7 posts tagged “new zealand”

Motel in Palmerston North, New Zealand bans entire town of Wainuiomata

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-n...

The 16,000 residents of the Lower Hutt suburb of Wainuiomata were slapped with a blanket ban by Palmerston North's Supreme Motor Lodge this week, after a series of misdemeanours by visiting sports teams.

How bizarre!  There is probably no category for Wainuiomatans in New Zealand anti-discrimination legislation either.  I hope other New Zealand establishments don't retaliate by banning Sydney-siders, as we had hoped to go to there for a holiday next year. 

I must say though that I did like this quote from a New Zealand politician (apparently said without any trace of irony whatsoever):

"It's stupid and very, very unfair. It shows the sort of blind prejudice I thought we didn't have in New Zealand anymore. I'm not surprised the [owner's] Australian."

but would prefer something a bit more well written, try this Carnegie Award winning novel by New Zealand writer, Margaret Mahy.  It is really fantastic and just a taste of what this writer has to offer. 

The Changeover (Collins Modern Classics)

Margaret Mahy

From the Amazon website:

Product Description
"When three-year-old Jacko is stricken with a baffling illness, his teenage sister Laura, a 'sensitive,' is the only one to recognize that demonic possession is the true cause of his malady. . . . The beautiful characters grow with readers and the style is beautiful but ornate. An extraordinarily rich and sensitive novel."--School Library Journal, starred review. Winner of the Carnegie Medal; ALA Notable Book; ALA Best Book for Young Adults; School Library Journal Best Book of the Year; Booklist Editor's Choice.

 

World globe showing Australia and NZ and PNG in pink

3 comments

I took this photograph of an old world globe at my brother's on the weekend.  I think it used to belong to my grandfather and dates back to the time when all the countries were coloured according to which colonial power they "belonged to" (British ones all pink). 

PS. Diamond has created a new object photos group for this kind of thing.  Come and have a look and think about joining.  Make sure you are prepared to follow the rules though! 

These were part of a competition between advertising agencies on a television show all about advertising.  The challenge: to persuade Australians that a military invasion of New Zealand would be a good thing!  Think the second ad was the one that won. 

Outdated Kiwis ahead of the crowd.

ALL you ski enthusiasts who have been suffering sleepless nights over where old ski clothes end up can now sleep soundly as I have discovered the answer: New Zealand.

I have just returned from a week's skiing in the snowfields around Queenstown and my circa 2004 jacket and trousers outfit - completely old hat according to my teenage son - made me look like I had come straight off a Milan catwalk. I have never seen such a collection of ski outfits from the 1970s and 1980s all in one place: stretch ski pants, puffy salopettes, faded fluoro, the lot.

The Kiwis have clearly gone out of their way to corner the market on this gear.

This taste for the antiquated is also evident in New Zealand's choice of automobiles, which includes a lot of second-hand cars from Japan.

Japanese manufacturers ship them south to keep the market for new models strong at home.

Perhaps North Face, Spyder, Columbia and their ilk have adopted the same approach and are rapidly buying up outdated ski gear on eBay and shipping it across the Tasman.

Although New Zealanders do not appear to have invested a cent in new ski clothes since the 1980s, money seems to have been pouring into helmets, in all different colours, shapes and siz

I hardly think Australians can criticise any other nation for being unfashionable!  After all, Kath and Kim's wardrobe choices didn't just spring from nowhere.

Kimmeee

Check out this short film by director Alison McLean from 1989.  I first saw this at the cinema before a feature film I can't even recall now.  I was so impressed at the time. 

Melanie Lynskey who plays Rose is actually a New Zealander and started her acting career with one of the main roles (alongside Kate Winslet) in the wonderfully chilling New Zealand film Heavenly Creatures. 

What is also amazing is that she manages to disguise her New Zealand accent so well.  I travelled overseas with a girl from New Plymouth (where Lynskey also from) and she had the strongest Kiwi accent I have ever heard.  Her boyfriend (who was from somewhere on New Zealand's North Island) said he practically had to act as an interpreter for her when they were travelling in countries where people spoke English as a second language as noone could understand anything she said.  I'm sure there are some Australians who have similar "accent trouble" overseas. 

Back to Heavenly Creatures, I highly recommend watching it if you have never seen it.  There really is a lot more to New Zealand cinema than Lord of the Rings.