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Sep 2005 |
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| The world's tallest bobby |
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From a small town near Wellington, newly sworn in police officer Paul Randall is the second tallest man in New Zealand, but at 216 cm in his cotton socks he is the tallest police officer in the world. Size 18 shoes have to be specially made and so naturally did his police uniform but Paul”Ēs stature is absolutely no problems for a police career. His height draws a lot of comment from people when he is out on the beat but it does make any undercover work fairly unlikely. Before joining the thin blue line Paul's height also found use in the film industry. Where a double was needed to make normal sized people appear as small as hobbits Paul was called in to stand in as Gandalf and Aragorn. Police recruit height restrictions were done away with in 1980 and now they are repeating the benefits, as is the police basketball team with their new star.
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Sep 2005 |
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| Drunken birds |
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Residents in Whangarei are being troubled by drunken birds needing treatment for their excess. While this might make you think there was a problem with English backpackers out on the town the truth is that in inebriates are wild pigeons, native wood pigeons with a taste for old, slightly fermented guava nectar. Robert Webb of The Native Bird Recovery Centre in Whangarei has been collecting the drunken pigeons and letting them sober up in safety. Not only are the Pigeon in danger of drunk flying they also fall out of trees and lie stupefied on forest floor, easy pickings for cats and dogs. Robert has rounded up about 25 avian drunkards recently about a third out what he might round up in a year. The drunken birds take about 48 hours to fully get over their hangovers and like people the best cure seems to be sleep in a further bird/human parallel, it seems to be the young birds over doing it the guava, teenage pigeons if you will.
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Sep 2005 |
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| A world first, a system to find your stolen car |
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A system has been developed using cell phone text messaging to protect your car. Last year over 20,000 cars were stolen in New Zealand and about 4000 or 20% recovered. The Auckland Company 'Spotter' saw this statistic as a reason to develop some counter measures against car thieving low life. They came up with a system where by people could text car number plates to their data bass and if the car was registered on the database as stolen the texter would receive a prize. The prizes vary, a base of $150 for a hit rises significantly if the car is a BMW or Aston Marton or the like. Frank de Jon who set up the www.spotter.co.nz website saw the system as a way to get Insurance premiums down. When there are rewards for up to five to ten thousand for a spotting a BMW or Aston Martin the motive is there. As the insurance industry faces losses of around $235 million through car theft claims, it is no surprise insurance industry associations are very supportive of the efforts of Spotter.
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May 2005 |
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| Primary School Wine Makers |
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A primary school in Arrowtown
has been sponsored 500kg of pinot noir grapes to make
wine. The pint size wine makers are too young to drink
the brew so they check the flavour by eating the grapes.
The children spent a week designing wine labels and a
winner was selected then the next step (or steps) was
to make the wine. In the traditional manner feet were
washed to keep out unwanted bacteria (as opposed to wanted
bacteria) and then the children trampled the grapes in
an open barrel. This wine made in the ancient way is
to be called “little feet”. According to
the master Vintner Jeff, if about half of the wine barrel
is juice then the conditions are perfect for fermentation.
On-line sales of last year’s vintage racked up
over $50 000 for the school and orders came in from as
far away as America. The gold rush is long since over
in Arrowtown but this school has found another gold mine
to fund the education of its children.
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May 2005 |
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| Calling fish back to the
reefs |
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Alicia Hewitt (21) and her
family were planning to enjoy a normal holiday on the
Gold Coast of Perhaps contrary to what most people think,
all sorts of creatures in the sea make and use sound.
To the human ear it might all sound like little more
than a racket but to all the underwater living things
the sounds they make give their piece of ocean that special
feeling of home. Researchers from Auckland University
have been studying the effect of ocean noise on the living
environment of reef fish. They have found that certain
sounds can attract fish back to depleted reefs and by
playing these sounds underwater from a simple CD player
that they can increase the biodiversity of these reefs.
So while the researchers may not be sure what they are
saying fish language, it seems to be striking a chord.
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May 2005 |
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| A Kiwi makes big in Japan |
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Long term Tokyo resident
and expat Kiwi Johnny Hendrickson started up a new internet
business last year and notwithstanding the 10 year long
Japanese recession, the company is rolling along. Already
a multimillionaire at 35 Hendrickson sold an Internet
advertising business to start his latest venture, restoring
old photos. Customers scan their old photos and send
them to Hendrickson’s site, there they are restored,
colour corrected, water stains and rips repaired and
then sent back as new. Business partner Ian Handricks
estimates that the Asian market for their service is
many times larger than the North American market and
is yet to be fully tapped. At the moment the bulk of
their business comes from people in Japan. Lateral thinking
and a niche market and this is another example of the
internet removing barriers and allowing New Zealand to
deliver a high quality product in spite of physical and
cultural distance.
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Feb 2005 |
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| A real sleeping beauty |
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Alicia Hewitt (21) and her
family were planning to enjoy a normal holiday on the
Gold Coast of Australia but it ended up more like a fairy
story and was very nearly a tragic one. Alicia dived into
the hotel swimming pool and struck her head on the bottom,
losing consciousness and soon sinking her mother found
her close to death minutes later. CPR was administered
and she was rushed to a hospital but the prognosis was
not good. Alicia had been without oxygen for almost 2
and half minutes. Her distraught family gathered round
her hospital bed and heard from the doctors that Alicia’s
chances of survival were slim and even if she did she
would likely be brain damaged. On hearing this Alicia’s
boyfriend rushed to the hospital went to her room and
kissed her as she lay sleeping. To the complete amazement
of both the doctors and family and in true fairy story
fashion she opened her eyes and came to. To complete the
happiness she also escaped brain damage and lasting injury.
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Feb 2005 |
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| A nomad’s life style
in Nelson |
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In the north of the South
Island outside the city of Nelson, a New Zealand family
is experimenting with the lifestyle of Mongolian nomads.
The mum and dad and two small children are living in their
version of a Mongolian yurt. The circular tents with their
canvas walls and canvas internal partitions bring new
meaning to indoor outdoor flow. The walls can be rolled
up to let in the air and sun passes through the canvas
like a skylight providing bright natural lighting. Their
yurt is spacious and airy, with electricity, a log fire
and even a piano to complete the comfort. The Nelson couple
was determined not to be shacked down by a huge mortgage
and wanted to live close to family. Costing only about
NZ$40,000, they were able to keep their freedom and live
comfortably at the same time. The tent will last about
8 years before it needs replacing and there are no plans
at the moment to build anything more permanent.
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Feb 2005 |
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| Something to wear to lawn
parties |
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Collaboration between a Christchurch
fashion designer and scientists at AgResearch, New Zealand’s
largest crown research institute, has resulted in the
creation of a grass ball dress. Made for the ‘Fashion
in the fields’ contest at the Canterbury A&P
spring show, the dress is made of a special insect repelling
grass that was developed at AgResearch. Fashion designer
Vicky Wynn-Williams said that grass is very difficult
to sew and she lost several needles in the grass never
to find them again while she was putting the ball dress
together. AgResearch scientist Travis Glare said the living
dress needs regular watering and fertilizing to keep its
healthy appearance and recommended that wearers carried
a mister to keep it looking its best. Travis also said
that while the grass repels insects that it should not
be worn near ruminants lest they take a bite. While the
grass dress is not yet practical for everyday use, scientists
are also looking into making clothing from other types
of living plant such as white clover.
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Jun 2004 |
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| New Zealand's Lion man |
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| America has its 'Horse Whisperer',
Australia has 'The Crocodile Hunter' but now New Zealand
has a 'Lion Man'. Just over a year ago Craig Busch opened
his Zion Wildlife garden two hours north of Auckland in
Whangarei. Lion owner and Lion Tamer Craig grew up with
35 cats, you could say as he got bigger so did his cats
as now he owns 12 lions, four white tigers, one Bengal
tiger and some Serval cats. Most of his lions are offspring
of a pair he received from another New Zealand wildlife
reserve. Zion the lion is now 5 years old and Craig has
raised him since he was a cub. Zion and Craig are so used
to each other that now they can rough house and kiss and
Zion misses Craig so much when he is away that they try
to catch up over the phone. There is nowhere in New Zealand
to learn the tricks of animal training. Craig went to
America where he could meet big cats and learnt the tricks
of the trade from experiment and instinct. Now his cats
are stars in movies and commercials. His dream is to build
a park to save endangered big cats. His next priority
is to build an enclosure where his tigers can run. |
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Jun 2004 |
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| The curious correlation
of voyeurs' visits and the exploits not shy Antarctic
penguins |
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Researchers from Waikato
University studying the influence of human visitors upon
the wild life of Antarctica have come up with some odd
data, when human visitors disturb penguin-breeding colonies
the survival rate of the chicks seems to increase. Colonies
that were rarely visited by humans had lower chick survival
rates than colonies often disturbed. Whether it was because
humans scare off other predators, scared the penguin into
being more protective of their chicks, thereby scaring
off other predators or whether it was because the presence
of humans excited the penguins into more successful sex
the researchers are not entirely sure. As the number of
recreational visitors in Antarctica increases the results
of such research becomes more important.
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Jun 2004 |
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| Waiheke Island: Two new
lodges in the world's top hundred 100 new hotels |
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The influential Conde Nast
Traveler magazine has named two new lodges on Waiheke
Island, Delamore Lodge and The Glass House, in its selection
of the world's top 100 new Hotels. With a local population
of 7000 and only 17 Km from Auckland Waiheke is a popular
holiday destination and the home of many people seeking
a relaxed life style. Delamore Lodge was designed by a
local architect to look like a bone fish hook and over
looks Owhanake Bay. The Glass House as the name suggests
is built using a lot of glass and boast an ultra modern
minimalist design. Both resorts have their own chefs and
beauty treatment.
Delamore Lodge: http://www.delamorelodge.com
The Glass House: http://www.theglasshouse.co.nz
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Mar 2004 |
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| New Zealand, Japan joint
volcano research |
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This October, Japanese and
New Zealand scientists will be investigating undersea
volcanoes in the Kermadec trench about 1000km to the north
east of New Zealand.
The research is funded by the Japanese government and
will be using a deep sea submarine, the Shinkai, to take
three researches down to the volcanoes. The Japanese researches
had been investigating undersea volcanoes of the coast
of Japan and now wanted to look at the volcanoes in the
Kermadec for comparison. The scientists expect to find,
amongst other things, undersea volcanoes the size of Mt.
Ruapehu.
TVNZ, One News http://onenews.nzoom.com/onenews_detail/0,1227,255640-1-7,00.html
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Mar 2004 |
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| From sheep to seahorses,
new live exports |
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Prized by traditional Chinese
medicine as an impotence cure and in great demand in America
as pets, New Zealand now has two companies specializing
in raising and selling seahorses. Seahorses can be difficult
to raise in captivity but once New Zealand scientists
perfected the correct feeding techniques the industry
took off. Blair Gray, an Otago University Marine Science
PhD student, works at a farm near Napier and says that
the biggest difficulty was growing the correct live food.
Seahorses are about to be declared an endangered species
and when they can draw $3000 NZ a kilo dried as medicine
or $220 US live a pets it is not hard to see why. The
Seahorse is unique in the animal world as the male of
the life long relationships carries the eggs in a marsupial
like pouch and then gives birth to them once they have
hatched. (N.Z. Herald)
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Mar 2004 |
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| The famous and exclusive
luxury lodges |
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Two of New Zealand's premier
luxury lodges have been featured in the 2004 Andrew Harper's
Hideaway Report. Andrew Harper's publication is well known
amongst wealthy travelers as an unbiased guide to exclusive
accommodation worldwide. In the mid North Island, Treetops
Lodge near Rotorua with its 1000ha of native bush was
featured and in the south of the North Island Wharekauhau
Lodge, situated on a sheep station, also received a write
up. That two of the twenty two entries were in New Zealand
is a good indication of the strength of the luxury accommodation
industry and in previous editions other New Zealand lodges
have also been mentioned. A five-night holiday at the
exclusive Treetops Lodge is included in the official Oscars
gift basket for this year's Academy Awards. (N.Z.
Herald)
Treetops Lodge: http://www.treetops.co.nz
Wharakauhau Country Estate: http://www.wharekauhau.co.nz
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Dec 2003 |
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Hokitika Wild Food Festival
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This coming March the famous, or perhaps
famously notorious, wild food festival will be held
in Hokitika on the west coast of the South Island. The
event began in 1990 when not quite 2000 people took
part, next year will be the 15th wild food festival.
Last year more than 20 000 people attended and the town
of 4000 people was a little overrun so this year organizers
are placing a limit on numbers. For the gourmands there
will be the usual treats such as worm sushi and charcoaled
eel but for the bold there are delicacies such as hare
testicles marinated in bull seamen shots, all to be
to be washed down with beer and West Coast hospitality.
http://www.wildfoods.co.nz
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Dec 2003 |
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The Power of Small Business
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97% of the New Zealand economy is made
up of small businesses that employ less than 20 people
but it is very difficult to evaluate the contribution
small home run owner/operator businesses make to the
wider economy. The 'Telecom Home Business of the Year
Award' was created to recognize and encourage business
excellence and innovation and to promote the opportunities
and dreams of these small business operators. The winners
of this year's award are the Northland couple, Andrew
and Robin Leary who make a range of Kaleidoscopes. It
began twenty years ago when Andrew made Robin a Kaleidoscope,
friends and family liked it so much that it seemed worth
making them to sell. Along the way they developed new
tools and techniques and now run all the marketing themselves.
Their website sells their kaleidoscopes to people all
over the world and they have pushed their export trade
by attending conventions in America. A Japanese Kaleidoscope
museum displays their works and a specialty shop in
Tokyo stock them. http://www.kaleidoscope.co.nz
http://www.brewster.co.jp
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Dec 2003 |
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Amorous male squids get carried away
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New Zealand squid expert Dr Steve O'shea
hopes to attract sex crazed male giant squid, genus
Architeuthis, by wafting Pheromones in the sea of the
west cost of the South Island. Dr Oshea's dalliance
with the tempted squids could be a dangerous date as
the aroused invertebrates are excitable but a bit dim,
as he says, "If we are talking about a 200kg squid,
this is an animal with a 20g brain. It's not very bright
and it' is trying to coordinate of a metre long penis."In
the course of a normal Architeuthian romance the male
injects sperm packages into the arms of the female where
it is stored until the female is ready to use it, but
Dr O'shea has found sperm packages in the arms of males
and even found some males had implanted sperm packages
into their own arms! It is hoped that the Discovery
Channel funded research will lead to the first ever
filming of a live giant squid and not the impregnation
of a scientist or research vessel. (NZ Herald)
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Sep 2003 |
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| Fart tax offends farmers
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In an effort to reduce green house gas
emissions to 1990 levels and to meet the Kyoto protocol,
the New Zealand government is proposing to tax farts
and burps from New Zealand's abundant livestock. The
move has outraged farmers who have formed the group
F.A.R.T. Fight Against Ridiculous Taxes to campaign
for their animals to fart and burp freely in the fields
free of taxes. (New Zealand Herald)
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Sep 2003 |
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| Underwater mail |
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Vanuatu Post opened the world's first
underwater post office on May 26th. Situated on the
seas floor about three metres below the surface, divers
can post special waterproof postcards in the post shop.
Instead of ink the underwater staff uses a special plaster
seal to stamp the mail. A flag floating in the sea above
the shop will display opening hours. (www.hideaway.com.vu/postoffice.html)
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Sep 2003 |
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| New Zealand sheep shearing
King reigns supreme |
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The New Zealand champion shearer David
Fagan has again won the world sheep shearing title.
Entrants from 21 countries competed in this year's contest
held in Scotland. David Fagan has won the title five
times before and New Zealanders also came fourth and
third but no one is surprised when a New Zealander wins
a sheep-shearing contest! (New Zealand Herald)
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Sep 2003 |
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| Garage built missile rockets
handy man to international fame |
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Bruce Simpson ordered rockets parts over
the Internet and built a rocket-propelled missile in
his garage. The Helensville local said he was building
the rocket to test a homemade engine that he hoped to
license and he would not use it for terrorism. The international
headline making rocket should be able to fly 100kms
in 15seconds. Mr. Simpson also published details of
his design on his internet home page in order to show
how easily available the technology is. This caused
the Guardian News paper in Britain to label him a Global
security threat. (New Zealand Herald)
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