland 212,000 182,500 75,000 200,000 178,000 150,000
-
- Waikato/ 128,000 120,000 45,000 127,000 120,000 110,000
- Bay of Plenty/
- Gisborne
-
- Hawkes Bay 118,000 115,000 35,000 118,000 118,000 118,000
-
- Manawatu/ 102,500 86,250 45,000 101,000 102,750 96,750
- Wanganui
-
- Taranaki 94,000 93,500 52,555 93,750 95,000 90,000
-
- Wellington 145,000 115,000 54,250 140,000 140,000 132,500
-
- Nelson/ 130,000 117,750 60,000 130,000 135,000 120,000
- Marlborough
-
- Canterbury/ 129,000 120,900 52,750 128,000 125,000 115,000
- Westland/
- SouthCant'y
-
- Otago 91,500 113,000 38,750 91,500 101,000 90,750
-
- Southland 79,500 140,000 76,000 84,000 84,000 74,250
-
- Average for 143,000 157,000 55,000 146,000 118,000 107,600
- New Zealand
-
- -----
-
- For more info, try:
- http://www.govt.nz/ps/min/stats
- Follow the "New Zealand" link on the home page.
-
- Ewan McKissock wrote:
- It's interesting what items they list (and what they don't). This is
- either very revealing about life in NZ, or about life in Statistics New
- Zealand, I'm not sure which. Odd that they quote annual Tennis club
- subscription, but no mention of other sports.
-
- Russell Turner wrote:
- You could try looking at New Zealand newspapers. The dominion or evening
- post would be a could source of adverts for household gizmos and houses,
- rent, cars etc. Try phoning (04) 474 0100 to speak to the newspaper
- publisher.
-
- to which Charles Eggen added:
- The Weekly Wellington - City Voice is on-line at
- http://nz.com/NZ/Commerce/NetEdit/VOICE.HTM
- (watch those Caps in the above address). It will give you some current
- info and you can subscribe to the fully paper at a reasonable cost.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: B3.3 Life In General
-
- B3.3.1 Business Hours
-
- Banks 9:00am to 4:30pm - can vary slightly. Otherwise, Monday to Friday
- 9:00am to 5:30pm. Late night for shopping is either Thursday or Friday.
- Changes to the Shop Trading Hours Act means that most shops are open for
- longer hours than this. Almost all are open Saturday morning, many are
- open on Sunday with some shops and markets remaining open later during the
- week.
-
- Automatic teller machines are widely available including a system in many
- supermarkets and petrol stations called EFTPOS where you can buy goods with
- your card and a PIN number and/or obtain cash. Many Atm's will accept
- Cirrus cards.
-
- All international credit cards are accepted in NZ. Travellers cheques can
- be changed in banks, hotels, stores, etc. Mike Gill said; "I used MC and
- carried some Travellers cheques for emergencies. This worked out great".
-
- There is no restriction on the amount of foreign currency which may be
- brought into or taken from New Zealand. Funds may be in the form of bank
- notes, coins, travellers cheques or any other instrument of payment.
- Visitors may convert surplus NZ currency at any outlet authorised to deal
- in foreign exchange.
-
- --------------------
-
- B3.3.2 Tipping
-
- Tipping is not expected in New Zealand, but is not unheard of. Employed
- people don't depend on tips for their income and service charges are not
- [usually] added to hotel and restaurant bills. Tip for service if you
- think it's really deserved, but don't be surprised by the response. Some
- consider tipping to be an undesirable practise.
-
- --------------------
-
- B3.3.3 Cost Of Living
-
- B3.3.3.1 Rent
- A moderately decent house/week (VERY approx!):
- Dunedin $130 - $180
- Christchurch $140 - $200
- Wellington $160 - $300
- Auckland $200 - $350
-
- The average house price is hovering around $140K, mortgage rates are
- fluctuating around 11% currently. Mortgage rates include inflation
- adjustment.
-
- ----------
-
- B3.3.3.2 Wages
- The govt would have us believe an 'average' income is around $26K, people
- with an income over $30K are considered well off.
-
- ----------
-
- B3.3.3.3 Transport
- Petrol is $0.93 per litre (+/- $0.05), insurance on a small car (eg. 85
- toyota starlet 1.3l) is a mere $240 per year, registration is another $200
- per year. There are lots of cheap Japanese used imports over here, so you
- can get a good car for as little as $5K, and a cheap car for less than $2k.
- Repairs are the worst cost - especially parts for late model cars, so
- getting something reliable is a good idea.
-
- ----------
-
- B3.3.3.4 Food
- Pretty cheap depending on how much you eat of what. It'd be easy to eat
- your way through a lot of money, but it is possible to live on less than
- $40/wk and probably quite a lot less depending on how keen you were...
-
- ----------
-
- B3.3.3.5 Consumer Goods
- Most import duties have been abolished, and instead we have a flat 12.5%
- goods and services tax (GST). Beware of advertised prices which exclude
- this. This means that imported goods (electrical appliances, clothing
- etc.) are pretty reasonably priced.
-
- --------------------
-
- B3.3.4 Crime
-
- Yes, we have crime. While it may be 'safe' compared to most other
- countries, serious crime does exist here and visitors should take sensible
- precautions. Always lock your vehicle, and don't leave it in isolated
- locations for extended periods. Avoid leaving valuables visible in the
- car. Avoid areas/situations which appear unwholesome. The emergency phone
- number (police, ambulance, fire) is 111, and ask the operator for the
- service required (this can be used from payphones without paying).
-
- -----
-
- John Davis wrote:
-
- "The crime rate isn't overly high, there was some information in the paper
- today (1/95) showing the average number of reported crimes per 10,000
- people for Chch is 1877. The NZ average is 1457, Chch came second
- (Auckland had 2130). The safest place is rural Canterbury at 568. This
- may sound rather high, but this _all_ reported crimes, from shoplifting up.
-
- If you break it down into crime types, the NZ average for violent crimes
- per 10,000 is 124, sexual crimes is 14, drugs and 'anti-social' crimes
- (presumably things like being drunk and disorderly) is 150, property damage
- is 98 and property abuse is 74. As you can see from this, the serious
- crime rate here is therefore very low, things like murder and rape are
- fairly rare (rare enough to make the national TV news), armed offences are
- virtually un-heard of (again, and armed hold-up will make the national
- news). You're most at risk from petty crime (opportunist car theft,
- break-ins etc. - as opposed to 'professional' thieves who are fairly
- rare). Your chances of being assaulted, held up, or murdered are virtually
- nil. Probably the most dangerous part of day to day life here is the way
- people drive :-)
-
- On the other hand, do silly things like leave a nice expensive camera
- sitting in your car whilst it's parked in a dark street in the middle of
- town at night, and you'll probably find someone's nicked it (lots of
- tourists find this out the hard way - wish people would stop telling them
- NZ is totally safe)."
-
- -----
-
- Murder Statistics for 1991
-
- Brian Dooley wrote:
-
- "Notes
- (1) All data taken from NZ Year Books and adjusted to include only males
- aged 15+ years.
-
- (2) Numbers marked "*" are taken from Year Books where murders and
- manslaughter (not incl. deaths by careless driving) were aggregated.
-
- (3) Numbers 1967-82 are taken directly from tables which give
- deaths/million.
-
- (4) Numbers 1974-94 refer specifically to murder only.
-
- (5) These numbers are approximations but good enough to allow reasonable
- conclusions. You will observe that my value of 3.3/100,000 for 1991
- accords pretty well with the value of 3.4/100,000 quoted before from the
- Economist.
-
- MURDERS/100,000 of Total Population:
-
- 1967 1.4* 1970 1.2* 1980 1.3 1990 1.6
- 1968 0.7* 1971 0.9* 1981 1.3 1991 1.5
- 1969 1.1* 1972 1.0* 1982 1.3 1992 2.1
- 1973 0.8* 1983 --- 1993 1.1
- 1974 1.4 1984 1.2
- 1975 1.0 1985 ---
- 1976 1.1 1986 1.8
- 1977 1.8 1987 1.7
- 1978 1.9 1988 ---
- 1979 1.6 1989 2.0
-
-
- MURDERS/100,000 MEN for NZ (men=age 15+):
-
- 1967 3.2* 1970 2.7* 1980 3.0 1990 3.8
- 1968 1.6* 1971 2.0* 1981 3.0 1991 3.3
- 1969 2.5* 1972 2.3* 1982 3.0 1992 4.9
- 1973 1.8* 1983 --- 1993 2.6
- 1974 3.2 1984 2.7
- 1975 2.3 1985 ---
- 1976 2.5 1986 4.2
- 1977 4.1 1987 4.1
- 1978 4.3 1988 ---
- 1979 3.6 1989 4.8
-
- The thing which strikes me about the table is that it does have a
- consistency, which implies that if the Economist's conclusions are true
- then not only is NZ comparatively violent now - it has been for a long
- time. However I am not persuaded that a simple ratio is applicable to all
- situations, particularly where small numbers are involved. The table has a
- volatility which I don't think it would have if a population of 50 million
- were involved."
-
- -----
-
- I had a debate with myself about where to put this stuff. After the murder
- stats seemed as good as any...
-
- Frank van der Hulst offers:
- "Whilst doing a spot of research in Massey's library, I took the time to
- look for road traffic accident stats. Like all stats, take them with a
- grain of salt. Your mileage may vary :-)
-
- "What I found is somewhat dated, but FWIW here are comparisons of injury
- accidents/100mill km for various countries. Illuminating perhaps for those
- who claim NZer's are the worst drivers in the world (possibly excepting
- Romans).
-
- Finland 62
- Norway 70
- USA 72
- Niger 79
- Denmark 79
- NZ 88 *
- Canada 88
- Turkey 88
- Italy 91
- Australia 92
- Spain 120
- France 127
- Germany 129
- Great Britain 130
- Peru 131
- Netherlands 157
- Hungary 193
- Israel 229
- India 242
- Syria 264
- Morocco 279
- Belgium 285
- Japan 320
- Ivory Coast 539
-
- "These data are for 1970/71. As usual, I ask anyone with more recent stats
- to email them to me or post them.
-
- "Don't go driving in Ivory Coast!"
-
-
- Steffan Berridge has added the following.
-
- Here's some authoritative info which I found in "Motor Accidents in New
- Zealand" published by the LTSA, originally entered in the OECD
- International Road and Traffic Accident Database held by Bundesanstalt fur
- Strassenwesen, Germany. The data are all 1993 except the ones with *s
- which are 1992 and the countries are ordered in decreasing vehicles per
- capita.
-
- Country Deaths per Deaths per
- 100,000 pop 10,000 vehicles
-
- USA 15.6 2.1*
- NZ 17.0 2.7
- Italy 12.6 2.0
- Luxembourg 19.2 3.1
- Canada 12.5 2.0
- Australia 11.1 1.9
- Switzerland 10.5 1.8
- Germany 12.3 2.2
- Japan 10.6 1.9
- UK 6.8 1.3
- Austria 16.2 3.1
- Norway 7.6 1.3*
- Iceland 6.4 1.3
- Sweden 7.3 1.5
- Belgium 16.5 3.4
- France 16.6 3.4
- Spain 16.3 3.6
- Finland 9.6 2.1
- Netherlands 8.2 1.9
- Denmark 10.8 2.7
- Ireland 12.1 3.7
- Greece 20.3 6.6
- Turkey 14.3 -
- Portugal 32.9* -
-
- Kind of makes you wonder what they get up to in Portugal... NZ roads are
- safe after all! It looks like the figures for 1994 should have been
- published by now, and the 1995 due shortly.
-
- -----
-
- Hantie Braybrook wrote:
- "all reported crimes per 100 000 of the entire 1994 population:
-
- South Africa 5651
- Norway 5563
- USA 5820
- <lots of countries deleted>
- UK 8986
- Canada 11443
- NZ 13247
- Sweden 14188
-
- Why are the figures for NZ almost 3 times those of SA ?"
-
- The following suggestions are in response.
-
- John Mee:
- "According to Statistics New Zealand, Distinct Cases Resulting in
- Conviction:
- 1991 1992 1993
- Against the person 7,603 8,454 10,681
- Property 20,669 21,166 21,459
- Drug 6,930 6,652 7,949
- Other 16,115 16,661 20,759
-
- Total convictions, exclusive of traffic: 60,848
-
- And the population:
- Census at 31 March 1993 1994 1995
- Total Population 3,435.0 3,541.6 3592.4
-
- Since the only overlap is 1993, only consider that year, therefore there
- are 34.35 (100,000) divided into 60,848 gives a rate of 1771.412/100,000
- CONVICTIONS (not crimes). Since I can't lay my hands on a conviction rate,
- or total of crimes committed, this will have to do.
-
- I suspect somebody fouled up, or there are vast differences in reporting
- methodologies from country to country, making any statistic meaningless."
-
- Bruce Hoult:
- "I'd take a wild stab in the dark and guess that these numbers include
- everything down to and including speeding tickets, and that the majority
- are in fact exactly that."
-
- Paul Dansted:
- "Because of changing attitudes towards domestic violence in NZ assaults in
- the home are now more likely to be reported as crimes. I think domestic
- violence accounts for something like 80% of violence in NZ!
-
- Policy changes have encouraged police to treat these incidents as crimes
- rather than 'just domestics'."
-
- Hantie Braybrook
- "There was a follow-up article the next day which is summarised below.
- Anyone interested can search the articles at the Independent Newspapers WWW
- site viz. http://www.inc.co.za
-
- "Essentially, the crime and murder rates could be double estimates due to
- the 50% rate of under-reporting. According to Nedcor researcher Simon Lee,
- the project used current SAPS (SA Police Service) crime statistics and
- statistics obtained through its own study to calculate an overall crime
- rate of 5,651 per 100,000 people.
-
- "Lee said that the crime rate could be doubled to at least 11,500 if the
- under-reporting rate were taken into consideration. This would also apply
- to the murder rate of 45 per 100,000 people which could in fact be 90.
-
- "Commenting on the high overall crime rate in countries such as Sweden, New
- Zealand and Canada, Lee said it could be attributed to the fact that these
- countries had a reporting rate of at least 95%.
-
- "The international rates had been obtained through Britannica World Data,
- which publish reliable forms of comparative crime statistics."
-
- --------------------
-
- B3.3.5 Finding A Job
-
- Try:
- http://www.jobnetz.co.nz
-
- and/or:
- http://www.infotech.co.nz/
-
- and/or:
- http://nz.com/webnz/malcolm/hotjobs.html
-
- The Ministry of Health has started a new web site for health related work:
- http://www.moh.govt.nz/
-
- There is a weekly computer section there as well as jobnet. The latter
- consists of situations vacant in the computer industry in NZ.
-
-
- There is an outfit called Willing Workers On Organic Farms (WWOOF) which
- costs $15 to join. For that you get a booklet containing a list of
- addresses and phone contacts for hundreds of organic farms. It is up to
- you to make the contact and arrangements with the specific farm where you
- would exchange work for food and lodging. Contact:
- Janet & Andrew Strange
- PO Box 1172
- Nelson, NZ.
- phone 025-345-711 (mobile)
-
-
- The NZ Employment Service appears to be a final resort. It is far better
- to have a job lined up before you arrive (from overseas) or before you're
- out of school...
-
- Labour force: 1,603,500 (June 1991)
- services 67.4%
- manufacturing 19.8%
- primary production 9.3% (1987)
-
- --------------------
-
- B3.3.6 Schools And Education
-
- Compulsory from age 7 to 15, but almost all children start kindergarten at
- age 4 and then school at 5.
- Primary schools: J or Primer (pron. 'primmer') 1 and 2: approx age 5-6
- Standards 1-4: approx age 7-11
- Intermediate schools: Form 1-2: approx age 11-13
- (these are sometimes included in primary schools
- or in secondary schools)
- Secondary schools: Form 3-7: approx age 13-18
-
- NZ schools have a high international reputation, especially for their
- reading and remedial reading programmes. A growing number of schools have
- special programmes for children whose first language is not English.
-
- National exams/qualifications:
-
- Form 5: School Certificate
- Form 6: Sixth Form Certificate
- Form 7: Bursary (entrance to university is mostly based on this)
-
- --------------------
-
- B3.3.7 Universities
-
- Otago is the oldest, Waikato is the newest, Auckland is the largest, and
- Lincoln is the smallest. Apart from Lincoln which is essentially a
- technical university offering a very limited range of courses (but is
- expanding fast), all are full-scale universities. Try:
- http://nz.com/NZ/EducationResearch/Universities.html
- This will send you to home pages (and all sorts of info including snail
- mail) of universities in NZ.
-
- As an indication, deadline for enrolment in 1996 closed on 12 dec for
- returning students, 7 Dec for new students and for overseas students it
- closed much earlier. The first semester starts at the end of February.
-
- ----------
-
- B3.3.7.1 Teaching Focus
- Most Universities have a core of basic subjects common to all; Chemistry,
- Physics, Biology, Maths, Stats, Economics, English, Psychology, etc. etc.
-
- Univerity of Auckland (Auckland)
- fine art, architecture, engineering, law?
- Univerity of Auckland (Tamaki)
- ?
- University of Waikato (Hamilton)
- provide internet into NZ, Maori, Computing, Psychology
- Massey University (Albany - Auckland's North Shore)
- Business Studies, Information and Mathematical Sciences, Social Sciences,
- Food Science.
- Massey University (Palmerston North)
- Agriculture & Horticulture, Business Studies, Information and
- Mathematical Sciences, Science, Social Sciences, Technology, Veterinary
- Science, Aviation, Education. There is also an arts faculty...
- * Many of the Massey programmes are available by distance education (Centre
- for University Extramural Studies)
- Victoria University of Wellington (Wellington)
- arts, law, computing, commerce/economics, geology, meteorology
- Canterbury University (Christchurch)
- fine art, all sciences, computing, engineering, commerce, law, forestry,
- music
- Lincoln University (Christchurch)
- agriculture, economics, landscape architecture, cultural studies
- Otago University (Dunedin)
- medicine, law, phys. ed., computing, consumer sciences, surveying,
- dentistry, commerce
-
- Marty Burr wrote:
- "Aviation has been around since 1990, when the Massey University School of
- Aviation was established. It offers degrees in Aviation (BAv) with majors
- in flight crew development (probably one of the most expensive degrees in
- NZ!), Aviation Systems, and Air Traffic Systems Management (ATSM This major
- trains Air Traffic Controllers in association with the Singapore Aviation
- Academy, and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore) It also offers
- Masters in Aviation (MAv), and Doctorates in aviation.
-
- "Education is offered as a degree in conjunction with the Palmerston North
- College of Education. Next year (1996) the Palmerston North College of
- Education is to become part of Massey, and come under the Faculty of
- Education at Massey. I'm not sure what the name will be. It also offers
- several postgrad degrees in Education."
-
- Michelle Elleray wrote:
- "I think you'll find Massey, Auckland, Victoria, Canterbury, Otago and
- Waikato Universities all offer Maori Studies.
-
- "As for PI studies - Auckland has a PI Studies Centre and teaches Samoan,
- Victoria used to teach Samoan and Cook Island Maori. There's sure to be
- more at both these universities, and possibly at other universities around
- the country - check the web pages."
-
- ----------
-
- B3.3.7.2 Addresses
- University of Auckland (Auckland)
- Private Bag 92 019 aukuni.ac.nz or auckland.ac.nz
- Auckland http://www.auckland.ac.nz/
- ph (09) 373-7999
-
- University of Waikato
- Private bag 3105 waikato.ac.nz
- Hamilton http://www.waikato.ac.nz/
-
- Massey University
- Private Bag massey.ac.nz
- Palmerston North http://www.massey.ac.nz/
-
- Victoria University of Wellington
- PO Box 600 vuw.ac.nz
- Wellington http://www.victoria.ac.nz/
-
- University of Canterbury
- canterbury.ac.nz
- Christchurch http://www.canterbury.ac.nz
- ph (03) 366-7001
-
- Lincoln University
- lincoln.ac.nz
- Christchurch http://www.lincoln.ac.nz/
- ph (03) 325-2811
-
- University of Otago
- PO Box 56 otago.ac.nz
- Dunedin http://www.otago.ac.nz
-
- Email to postmaster@university.of.choice for someone who can help. You can
- try sending email to academic@otago.ac.nz for details.
-
- There is a NZ Universities page at:
- http://www.yahoo.com/Regional/Countries/New_Zealand
-
- http://nz.com/NZ/EducationResearch/Universities.html
- will send you to home pages (and all sorts of info including snail mail) of
- universities in NZ.
-
- A fair chunk of VUW information is on line. The starting point is
- http://www.vuw.ac.nz/
-
- For Victoria's English Department, have a look at:
- http://www.vuw.ac.nz/academic/prospectuses/english.html
-
- Computer Science departments at various universities:
- http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/
- http://www.cs.waikato.ac.nz/
- http://fims-www.massey.ac.nz/cs/cs.html
- http://www.comp.vuw.ac.nz/cgi-bin/homepage
- http://www.cosc.canterbury.ac.nz/welcome.html
- http://atlas.otago.ac.nz:800/compsci.html
-
- You can view the University of Canterbury Dept of Civil Engineering home
- page at:
- http://civl.canterbury.ac.nz/
-
- ----------
-
- B3.3.7.3 The University Hierarchy
- Basically, it goes something like this:
- Professor(s)
- Associate Professors/Readers (depends on department)
- Senior Lecturers
- Lecturers
- There are also Head of Departments, Deans, etc., which may or may not be
- professors, although they are usually pretty senior.
-
- In NZ universities, a Professorship is a *very* prestigious title. There
- may be a rough equivalence between a US associate professor and a NZ
- lecturer, and a US professor and NZ senior lecturer. There is likely to be
- some overlap.
-
- Per department there is about 1 professor per approx 10 'lower' positions.
- For example, in Electrical Engineering at Canterbury there are currently 2
- professors, 3 associate professors, 9 senior lecturers, and 5 lecturers
- (from the 1994 calendar).
-
- ----------
-
- B3.3.7.4 Postgrad Study
- ???
- I'd appreciate some information on ease of obtaining positions in
- post-grad study, what positions are increasing/decreasing, etc. Please.
-
- --------------------
-
- B3.3.8 Health
-
- NZ operates a no-fault accident compensation scheme which covers residents
- and visitors. Personal injury through accident entitles the injured party
- to compensation for reasonable expenses related to the accident. Due to
- abuse, this has been reworked recently and compensation is far harder to
- obtain.
-
- The official line (on the health care reform) can be obtained from The
- Ministry of Health at:
- http://www.health.govt.nz.
-
- For general comment and opinion then consult NZ Doctor magazine online at:
- http://nzdoctor.co.nz
-
- Life Expectancy (M) 71.0 years
- Life Expectancy (F) 77.0 years
- Crude Birth Rate 16.3 /1000
- Crude Death Rate 8.3 /1000
- Infant Mortality 10.8 /1000
- Total fertility rate 2.1 children born/woman (1992)
-
- No. of Hospitals 318
- No. of Hospital Beds 23,052
- No. of Physicians 5,210
- No. of Dentists 1,160
- No. of Pharmacists 2,300
- Nursing Personnel 22,000
-
- ----------
-
- B3.3.8.1 Water Supply
- NZ cities and towns have good public water. Water is safe to drink out of
- the tap. The water in Christchurch *is* totally untreated and is supposed
- to be the purist domestic water supply in the world...
-
- In bush walking areas giardia has been found so its advisable to check
- before drinking from rivers or streams. Boiling water for five minutes or
- more is advised where advice is not available.
-
- --------------------
-
- B3.3.9 Communications
-
- Telephone Country Code 64
- National Directory 018
- International Directory 0172
- National Tolls 010
- International Tolls 0170
- Telex Access Code 791
- Ham Radio Prefix ZL
-
- For information about NZ broadcasting, particularly locally produced
- material, have a look the New Zealand On Air site:
- http://www.nzonair.govt.nz
- which has info on broadcasting fees, programme funding news, weekly updates
- of funded programmes, contact information, etc.
-
- --------------------
-
- B3.3.10 Misc
-
- Air Craft Registration PreFix ZK
- Yatch Registration PreFix KZ
- X.25 Country Code 05301
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: B3.4 Holidays
-
- B3.4.1 National
-
- Jan 01 New Years Day (first Monday/Tuesday if 1st is Sat/Sun)
- Jan 02 Day After New Years day
- Feb 06 Waitangi day (not moved if on a weekend)
- Apr Easter Friday (Friday before Easter Sunday)
- Apr Easter Monday (second weekend after the equinox or something?)
- Apr 25 ANZAC Day (not moved if on a weekend, shops closed morning only)
- Jun (first Monday) Queens Birthday (3/6/1996)
- Oct (fourth Monday) Labour Day (28/10/1996)
- Dec 25 Christmas Day (first Monday/Tuesday if 25th is Sat/Sun)
- Dec 26 Boxing Day
-
- --------------------
-
- B3.4.2 Regional
-
- Note these are subject to variations typically to accommodate local show
- days. As a general rule (apart from holidays which are observed on show
- days) if the Anniversary Day falls on Friday to Sunday (inclusive) it is
- observed the following Monday, if it falls on Tuesday to Thursday it is
- observed the preceding Monday.
-
- Observed Date Region
-
- 1994 Jan 17 Southland Anniversary
- 1994 Jan 24 Wellington Anniversary
- 1994 Jan 31 Auckland and Northland Anniversary
- 1994 Jan 31 Nelson Anniversary
- 1994 Mar 14 Taranaki Anniversary
- 1994 Mar 21 Otago Anniversary
- 1994 Sep 26 South Canterbury Anniversary
- 1994 Oct 31 Hawkes Bay Anniversary
- 1994 Oct 31 Marlborough Anniversary
- 1994 Nov 11 North and Central Canterbury Anniversary (3rd Friday after
- Labour Day) called 'Show Day' and on the third day of the
- annual Chch A&P Show.
- 1994 Nov 28 Chatham Islands Anniversary
- 1994 Nov 28 Westland Anniversary
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: B3.5 Technical Stuff
-
- If it isn't here, ask in s.c.n-z. If no-one can tell you, your problem is
- either dazzlingly obscure, or embarrassingly mundane! Whatever it is, if
- you still can't find out, wait till you get to wherever you're going; they
- are likely to have all the fixes for foreigners with their strange voltage
- gear, and they will even have the right plug to put on it.
-
- B3.5.1 Electricity
-
- The normal electricity supply is 230 volts 50 hertz alternating current
- (AC).
-
- 3 pin appliance socket from a viewpoint looking at the wall or a plug seen
- from the inside as one would while wiring it up.
-
- phase -----> / \ <---- neutral
- (or live)
- | <--------- earth
-
- If the wires you have are brown, blue, and green [yellow or white striped],
- then; brown = phase, blue = neutral, green = earth. The old code is red,
- black, green respectively.
-
- If you have ANY doubts, please consult a qualified electrician.
-
- Most hotels will have shaver plugs suitable for all international appliance
- of low power rating, and which will supply 110 and 230 volts. These plugs
- may be for shavers only. If in doubt, ask.
-
- --------------------
-
- B3.5.2 TV Info
-
- NZ runs on PAL G on UHF. This gives the same picture and sound spacing
- (5.5MHz), but the channel spacing is slightly wider - the same as that used
- for 6MHz intercarrier spacing. Standard 50 hertz field rate, 25 hertz
- frame rate.
-
- We also use NICAM for stereo tv, rather than one of the various analogue
- systems.
-
- In the Southern Hemisphere, the locally-vertical component of the field is
- in the opposite direction to where it would be an equivalent distance north
- of the equator.
-
- This affects the colour convergence of video monitors. It's not a *huge*
- difference, and it took computer companies until the late 1980's to wake up
- to the difference and ship different monitor versions to New Zealand, South
- America, and Australia. Northern hemisphere monitors *work* but the
- colours won't be as crisp as you'd expect.
-
- Mike Tuppen wrote:
- " lines ch bw Vision bw Sound spacing Vision Mod Sound Mod
- U.K. 625 8MHz 5.5MHz +6MHz -ve f.m.
- N.Z. 625 7MHz 5MHz 5.5MHz -ve f.m.
-
- UK NICAM Standard I Second sound carrier is at 6.552MHz Main carrier
- modulated with mono sound or A The 2nd carrier digitally modulated with L &
- R or A and B or Mono plus data or full data.
-
- NZ NICAM Standard B/G Second sound carrier is at 5.85MHz Main carrier
- modulated with mono sound or A. The 2nd carrier digitally modulated as in
- UK
-
- So without tweaking you coils your audio output is likey to be somewhat
- poor! Also if channel spacing is different (as the channel band width
- hints) and if you set is digitally tuned you may possibly not be able to
- tune into the NZ stations.
-
- If your set is modern it might be worth contacting the manufacturer to see
- if it can be modified.
-
- Alan Brown wrote:
- "Our video/audio intercarrier separation is 5.5MHz compared to the UK 6MHz
- and the cost of getting the traps adjusted and IF retuned makes it
- uneconomic - especially on modern TVs where to achieve the change an entire
- module usually has to be swapped out.
-
- "Additionally few UK PAL sets have VHF modules and our free-to-air channels
- work almost exclusively in VHF 1 and 3 bands."
-
- --------------------
-
- B3.5.3 Video Conversion
-
- NTSC/PAL tv's are available but expensive. Commercial conversion
- facilities are available.
-
- --------------------
-
- B3.5.4 Bringing Computers In
-
- Only problems are power supply suitability. Large monitors may experience
- problems changing hemisphere (or Sun would have us believe!). See notes on
- tv info and video conversion above as applicable.
-
- --------------------
-
- B3.5.5 Telephone
-
- Similar to British Telecom style. Uses BT 600 plug (not RJ-11) Phone line
- is pins 2 and 5 of the BT 600 plug (RJ-11 is pins 3 & 4). Hotels will have
- difficulty in converting plugs styles but conversion cables are available
- from retailers.
-
- Most NZ telephone systems can handle DTMF tone dialling.
-
- BEWARE: NZ pulse dialing is the reverse of most countries. The digit are
- reversed and so produce different numbers of pulses. The conversion is:
- digit | # of Pulses
- --------+------------
- 0 | 10
- 1 | 9
- 2 | 8
- [.....]
- 8 | 2
- 9 | 1
- The best solution is to use tone dialing.
-
- Lin Nah contributes:
-
- "Here's something that may be handy for travellers with a digital Mobile
- phones.
-
- "There are SIM cards available on short term rental. This allows them to
- use their digital mobiles. They will be allocated a NZ mobile number.
-
- "The price (4 Aug 1995) for the rental is around $NZ3 a day. Payments are
- by credit cards. There seems to be no deposit on it. What they do is take
- an imprint of your credit card and allocate charges to it at the end of
- your trip.
-
- "Usage charges (as at 4 August 1995)
- Outgoing: National NZ$0.90 per min
- International NZ$0.90 plus int'l tolls
- Incoming: Free. ;)
-
- "They can drop the card off at the Budget rental car desk at the airport on
- their way out of the country.
-
- "There is no need to reserve a card. Arrangements can be made when they
- arrive in NZ. All they need to do is call 0800 800 021. Ask the help desk
- person where is your nearest Bellsouth office. (I think this presumes you
- are going to arrive in one of our cities with international airports like
- Auckland, Wgtn or Chch. I have this feeling that trying to get it when you
- are in Colville won't be too successful ;) )
-
- The Telecom white and yellow pages are apparently available online at:
- http://www.telecom.co.nz
- but searching on some parameters may be a little slow.
-
- --------------------
-
- B3.5.6 Radio
-
- Apparently NZ radio stations broadcast on different frequencies to the US
- which may cause problems with some [imported] radio gear. Conversion kits
- are often required for radios in imported Japanese cars.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: B4 COMING TO NEW ZEALAND
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: B4.1 Travel To NZ
-
- Fly, sail, paddle or swim. See a travel agent near you. Soon!
-
- --------------------
-
- B4.1.1 Travel Details
-
- One of the cheapest ways to fly is as a courier. You must be reasonably
- groomed, have a clean record and be over 21 to do this sort of thing, also
- you have to be prepared to wait around until a job comes up.
-
- The following is becoming something of a jumble. As I know nothing about
- the machinations of the Immigration Department, I'd be more than happy if
- someone would be kind enough to rewrite this section into a more coherent
- form. In the meantime, people might like to know that Christopher Werry
- has created a 'Moving to New Zealand' web page, which has info and links to
- nfo on Immigration, Jobs, Housing, Appliances and Kiwi Expressions. The
- url is:
- http://nz.com/NZ/Immigration/Immigration.html
-
- Also try:
- http://www.immigration.govt.nz/
- or
- http://www.ipenz.org.nz/ipenz/
- or
- http://www.ipenz.org.nz/enternz/immigr.html
- and follow the links through there; the latter has a lot of immigration
- info, including a comprehensive explanation of the points system.
-
- Other sites for immigration info include:
- http://www.rmmb.co.nz/immigjuly95.html
- http://nz.com//webnz/malcolm/
- http://www.clearfield.co.nz/wilson_white/immig.htm
-
- Also, try Reading the rec.travel.air FAQ for hints on saving money and
- rec.travel.australia+nz for stuff specific to us.
-
-
- Visitors to NZ must have a valid passport. The only exceptions are
- children under 16 who are included on the passport of an accompanying
- adult. Passports must be valid 3 months beyond date of departure. Visas
- may be required depending on nationality, purpose of visit, and intended
- length of stay. Visas are not required of US citizens in possession of a
- return or onward ticket staying up to 90 days.
-
- Australians and NZers need passports to get into each others countries.
- NZers now need visas too, although these tend to be no real difficulty.
-
- A departure tax of $NZ20 per person (over 5 years old) is charged of people
- leaving New Zealand who have been in the country more than 24 hours.
-
- A person in New Zealand cannot renew their visitor's permit if they have
- applied for residence whilst in the country. If the Immigration Office
- cannot process the application within the validity of the V.P., the
- applicant has to leave New Zealand. The application is forwarded to the
- overseas post which deals with the country to which they have returned. It
- is better to apply before going to New Zealand, especially when you take
- into account the customs concessions available to first time migrants.
-
- Residency gives you the right to live and work here, but it can lapse if
- you're out of NZ for too long (a couple of years I think). A first permit
- is valid for a period of four years from date of issue. To prevent
- individuals from receiving residency and never actually living in the
- country, future renewals to a returning residents permit may be issued for
- shorter terms, depending on how long the person has actually been resident
- in NZ, work status, etc.
-
- If you are given a visa for residency you have some time to move to nz, but
- it pays to come in once within the first 6 months. This proves you are
- taking up permanent residency. If you provide a good reason, it's possible
- to take as much as two years before you move here.
-
- There are 2 types of residence permits; single entry and multiple entry.
- If you have single entry it means you have to apply every time you want to
- leave to ensure you can come back in.
-
- What you may get is a 1 year or 5 year permanent residency permit. At the
- end of that period, the amount of time you spend in NZ will probably
- determine if it is going to be renewed or not. So if you have not spent
- even a year living in NZ by the end of 5 years you better have a good
- explanation. There is probably a minimum. Check with the department.
-
- What you need to do is be able to explain why you are not permanently
- living in NZ (if you are not). Talk to your nearest NZ counsulate.
-
- Also you will be given an allowance of value of goods to be brought into
- NZ. So within the next 5 years ( I think) you can bring in quite a lot and
- not be taxed (customs duty) provided they are personal belongings for your
- use here.
-
- Citizenship is separate from residency and can only be applied for once a
- person has NZ residency and has lived in the country for a certain number
- of years (3?).
-
- NZ allows dual citizenship, but the US may not. If they don't, you'd have
- to give up your American citizenship to get Kiwi citizenship. US will
- insist that you renounce all other citizenships when you swear allegiance
- (whether the other countries recognise this will depend on their own
- regulations). For someone who already holds US citizenship, there should
- be no problem.
-
- Judy Shorten wrote:
- My own daughter, born 1977, who has spent a total of 6 weeks in NZ over 2
- visits, has NZ citizenship *By Grant* meaning that she can pass on the NZ
- citizenship to her children even if she and her future children never set
- foot in NZ. After our last trip to NZ in 1991 I applied for my daughter,
- and she was subsequently given citizenship By Grant. Until that point she
- had (unbeknown to me) NZ citizenship *By Descent* only - not able to pass
- her citizenship on to her children, but still able to hold a NZ Passport.
-
- Brian Harmer wrote:
- Children born after 1978 must be registered with the NZ embassy, or
- consulate. The fee is NZ$100 per child and must be accompanied by the
- (long form) birth certificate, marriage certificate (where applicable) of
- the parent through which citizenship descends. This must be done before
- age 22, otherwise they would not qualify as citizens.
-
- Mike Dowling responded at great length. Permission to repeat it here has
- been given. I'm no longer working on it. I think it's beaten me...
-
- -----
-
- Health:
- Facilities are good. No special precautions necessary. No vaccination
- certificates are required to enter New Zealand, but if illness occurs
- within three weeks of entering the country, consult a doctor.
-
- Customs are generally more formal than in neighbouring Australia.
-
- Duty Free quantities:
- Alcohol;
- 3 x 1.125l bottles of spirits
- - total value can't exceed NZ$700
- - must declare 2 bottles
- 4.5l of beer and/or wine
- - equivalent to 6 x 750ml bottles of wine or 1 doz cans of beer
- Cigarettes;
- 1 carton
-
- For more information see the section on Overseas Offices of the NZ Tourism
- Board.
-
- -----
-
- Richard Turner offers:
-
- "Well, I've just had the experience of moving back to New Zealand after
- spending ten years in the USA. Since there are oftentimes a number of
- enquiries about moving companies on this newsgroup, I thought I'd pass on
- my experience - in hopes that it may help someone else.
-
- "The cost of getting a moving company:
-
- "Quoted Rates from Iowa (Midwest USA) to Wellington, New Zealand ranged
- from US $160 to $225 per 100 pounds of goods. depending on the company.
- Also, an insurance cost of $25 per $1000 of goods values was also added.
- (This was door to door - other rates are cheaper if you go door to port or
- port to port)
-
- "In my experience, I got a number of quotes, I decided to go with a company
- (I won't name them - but think of Pilgrims and Plymouth Rock and the ship
- they came on) - Anyway, we were all set for them to come and get the stuff
- 2 weeks before we were due to fly out - a couple of days before the movers
- were to arrive, they called up and said that they could come and pick the
- goods up, but that they would have to sit in the Des Moines Warehouse for 3
- months. I then requested that they not even bother to show up the next
- day.
-
- "The next company I went with was Allied Van Lines - the agent I dealt
- with, and the company were quite good to deal with. Between the time they
- picked the stuff up till the time I will get my stuff will be less than 6
- weeks.
-
- "Also, the NZ agents for Allied, seem to be quite competent, but you should
- be aware that when your goods arrive certain forms have to be delivered to
- the company. These are quarantine forms and customs declarations, along
- with these you need to send your passport, and if you have been away more
- than 21 months - some proof of your extended absence from NZ - such as Tax
- forms and financial records (all of mine - were packed aboard the boat) -
- or a letter from your foreign employer.
-
- "As for moving a car - it would cost about $4000 US to ship a mid size car
- such as a Camry (weighs about 3000 pounds)
-
- "Also, if, at some point, you wanted to sell it in NZ, you would then have
- to convert it to right hand drive - this can get VERY expensive."
-
- -----
-
- Frits Schouten adds:
-
- "It's not really a followup on Richard Turners experience, but it's
- certainly related. Five years ago or so, I had to move my household from
- The Netherlands to New Zealand and using movers is not the cheapest way to
- go.
-
- "Here is my experience. Note: all prices are in US dollars unless
- otherwise stated!
-
- "Various big international movers quoted me between $7000 and $9000 for
- door to door moving. Basically what they do is, pack your goods in a
- container (20ft for a normal household) and ship it for you. This is an
- easy way of doing it but not cheap. Also, if anything is broken on arrival
- the insurance will pay for replacement. The insurance is in most cases
- based on an itemised list of the contents of the container and is not
- cheap. Normally 6% of the contents value.
-
- "If you like a bit of challence in life you could do it my way.
-
- "I went to a shipping company (NEDLLOYD) and asked them what it would cost
- me to hire a 20ft container (you know the same one the movers were using)
- to ship my household to New Zealand. Answer: $2500 from Rotterdam to
- Auckland. I had to pay an aditional $150 for the truck to bring the
- container to Rotterdam and agreed to have the transport in New Zealand
- organised by their agent in Auckland. Here was a cost risk I was prepared
- to take.
-
- "The insurance is quite different. You can only insure the container for
- total loss. You agree on a contents value and the premium is normally 1.3%
- to 1.6% of that value. If the container goes overboard or is dropped from
- a crane etc. the insurance pays out the value you have agreed. This means
- that if, on arrival, you find lets say your beautiful mirror broken that is
- then to bad. But that is not a problem because this will not happen you
- know. You've packed it yourself :-)
-
- "The people from NEDLLOYD gave me heaps of help and excellent information
- on how to go about packing a container to get it flawless through customs
- and MAF inspections.
-
- "Bottom line is:
- - Have a very detailed list of the contents of the container, like box
- numbers and content lists per box.
- - Very inportant is to state how everything is cleaned!!!
-
- "The container arrived at the worst possible time of the year. The week
- before Christmas. Anyway the local agent for NEDLLOYD worked out to be of
- great value too (for the really keen ones, check out www.nedlloyd.com).
- That was btw International Forwarding Co Ltd.
-
- "We got a phone call from them telling me that the container had arrived
- and if I could come to Auckland to organise the paperwork. I dropped in
- just before lunch and the guy said: give me your passport and consignment
- papers and I'll take care of the rest. Bit scary but. Come back after
- lunch, please. So I did and guess what, everything was organised after
- lunch. The only thing left was to pay an additional few hundred NZ dollars
- to get the container to Papakura. The cost risk wasn't really there.
-
- "Two day later the container arrived and within a few hours I had several
- people asking if I had a garage sale. My whole household was on the front
- lawn :-)
-
- "Moral of the story is: take that challenge, it's exciting and it might
- save you a lot money."
-
- --------------------
-
- B4.1.2 Agricultural Restrictions
-
- NZ's isolation has kept its free of many animal and plant diseases. To
- maintain this, restrictions are imposed on the importation of certain
- animal and plant material. Before arrival you will be asked to complete a
- declaration stating whether you have food, plant or animal material with
- you or in your baggage. Aircraft cabins are often sprayed before
- disembarkation to ensure there are no foreign insects imported
- accidentally. You may ask to be removed if you have respiratory problems.
-
- ----------
-
- B4.1.2.1 Animal Quarantine
-
- Gloria Williams wrote:
- "I've seen this query from time to time in this news groups so thought
- there might be some interest in the latest policy on animal importation
- into NZ as documented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.
-
- "The main changes are: quarantine for dogs and cats can now take place
- within NZ instead of outside the country (Hawaii for instance) and the
- quarantine period is 30 days instead of 6 months. Your animal needs to be
- microchipped and there is a very stringent set of tests and treatments for
- diseases such as rabies, heartworm, parvo, distemper etc. which must be
- administered and verified by an accredited veterinarian. Travel to NZ from
- the country of origin must be in an IATA approved container which is sealed
- with a government approved seal. Animals must be from countries which have
- declared themselves rabies-free, or countries which NZ recognises as not
- having urban rabies or it is well contained. (Canada and US fall into this
- latter category)
-
- These are the basic changes. To see if your animal will qualify for the
- new procedure, obtain the complete information package and the import
- health permit application from the Chief Veterinary Officer, Ministry of
- Agriculture and Fisheries, P.O. Box 2526, Wellington.
-
- Ex-pats overseas can obtain the information package from their NZ
- consulate.
-
- --------------------
-
- B4.1.3 Overseas Embassies In NZ
-
- AUSTRALIA:
- Union House
- 32/38 Quay St.
- Auckland
- ph 0 9 303 2429
-
- 72 Hobson St
- Thorndon
- Wellington
- ph 0 4 473 6411
-
- GERMANY
- 52 Symond St
- Auckland
- ph 0 9 377 3460
-
- 90 Hobson St
- Thorndon
- Wellington
- ph 0 4 473 6063
-
- GREAT BRITAIN
- 151 Queen St
- Auckland
- ph 0 9 303 2971
-
- 2 The Terrace
- Wellington
- ph 0 4 472 6049
-
- JAPAN
- 37 Shortland St
- Auckland
- ph 0 9 303 4106
-
- Cnr Victoria and Hunter Sts
- Wellington
- ph 0 4 473 1540
-
- USA
- Cnr Shortland and O'Connell Sts
- Auckland
- ph 0 9 303 2724
-
- 29 Fitzherbert Tce
- Thorndon
- Wellington
- ph 0 4 472 2068
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: B4.2 Immigration Stuff, Points System
-
- See also the section on Coming To New Zealand (B4)
-
- -----
-
- Paul Nixon has provided the following (reformatted) outline of the new
- points system. The old sections (B4.2 to B4.2.6) are quite possibly
- obsolete.
-
- "I have listed below what I understand will be the points structure of the
- new General Skills Category [formerly the General Category] which will come
- into effect in October 1995.
-
- PREREQUISITES
-
- English Language:
- Principle applicants to meet a minimum standard of English ie pass the
- IELTS General Modual Level 5. Non-principal applicants aged 16+ must also
- meet this standard or pay a fee of $NZ20,000 [refundable if qualification
- attained later].
-
- Character & Health:
- No change. Applicants are required to be of good character and health.
- Evidence of this by references and medical.
-
- HUMAN CAPITAL FACTORS
-
- Flatter points structure created. Ten pts minimum requirement.
- Base degree [or equivalent], trade or 3 year diploma/cetificate = 10 pts.
- Advanced trade or professional qualification = 11 pts.
- Masters degree [or equivalent] = 12 pts.
- Statutory resistration for professionals eg. doctors, dentists, vets.
-
- EMPLOYMENT FACTORS
-
- Maximum age = 55
- Job Offer; offer of skilled employment = 5 pts.
-
- SETTLEMENT FACTORS
-
- Settlement Funds:
- $100,000 - $200,000 transferred to NZ and readily available = 1 - 2 pts.
-
- Spousal Human Capital:
- If spouse/partner has base degree, trade or 3 year diploma/certificate = 1
- pt. Advanced qualifications = 2 points.
-
- New Zealand Work Experience:
- Up to 2 pts available for work experience already gained in NZ on a lawful
- permit.
-
- Sponsorship:
- Family sponsorship = 3 pts, Community sponsorship scrapped.
-
- Under the new system there will not be an automatic points pass mark which
- applicants will have to equal or exceed. But a floating mark which may
- change from month to month, no doubt depending upon the "quality" of
- applicants at that time.
-
- Clearly the new system makes it much more difficult to get points in the
- first place and then much more difficult for applicants to assess if their
- points total will be enough to obtain a visa."
-
- -----
-
- To assist you in calculating the points you have, Mark Cresswell offers:
-
- Version 2 of the New Zealand Immigration Calculator for 16-bit Windows, is
- now available to download:
- http://www.liv.ac.uk/~mark/soft.htm/nzcalc20.exe
-
- This program is still FREEWARE, and is targeted at those amongst you who
- wish to gain residency in New Zealand. It covers the following categories
- of entry:
-
- General Skills
- Business Investement
- Family
- Humanitarian
-
- There is an extensive amount of online immigration information, and the
- program will calculate your points score based on the revised immigration
- policies.
-
- You are advised to contact your nearest NZ Embassy or NZIS office, to find
- out the current Pass Mark (25 according to the immigration office in Chch
- 10/5/96), and for more detailed info.
-
- -----
-
- This section (B4) is out of date. It will be replaced as soon as I find
- appropriate material...
-
- The following is from a New Zealand Immigration Service pamphlet entitled
- "Applying for Residence in NZ; Self-assessment Guide". It should be noted
- that people in NZ unlawfully are ineligible to apply for for residence
- (except under certain circumstances).
-
- If one has less than the current requirements of 25 (May 96) points it's
- very difficult to get a job/grant money.
-
- Migrants can apply for residence under FOUR categories, and need only meet
- the requirements of ONE category to 'qualify' for residence. The four
- categories are:
-
- 1. General Category (the points system; awards points against a number of
- quality criteria).
-
- 2. Business Investment (applicants are assessed on basis of skills, work
- or business experience, and their ability to transfer >NZD 100,000 to NZ.
-
- 3. Family (prospective migrants must have a 'genuine' relationship to NZ
- citizen/ resident).
-
- 4. Humanitarian (people with "exceptionally" difficult circumstances,
- resolvable only by moving to NZ, providing there's a close family
- connection).
-
- The New Zealand Qualification Authority is online - their address is
- <username>@nzqa.govt.nz
-
- --------------------
-
- B4.2.1 Assessment For The General Category
-
- To succeed here, score more than 20 points. This category is based on
- employability, age and "settlement factors". Applicants must be proficient
- in English. (20 pts is actually the 'fail' mark; the govt sets a higher
- pass mark, but applications which fall between the pass and fail marks are
- placed into a pool. The highest scoring applications in this pool are
- periodically drawn out...bingo, they're in!).
-
- --------------------
-
- B4.2.2 Employability
-
- Postgraduate degree in any area of study, OR a bachelor's
- degree in any science, technical or engineering area. 15 pts
-
- Bachelors degree in any area of study not mentioned above,
- or trade certificate or advanced trade qualification.
- (min completion time = 3 years). 12 pts
-
- Diploma or certificate (2 to 3 yrs full time study). 8 pts
-
- Diploma or certificate (1 to 2 yrs full time study). 4 pts
-
- 12 years schooling successfully completed. 2 pts
-
- (points obtainable for only ONE qualification; qualifications must be of
- comparable standards to NZ ones).
-
- --------------------
-
- B4.2.3 Work Experience
-
- 1 pt for every TWO years of work experience, up to a max of 10 pts. Work
- must be relevant to either your qualification or in an approved occupation.
- Work that is not directly related to a qualification can't be counted.
- Work experience must have been obtained after completing a qualification in
- order to be counted.
-
- --------------------
-
- B4.2.4 Age
-
- People over 55 yrs of age cannot be considered under the general category.
-
- 18-24 yrs 8 pts
- 25-29 yrs 10 pts
- 30-34 yrs 8 pts
- 35-39 yrs 6 pts
- 40-44 yrs 4 pts
- 45-49 yrs 2 pts
-
- --------------------
-
- B4.2.5 Settlement Factors
-
- Gain a MAX of 5 pts from any combination of the following;
- -Settlement funds of NZD 100,000 (or equivalent) 2 pts
- -investment funds; 1 pt for every NZD 100,000 max 3 pts
- (investment funds must be additional to any claimed settlement funds).
- -sponsorship by an immediate family member 2 pts
- OR sponsorship by an approved community organisation 3 pts
- -offer of skilled employment in an approved occupation 3 pts
-
- Maximum obtainable points under general category = 40.
-
- --------------------
-
- B4.2.6 Business Investment Category
-
- Must score min of 7 pts in 'employability' section (Qualifications + work
- experience) in general category. Business experience? (ie. owned and
- operated a business?) 1 pt for every 2 yrs (add this score to
- qualifications section to get 'employability' score).
-
- Business investment funds must be the direct result of your
- business/professional skills over a period of at least three years.
- There are 3 types of investment which count:
- 1. invest > NZD 750,000 into a passive investment; ie bank a/c, trust funds,
- or stocks.
- 2. invest > NZD 650,000 in a commercial venture in either Auckland or
- Wellington urban areas.
- 3. invest > NZD 500,000 elsewhere in NZ.
-
- At least ONE member of the family (over 17 yrs old) must be proficient in
- English, in order to enter under this category. Funds must be invested in
- NZ for a period of not less than 2 yrs, and they must provide a commercial
- return.
-
- The last two categories are apparently pretty self explanatory. The above
- info is just a rough guide. The pamphlets seem to be freely available, the
- copy used above was from the Wellington Community Law Centre.
-
- --------------------
-
- B4.2.7 Importing a Car
-
- Martin Lange wrote:
-
- "I imported my left-hand drive Fiat Uno from Germany after I was granted
- residency. That was three years ago.
-
- The rules in 1993 where:
- a) You can get a "Left-Hand Drive Exception Permit" if
- - You are a Permanent Resident, Holding a Work Permit or have a long-term
- Visitors Permit
- - Owned the car for at least two years overseas.
- b) You are not allow to sell the car unless it is older than 20 years
- OR converted to a right-hand drive.
- c) Your car must pass a technical check through the Land Transport
- authority.
-
- For up-to-date information, contact the
- Land Transport Safety Authority,
- Head Office,
- 7-27 Waterloo Quay,
- P.O. Box 27-459
- Wellington
-
- Ph: +64-4-494-8600
- Fax: +64-4-494-8601
-
- Anyhow, unless your car is something VERY special, it is not worth the
- hassle.
-
- Especially Japanese assembled car are not expensive. If you arrive in
- Auckland, rent a car for a few days and shop around at the "Japanese
- Assembled Car Dealers".
-
- Be aware of the fact that most "Japanese Assembled Cars" have tinkered
- clocks. Do not believe the mileage the dealer tells you - it has been
- manipulated in every second import.
-
- The dealers have huge ranges for negotiations. A friend of mine in
- Auckland negotiated the price down by 45% THREE times. After purchasing
- such a car he brings it to a PIT Stop, gets the brakes fixed and drives
- around.
-
- Another hint: The New Zealand Automobile Associations runs at least one
- independent workshop in Auckland. You can bring your potential "next car"
- there and get an non-partisan assessment."
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: B5 TRAVEL WITHIN NZ
-
- Be warned that transport services are likely to be VERY well patronised
- around the beginning and end of any school or university holiday period.
- These change yearly (the overall pattern is changing now; details, anyone?)
- so anything more specific would be pointless. Watch out for the:
- Last week of January/first week of February
- Last week of February/first week of March
- First and third/fourth weeks of May
- First two weeks of July
- Last week of August/second week of September
- First two weeks of November
- Third week of December
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: B5.1 Info Sources
-
- B5.1.1 Tourism Board
-
- There is one. There is also the Visitor Information Network which has
- conspicuous black, green, and white signs including a large italic 'i' at
- the left hand end, throughout NZ cities/towns.
-
- --------------------
-
- B5.1.2 Maps
-
- See the nearest branch of the Department of Survey and Land Information, or
- Department of Conservation. Bookshops are likely to have maps too.
-
- It pays to carry a light tent and be prepared to camp if travelling in the
- more popular places during the summer. Watch out for Giardia. Boil
- drinking water in areas known to be infected (ask at a DoC office) and
- FOLLOW the rules for waste disposal; we don't want it to spread...
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: B5.2 Accommodation
-
- Two of the main sources of ideas relating to accommodation are the AA
- guides and the Jason's Handbooks.
-
- The AA guides provide an extensive outline of all types of accommodation
- for all areas as well as local attractions.
-
- Jason's Budget Accommodation gives information about cabins, tourist flats,
- cheap motels, camping and caravan sites. There is also Jason's Motels and
- Motor lodges. Some consider them more comprehensive than the AA book.
-
- There are 2 or three backpackers guides available in NZ as well as YHA
- guides. Normally you only need to book up to a week ahead for backpackers.
- However if you ar looking for double rooms or family type rooms in
- backpackers, you best book earlier as those are quite scarce.
-
- The Lonely Planet guide to NZ is quite good. It gives you an idea of what
- is available.
-
- As a rule it pays to book accommodation (and transport) well in advance if
- you plan on being here during the tourist season (November to March).
- Booking is less important with Backpacker style accommodation.
-
- Besides the specific facilities outlined below, there are numerous motels
- and hotels of varying quality and price. Motels provide facilities but no
- food: you are expected to provide for yourselves. They consequently tend
- to be cheaper than hotels. Cabins in motorcamps are usually the next step
- 'down' from motels.
-
- A couple of hotel prices (these are likely to be out of date!):
- Quality Hotel $100+/room/night
- Flag Hotels $100+/room/night
- 'non-chain' motels/hotels $45-80/room/night
-
- For general info on accommodation try:
- http://www.NetTravel.co.nz
- or
- http://nz.com/nzint
- and take a link off the 'Web Sites of Interest - Links' page to 'Superior
- B&B Accommodation in NZ'.
-
- A rather complete list of Bed & Breakfast facilities for all of NZ can be
- found at:
- http://www.kiwihome.com/stay/B-B/ [ is that B-B or B+B??? ]
-
- Department of Conservation huts in National Parks have variable facilities,
- with charges reflecting this; a few simple shelters are free, the more
- comfortable huts (gas stoves, mattresses) are $15/night.
-
- You can always bring a tent...
-
- --------------------
-
- B5.2.1 Youth Hostel Association
-
- There are about 50 YHA hostels spread throughout NZ. YHA are a few dollars
- more per night than Backpackers. The YHA is now on at:
- http://yarrow.wt.com.au/~tourist/nz/yhanz/yhanz.htm
-
- As an indication, This info from Judy Shorten:
- "The Auckland Youth Hostel, called City Hostel is excellent. Twin bed
- rooms, small shop and dining facilities on the premises, tourism
- information available, etc. It is approx. $18 per night, and you can also
- buy a 20/230 card which allows you to stay 20 days in any YHA around New
- Zealand for $230. You also can request the bus from the Airport to drop
- you off right at the door. There is another YHA in Parnell, a couple of
- miles out of the central city area."
-
- --------------------
-
- B5.2.2 Backpackers
-
- There are six different booklets on backpackers accommodation to NZ. It is
- advised to get the backpackers you are at to 'forward book' you to the next
- place. Most of them are happy to do it without payment for the service.
- The number of groups catering for backpackers is expanding rapidly with
- nice new accommodation being built (at least in Christchurch!). In
- Auckland there are also a couple of backpackers advisory centres.
-
- Prices are normally $8-20/night for a room.
-
- Backpacker accommodation in Chch:
- Dreamland 03-3663519 21/23 Packe St
- Foley Towers 03-3669720 208 Kilmore St
- Stonehurst Hotel 03-3794620 241 Gloucester St
- Pavlova Backpackers 03-3665158 50 Cathedral Square
- Charlie Browns 03-3798429 268 Madras St
-
- Backpacker accommodation in Auckland:
- Parkside Backpackers Inn 09-3098999 189 Park Road, Grafton
- Aotea Backpackers Hostel 09-3033350 295 Queen Street, Central
- Kiwi Hilton Backpackers 09-3583999 430 Queen Street, Central
- Auckland Central Backpackers 09-3584877, fax 09-3584872
- cnr Fort Street & Jean Batten Place, Central
- Central City Backpackers 09-3585685, fax 09-3584716
- 26 Lorne Street, Central
-
- Here are the details of who published guides:
-
- NZ's VIP Hostel Network
- admin: Backpackers Resorts of NZ Ltd
- Box 991, Taupo, NZ
- Phone/fax: (07) 377 1157
-
- Budget Backpackers Hostels NZ Ltd
- Mark Dumble: 99 Titiraupenga St, Taupo, NZ
- Phone/fax: (07) 377 1568
- Eric Foley: 208 Kilmore St, Christchurch, NZ
- Phone/fax: (03) 379 3014
-
- YHA (Youth Hostel Association) NZ
- PO Box 436, Christchurch, NZ
- Phone: (03) 379 9970
- Fax: (03) 365-4476
- * you can get the info from your nearest youth hostel.
-
- NZ Backpacker Hostels Association Ltd
- PO BOX 5475, Auckland, NZ
-
- Backpackers Accommodation Down-Under
- PO Box 4446, Auckland, NZ
- Phone: (09) 303 4482
- Fax: (09) 443 8004
-
- ATA (Accommodation Travel Activities)
- PO Box 8, Kaikoura, NZ
- Phone or fax:(03) 319 5916
- (03) 319 5359 (business hours only)
-
- The main NZ site, 'the "blue" book', appears to be:
- http://www.backpack.co.nz/
- It covers quite a lot of the backpackers in NZ but not all.
-
- There is an internet resource called The Internet Guide to Hostelling
- which, among other things, contains a list of hostels in New Zealand. It
- is available via WWW, Gopher, FTP, and Email. The WWW URL is:
- http://hostels.com/rec-travel/hostels/
-
- Try also:
- http://www.hostels.com/hostels/au.nz.html
-
- For information on how to access the guide in other ways send email to:
- info@hostels.com.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: B5.3 Transport
-
- Trains are good but have limited distribution. Buses tend to be more
- flexible and there are a variety of regional bus passes available.
- Information should be available from the relevant booking offices. Bus
- tickets for around the South Island are around $250 per person. The
- 'Travelpass' offers unlimited travel on Tranz Rail (formerly New Zealand
- Rail) trains and InterCity buses for, for example, five days travel over
- fifteen days, or fifteen days travel over five weeks. A further option (to
- be taken at time of purchase) is to add one trip by air with Ansett New
- Zealand at extra cost.
-
- There's are also 'through fares' (you have to ask for them) but there are
- limited seats. Typically:
- Auckland to Picton for $99
- Auckland to Christchurch $138
- and these include a seat on the train then the Interislander. Unofficial
- details at:
- http://www.waikato.ac.nz/nz/rail/travelpass.html
-
- Buses and trains have seats discounted at around 20-50% but there are
- limited seats each day allocated on a first come first serve basis. So the
- earlier you book the more chance you have of getting them, eg. try to make
- bookings for Christmas/New Year break in mid-October and you may find many
- of the cheap fares are gone.
-
- 'The Kiwi Experience' and similar budget travel systems are worth
- investigating if you want less structured transport arrangements. Due to
- an increase in theft and vandalism, leaving vehicles on the main roads has
- become unwise. Always remove valuables and lock it when leaving the
- vehicle.
-
- Backpackers card holders (includes YHA cards) also gives you a 30% discount
- on any bus or train fare on the main bus lines or TranzRail.
-
- --------------------
-
- B5.3.1 Cycling/Sea Kayaking
-
- Excellent cycling in NZ but it pays to like hills... Bringing a bike in
- from overseas is often a good idea and resale here is possible although it
- may take several weeks at some times of the year. ALWAYS lock your bike
- solidly to something immobile when you aren't actually on it. For cycle
- tourists, there are two books available - Cycle Touring in the South Island
- and Cycle Touring in the North Island. There is also one that covers both
- islands, but apparently there are many mistakes in it.
-
-
- Lin Nah kindly generated this contribution.
-
- "For the Auckland area, go to the Auckland visitor's centre and ask for
- advice. For further afield, look into one of the packages like Wild Cycles
- offered by Kiwi experience [phone (64 9) 366 1665; fax (64 9) 357 0524]
- there are probably other companies that offer similar packages.
-
- Here's a list of places to rent bicycles from (typed late 1993).
-
- Auckland
-
- Name Phone Fax Address
-
- Bicycle Tour Services 276 5218 276 5218 PO Box 11296
- Cycle Xpress 379 0779 11 Beach Road
- Kiwi Experience 366 1665 357 0524 PO Box 1553
- Mountain Bike Hire 358 9893 575 5105 5/28, Armadale Rd, Remuera
- NZ Pedaltours 302 0968 302 0967 PO Box 37575, Parnell
- Pedal Packers 302 0880 25 St Georges Bay Rd, Parnell
- Pedal Pushers 360 0512 Ring when arrive in Auckland
- Penny Farthings 379 2524 309 1559 PO Box 8829, Symond St
- Ross Adventures 357 0550 357 0502 PO Box 33686, Takapuna
-
- If you are interested in the Kiwi Experience, they have something called
- Wild Cycles. This combines their bus trips and cycling. KE runs a cheap
- bus network in both the North and South Island. So the deal in Wild Cycles
- (as I understand it) is that you can send you luggage ahead by the bus. So
- you carry the minimal necessities with you while you are cycling. If you
- are tired of cycling (tired, fed up, too hot, too cold and whatever excuses
- you want to discontinue) just stop on the road side along one of their
- routes and flag the next KE bus that comes along. It is also good for
- those who only have time to cycle one way and have to take the bus back.
-
- Unfortunately no one seems to have email 8-(
-
- The ones below I have not called. They are either not within the Auckland
- calling area or are within the Auckland area but no one replied whan I
- called.
-
- Name Phone Address
-
- Adventure South 03 332 1222 Box 33153 Christchurch
- Classic Cycle Tours 06 358 9893 Box 4499, Palmerston North
- Desert Coast Bikes 09 411 8612 47 Waitea Rd, Muriwai
- Rock Hard Mountain Bike 07 892 2938 National Park
- Sounds Cycling 03 578 0442 2 Selwyn St, Blenheim"
-
-
- David Morris offers:
- "Another option: Active Leisure Cycle Express, cnr Beach Rd/Anzac Ave,
- Auckland. Ph 379-7790. The guy who runs it is a real cycle nut... his
- knowledge of touring is encyclopaedic.
-
- "If I want any work done on my machine I go to him. Can't give a better
- recommendation that that!"
-
-
- For ideas on where to go, try:
- http://www.wcc.govt.nz/extern/kennett/homepage.htm
- It's the NZ Mountain Bike Web Page. If it's run by [one of] the legendary
- Kennett Brothers, it's likely to be well worth a look!
-
- -----
-
- Sea kayaking is a great way (the best way?) to see parts of NZ, and guided
- tours are becoming more popular and available. For information on cycle
- touring or sea kayaking, email A.Ferguson@chem.canterbury.ac.nz
-
- The coastlines around Abel Tasman National Park and the Marlborough Sounds
- are renowned as sea kayaking areas with trips possible all year round.
-
- Lin wrote:
- "For the Abel Tasman National Park (cruise, coach - from Nelson to the
- park, and everything related to activities in the Abel Tasman National
- Park) talk to:
-
- Abel Tasman National Park Enterprises
- ph (+64 3) 528 7801
- fax (+64 3) 528 6087
- "They are open all year except for Christmas Day. The 1994/95 prices:
-
- "Full Day Cruise. I took this on NY day '95, it was excellent. Bring your
- own lunch. 9am - 3:30/4pm, adult $42, child $14
-
- "Coach, Cruise, Kayak and Hydrofoil. Start 9am at Kaiteriteri. Take the
- launch to Torrent Bay - arriving at around 10.25am. Your guide and kayak
- are there. You start on a 5 hour guided kayak from Torrent Bay to Bark
- Bay. then you catch the hydrofoil back to Kaiteriteri, ETA 6pm. Start &
- finish Kaiteriteri; adult $90
-
- "There are quite a few more variations. Once you see their brochure you
- will know what I mean. I was very impressed at how flexible it is. For
- example with the kayak example above, you could have paid $80 to start and
- finish in Torrent Bay. You could have left Kaiteriteri a few days before
- by the boat, been dropped off at Totaranui (or any beach the cruise passes)
- and walked your way back to Torrent Bay.
-
- "The park has one of the most beautiful set of beaches and scenery I have
- seen. I hope no one spoils it.
-
- "Kaiteriteri to Torrent Bay; if you don't want the guided kayak trip you
- can hire kayaks from them. Single kayaks $18; double kayaks $25 (this is
- from the 93-94 brochure).
-
- "No, I have no connection to the family who owns the Abel Tasman enterprise
- (this is a family business). I was very impresssed with the choice and
- service.
-
- "In the Nelson/Marlborough region; don't forget the swim in the river at
- the Pelorus Bridge. Also visit the vineyards in that area."
-
- -----
-
- If anyone can suggest a better place to put this, I'd like to hear it!
-
- NZ Tides
- Tidal predictions are now available for Auckland, Wellington, Lyttelton and
- Dunedin, a week at a time from:
- http://www.e-media.co.nz/wp1/
- Other major boating areas will be added. Thanks to the Hydrographer RNZN.
-
- --------------------
-
- B5.3.2 Hitchhiking
-
- Hitching is *relatively* safe in NZ, but generally speaking, busing is
- advised in the more obscure corners on NZ; it's likely to be quicker and
- safer.
-
- --------------------
-
- B5.3.3 Renting A Car/Campervan
-
- Several main companies; Hertz, Avis, Budget, Maui, etc. Some agencies have
- mini-buses as well as cars. There are usually cheaper local alternatives
- to the big chains. Taking a vehicle from one island to the other is
- expensive and it is normal(?) to drop a rental vehicle off on one side of
- Cook Strait and pick up another on the other side, but may not be possible.
- If you leave a car at the end of a road asnd fly out (eg. Milford Sound)
- you may be charged the cost of retrieving it.
-
- The general impression is that renting a car in NZ is are not cheap
- compared with US and European rates.
-
- From an advert in a New Zealand Tourist Board info packet, Ed Guy
- (guy@degallo.unx.dec.com) contacted Pegasus Rentals in Christchurch. The
- result was a car at about $35/day.
-
- In Auckland, it is possible to hire a car for around $40 a day if it is for
- a 'long' period, but the problem with using these cheaper companies as
- opposed to the well known ones is the quality of the car. The bigger (more
- expensive) rental agencies have newer cars (1-2 years old). The cheaper
- companies have older cars. Most of them provide you with a special AA
- (Automobile Association) membership for the duration of the car rental
- which covers towing anywhere in NZ.
-
- Most companies have branches or associates around the country and although
- there are (were?) only 3 international airports in NZ (Auckland, Wellington
- and Christchurch) there is usually no problem in being be able to drop off
- cars elsewhere.
-
- Christmas/New Year is a peak period so it is difficult getting a car at the
- last minute. Most cars in NZ are not automatic so if you want one you had
- better specify.
-
- Check the Yellow Pages of the phone directory for an extensive list of
- rental companies.
-
- -----
-
- Campervans
-
- Regarding campervans, Greg Lauer offers:
- Last May (1995) we hired a '2 berth luxury' campervan from Adventure
- Rentals in Christchurch. Because it was off season it cost us NZ$60 a day.
- From what I can remember we just phoned them and picked it up the same
- afternoon. We had four people in it.
-
- If you want some more info email me at <glauer@expert.cc.purdue.edu>
-
- -----
-
- A while back, Dale Gold wrote:
- "Here's what I posted on the subject in Oct '94. No doubt the prices are
- all different now, but I hope it is helpful. Perhaps you can repay the
- favour by posting any changes to this newsgroup :-) [hear hear! ps-j]
-
- "This is *only* a list of the companies that had brochures at Christchurch
- Airport on 10-Oct-94, and I can make no recommendations. I included some
- points which looked interesting, but made no attempt at any detailed
- comparisons. Hopefully, this will provide a rough guide and a means of
- getting more detailed information.
-
- GENERAL INFORMATION:
- Most places require that vehicles be returned to their starting point, but
- you'll have to ask about this. $200-500 deposits are typical, and some
- companies have age restrictions, minimum hire periods, etc. Most vans will
- come with cooking gear, heater, etc. Bedding, ski racks, bikes, etc. are
- often available at extra cost.
-
- All prices are in NZ dollars. GST = a 12.5% tax. The two prices are for
- High and Low seasons.
-
- High Season = 1 November - 30 April
- Low Season = the colder months
- Area codes: Auck=09, Chch=03, Picton=03, Wgtn=04
- ---
-
- Avon Campervans
- 2 berth $124 $74
- Includes: GST
- Excludes: $15 insurance
- 7 day minimum, age 21, appears to allow auck-chch rental!
-
- Auck 275-3040, fax: 275-3496
- Chch 379-3822, fax: 365-5651
- NZ Freephone: 0508-258-258
- UK enquiries: (0993) 823-363, fax: (0993) 823-648
- ---
-
- Gypsy Hire Ltd.
- 2-3 hi-top $129 $83
- 2-4 $135 $90
- 4-6 $189 $95 shower, loo
- big 6 $210 $130 shower, loo
- Includes: Unlimited km, GST, insurance. 5 day minimum
-
- Auck 480-5098, fax: 443-0485, cell: 025-328-126
- Chch 327-6230 (ph/fax), cell: 025-328-126
- ---
- Maui
- 2 berth $144 $89
- 4 berth $203 $123
- 6 berth $228 $137
- Includes: GST
- Excludes: $13.50 daily insurance
-
- Auck 275-3529
- Chch 358-4159
- ---
-
- Newmans
- One of the 2 biggest companies, but no brochure. Auck & Chch branches
- ---
-
- New Zealand Adventure
- All sizes, no prices listed.
-
- Auck 256-0255, fax: 275-3027
- Chch 359-7917, fax: 221-7305
- ---
-
- NZ Travel Bureau Ltd
- 2 berth $139 $59
- 4 berth $199 $89 shower, loo, diesel
- 6 berth $229 $109 shower, loo, diesel
-
- Includes: insurance, GST, unlimited km
-
- Chch 358-9888
- PO Box 14189, Chch Airport
- ---
-
- Pegasus/Thomlinson
- Thrifty 2 $69 $49 Townace
- Economy 2 $79 $59 Hiace S.W.B.
- Tourist 2 $99 $79 Hiace L.W.B., 2 adults, 2 kids
- Executive $119 $99 Hiace Pop-top, Diahatsu Delta
- All include: GST, insurance, unlimited kms 4days+
-
- Auck 358-5757, fax: 373-5727
- Chch 365-1100, fax: 365-1104
- Picton 573-7733, fax: 573-7759
- Wgtn 384-4883, fax: 384-3225
- ---
-
- Pleasure Motor Homes
- 2 berth $90 $60
- All inclusive. Minimum age 25. minimum 7days (sum), 5 days (win).
- Also offer 4 & 6 berth vans.
-
- Chch 359-9657, fax: 359-9628
- 516 Wairakei Road, Chch
- ---
-
- Breakaway in Hastings offers 4 berth campers, no prices in
- brochure, minimum age 30 ph: 06-874-8833, fax: 06-874-8850
-
- --------------------
-
- B5.3.4 Train Services
-
- Good, if they go where you are going.
-
- In the North Island, there are the main line from Auckland to Wellington
- which runs west of the central volcanoes, a main line to the east coast at
- Tauranga and a number of branch lines.
-
- In the South Island, there is the main trunk line north-south down the east
- coast between Picton and Invercargill, and the midland line east-west
- between Christchurch and Greymouth via Arthurs Pass.
-
- The middle and long-distance trains operated by Tranz Rail under the name
- "Tranz Scenic" are listed below. All fares quoted are full adult fare in
- NZ$ as at November 1995. Various discounts are available, even during the
- peak travel season.
-
- Overlander; (Daylight) Auckland to Wellington, 685km/10 hours 40 mins, both
- ways, Daily $55-129 (route includes cities, rural towns, lakes, volcanic
- plateau, gorges, bush, rolling farmland).
-
- Northerner; (Overnight) Auckland - Wellington, 685km/11 hours, both ways,
- departs Sun-Fri $109
-
- Kaimai Express; Auckland - Tauranga, evening, 3 hours 25 mins daily $49
- Tauranga - Auckland, morning, 3 hours 30 mins daily $49
-
- Geyserland Express; Auckland - Rotorua - Auckland, approx 4 hours 10 mins
- each way, daily with extra service on Friday and Sunday $59 (route includes
- rolling farmland, towns, city, bush, volcanic plateau, thermal areas)
-
- Bay Express; (Daylight) Wellington - Napier 334km/5 hours 20 mins, both
- ways daily - $63 (route includes city, farmland, bush, river gorge, hill
- ranges, wine making country)
-
- Southerner Express; (Daylight) Christchurch - Invercargill, 594km/8 hours
- 40 mins, both ways, Daily with extra service on Friday $97 (route is east
- coast of South Island to the southern-most town, farmland, hill ranges,
- coastal) This train has in the past run only Monday to Friday during
- winter. There is only one train per day north and one south between
- Invercargill and Christchurch.
-
- Coastal Pacific; (connects with Interisland ferry) Christchurch - Picton,
- 350km/5 hours 20 mins, both ways, daily $59 (route is northern half of east
- coast of the South island, hills, seaward mountain ranges, fishing towns,
- whale watching area, Marlborough Sounds)
-
- Tranz-Alpine Express; (Daylight) Christchurch - Greymouth, 5 hours 20
- minutes each way, daily, $99 return or $74 one way (route is spectacular
- crossing of Southern Alps from east to west coasts; Pacific Ocean to the
- Tasman sea)
-
- The Taieri Gorge Railway run excursion trains through the spectacular
- Taieri Gorge to the west of Dunedin. It's possible to take the Taieri
- Gorge Limited from Dunedin and connecting bus service to Queenstown or vice
- versa. The timetable for the Taieri Gorge Limited varies through the year,
- running only on some days of the week outside the peak season.
-
- All Tranz Rail services (except suburban) and Taieri Gorge Railway
- services, together with a reasonable sample of current fares and the
- details of the various discounts on offer, can be found at:
- http://www.waikato.ac.nz/nz/rail/timetable.html
-
- Everything that's there is accurate as at November 1995. Be warned that
- Tranz Rail's fares are not as systematic as those in some countries.
-
- Also try:
- http://www.waikato.ac.nz/nz/rail/stoppress.html
-
- -----
-
- Three suggestions regarding scenic train runs. The Railway Enthusiasts'
- Society do excursions from time to time as well as operate the Glenbrook
- Vintage Railway, SW of Auckland.
-
- Write to: PO Box 13-684, Onehunga, Auckland
- Phone: 64-9-636-9361
- Fax: 64-9-636-9558
-
- The Mainline Steam Trust,PO Box 2722, Wellington
- Phone: 64-4-476-2733
- Fax: 64-4-476-3164
-
- Otago Excursion Train Trust, PO Box 140, Dunedin
- Phone: 64-3-477-4449
- Fax: 64-3-477-4953
-
- --------------------
-
- B5.3.5 Cook Strait Ferry
-
- (See also under B5.3.4 Train Services)
-
- The Interislander - ferry service connecting North and South Islands
- between Wellington and Picton. As at 1st October 1995, the full adult fare
- was $44 one way. The fare for a car up to 6m was $160, with an extra $35
- per half memter. A range of discounts are available for advance bookings.
- For timetables, see
- http://www.waikato.ac.nz/nz/rail/interislander.html
-
- It is possible (and cheaper?) to drop a rental car at one terminal, travel
- as foot passenger and pick up another rental car on the other side. The
- trip takes 3 hours 15 min, with spectacular scenery of mountains and the
- sounds. The ferry usually departs Wellington and Picton five times a day
- depending on weather. Another 'high-speed' ferry service is in operation
- seasonally. The Lynx (the catamaran) is back for the summer; timetable at:
- http://www.waikato.ac.nz/nz/rail/lynx.html
-
- Bruce Hoult offered:
- "Booking is not required, but it can be a very good idea if you don't want
- to end up on the 2am sailing at peak times. You should be OK in November
- or the first week or two of December though. Foot passengers and
- motorcyclists (that's me :-) will virtually always get on any sailing they
- want, without booking in advance.
-
- "If you will have a rental car, the best option is usually to use a company
- that lets you drop your car in Picton and get a new one in Wellington and
- take the ferry as a passenger."
-
- To which Lin Nah adds:
- "They have changed the booking rules recently. Those who book early may
- get a discount. I believe they are using the similar rules of allocating
- "seats" as airlines, buses and trains are.
-
- "I agree with bruce's advice regarding rental car. IMHO the cost of taking
- the car across far outweighs the inconvenience of having to unload and
- reload the car at each end."
-
- -----
-
- There is a new venture for the yatch 'Lion New Zealand', renamed 'Phantom
- of the Straits' which runs between Wellington and Picton.
-
- Any information about making reservations, etc., would be appreciated.
-
- -----
-
- The ferry to Stewart Island, the Foveaux Express, sails twice daily from
- Bluff, phone; +64 03 212 7660
-
- The only alternative is to fly. Southern Air have several flights daily
- from Invercargill and one from Dunedin. YHA/Student standby rates are
- available. Phone; +64 03 218 9129.
-
- --------------------
-
- B5.3.6 Coach Travel
-
- Buses go pretty much everywhere there are main roads. There are many
- different options with several companies including the Backpacker buses for
- which you buy a ticket to travel the whole country and get on and off when
- you wish (prices for Backpacker buses fluctuate wildly due to a price war).
-
- Here is some miscellaneous information (prices quoted are in $NZ).
-
- Auckland to Wellington overnight; around $45 - $50 per person
-
- Intercity bus currently (March 96) has only one bus per day north and south
- along the West coast.
-
- There is a daily bus between Queenstown and Dunedin, via Cromwell, each
- way, but you will not be able to make connection in Cromwell without an
- overnight stay.
-
- There is a small van bus that travels between Invercargill and Dunedin via
- the Catlin region that is a beautiful trip. For details, contact Charles
- Eggen.
-
- Most(?) coach lines run strictly point to point. If you want to stop in
- the intermediate sections, you will need to pay more.
-
- eg.
- Intercity coachlines:
- Greymouth - Queenstown $125
- or
- Greymouth - Franz Josef $42
- Franz Josef - Fox Glacier $10
- Fox Glacier - Queenstown $87
- totalling $139
-
- Mount Cook Land Line:
- Nelson to Queenstown $144
- Wanaka to Queenstown $25
-
- Then there are the backpackers bus routes. These stop at interesting
- places as you go. You can hop off at any stop and rejoin them at the same
- time the next day or any day they pass through.
-
- Kiwi Experience (KE) have a package called the 'Back Paddock' which runs
- from Christchurch through Arthur's Pass to Greymouth then down the West
- Coast and back to Chch via Wanaka, Queenstown, and Mount Cook. For $204,
- you need a minimum of 6 days and can take up to 3 months to finish this
- route. They take you to a few places on the way. You pay for your own
- accommodation and any entrance fee to any sights. KE run daily so there is
- no problem with stopping as long as you like.
-
- Magic Travellers' 'Tranzalpine' is very similar to the 'Back Paddock' but
- swaps Mount Cook for Dunedin. For $229, your route needs a minimum of 7
- days and should be valid for 3-6 months. The network only runs every other
- day so if you want to stay longer than one night, you may end up staying 3
- nights.
-
-
- Intercity coach lines has a route from Auckland to Rotorua via Waitomo
- Caves for $100.50 including admission to the caves.
-
- KE has a trip called Geyserland. Minimum of 3 days of travel and valid up
- to 3 months. The route is: Auckland -> Thames -> Waitomo -> Rotorua ->
- Auckland. Your night stops are at Waitomo and Rotorua. Cost is $75 but
- this doesn't include accommodation or the $12 entry to the glow-worm caves.
- They can arrange blackwater rafting, hangi, stay at a marae in Rotorua,
- abseiling, etc.
-
- Magic Travellers network had a route called 'Top of the Town' for $120:
- Auckland -> Hamilton -> Waitomo -> Rotorua -> Taupo -> Turangi -> Rotorua
- -> Thames -> Auckland.
-
- Discounts are available on some lines if you have a backpackers card and/or
- book [well] in advance. Numerous other tour operators and routes exist.
- Shop around!
-
-
- Contact numbers:
-
- Tourist Information Centres may handle all the bookings for you (see
- A1.2.2) or, for Auckland:
-
- Intercity:
- Phone 357 8400
-
- Mt Cook:
- Phone 309 5395
-
- Kiwi Experience:
- Phone 366 1665
- Fax 357 0524
-
- Magic Network:
- Phone 358 5600
- Fax 358 3471
-
- --------------------
-
- B5.3.7 Driving
-
- Visitors should get, and READ, a copy of the Road Code. The most important
- thing to remember is that driving is on the left hand side.
-
- Bruce Hoult:
- "I've hired cars the three times I've been in the US, and I don't think it
- took any longer than 30 seconds or a minute to get comfortable driving on
- the "wrong" side of the road each time. Your US license [presumably this
- also applies to licenses from other countries] and passport are all you'll
- need. The international license is an unnecessary ripoff."
-
- Lyndon Watson:
- "Most people seem to have little trouble adapting. Remember, right-hand
- turns cut across the traffic, and that you give way to the right. Watch
- the speed limits and remember that they are in km/hr, not mph."
-
- If you want to go between (or even to) main centres, and can drive, check
- the car hire companies. Some of them may want to relocate cars and will
- let you drive their car, for free hire as long as you pay petrol AND pay
- the insurance excess if you meet an accident. There are likely to be other
- conditions, such as delivering the car within 24 hours of picking it up.
-
- --------------------
-
- B5.3.8 Commercial Tours
-
- Are available in most main and holiday centres. Prices will vary and it
- may be worth shopping around. See B5.3.6.
-
- --------------------
-
- B5.3.9 Flying
-
- Three main options (Air New Zealand, Ansettáand Mount Cook) and numerous
- smaller airlines including companies offering helicopter transport/tours.
- If you have a backpackers card, you can also opt for standby seats at 50%
- discount.
-
- Here are some air fares for Christchurch to Auckland one way:
-
- Mt Cook Air/Air NZ cheapest fare is $124
- Unlikely to be any left for this summer due to a recent special where you
- could book a seat for $149 to anywhere in another island, or $99 to
- anywhere within the same island. These turn up from time to time so keep
- an eye open.
-
- Air National: $119
- Relatively unknown (check the Auckland phone book). Not so much an airline
- as a cargo plane with seats. The service cost $99 back in January 1995
- (Lin posted something then).
-
- Night flights
- Air NZ: $164
- Ansett: $168
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: B5.4 Misc Info
-
- B5.4.1 Film Developing
-
- I recommend Monochrome in Durham Street Christchurch for b/w developing.
-
- Lyndon Watson:
- I recommend Kiwi Photolab on Gloucester Street for 35mm, and New Zealand
- Photocorp on Welles Street for roll and sheet film.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: B6. Map Of New Zealand
-
- Maps are copyright, North Cape _,
- please do not repost. \\
- \\__
- \ \_
- \ \ Bay of Islands
- \ 1(
- \ > o
- \O \ _
- 1 Whangarei \2(_ \\
- 2 Auckland \O2\| | Bay of Plenty
- 3 Hamilton \ \_ __
- 4 Tauranga | \_ _/ >
- 5 Rotorua | 3 4 \____,' |
- 6 Taupo | 5 7/
- 7 Gisborne __/ _6 |
- 8 New Plymouth ,'8 >_) ,--,
- 9 Napier/Hastings ( Lake ( Hawkes
- 10 Wanganui `- _ Taupo 9 | Bay
- 11 Palmerston North \_10 /
- 12 Masterton \ _/
- 13 Wellington ___ | 11 /
- / (_ , | 12 _/
- | | ///, / _/
- / (_////// (13___/
- _/ 14 ( Cook
- | 15 16\ Strait
- TASMAN SEA / /
- / / PACIFIC OCEAN
- /17 _/
- _/ _/ 14 Nelson
- __/18 / 15 Westport
- __/ , 19(_ 16 Blenheim
- __/ 20| _<>_n) 17 Greymouth
- __/ \ | __/ Banks 18 Hokitika
- _/ // __/ Peninsula 19 Christchurch
- _/21 |22 23/ 20 Mount Cook
- _/ |_24 | 21 Milford Sound
- _/ _-| | 25/ 22 Wanaka
- / -|26 / 23 Timaru
- / - | 24 Queenstown
- | _- 27> Otago 25 Oamaru
- \_,-__ _/ Peninsula 26 Te Anau
- Foveaux \28_ _/ 27 Dunedin
- Strait ,_ `-.___/ 28 Invercargill
- \ c_
- /_ / Stewart
- /- Island
-
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: B7 Contributors
-
- ? brien@worldaccess.nl
- ? chen203@csc.canterbury.ac.nz
- Aidan Heerdegen aidan@rschp2.anu.edu.au
- Alan Brown alan@papaioea.manawatu.gen.nz
- Andy Bond bond@azure.dstc.edu.au
- Andrew White a.white@lincoln.ac.nz
- Anne Riddick riddick_a@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz
- Barry Allan B.C.Allan@massey.ac.nz
- Barry McDonald B.McDonald@massey.ac.nz
- BLImpact blimpact@aol.com
- Brian Dooley brian_d@sideways.welly.gen.nz
- Brian Harmer brian.harmer@vuw.ac.nz
- Brian McInturff turf@netcom.com
- Brian Sorrell biobbs@aau.dk or b.sorrell@niwa.cri.nz
- Bruce Barton via jbarton@actrix.gen.nz (Julia Barton)
- Bruce Cowin aq141@FreeNet.Carleton.CA
- Bruce Hoult Bruce@hoult.actrix.gen.nz
- C. N. Robertson cnr@hydra.cfm.brown.edu
- cakes cakes@io.org
- Carlo Fusco fusco@io.org
- Charles Eggen cne@efn.org
- Chris Fitzgerald sofsol@ihug.co.nz
- Chris Rennie prtwo@chch.planet.co.nz
- Christopher Hutton dmitri@acs4.bu.edu
- Christopher Werry cw7r+@andrew.cmu.edu
- Dale Gold dgold@basso.actrix.gen.nz
- Darren Overby overby@crl.com
- Dave Matoe Dave_Matoe@UK.IBM.COM
- Dave Walker walker_d@ix.wcc.govt.nz
- Dave Frame phys223@csc.canterbury.ac.nz
- David Lobb davelobb@iprolink.co.nz
- David Morris mortrav@ihug.co.nz
- David White d.white@irl.cri.nz
- Delia Cioffi cioffi@dartmouth.edu
- Dennis Gray Jr. dgray@menudo.uh.edu
- Dirk Rossouw drossouw@gmu.edu
- Don Stokes don@zl2tnm.gen.nz
- Donald Neal dmneal@waikato.ac.nz
- Ed Ablon(?) eablon@connect.net
- Errol Hunt hunte@post.crc.cra.com.au
- Ewan McKissock ewanm@landyatch.csd.sgi.com
- Frank Pitt frankie@mundens.southern.co.nz
- Frank van der Hulst frankv@pec.co.nz
- Frits Schouten schouten.jf.frits@bhp.com.au
- Garry Collins garryc@rhema.pec.co.nz
- Gavin Bell mgmt012@csc.canterbury.ac.nz
- Geoff McCaughan geoff@southern.co.nz
- Gina Willingale gina@rusty.siml.co.nz
- Gloria Williams gowilliams@galaxy.gov.bc.ca
- Graham C. grahamc@inca.co.nz
- Grant D. Pease grant@intersys.co.nz
- Greg Lauer glauer@expert.cc.purdue.edu or g.lauer@student.canterbury.ac.nz
- Guillermo Gamero rgu280@waccvm.corp.mot.com
- Hantie Braybrook hb102095@iafrica.com
- Hineihaea Murphy Hineiha@ibm.net
- Howard Edwards H.Edwards@massey.ac.nz
- Hugh Grierson hugh_grierson@trimble.co.nz
- James Yetman yetmanj@qed.uucp
- Jaqui Lynch lynch@cleo.bc.edu
- Jennifer Mary George jmgeorge@leland.Stanford.EDU
- Jeremy Clyma jeremy@central.co.nz
- Jim Lovell-Smith jlovells@ucs.indiana.edu
- Jon Clarke jonc@air.com.hk
- John Davis j.davis@chem.canterbury.ac.nz
- John Hopkins jhopkins@chch.planet.co.nz
- John Mee jmee@ns.net
- John Ryder ryder@central.co.nz
- John Spavin spavinjo@msnt.poli.govt.nz
- John Taber taber@gphs.vuw.ac.nz
- Judy Shorten jshorten@opus.freenet.vancouver.bc.ca
- Justine Lee leej1@lincoln.ac.nz
- Karen Fursdon Karen@beehive.demon.co.uk
- Karen Lysaght klysaght@ucla.edu
- Kelvin McMichael kelvinm@ihug.co.nz
- Ken Moselen Moselenk@ccc.govt.nz
- Ken Wilson kwilson@matai.vuw.ac.nz
- Klaus Failenschmid co95ksf@brunel.ac.uk
- Lachy Paterson tokoono@dunedin.es.co.nz
- Larry Robbins larry@nznet.gen.nz
- Laurie Kennedy kennedyl@agresearch.cri.nz
- Liam Greenwood liam@durie.amigans.gen.nz
- Lin Nah linnah@comu2.auckland.ac.nz
- Lyndon Watson L.Watson@csc.canterbury.ac.nz
- MJ Pickering arachne@uci.edu
- M W Woodhams mdw@ccu1.auckland.ac.nz
- Mark Borrie mborrie@maths.otago.ac.nz
- Mark Cresswell mark@markcres.demon.co.uk or mark@liverpool.ac.uk
- Mark Doherty M_Doherty@NIH.gov
- Mark Wightman mark@albasys.demon.co.uk
- Martin D. Hunt mdh@gaya.wcc.govt.nz
- Martin Lange mlange@actrix.gen.nz
- Marty Burr mburr@manawatu.gen.nz
- Michael Hood mhood@nzint.tourism.co.nz
- Michael Lyford mlyford@iconz.co.nz
- Miche michelle.campbell@stonebow.otago.ac.nz
- Michelle Elleray mde3@cornell.edu
- Mike Gill Mike.Gill@csx.cciw.ca
- Mike Leon leonmike@moc.govt.nz
- Mike Tuppen mike@tuppambr.demon.co.uk
- Mike Wright M_WRIGHT@icrf.icnet.uk
- Murray Shadbolt mjs@waikato.ac.nz
- Nathan Schmidt schmidt@civl.canterbury.ac.nz
- Neville C. Dempsey ncd@3tt.kiwi.gen.nz
- Nick Mein nmein@bifrost.otago.ac.nz
- Nina O'Flynn nof@nzer.DIALix.oz.au
- Noeline McCaughan noeline@styx.southern.co.nz
- Oliver Bohnenberger fm21@rummelplatz.uni-mannheim.de
- Pat Cain patrick@sideways.welly.gen.nz or @gopher.dosli.govt.nz
- Paul Caples(?) pjcaples@bnr.ca
- Paul Campbell paul@taniwha.com
- Paul Dansted pdansted@ccu1.auckland.ac.nz
- Paul Gillingwater paul@eunet.co.at
- Paul Nixon paul@nixnet.demon.co.uk
- Paul Walker p.walker@econ.canterbury.ac.nz
- Pete Moore pete@bignode.southern.co.nz
- Peter Hunt peter@chch.planet.org.nz
- Peter Kerr p.kerr@auckland.ac.nz
- Peter Lowish peter@cyberlink.co.nz
- Peter Morris morrisp@lincoln.ac.nz
- Phil Abercrombie abercrom@UG.EDS.COM
- *Philip* 100317.3527@CompuServe.COM
- Philip Greenspun philg@zurich.ai.mit.edu
- R. Bowen bowenrw@elec.canterbury.ac.nz
- Raewyn Whyte whyter@iprolink.co.nz
- Ray Steel rsteel@titan.com
- Richard Keightley richardk@world.std.com
- Richard Miller Richard_Miller@f170.n771.z3.fidonet.org
- Richard Naylor rich@tosh.wcc.govt.nz
- Richard Stevenson nightowl@deepsouth.co.nz
- Richard Symonds edison@nelson.planet.org.nz
- Richard Turner rwturner@iastate.edu
- Rob Hay HayR@Lincoln.cri.nz
- Rob Simpson roks@actrix.gen.nz
- Robert Burling-Claridge claridge@wronz.org.nz
- Roberta Gorman rwgorman@delphi.com
- Rod Bicknell rbicknell@beta.delphi.com or rbicknell@aol.com
- Rod Snowdon Rod.Snowdon@agrar.uni-giessen.de
- Roger Dennis roger@southern.co.nz
- Ross Finlayson finlayson@Eng.Sun.COM
- Ross Levis ross@enternet.co.nz
- Ross Stewart ross@quidnunc.co.nz or ross@wilsonwhite.co.nz(?)
- Roy T. Fielding fielding@simplon.ics.uci.edu
- Russell Turner turnerr@actrix.gen.nz
- Sam Sampson sam@ins.co.nz
- Sean Coley sean@welly.gen.nz
- Sharon wn_tafunai@wmich.edu
- Simon Lyall simon@darkmere.gen.nz
- Simon O'Rorke simon@central.co.nz
- Steffan Berridge steffan.berridge@vuw.ac.nz
- Stephen D. Neely sdneely@azstarnet.com
- Steve Harris saris@iol.ie
- Stuart Yeates yeatsa3@cosc.canterbury.ac.nz
- Thomas Wilson al419@FreeNet.Carleton.CA
- Tony Randle tony.randle@inl.co.nz or tonyr@atlantis.actrix.gen.nz
- Tony Wilkes tony@wilkes.ak.planet.co.nz
- Trevor Walker yrstyle@voyager.co.nz
- Tuan Nguyen nvtuan@deepthnk.kiwi.gen.nz
- Van (?) vandrklw@is.nyu.edu
- Vaughan Clarkson vaughan@barton.anu.edu.au
- Wee Fi fionac@waikato.ac.nz
-
- Thanks, people!
-
- ===========================================================================
-
- PART C
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: C1 Definition Of 'Kiwi'
-
- For a 'definitive' definition of what a 'kiwi' is (and isn't), here is
- pete@bignode's contribution. Americans take particular note... :-)
-
- "The kiwi is a rare flightless (& very much protected) bird native to New
- Zealand, and is a symbol of NZ in much the same way that the bald eagle is
- a symbol of the US. "Kiwi" is also a (generally affectionate) informal
- term for a New Zealander. The pulpy green fruit with the brown skin that
- Americans call "kiwi" is known everywhere else in the world as "kiwifruit",
- and not all NZers realise that Americans don't know the correct name for
- it.
-
- "If you tell a New Zealander that you ate a *kiwi*, you are unlikely to be
- accused of cannibalism, but if the NZer doesn't realise that you mean a
- *kiwifruit*, you will probably shock & offend them (what would your
- reaction be if I told you that I ate a bald eagle?). If they *do* realise
- that you mean a *kiwifruit*, they will probably just be annoyed. If you
- can't understand why they should be annoyed, think of something that
- America introduced to the world & imagine your reaction if we insisted on
- ignoring the name that you gave it, & called it "bald eagle" or "stars and
- stripes" instead."
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: C2 Cities Of New Zealand
-
- WHANGAREI. It's the gateway to the Bay of Islands, Whangarei Falls is
- beautiful, it has excellent diving (Poor Knights), excellent fishing, a
- fairly interesting Kauri museum near by (can't remember the name of it),
- that clock museum (yawn).... Golfing all year round.
-
- AUCKLAND. It's the biggest, it's hilly, it's got a motorway or two, no
- water except what gets caught in rain barrels, Rob Hay's brother and his
- family and a couple of his friends live there, it has more winebars and
- cafe's than Chch - but not within walking distance of each other....
-
- HAMILTON is smaller, messier, and wet. Fast growing, vibrant, strong
- University influence. "It's a hole".
-
- ROTORUA stinks! It's quite nice but it still stinks. :-)
-
- GISBORNE fits in here somewhere...
-
- NEW PLYMOUTH is sitting on the side of an 'extinct' volcano.
-
- NAPIER/HASTINGS is where kiwifruit grow and the earth moved...
-
- WANGANUI has a nice river, but no-one knows who owns it.
-
- PALMERSTON NORTH
- Mark Doherty offers:
- Population about 80,000. The city has (to me anyway) a distinctly
- rural/parochial atmosphere which I kind of like. It's VERY laid-back.
- It's built (mostly anyway) on a regular grid plan - wide streets, low
- traffic density and definately lowrise building. Since the city is almost
- entirely on a very flat plain, it's fairly compact for its population.
-
- Plusses?
- The town hosts a reasonable sized university, so nightlife is somewhat
- more diverse than you might expect (it ain't Seattle or SF, tho'!).
- People are friendly.
- House prices are low, so is cost of living generally.
- It's a great town for getting around by bike - flat as a griddle, plenty of
- bike lanes and traffic density is SO LOW that last time I went there I
- wondered where all the people were.
- Easy access to outdoor lifestyle - hiking and hunting in the Ruahines and
- Tarauas (little bitty mountains on the order of the Shenandoahs or
- Smokies), canoeing on the Manawatu and Wanganui, hiking and skiing in the
- central plateau (real mountains), horse riding etc - all within about an
- hour or two's easy driving.
- There is nothing even remotely resembling a US-style commute - you can live
- (literally) in the country and drive to work in 10 minutes, or cycle to
- work in half an hour (easy!).
- Great Pubs!
- Easy and relatively cheap internet access.
-
- Minuses?
- The weather is grotty. Not really cold in winter, but grey and rainy.
- Summers are often nice - long, dry and warm, but not really hot.
- It is, when all is said and done, a provincial town. I really enjoyed the
- 6 years I spent in Palmerston, but I would find it hard to go back now for
- more tan a visit (those I always enjoy the hell out of!). But then, I
- wouldn't move to Kalamazoo either!
-
- So there you go. Not the place to move if you like bright lights, but a
- good place if raising a family looms large in your agenda.
-
- WELLINGTON is a tectonic nightmare. Go there if you like politicians, wind
- (oops, redundancy :-) and dangerous airports. It's the capital of NZ.
-
- NELSON is sunny and warm and a nice place to retire to (if you can afford
- the house prices).
-
- BLENHEIM is sunnier, warmer, and a great place to grow grapes (ask Montana).
-
- WESTPORT is on the We[s]t Coast and is therefore wet.
-
- GREYMOUTH is also on the We[s]t Coast and, being backed by higher hills is
- wetter still.
-
- HOKITIKA is a little drier because it's away from the hills. No other
- redeeming feature.
-
- CHRISTCHURCH was founded in about 1845. The older part of the city is laid
- out on a grid system bounded by four avenues. Other roads take you out to
- the suburbs which started as separate villages and have now grown together.
-
- Chch is the largest city in the South Island with a population of about
- 350,000 people. It has a nearby port and an international airport.
- Industry is a mixture of high tech (software, electronics design and
- assembly) and agricultural oriented service and processing. Tourism is
- expanding and is important.
-
- There are two universities, Canterbury (near town), and Lincoln (30 km out
- of town) and lots of opportunity for recreation. There are many parks in
- the city and the CBD is experiencing an increase in nightlife. Access to
- the rest of the SI, and indeed the NI is excellent.
-
- If you like golf, there are 42 courses available in Canterbury...
-
- TIMARU is 160kms down the coast from Chch. It's the other main port in
- Canterbury. My sysadmin is from there so I thought I'd better include it!
-
- WANAKA is by Lake Wanaka in the Southern Alps and is a predominately
- tourist and holiday centre. Treble Cone and Cardrona skifields are near
- by. The Warbirds Over Wanaka Airshow in April (usually in Easter weekend)
- is an awesome show but unless you've booked accommodation you won't find
- anywhere to stay within 100 kilometres - it'll probably attract about
- 50,000 visitors. There's the MAZE in Wanaka if you like solving puzzles.
- It is an excellent place to while the day away.
-
- QUEENSTOWN is by Lake Wakatipu and is the main tourist trap of the NZ 'Lake
- District'. Coronet Peak and The Remarkables skifields are the main winter
- attractions, bungying takes place all year round.
-
- Richard Symonds gives us:
- "I too recommend the Doubtful Sound trip (known as the Triple trip if you
- take in the underground power station too - ever gone underground by bus
- before?!) A few long trips (still under a day) I enjoyed as a kiwi tourist
- in his own country:
- - Dart River
- - Nomad Safari's Skippers Canyon (you get to view bungee jumping)
- - Nomad Safarils Macetown trip (over forty river crossings by landrover)
- - Kawarau Jet, which was cheaper, longer, more fun and moe exciting than the
- Shotover Jet (which is a rip-off). O.K. the river is wider but they got
- closer to the edge. It departs from the main town pier.
- - The gondola and the film that shows in the building at the top.
- "Its a couple of years since I last went to Queenstown so some of these
- attractions might have changed."
-
- Lin Nah offers (edited pretty hard):
- There's Skippers Canyon. Famous for the pipeline bungy (102m jump) but you
- can take a safari trip there. It is well worth it. I did not do it but
- paid $40 for an empty seat on the bungy bus. They don't sell this till
- just before the bus leaves. You end up watching people jump off the bridge
- but the scenery on the way was well worth it.
-
- There's some concern about the safety record of the people who run the
- white water rafting trips. There has been quite a few fatalities there in
- the last few years as well as a few major accidents. The North and South
- magazine in December 1995 did a feature on this.
-
- You can actually use Queenstown as the base for your trips to Milford,
- Wanaka, Arrowtown etc. It is a very touristy town and is often alive when
- other parts of NZ are asleep. Many trekkers use it as the stockup and
- information point before they head off for the various Milford tracks.
-
- There's a trip to Milford Sound (details in section C3.1.5). If you take
- the one that goes overnight, on a good weather day it is definitely the
- best value for money. The rushed day trip that leaves at 7am from
- Queenstown and returns at 7pm is not even half the price of the overnight
- trip. Not sure how they have time to make the number of stops we did.
-
- There are some vineyards around Queenstown.
-
- OAMARU is a really nice little rural centre of about 15K people. Source of
- the famous white limestone used in buildings. It's in here mainly because
- I was born there...
-
- DUNEDIN is the second largest city in the SI but despite this, is a fairly
- small city and the University is an important part of the place. There is
- a very strong Scots tradition. During holidays, the place is pretty dead,
- but during term time it is (in Richard Bowen's humble opinion :-) the most
- sociable campus in the country.
-
- The university is right next to the centre of town, and to the student
- suburbs (or slums :-) so there is always a pub within staggering distance.
- The vast majority of students are from out of town (most from the North
- Island (?)), so they are there just as much to have an enjoyable time as to
- learn. Atmosphere is more casual than anywhere else, doesn't have the
- snobbishness of Auckland, or the executive orientation of Victoria
- (Wellington).
-
- As for the university itself, most universities in nz are pretty similar,
- unlike overseas. The Otago Med school is better than the Auckland one
- though. I don't know of any weaknesses.
-
- Note that good flats are hard to come by in Dunedin, you might have to
- start paying from the end of the previous year.
-
- Lousy weather much of the time.
-
- INVERCARGILL is at the bottom end of the SI and is cold even in the middle
- of summer, except on hot days... It rains lots and the Comalco aluminium
- smelter is just down the road at Bluff (where the oysters used to come in).
-
- Any other cities which *should* be included? If so, post them *with* a
- description. Help filling out the cities above would be appreciated too!
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: C3 Holidaying In NZ
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: C3.1 Places
-
- C3.1.1 Parks And Tracks
-
- Over 20% of New Zealand is Forest or National parks. New Zealand's
- national parks and protected areas are treasures of irreplaceable value.
- There are 13 National Parks which preserve NZ's most spectacular scenery,
- rare and endangered flora and fauna and archaeological sites. Besides the
- National Parks system, there are two World Heritage sites within NZ;
- Tongariro (the boundary coincides with the National Park of the same name)
- and the South West New Zealand World Heritage area (incorporating Westland,
- Mount Cook, Mount Aspiring, and Fiordland National Parks, and well as
- extensive state land making a total of 2.6mill hectares). Tongariro
- National Park was the second(?) place in the world designated as such,
- beaten by Yellowstone by only a year or so.
-
- Additionally there are three maritime parks and a host of forest parks,
- reserves and conservation areas throughout the country.
-
- Public access is possible in all New Zealand Parks and many have
- magnificent walking tracks within their boundaries. The Department of
- Conservation administers the parks on behalf of the New Zealand people.
- DoC provide and maintain facilities such as huts, lodges, camping grounds
- and tracks.
-
- Most parks have a visitor centre and many run visitor programmes including
- guided walks. There is usually no charge for entry into the parks although
- charges are often made for overnight stays and hut use.
-
- The Department of Conservation has several pamphlets available. Try
- writing to their head office at PO Box 10420, Wellington, phone 04-4710726.
-
- Steve Harris offers:
- "... guide for New Zealand on the net to give an idea about some of the
- activities and destinations in the country at:
- http://www.iol.ie/~saris/bpguide.html
-
-
- While not a park, Kapiti Island (west of southern NI) is worth a visit if
- it can be arranged.
-
- Brian Harmer wrote:
- "I went to Kapiti Island, the nature reserve off the West coast of the
- Southern part of the North Island. Never have I seen so much bird life so
- close up. The Kaka (native forest parrot)were so tame they would fly up to
- the visitors and perch on their shoulders, and deftly swipe the filling out
- of sandwiches. I have the nature trail running down my back to prove it!
- There were wekas galore, kereru, saddleback, stitchback and takahe, robins
- and kakariki. The bush is glorious, but my calf muscles will ache for a
- week after trudging for two hours to the summit for views to the South
- Island, and Eastward towards New Zealand :-)
-
- "Landing on the island is allowed by permit only. The focus is on
- preservation of nature rather than provision of tourist attraction."
-
- --------------------
-
- C3.1.2 Beaches, etc.
-
- There are lots of these. As a result of the 'Queens Chain' law, all
- coastline and river cbanks (within 20m+/-) are available for public use.
- All coastline is also public land. However, access to such areas may be
- restricted by having to cross private land.
-
- --------------------
-
- C3.1.3 Distinctive Features
-
- There are hundreds of distinguishing landmarks around NZ and any attempt to
- catalogue them would far exceed the limits of my resources! Everything
- from coastal caves and arches, to some of the oldest trees in the world,
- bird sanctuaries, castles, geothermal areas and underground power stations.
-
- --------------------
-
- C3.1.4 Archaeology/Historical/Heritage Sites
-
- Definitely worth investigating if one is (or might be) interested.
-
- --------------------
-
- C3.1.5 Places To Go To
-
- Marty Burr is twisting my arm to combine certain areas with common
- attractions into logical groupings, eg. Marlborough/Nelson. It's a
- sensible idea and I'll work on it over the next month.
-
- As many as there are holiday enthusiasts. I'm sure a list will evolve
- slowly. Start by including all the national parks and main beaches...
-
- Any of the National or Maritime Parks
- Any of the South Island high-country lakes
- Anywhere in the mountains
- Most of the coastline
- The NI Central Plateau/Desert Road
-
- Cape Reinga
- Ninety Mile Beach
- Bay of Islands
- Rotorua/Whakarewarewa
- Lake Taupo
- Mount Egmont
- Hawkes Bay (vineyards)
-
- Farewell Spit
- Golden Bay
- Heaphy/Wangapeka Tracks
- Karamea
- Marlborough Sounds
- Blenheim (vineyards)
- Kaikoura coast (whale watching)
- Mount Cook
- MacKenzie Basin
- Central Otago/Clutha Valley
- Fiordland
- The Catlins
- Stewart Island
-
- Bruce Hoult wrote:
-
- "Queenstown is the only real tourist trap, but is so stunning that you'll
- love it anyway and you'd be silly to not go there."
-
- Hugh Grierson wrote:
-
- "Queenstown [is a tourist trap]. Wanaka is nicer."
-
- Paul Caples(?) wrote:
- "Tourist spots in and around Auckland
- - Waitakere Ranges: heaps of bush walks (try Fairy Falls), Arataki Visitor
- Centre.
- - West Coast Beaches: Piha, Muriwai (if you like surf)
- - Wine: theres plenty of vineyards heading toward Muriwai and several
- organised wine trails from Central Auckland.
- - Harbour Island's: Rangitoto or Waiheke (ferry's from bottom of Queen St)."
-
- Charles Eggen Wrote:
- "I had a nice stay at Te Anau Backpackers, 48 Lake Front Drive, phone
- 64-3-249-7713 and they are within a few blocks of "downtown".
-
- -----
-
- Lyndon Watson provides the following suggestions in response to someone
- saying they were spending all of their three month stay in the North
- Island:
-
- "I must disagree here with those who say, "Oh, no, forget the North Island
- and see the South instead."
-
- "If you're only ever going to make one trip, then you should see the things
- that are *most* peculiar to the country. Those must include, first and
- foremost, the Maori aspect of the country which is best seen in the North -
- at Rotorua, the Urewera and East Coast if you're really interested, and
- Northland, especially. The early colonial history of New Zealand is also
- best seen in the North, particularly in the Bay of Islands in Northland and
- the Land War sites in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty. As far as natural
- features are concerned, some that are most exotic to tourists (depends, I
- suppose, on where they come from) are also in the North - the
- Rotorua/Taupo/Bay of Plenty geothermal features, the Kauri forests of
- Northland, Mt Egmont. By contrast, the South Island is mainly visited for
- its (admittedly grander) scenery and the historical remains in Central
- Otago. I think that the one-time visitor should try to cover the country,
- with the emphasis on the North Island, and only devote all of his time to
- the South if grand scenery is all that he is interested in.
-
- "If this is (hopefully) the first of many visits, then I think that a case
- can be made for a reasonably brisk trip over all of the country, arguably
- still putting the main emphasis on the North Island - a sort of preliminary
- survey as it were. Let the first visit touch on the high tourist points
- and act as a sort of general survey of what the country has to offer; later
- visits can concentrate on what appeals most - once again the South Island
- if grand scenery is what you want to see.
-
- "Three months seems to me to be ample for a general look at the country,
- even allowing for one or two extended stays at places that you particularly
- like. Spend, say, a week each at Rotorua and the Bay of Islands, a few
- days in Auckland and perhaps Wellington, another week in Central Otago
- using Queestown as a base, and the rest of the time just meandering around
- the country and lingering where you like.
-
- "I would do a round trip around Northland, taking in the Bay of Islands, the
- bus trip to Cape Reinga and the drive down the west through th kauri
- forests, then head south from Auckland. Take it slowly! Spend a day
- driving the 70 miles to Hamilton, looking round Rangiriri, Ngaruawahia and
- so on. Spend another day meandering east to the Bay of Plenty and stop at
- Tauranga or Whakatane. Explore the eastern Bay. Spend a few days driving
- round East Cape and back through the Urewera and the pine forests to
- Rotorua. Then south to Taupo, do some fishing if you like, and take a side
- trip to the west to Taranaki. Spend a day driving right round Mt Egmont.
- Go back to the centre and drive back north through the volcanic bush of
- National Park and across to Turangi. Then south along the Desert Road and
- through the North Island sheep country to Wanganui or Palmerston North
- before crossing through the Manawatu Goge to the Wairarapa. Sample the
- local wines and drive (with care) across the ranges to Wellington.
-
- "Then, at last, take the slow ferry to Picton and start on the South..."
-
- -----
-
- Tourism Nelson, via Peter Lowish, contributes this tome on the Nelson
- region.
-
- The Nelson Region
-
- The Nelson region is located at the north western tip of the South Island.
- Nelson is renowned for a warm and sunny climate, golden sand beaches,
- lakes, mountains and native forests. Combine this with the fine foods,
- superb wines, innovative arts and crafts and warm hospitality to see why
- visitors enjoy the greater Nelson region all year round. Nelson is the
- oldest city in New Zealand (Queen Victoria signed a Royal Charter
- proclaiming Nelson to be a city on 27 September 1858) and historic
- buildings throughout the region reflect a bygone era. Accommodation caters
- for everyone offering luxury lodges and hotels to camping/cabin facilities
- and backpackers hostels.
-
- National Parks
- The three National Parks in the region are a haven for wildlife enthusiasts
- and trampers alike, offering a vast scope from coastal tracks to
- mountainous terrain. The Abel Tasman National Park can be explored by
- foot, launch or sea-kayak. Nelson Lakes National Park is a complete
- contrast with alpine likes, flora and fauna. Kahurangi is the country's
- newest National Park, an unequaled wilderness experience.
-
- Arts and Crafts
- The Nelson region is home to a diverse range of visual and performing
- artists and craftspeople. Painters, potters, wood workers, textile
- artists, sculptors and jewellers have studios right across the region
- reflecting the area's colourful, vibrant environment. These artists have
- been co-ordinated into trails, ideal for the free independent traveller.
- The Nelson School of Music is steeped in tradition and hold regular
- performances. Nelson is also home to the New Zealand Wearable Art Awards,
- which attracts entrants and spectators from all over the world.
-
- Lifestyle: Food and Wine
- The relaxed atmosphere and great climate makes Nelson a sought after
- holiday destination and place to live. The extensive selection of local
- beverages and fine foods, of which seafoods are a speciality, tantalise
- taste buds in the many cafes and restaurants around the region.
-
- Action
- Two ski fields in the Nelson Lakes National Park offer a season extending
- from July to October. Rafting, bungy jumping, horse trekking, skydiving
- and fishing operate all year round.
-
- In the geographical centre of New Zealand, Nelson is an all season, all
- age, all year visitor destination.
-
- We are pleased to announce a new web site:
- http://nz.com/webnz/nelson/
-
- The pages consist of travel help to the region, including information on
- the gateways of Marlborough and the West Coast, details of the three
- national parks - Nelson Lakes, Kahurangi, and Abel Tasman, articles about
- the 5 sub-regions of Nelson, Motueka/South Abel Tasman, Takaka/North Abel
- Tasman, Nelson Lakes and Murchison.
-
- Each sub district contains information on accommodation, activities,
- services, eating out etc.
-
- (end Peter Lowish's contribution)
-
- To which Lin Nah adds:
-
- "Perhaps a mention about the popularity of Takaka Hill for New Years eve
- should be included. I did not know about this till I got there. It felt
- like everyone wanted to be there.
-
- "The Nelson area makes a significant contribution to the beer (hop
- growing), and wine (several wineyards) industries, and of recent past,
- tobacco industry (tobacco know frequently being replaced by green tea!).
- Is the Riwaka Beer Fest on 2 January an annual thing or only happened this
- year?
-
- "More action:
- tramping in the National Parks
- kayaking in Marlborough Sounds
- kayaking along the Abel Tasman National Park
- hike or mountain bike (carefully!) on the Heaphy Track
- tandem sky diving (Around $170 per person)
- white water rafting on the Karamea River.
-
- "The last can be arranged through Buller Adventure Tours at Inangahua
- Junction (near Westport). This trip consists of a helicopter ride into the
- area, raft down a grade 5 river (more thrills than the grade 4 river in
- Queenstown). There are other bits you can add to it. The basic package
- that starts at Wesport and ends there is around $200 per person. For those
- in our bus, he offered a free glacier rafting trip on the Franz Josef
- glacier."
-
- -----
-
- The hyperactive Lin then adds (hacked together from two posts):
-
- "Spots you MUST hit in the South Island:
- Abel Tasman National Park
- West Coast: amazing scenery
- The Glaciers
- Milford / Fiordland
- Otago Peninsula: albatross colony, yellow eyed penguins, fur seals
- various native birds, spectacular scenery
-
- "There is a 2 day trip that may interest some. Leave Queenstown at 9am,
- taking a steam boat (The Earnslaw) across Lake Wakatipu (we were served a
- Continental breakfast) to Walter Peak sheep station, then a bus on the
- other side takes you along the back farm roads towards Te Anau. You see
- sheep, deer etc. along the way. Lunch at Te Anau (provide for yourself)
- then down to Milford with stops on the way including a couple of short
- walks. One was the cascade creek loop track. The second was the chasm.
- In between the two we stopped at a stream (Monkey Creek) to collect some
- fresh water from the stream and went through the Homer Tunnel. On the way
- the driver makes quite a few stops.
-
- "We were in Milford by 4:45pm and were on board a boat named the Wanderer
- by 5pm. After a trip around the firod and out towards the Tasman Sea we
- were fed a very delicious meal and spent a night on the boat, anchored in
- the fiord. Sleeping bags and linen are provided in this trip. The next
- morning we were woken up very very early. Most on the boat work up at 6am
- when the boat's generator's started. the others were politely woken up by
- 7am. If you feel restless you can go kayaking at 6:15 - 7am. Someone
- tried to go for a swim. But with water temp around 5-7 deg C, he did not
- stay in very long. (When we stopped to fish the evening before, some did
- go for a swim. Water was slightly warmer).
-
- We were served continental and cooked breakfast. At 9am we were back in
- Milford to rejoin the bus. Then we stopped at the start of the Routeburn
- Track. Most on the bus went on the short 3 hour return walk to Key Summit
- (make sure you take good shoes). We then headed back to Te Anau for lunch,
- then it is back to Queenstown. Best value for money IMHO - provided the
- weather is good. This is the 'Milford Overland' by Fiordland Travel. I
- think it is better than the one organised by the Intercity Bus. If you are
- short of time, then take the one by the Intercity Bus. You leave at 7am
- and come back at 7pm. Not many stops along the way."
-
- There is also a smaller boat called Tutuko(?) It is good for private
- parties like groups of 10 - 15 people. The Wanderer takes around 40 - 50
- people and is a more stable boat.
-
- You do not really need to book very far ahead. I was there first/second
- week of January. I needed to book 1 week ahead. The only problem would be
- if a big tour group(s) wants to go on the same day as you.
-
- Most of the accommodation is single bunks, 4 bunks per berth. They tried
- to segregate by gender but did not work for our lot as we were used to
- mixed dorms and some of them were couples (14 of the people in the
- backpackers bus was in the same trip). There are a couple of double bunks.
- I think if you want those, you should book earlier.
-
- It is a trip I WHOLEHEARTEDLY recommend to everyone provided the weather is
- good. The group before us had a partial refund because the rain was too
- heavy for the wanderer to leave the dock at Milford. Milford has 7m (SEVEN
- METRES) of rainfall a year. Be prepared. The trip is run by Fiordland
- Travel. I think the cost is around NZ$200 per head. I paid $176 because I
- was travelling with Kiwi Experience.
-
- (thanks Lin, sorry about the editing...)
-
- --------------------
-
- C3.1.6 Places To Avoid
-
- As above, only in the negative! Start with Bulls, Dannevirke, Dargaville,
- Wellington...
-
- --------------------
-
- C3.1.7 Temporary Attractions
-
- January 1995 (so you've missed it!)
-
- The Gliding World Championships held at the small town of Omarama (between
- Christchurch and Wanaka/Queenstown).
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: C3.2 Activities
-
- C3.2.1 Tramping
-
- There is extensive tramping in NZ with a range of experience to suit any
- enthusiast. See the tramping faq by klox@otago.ac.nz available via ftp
- from: ftp.otago.ac.nz
- or: gopher.otago.ac.nz
- as: pub/misc/tramping.faq
-
- Also available is: tramping.zip
- a collection of misc other pictures and text that doesnt quite fit the FAQ
- (it wants to be an html documnet when it grows up). Thanks, KLox.
-
- The Department of Conservation has several pamphlets available. Try
- writing to their head office at PO Box 10420, Wellington, phone 04-4710726.
-
- --------------------
-
- C3.2.2 Skiing
-
- There are something like 28 ski fields in NZ, only 5 of which are in the
- North Island. Snow-making equipment is keeping the main fields open for
- longer now. Ski season is May/July? to August/October? depending on the
- weather that year.
-
- Try:
- http://www2.chch.planet.org.nz/~nzski/nzskimap.html
-
- --------------------
-
- C3.2.3 Climbing/Mountaineering
-
- There is extensive mountaineering and rock climbing available. The highest
- mountains are in the South Island, but the volcanoes of the north possess
- their own challenge. Snow and ice climbing is available on faces up to
- 2300 metres high. Multi-pitch alpine rock routes are also available,
- sometimes on excellent rock. Crags abound on both islands, but are
- probably more extensive in the south. There is a wide variety of rock
- types available.
-
- The New Zealand Alpine Club now has a web site at:
- http://www.wcc.govt.nz/~nzac/default.htm
- with information about the club, about climbing and outdoor activities in
- NZ, and links to related sites.
-
- There is a web site at:
- http://john.chem.canterbury.ac.nz/climb/
- but access is restricted to within NZ only (costs and all that).
-
- --------------------
-
- C3.2.4 Watersports
-
- New Zealanders are renowned for their love of activites in, on, or near the
- water. We have produced some of the worlds top sailors and boat designers.
- Sea kayaking is getting popular. There is a guide book for Tasman Bay and
- the Marlborough Sounds. For more information on seakayaking, email
- A.Ferguson@chem.canterbury.ac.nz
-
- --------------------
-
- C3.2.5 Whale/Dolphin Watching
-
- This is becoming very popular around the Kaikoura area (north-eastern South
- Island) particularly now that the area's part of the new world whale
- sanctuary. Highly recommended.
-
- Justine Lee wrote:
- "However, the service itself is heavily dependent on the weather. If the
- seas are too big, the boats won't go out. Often you can't know until say,
- half an hour before you're 'sposed to go out if they will or not, when the
- weather is a bit dodgy. If you do decided to come down and do the whale
- thing it would pay to book in, to avoid disappointment. Sometimes thay can
- be booked up say 2 weeks in advance. Whale Watch Kaikoura Ltd are the main
- outfit. There is also another firm who take you out in a helicopter or a
- plane - not suprisingly this is more expensive. There is also an outfit
- who take you swimming with the dolphins.
-
- "If your travel agent can't help you find out more information - generally
- or re bookings - drop a line to the chch.chat newsgroup and I'm sure one of
- us will help you out."
-
- --------------------
-
- C3.2.6 Pubs To Go To/Nightlife
-
- Can't give you much on this, I spend too much time editing this damned faq!
- For a comprehensive FAQ on NZ beer, contact: jmgeorge@leland.stanford.edu
-
- --------------------
-
- C3.2.7 Anything Else????
-
- Baldwin Street, Dunedin, is apparently the steepest (suburban?) street in
- the world. It's the scene of an annual running race to the top and back,
- and apparently one has to be very careful when parking and entering and
- exiting drives as there's a distinct chance of rolling over!
-
- Simon Lyall has suggested the Hamilton Balloon Festival, but I regret news
- of that has not reached this far south (yet?).
-
- I've mentioned the trip to Kapiti Island elsewhere.
- Anything else you people want to include???
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: C4 General Culture
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: C4.1 Sport
-
- We are basically mad about sports in NZ. Many weekend activities are based
- around some form of organised sport. NZ has generated some of the finest
- sports people in the world. A very few are listed in the section on Famous
- New Zealanders (C5.6).
-
- --------------------
-
- C4.1.1 Why do New Zealander Sportspeople Wear Black?
-
- Dave Frame wrote:
- "Around that time (don't know if it was before or after the change) they
- played against some British [rugby] team and a correspondent wired his
- paper in his report to say that the NZers played like they were "all
- backs", meaning they were heaps more mobile than their British counterpart
- (that should sound familiar to anyone who's seen the RWC this year).
- Anyway, somehow it got messed up in the wiring process and it got printed
- as "all blacks" and the name stuck."
-
- And Brian Dooley confirmed;
- "The first story here is close enough to the truth if "An Encyclopaedia of
- New Zealand" is to be believed. The story was reputedly confirmed by one
- of the last living members of the team."
-
- and Lin Nah adds:
- "It used to refer to athletes representing NZ as well. I think the change
- (with respect to NZ athletes) occured in the 1994 Commonwealth Games and
- the Olympics."
-
- Brian Sorrell 'complicates' things with:
- "Soccer (and sometimes cricket) are about the only team sports that don't.
- Can't remember what the hockey team (hockeyers? hockeyists?) wear.
-
- "But it did all begin with rugby. The story (as I recall it) was that it
- arose from when the first NZ rugby team toured Britain (the 1905 team?)
- with far more success than either they or the British expected. A British
- sports journalist, impressed by the NZers unconventional style of play,
- wrote that they played as if they were "all backs" (referring to the speed
- and mobility of the forwards, a tradition continued to this day). A
- printer's error converted this to "all blacks", the name stuck, and an
- all-black uniform was adopted.
-
- "I think I read this some years ago in, if memory serves right, N.A.C.
- McMillan's bible of All Black history, "Men in Black." So I don't think
- it's apocryphal (although if it is, it's a good yarn anyway :-))."
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: C4.2 Food
-
- Pavlova, pikelets, Sally Lunn, cream buns, Lammingtons, Afghans, Golden
- Syrup, Gingernuts, Milky bars, Moro Bars, weetbix, marmite/vegemite, lemon
- and paeroa, crayfish, whitebait, oysters, venison, lamb burgers, roast
- lamb, fish and chips, Hokey Pokey icecream, kiwifruit, food cooked in a
- hangi...
-
- Pavlova info should be available from:
- http://www.cs.cmu.edu:/Web/People/mjw/NZ/Food/OriginOfPav.html
-
- Whitebait can be purchased fresh from the water in and around the river
- mouths of Westland from Aug. 15th to Oct. 31st. Be prepared to pay plenty
- for it. However it will still be cheaper than the $50.00 per kg often
- charged in cities...
-
- Raewyn Whyte gives us:
- The NZ Wine Trail (a Tauranga-based page):
- http://www.wineonline.co.nz/
-
- The Wine Institute of NZ website called NZ Wines Online (Vancouver-based):
- http://haven.uniserve.com/~mrobins/nzwine.html/
-
- A very useful NZ wines web site can be found at:
- http://haven.uniserve.com/~mrobins/nzwine.html/
-
- This site provides US and Canadian availability information in addition to
- comprehensive information about a host of NZ wines. The site includes
- promotional competitions and a mailing list, and is sponsored by TRADENZ.
-
- A web search on the terms <wines +zealand> in Alta Vista will turn up close
- to 100 references, many of them including availability of information for
- NZ wines in the USA.
-
- -----
-
- What follows is an embryonic list (at 10th Sep) of foods sorely missed by
- NZers abroad. It is hoped this will grow over time and incorporate a list
- of alternative overseas sources...
-
- barley sugars
- burgers with beetroot in
- Buzz Bars
- CCs (they're Aussie but we still miss them)
- chocolate fish
- feijoas
- gingernuts cookies
- girl guide biscuits
- golden syrup
- hokey pokey
- jaffas
- L&P
- lammingtons (also Aussie)
- Mallowpuffs
- marmite/vegemite
- Minties
- Moro bars
- NZ pie/fish and chips/lamb chops
- NZ sausages
- NZ-style hot dogs
- pineapple lumps
- Pinky bars
- potato fritters
- proper-sized fresh trout...
- proper-sized mussels
- Rashuns
- tamarillos
- Twisties
- Vogel bread
- Watties tomato sauce
- Whittakers Peanut slab
-
- Jennifer George wrote:
- "I found some very acceptable "Light Golden Syrup" imported from the UK in
- Costco (do they have them in North Carolina)? Basically I would just check
- around in those kind of warehouse/importer places until you find something.
- Or of course a shop specialising in British foods or the like."
-
- All of these and more are sold in two shops in London; The Australia Shop,
- off the Strand, and Kiwi Fruits, on the Royal Opra (sic) Arcade.
-
- --------------------
-
- C4.2.1 What Is Vegemite/Marmite?
-
- For an extensive outline of these, try Jenny George's URL below which has
- the FAQ and IFAQ for soc.culture.new-zealand:
- <a href="http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~jmgeorge/">My home page</a>
-
- Vegemite, Marmite and Promite are all yeast extracts and basically all the
- same, but:
- Marmite is sweeter than vegemite
- Promite is sweeter then marmite
- They're all extremely salty tasting.
-
- Or, Vegemite is very salty, marmite slightly less so. Promite is
- considerably less salty.
-
- They all use caramel for the dark colouring, and it's probably this part
- which contributes to the war. Marmite is considerably sweeter (and darker)
- than Vegemite, while Promite is sweeter still.
-
- Vegemite eaters will generally tolerate Marmite and Marmite eaters will
- tolerate Promite. Vegemite eaters find Promite sickly sweet.
-
- Marmite eaters will not (usually) eat vegemite. It's too strongly
- flavoured for them as a general rule.
-
- Promite is Australian (Masterfoods), but is gaining in popularity here.
- There are very few exclusive Promite eaters, so conclusions can't be drawn,
- but I'd expect that Promite eaters would react to Marmite the same way that
- Marmite eaters react to Vegemite. I have yet to see an advert for Promite
- in any medium.
-
- Marmite is made by Sanitarium Health Food company, which is wholly owned by
- the Seventh Day Adventist church. Our 7DA's don't run around with guns,
- unlike a certain Texas sect. There was (still is?) a TV ad campaign for
- Marmite last year which had many viewers reaching for the off switch ("The
- Marmities").
-
- Vegemite is made by multi-national food company Kraft General Foods NZ Ltd,
- who have acquired several "NZ" labels over the last 25 years. It isn't
- advertised much, though Kraft have been pushing it and their jam + cheese
- labels recently in a series of adverts starring Billy Connolly and Pamela
- Stevenson (Why Billy - a Scot - is pushing vegemite is beyond me, as most
- non-antipodeans can't stand any of the yeast extracts...)
-
- There is a product called "Marmite" made by the Marmite company in Britain.
- This is not the same as the Marmite found in New Zealand - the UK version
- has all sorts of things added such as vegetable bits and according to those
- who've tried it tastes considerably different.
-
- Lyndon Watson wrote:
- "I don't know about the vegetable bits, but I found British Marmite to have
- (a) a lighter brown colour, (b) a runnier texture and (c) a stronger but
- otherwise similar flavour."
-
- None of these spreads should be spread thickly. That's the second mistake
- most foreigners make. The first is trying the stuff at the insistence of
- NZ hosts, most of whom are gleefully anticipating the response. Best
- results are obtained by spreading _very_ thinly. Discolouration of the
- underlying bread/toast is all that's necessary.
-
- Do not get any of these spreads on your fingers if there are domestic
- animals around, especially cats. They all love the stuff and will try to
- lick you clean. Enthusiastic felines will sometimes try to remove your
- digits too...
-
- There are no meat products in any of the three spreads.
-
- Ingredients:
-
- Vegemite (Kraft General Foods NZ Ltd):
-
- Yeast extract, salt, malt extract, colour (caramel), vegetable flavours,
- vitamins (niacin, thiamine, riboflavin)
-
- Marmite (Sanatarium Health Food Company, NZ):
-
- Yeast, sugar, salt, wheatgerm extract, mineral salt (508), colour
- (caramel), herbs, spices, vitamins (niacin, thiamin, riboflavin)
-
- It's also got a small note under the ingredients: "100% vegetarian" (but
- then, what do you expect from a company owned by the 7th Day Adventist
- church?)
-
- Promite: (Masterfoods of Australia)
- -----------------------------------
-
- Vegetable protein extract, sugar, yeast, natural colour (caramel), salt,
- thickener (Wheat starch), emulsifier (Glycerol monostearate), spices, added
- vitamins, water
-
- Other countries' versions may vary....
-
- --------------------
-
- C4.2.2 Pavlova Recipe
-
- Ask Jenny George (jmgeorge@leland.stanford.edu).
-
- For a few notes on the history of meringues and the pavlova, try;
- http://www.cs.cmu.edu:/Web/People/mjw/NZ/Culture/Food/OriginOfPav.html
-
- Also take a look at
- http://nz.com/NZ/Culture/Food/
- which is where Noeline McCaughan's recipes are now residing.
-
- --------------------
-
- C4.2.3 The Edmonds Cook Book
-
- This book is the biggest selling book in NZ of all time. I guess you could
- expect NZer's to be fat... :-)
-
- Jenny George (jmgeorge@leland.Stanford.EDU) has a file of recipes available
- including pavlova, hokey pokey, afghans, Noeline's latest bread stuff,
- ginger beer, etc.
-
- --------------------
-
- C4.2.4 Laying A Hangi
-
- The following are Hangi instructions were kindly supplied by Ken Moselen
- with additions by Robert Burling-Claridge[] and Lyndon Watson<>. This was
- a nightmare to splice together, so if it doesn't read well, I'll replace it
- with the original posts. Let me know.
-
- -----
-
- Well, the one's I've been involved in (2-3 baskets) have been generally the
- slightly mangled versions involving everything in one hole (slightly non
- traditional), so here goes...
-
- The food preparation is fun. It helps to do this before starting the hole,
- so you know how big to dig it.
-
- [ Even better to get a big bunch of folk together and share the load.
- Remember the quality of the final hangi is directly related to the number
- of people involved and (most importantly) the quantity and quality of the
- beer provided!!! ]
-
- Find your wire baskets, and line them with tinfoil,
-
- [ Actually, I'm not sure I like these new hangis using the foil, it tends
- to stop the juices getting through to the stones and I reckon the hangi kai
- is drier to the palate. ]
-
- put down a thin layer of cabbage leaves,
-
- [ Any old cabbage-like vegetable leaf will do: cauli, brocoli, etc. ]
-
- and throw all the food on top (side of pork, lamb, chicken, etc), and
- surround them all with potatoes, cabbage, kumara, etc.,
-
- [ Note, depending on what you want, remember gravity works inside the hangi
- as well. If you want tastier potatoes, kumera, pumpkin, etc., stick them
- under the meat, else over the meat. For the first couple why not some in
- both places, then you can decide. Generally, put 'drier' meats under those
- producing more juices. As rule of thumb I usually put beef and venison low
- and pork and mutton high. Pays to wrap venison and beef unless very large
- (about the size of a mutton hind leg) as cooking time still related to
- size, and you can't open the hangi to get out the beef that's cooked before
- the rest... ]
-
- and a liberal dose of salt.
-
- [ Remember, there are a lot of potatoes in there! Too much salt is
- difficult to manage! The more you add, the juicier the food will be as
- well (personal experience, no explanation). As a rule of thumb, for a
- 50-person hangi (1-2 baskets) you might use 1-2 cups of salt. ]
-
- Cover with some teatowels, and liberally pour some water on it. Hopefully
- it won't leak too much.
-
- [ Now, I _REALLY_ advise DO NOT USE TEATOWELS unless they're brand new! I
- have had one really bad experience with a teatowel that mis-flavoured the
- whole basket. Try for clean, non-coloured cloth of nearly anything at all.
- Preferably natural, rather than synthetic (taste of burnt plastic will
- usually put people off... ]
-
- - Dig Hole (a slope on one side helps a bit later on) :-)
-
- [ Best ground to make a hangi is one that's easy to dig!! Other than that,
- almost anything is possible to use. Clay, sand... Stoney ground (eg. old
- riverbed) will need at least some sand/soil to line the hole, otherwise the
- heat is lost quite quickly. This is offset to some extent by burning
- longer, in the cooking hole, and digging a bit deeper (making a more
- enclosed HOT hole (remember the soil dumped on top is relatively cold).
-
- Hole needs to be big enough that when the baskets are stacked, however you
- want to stack them, not much more than half the height is above the normal
- ground level. Don't forget to allow for the room taken by the
- stones/steel, but its not particularly critical.
-
- IMPORTANT: **NEVER** use treated timber!! You might be lucky, and all the
- nasty copper gunk, etc. will burn away before the irons (stones, etc.) cool
- off sufficiently for it to stick to them. However if you luck out you
- could have a lot of _very_ sick people on your hands (anyone remember the
- Wanganui Xmas hangi of around 1976, Kowhai gardens?) ]
-
- - Place paper, kindling, and lots of wood on top (enough to burn really hot
- for about 2 hours (at least))
- - Place enough Railway Irons, Ploughshears, and any other large, heavy,
- solid pieces of iron or steel on top of the firewood (these don't tend
- to explode like stones do if there's any dampness in them) to hold the heat
- from the fire for a long time (the more the better - within reason).
- - Light fire and watch for a couple of hours, have a few drinks, etc. etc.
-
- < If you use stones (a sort that doesn't explode when heated and cooled -
- say granite), you would want to fire them for longer than iron, say three
- to four hours. I still use stones for their good heat retention. >
-
- (Traditionally, the fire and the hole are separate, you just drag the
- really hot stones from the fire to the pit, and forget all the mucking
- about with the ashes etc., but this takes lots more room, and you can't do
- it properly in the backyard, so I've described all the mucking around we
- normally do; it doesn't take too long though, only about 15min from
- starting the lifting of the irons, to burying the food, with three of you)
-
- [ Well, tradition varies. If the ground is damp/wet, you will get a
- considerably better hangi if you burn in the cooking hole. A lot of heat
- will be lost to warm the surrounding ground otherwise. ]
-
- Do the next bit as quickly as you safely can.
-
- - Whilst being hosed (wear strong shoes, jeans, and tee-shirt) carefully
- (and quickly) lift the (probably just slightly glowing) irons from the
- ashes (using a wooden handled rake, etc) and put them next to the pit.
-
- [ I find an old chunk of corrugate iron works really well. Scrape, shovel
- the stones/steel onto it, clean out the hole, then tip/scrape the stones
- back in. ]
-
- - Scrape the ashes out of the firepit (this is really hot work) with a
- woodhandled (the longer the handle the better) rake/shovel
-
- [ This is where you make/break the hangi. The more ash you leave in, the
- smokier the hangi will taste. Your choice. Some leave bits on purpose.
- Some cover the remaining ash with a light layer of sand. ]
-
- - Put the irons back into the pit
- - Cover the Irons with a couple of layers of very wet sacks
- - Put the food baskets on the sacks
- - Cover the food with a sheet
-
- [ NB: wet sheet. I also suggest, use several sheets, then hose them for a
- few seconds before covering the whole lot. The more top covering you can
- manage the better. As the food cooks, steam within the cooking hole will
- wet the top dirt. This naturally dissolves a bit, and can sometimes leak
- into the food, not particularly enhancing the flavour!
-
- Lay the sheets so they overlap toward the center of the pile, rather than
- all of then being tucked under the dirt all the way around (see later for
- why). Like this:
- ______
- ______ \ sheets/sacks
- /+------+\
- / | food | \
- __/ +------+ \____
-
- ]
-
- - Bury the lot, and wherever you see steam escaping, put some more dirt on.
-
- < Steam is what it's all about - you've got to have lots of heat and lots
- of water. When we do it at home, as soon as the food is in the hole, we
- poke a hose in and start the water running. It keeps running while we
- cover the hole as fast as we can, and then we turn it off and pull the hose
- out. A hangi must not run dry! >
-
- Now for the Good Bit.
-
- - Wait about 6 hours (longer if in doubt)
-
- [ Hey, you missed the good bit! Remember, someone has to watch that hangi
- like a hawk, any steam escaping could completely ruin the hangi. And
- besides its hot, thirsty work. Only solution is for a bunch of you to
- stand around leaning on fences, shovels (just in case), or anything else
- that's handy, and keep a close eye on the hangi hole. Of course, to avoid
- the attention dropping (6 hours remember!) a few good yarns wouldn't go
- amiss, and naturally, you're going to get very dry (6 hours!) so a few good
- beers also wouldn't go amiss. This usually works best if every so often
- someone throws a shovelful of dirt toward the hole. Try to pick a time
- when whoever it is that's complaining about "lazy bloody hangi diggers" is
- watching.
-
- NB: Try to have at least one person stay sober enough to notice when 6
- hours is up! ]
-
- - Carefully dig up
-
- [ This is when you will bless having thought of laying the sheets to
- overlap in the middle. As the dirt comes off, scrape it outwards. Then
- when the sheets appear, peel them back like a banana peel, leaving the
- baskets of food clean and yummy inside. Also useful because minimal
- disturbance to hangi, and can successfully be covered back up, just in case
- it needs a bit more cooking!! ]
-
- - Lift baskets, and serve.
-
- [ It's a good idea to have thought ahead, and got some bits of bent fencing
- wire, so you don't have to lift the baskets by hand. Mind you, they're
- usually damn heavy, so use No 8 wire, not that pansy hi-tensile stuff! ]
-
- The bottom of the pit should still be hot enough to turn a bucket of water
- into steam, so keep any stray kids/pets away from it.
-
- < Those are the best bits! >
-
- That's about it.
-
- [ Oh no! not quite, remember to get the hangi stones/etc. out of the pit
- before you cover it up!!! Its easier to get them out (and less nasty, icky
- food residues, etc.) if you do it before the hole is completely cold. I
- usually do this while the food is being chopped/sectioned, etc.
-
- Also don't forget to enjoy! (Mind you, if you have been 'watching for
- steam' with sufficient enthusiasm, the food quality will be _superb_,
- regardless of how well cooked it is!).
-
- Don't be put off by the complexity. Its EASY. Just a bit of common sense,
- and you're away laughing. The best thing about it is the co-operative way
- it gets done, and there's probably no easier way to feed a few hundred
- people.
-
- Works just as well for 10-20 people, or even just the immediate family
- (mind you in my case that _is_ 100 people!!!)
-
- Great for family get-togethers. Spend early morning preparing (whole
- family gets involved littles to biggest, 1-2 hours setting up the hangi,
- then 6 hours to enjoy each other's company. Then, without anyone having to
- disappear into the kitchen for ages, right when the talk is flowing, etc.,
- bang - all the food is ready to eat.
-
- One thing I like is everyone is involved. Even the most chauvinistic males
- or the most get-out-of-MY-kitchen females (no flames please, stereotyping
- acknowledged) will pitch in together to do something to help. And the food
- always tastes better when you have cooked it yourself!
-
- Hell, I'm looking forward to the weekend already! ]
-
- Good effort, gentlemen! Must go and dig a hole...
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: C4.3 National Anthem(s)
-
- God Save The Queen and God Defend NZ are on equal status... Words
- available via email request from jmgeorge@leland.stanford.edu.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: C4.4 The Gumboot Song
-
- See Fred Dagg. Words available via ftp from jmgeorge@leland.stanford.edu.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: C4.5 Some Works by NZ Authors
-
- The following is a short-list of New Zealand books, selected by the New
- Zealand Book Council for their brochure "Bookenz: A Traveller's Guide to
- New Zealand Books". It is by no means an exhaustive collection, but rather
- a selection of the works from indigenous Kiwi writers.
-
- Barry Crump, A Good Keen Man, and numerous others.
- Alan Duff, Once Were Warriors (Tandem)
- Maurice Gee, Going West (Penguin)
- Patricia Grace, Potiki (Penguin)
- Keri Hulme, The Bone People (Picador)
- Witi Ihimaera, Bulibasha (Penguin)
- Fiona Kidman, the Book of Secrets (Vintage)
- Owen Marshall, Tomorrow We Save The Orphans (McIndoe)
- Maurice Shadbolt, Season of the Jew (Hodder Headline)
- Philip Temple, Beak of the Moon (Penguin)
- Lauris Edmond, An Autobiography (Bridget Williams Books)
- Janet Frame, An Angel At My Table (Random House)
- James Belich, The New Zealand Wars (Penguin)
- Michael King, Maori: A Photographic and Social History (Reed)
- Claudia Orange, The Story of a Treaty (Bridget Williams Books)
- Christopher Pugsley, Anzac (Hodder Headline)
- Bill Manhire (ed.), 100 New Zealand Poems (Godwit Publishing)
- Ian Wedde and Harvey McQueen (eds), The Penguin Book of New Zealand Verse
- (Penguin).
-
- For further information please contact:
-
- New Zealand Book Council/
- Te Kaunihera Pukapuka o Aotearoa
- PO Box 11-377
- Wellington
- New Zealand
-
- Tel +64 4 499 1569
- Fax +64 4 499 1424
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: C4.6 Other Bits...
-
- A comprehensive listing of NZ arts web sites exists at
- http://url.co.nz/arts/nzarts.html
- Updates are made at least monthly.
-
- -----
-
- Things which need to be contributed:
-
- WHERE TO EAT: list of recommended restaurants
- RECIPES: try http://nz.com/NZ/Culture/Food/
- US/NZ TRANSLATIONS: they really are that different....
- FISHING: favourite fishing holes? All about whitebait (thanks NMcC :-)
- ALTERNATIVE FAQ'S: available via ftp from jmgeorge@leland.stanford.edu.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: C5 Famous New Zealanders
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: C5.1 Cinema
-
- There's a movie database somewhere with loads of NZ stuff. If someone
- trips over the URL, could they please post it.
-
- C5.1.1 Films
-
- An Angel at My Table
- Bad Blood? (British/NZ co-production)
- Bad Taste
- Battletruck
- Brain Dead (US title; Dead Alive (god knows why they change it!))
- Came a Hot Friday
- Carry Me Back
- End of the Golden Weather
- Footrot Flats (aka A Dog's Tail/Tale?)
- Goodbye Pork Pie
- Heavenly Creatures
- Hinemoa
- Illustrious Energy
- Map of the Human Heart (NZ director, Vincent Ward)
- Maui
- Meet the Feebles
- Ngati
- Race for the Yankee Zephyr
- Sleeping Dogs
- Smash Palace
- The Navigator
- The Piano
- The Quiet Earth
- Utu
- Vigil
-
- --------------------
-
- C5.1.2 People
-
- If anyone can be bothered posting a brief summary of any of these, I'll
- include it (after people have commented).
-
- Jane Campion
- Peter Jackson
- Bruno Lawrence
- Geoff Murphy
- Sam Neill
- Ian Mune
- Anna Pacquin
- Graeme Revell - has done several major movie sound tracks (Until The End Of
- The World, Body Of Evidence, Hand That Rocks The Cradle).
- Vincent Ward
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: C5.2 Music
-
- C5.2.1 Pop/Rock Bands
-
- Abel Tasmans
- Ardijah
- Blam Blam Blam
- Crowded House
- Dance Exponents
- DD Smash
- Dragon
- Father Time
- Hello Sailor
- Herbs
- Jean Paul Satre Experience
- Mi Sex
- Netherworld Dancing Toys
- Ragnarok
- Screaming Mee Mees
- Sheerlux
- Shona Laing
- Space Waltz
- Split Enz
- Suburban Reptiles
- Tall Dwarfs
- The Bats
- The Body Electric
- The Chills
- The Dudes
- The Enemy
- The Exponents
- The Front Lawn
- The Johnnies
- The Mockers
- The Muttonbirds
- The Narcs
- The Residents
- The Swingers
- The Verlaines
- Thin Red Line
- Toy Love
- etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.
-
- For NZ bands & so on, here are some good starting points.
- Jonathan Milne's pages:
- http://www.vuw.ac.nz/~jonathan/usemus_t.html
-
- Simon Dear's pages:
- http://www.sanger.ac.uk/~sd/kiwimusic/WEBSITES
-
- Akiko:
- http://nz.com/NZ/Culture/Music/MainPage.html
-
- And:
- http://url.co.nz/arts/nzarts.html
- which includes as many NZ music web sites as we (incl. Raewyn Whyte) knew
- about this morning...
-
- --------------------
-
- C5.2.2 Blues
-
- Midge Marsden
-
- --------------------
-
- C5.2.3 Country
-
- The Warratahs
-
- --------------------
-
- C5.2.4 Classical
-
- Michael Houston
- Dame Kiri te Kanawa
- Lili Kraus
- Douglas Lilburn
- Noel Mangin
- Dame Malvina Major
- Donald McIntyre
- Oscar Natzke (sp?)
-
- A WWW page of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra is now available:
- http://www.nzso.co.nz/
-
- Dale Gold adds:
- "We will soon have a new URL on our own virtual server, as well as a mirror
- on Akiko to speed things up for overseas users. More audio is in the
- works, and much of it will have a NZ slant, although it won't all be
- human... :-)"
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: C5.3 Literature
-
- Murray Ball
- James K. Baxter
- Ian Cross
- Barry Crump
- Alan Duff
- Stevan Eldred-Grigg
- A.R.D. (Rex) Fairbairn
- Janet Frame
- Maurice Gee
- Denis Glover
- Patricia Grace
- Keri Hulme (1)
- Sam Hunt
- Robin Hyde
- Witi Ihimaera
- John A. Lee
- Margaret Mahy
- Katherine Mansfield
- Gordon McLaughlan
- Dame Ngaio Marsh
- Frank Sargeson
- Maurice Shadbolt
- C. K. Stead
- Hone Tuwhare
-
- -----
- 1
-
- Keri Hulme was born in Christchurch, NZ in 1947 of Scottish & Maori
- heritage. She lives in the settlement of Okarito on NZ's wild West Coast.
- Okarito used to have 4,500 gold miners and 25 pubs but is now only tiny.
- It is famous for an old store, which is the oldest building on the West
- Coast, the White Heron colony and Keri Hulme. Keri lists her interests as
- beach walking, whitebaiting (a traditional form of fishing in NZ), reading,
- eating and drinking whisky. If you really are interested in her writing
- you could drop her a line at Okarito, Private Bag, Hokitika, NZ. She may
- reply.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: C5.4 Fine Art
-
- Rita Angus
- Neil Dawson
- Francis Hodgson
- Robyn Kahukiwa
- Colin McCahon
- Lew Summers
- Bill Sutton
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: C5.5 Humour
-
- John Clarke (Fred Dagg)
- Barry Crump
- Sam Hunt
- Billy T James
- Gordon McLauchlan
- Pamela Stevenson
- Rima te Wiata
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Subject: C5.6 Other...
-
- Rewi Alley (helped rebuild China after the revolution, we live in his house)
- Chris Amon (motor racing)
- Robert Davidson (apiarist)
- Sir Roger Douglas (accounting?)
- Sir Harold Gillies (pioneering plastic surgeon, 1)
- Ernest Godward (inventor of the carburettor)
- Sir Edmund Hillary (mountaineering, aid work, ambassador)
- Fred Hollows (eye surgeon, honorary Australian?)
- Dennis Hulme (motor racing)
- Vaughan Jones (mathematics, Fields Medal winner (theory of knots))
- Sir Archibald McIndoe (pioneering plastic surgeon, 1)
- Bruce McLaren (motor racing)
- Colin Murdoch (inventor of the disposable syringe)
- Richard Pearse (first powered flight (probably))
- Lord [Ernest] Rutherford, 1st Baron of Nelson and Cambridge (Nobel Prize,
- Chemistry, 2), (1871-1937)
- Mark Todd (equestrian)
- Captain Charles Upham (farmer, veteran soldier, VC and bar, 3)
-
- -----
- 1
-
- MJ Pickering wrote: (more details may be available from her)
-
- "New Zealand surgeons practically invented the process of reconstructive
- surgery. Well, that's not quite true - there were many instances of
- reattaching noses and ears and such in Italy and India and a few other
- places. But the first world war resulted in plenty of cases to work on and
- by the time the second world war rolled around, a phenomenon called
- Airman's Burn where pilots who disobeyed orders and removed their goggles
- and gloves due to the heat in their cockpits suffered extensive burns to
- their faces and hands when shot down meant that skin grafting really took
- off.
-
- "In the time between the two World Wars there were 4 full time
- reconstructive surgeons - three were New Zealanders (working in Britain of
- course). Sir Harold Gillies was the first one and pioneered many of the
- techniques. Rainsford Mowlem was another but the most famous was Sir
- Archibald McIndoe who started the Guinea Pig club of his patients which
- some of you may have heard aboout. By the time of the WWII more pilots
- were surviving crashes due to better constructed planes and penicillan
- ensured a greater survival rate so there were more men for him to work on.
- Gillies tended to work of the canon fodder of the front in WWI. The Guinea
- Pig club still meets every year. MacIndoe was not only at the forefront of
- "holistic" medicine in that he treated his patients' minds and their trauma
- as well as their bodies - he wouldn't let them go back into service until
- he was sure their minds had recovered also, but he was the one to make the
- connection between the recovery rate of burns victims who had fallen into
- the sea and the concept of saline baths for burns victims. Prior to that
- an oil solution was used on their burns."
-
- -----
- 2
-
- After receiving a master's from Canterbury College, Chistchurch, Rutherford
- went to Cambridge in 1885 to work under Sir JJ Thomson at Cavendish
- Laboratory.
-
- He took up a physics professorship at McGill, Montreal, in 1898, worked
- with Soddy and in 1902-3 identified radioactive half-life, moved to
- Victoria University of Manchester in 1907 and was awarded the Nobel Prize
- in Chemistry in 1908 for his work on radioactivity. He worked with Geiger
- in 1908 and in 1909 used alpha particle bombardment of thin foils to lead
- to his 1911 description of atomic structure.
-
- He was knighted in 1914, then succeeded Thomson at the Cavendish Laboratory
- in 1919. He was elevated to the peerage in 1931. His other awards
- included an Order of Merit in 1921, the Copley Medal of the Royal Society
- in 1922, and he was President of the Royal Society from 1925 until 1930.
- In 1931 he was created Baron Rutherford of Nelson.
-
- -----
- 3
-
- Howard Edwards wrote:
-
- "Captain Charles Upham (retired), New Zealand's most decorated soldier and
- veteran of World War Two, died last Tuesday and was buried with full
- military honours after a service in Christchurch cathedral on Friday.
- Upham was awarded two Victoria crosses for exceptional bravery during WWII.
-
- "A modest hero. Upham never saw himself as anything other than a New
- Zealander doing his duty. He refused to accept any land offered to
- returning servicemen after the war, and also turned down a knighthood. He
- spent the remainder of his years on his North Canterbury farm and avoided
- the spotlight of fame which the media oocasionally tried to shine upon
- him."
-
- -----
-
- Lyndon Watson wrote:
-
- "I took my father, who served with Charlie Upham in the 20th, to the
- funeral on Friday, and I found the subject too close to many emotions to
- write about for all the world to read.
-
- "Upham's battalion, the 20th, was, in my biased opinion, the most
- distinguished of all New Zealand regiments in the Second World War.
- Together with the other battalions that comprised the 4th Brigade (the 18th
- Auckland, 19th Wellington and 20th South Island battalions), it was made up
- of the first and keenest men who volunteered in 1939, and it bore the brunt
- of the actions in Crete (where Upham won his first V.C. for attacking and
- destroying machine-gun posts in face of their fire), at Belhamed, and at
- Ruweisat Ridge which was, like Stalingrad in the same year, one of the
- crucial battles of the war (and where Upham won his second V.C. for running
- in the open at advancing tanks and attacking them with hand-grenades). At
- each of those battles the 20th was nearly destroyed, and it was rebuilt
- each time around the survivors who somehow kept its extraordinary spirit
- alive. Its third Victoria Cross was won by Sergeant Jack Hinton, who is
- still going strong at 84.
-
- "When Upham returned from the war, the people of Canterbury raised
- 10,000 pounds by public donation to buy him a farm. That was enough to
- buy a very good farm, but Upham declined and had the money put into an
- educational trust. He eventually bought a houseless block with a rehab.
- loan and turned it into a farm with his own hard work."
-
- -----
-
- Charles Upham died in November 1994.
-
- ===========================================================================
-
- That's all, folks.
-
-