Monday, November 30, 2009

New Zealand Rocket Launch

BBC: "New Zealand's first space rocket has had a successful flight, according to the country's media.
The Atea-1, named after the Maori word for space, launched in front of about 50 people."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8386067.stm

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Icebergs bound for New Zealand

Check out this news clip from New Zealand about huge icebergs approaching the
country.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2009/11/12/moreau.new.zealand.rare.
iceberg.tvnz


-Adam

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Mailboxes...New Zealand style

Here is just one example of the many unique and innovative personalized mailboxes that you are likely to see in New Zealand.  Keep your eyes out for the most original design.
88847257_9068d9789d_b.jpg
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/11/mac_mailbox.html

Monday, November 16, 2009

Havelock is a village on the northeastern coast of Marlborough on the Southern island of New Zealand. Due to its coastal location, Havelock is renowned for its mussels, calling itself the "green-lipped mussel capital of the world". The village also used to be a gold mining village. You can see some of the mining history in the architecture of the colonial buildings which have now been transformed into boutiques and restaurants.
New Zealand was one of the last land masses to be settled by humans, and so before then the plants and animals evolved on their own with complete isolation. In 1997 however, the decline of the diverse species of fauna and flora started to become an issue. Luckily, the Marlborough district (encompassing Havelock) is very involved with legislation in managing the road, river and recreation to prevent the further decline of the ecological world.
Marlborough also started the modern wine industry of New Zealand. Encompassing 62% of the total vineyard of the country, Marlborough started producing wine in 1970. Sauvignon Blanc is the most abundant wine produced. A wine critic said "no other region in the world can match Marlborough, the northeastern corner of New Zealand's South Island, which seems to be the best place in the world to grow Sauvignon blanc grapes." Some pictures of such vineyards can be seen http://www.infonews.co.nz/photos/600-Patriarch%20bought%20by%20international%20owners.jpg
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.accommodationnear.com/wine/photos/marlborough-vineyard.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.accommodationnear.com/wine/marlboroughwineaccommodation.htm&usg=__jajFwfZV2lJJB4opcvwrKCvT6Sw=&h=360&w=480&sz=27&hl=en&start=12&tbnid=E6xXb_1hy_lzWM:&tbnh=97&tbnw=129&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmarlborough%2Bnz%2Bvineyard%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den

Paihia is a main tourist attraction in the Bay of Islands. Located on the north island, Haruru Falls is located right near Paihia and is like a smaller Niagra Falls in the similar shape of a horseshoe. The word "Haruru" literally means "loud noise". There is a large mangrove that leads into the falls paved by a boardwalk. There used to be many Maori villages located around the waterfall and many of the people thought that there was a water monster located in the pool beneath the fall. http://www.hickerphoto.com/data/media/152/paihia-haruru-falls_18541.jpg
The Te Tii bay of northern Paihia is a popular tourist area for swimming and fishing. Not far off is the famous Waitangi Treaty grounds where the British signed the treaty document for the founding of the area. The Treaty Grounds are a host to extensive gardens which are called the "Garden of National Significance". The garden surrounding the Waitangi Treaty House is supposedly the home of the first rose planted in New Zealand. Here is a picture of the day of the Treaty, http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/files/images/stories/waitangi/waitangi-005.jpg