KiwiNewZ NewsZine - August 1998

Kia Ora fellow friends of New Zealand. The winter has continued to play mind games with the snowfers with North Island fields basically closed and those in the South still waiting for the mother lode to come through. If you would like to receive a weekly email snow report for the Southern Lakez region just email <mailto:snow@KiwiNewZ.com>

Russian roubles ripple through the international community and these effects have been felt down here. The NZ dairy board export loads of butter and milk products to the Ruskis and the farmers will have to be a bit concerned. Never one to except defeat we may well see some clever new marketing idea from the Dairy Board. After all these are the people that swapped butter for Lada's when the Russians pleaded poverty. And have you ever talked to a Lada owner ..... proud as punch they are!

This months lucky winner of the feathery kiwi keyring was Andrew Rayner who works at the Westpac bank in Australia. Good on you Andrew and sorry to all those others who entered but were not successful. Never fear, have another go!

If you would like to enter our competition to win a free kiwi then slide on over.

Thanks to our KIWI sponsors

This issue is bought to you by Kiwi Wilderness Walks. Picture yourself in the southern most island of New Zealand wandering under a stadium of stars to try your luck at native Kiwi spotting. Or stick to the mainland and imagine walking through the most important forest in the world. Kiwi Wilderness Walks brings you the opportunity to explore two very remote and unspoilt pieces of Southland, New Zealand - The Waitutu Track and Stewart Island. For our brochure and more details or check out our website.

>====================== OZ goes to the polls, NZ to follow?

John Howard has announced that Australia will have an election on 3 October. His new tax package includes a New Zealand style GST ( Goods and Services Tax ) which was the downfall of John Hewson some years ago when Paul Keating won the "un winnable election". Our own ex Prime Minister and outstanding orator David Lange says " Nobody ever won an election by introducing new taxes " and there is that pesky little person Pauline that might just blow everyone out of the water, heaven forbid!

Meanwhile the NZ Prime Minister Jenny Shipley is trying to hang in there in the land of the long white cloud with a minority government, a new look cabinet and Winston Peters the ex deputy PM and ex Treasurer barking at her heels from the back benches. Wonder how long she will last?

>====================== Crown Range Road

Big announcement by the local Queenstown Council that they have finally managed to convince the powers to be that they should seal the Crown Range Road. This twisted unsealed mountain pass provides the quickest route to Cardrona and Treble Cone Snow Fields and Lake Wanaka from Queenstown and can be pretty entertaining with some snow or ice. Many hire vehicles and most campervans are also banned from using this road. Seal it they say!! $5.8 million ( and $1 million of that money is ours ) and 3 - 5 years later all the problems are fixed. Not likely. Sealing a high alpine road doesn't make it that much safer in winter, in fact you could argue that it makes it MORE dangerous!

Lets do something really special and build a tunnel between Wanaka and Queenstown! Think what we could do with one of those!! And you know what? They have the perfect kind of machine working just down the road at Lake Manapouri right now. Turns out that this massive machine ( they held a very popular open day some weeks ago when you could get right up close ) chews through the rock, crushes it up and makes its own concrete for the tunnel walls it is building as it goes. Now that's recycling! Add cement and stir. The machine has a "life" of 40 km and it is only going to do 10km on its current job. At the end of the tunnel they plan to turn on the indicator, dig its own coffin and then cement it in ..... any retired tunnelling experts out their want a job?

>====================== Hector Dolphins

Ralph Davies our wildlife editor contributes the following;

Often referred to as the Pandas of the Ocean the Hector dolphin is the smallest and rarest marine dolphin in the world numbering around 3 000 in total. It is rounder and more "cuddly" looking than most dolphins with a round dorsal fin.They are found only in NZ, around the Banks Peninsula in Christchurch, the West Coast of the South Island, in Te Wae Wae Bay and in the Catlins at Curio Bay (sometimes called Porpoise Bay).

At Curio Bay they can commonly be seen in the summer months surfing within 10m of the shore. No one is too sure why they like this bay in particular - the good surf, maybe some good kai ( food ) or just good old southern hospitality! Must be something in the sea as whales are also seen in this area each year with passengers on a recent Bottom Bus trip being treated to the sight of a humpback flapping its flippers just 80m off shore.

If you would like to ask Ralph more about Bottom Bus or Catlins Coastal Link deep south adventures or about these fascinating creatures send an email to <mailto:bottom@deepsouth.co.nz>

>====================== Subscribe a Friend and Win

If you have a friend or friends who would like to receive our newszine just send an e-mail to <mailto:newszine@KiwiNewZ.com>. We will send them the next issue and for every email address you provide you will double, triple or quadruple your chance to win a feathery Kiwi keyring. Far out.

>====================== Domestic travel

Its that time of year and Ansett and Air New Zealand are starting to come out with the keen deals. Ansett last week offered a return trip between the two island for NZ$279 ( sorry its finished now but more will come ). That's about quarter of the normal price! Be forewarned though, get in quick and don't delay. They don't get cheaper than this.

The other great way to travel cheaply around New Zealand by air, especially the longer sectors, is to buy a VIP card. These are $35, available at many backpackers, and let you travel standby on Air NZ or Ansett for 50%! Not bad.

Tranz Rail are also offering some pretty hot specials at the moment. Take your car across Cook Strait for as little as $83. You must pre book and watch the cancellation fees. Ring Tranz Rail on FreePhone 0800 802 802 in New Zealand.

>====================== International Travel Tips

Kiwiphile is a comprehensive newsletter ( of the hard copy variety ) that has been published four times a year for the last 11 years by Eva Trapani from the sunny state of California. Eva is passionate about New Zealand and has recently returned from a campervan tour of our fair land so the upcoming newsletter is bound to be full of real world tips and deals. If you would like to subscribe send Eva a letter with a check or money order to 2715 Altura Ave., La Crescenta, CA 91214-3804. In the US send US$8, $10 in Canada and $15 in other countries. Don't forget to tell her KiwiNewZ sent you!

Ansett Airlines offer some great round New Zealand deals if you pre purchase in North America. Chose from the New Zealand air pass which starts at US$285 for three coupons or the standby pass with unlimited travel for 10 days for US$375. See your local travel agent or phone ATS Pacific in the US on 800 423 2880.

Travel Envoy's New Zealand Travel Guide (http://www.travelenvoy.com) is a large user friendly collection of attractions and activities in New Zealand. If you are thinking of travelling to Aotearoa make sure you slide on over to this valuable itinerary planning resource and make sure you say gidday to Louise from the KiwiNewZ team.

>====================== Two FREE nights in Queenstown

Prize valid for two years. Spa bath, SKY TV, 1 minute to town, lake front, sleeps 6, transferable, too much. Have you entered?

>====================== Jubilation at Tuatara's pregnancy

Some of you may have heard of Henry, the 110 year old tuatara that hangs out at the "tuataratorium" in the Southland Museum. Tuatara's, for those that haven't met one, are a native NZ lizard. Well one of Henry's room mates Juliet is about to have babies, 11 of them in fact. In a world first Juliet has been raised in an artificial environment and had the wits to hitch up with 80 year old Albert and do the biz! Fab. Whose at the bottom of all this you ask? Lindsay Hazley has been breeding and raising tuatara for 26 years and has been waiting in anticipation for five years for Juliet to get in the family way .... pays to be patient in this game! Following hatching the eggs will be incubated for several months with an 80% moisture rate and it will be about eight years before they can tell what sex they are. Good grief.

After many years of study Lindsay has a strong theory that direct sunlight affects the tuatara's survival. In an article to the New Zealand GP ( April 1998 ) Lindsay discusses his hypothesis about the importance of the ultraviolet wave lengths of light to new born tuatara and how this may be related to sudden infant death syndrome ( SIDS ), more commonly known as cot death in New Zealand. The Tuatara are of extreme scientific importance in that their ancestry dates back 225 million years ( our own modern dinosaur ) and they have a pineal eye. It is through this "third" eye that Lindsay suspects the ultra violet light is received and this stimulates the production of melatonin which helps the brains automatic function of breathing. Brilliant. So what should we do with our newborns? Its easy, 5 to 10 minutes of direct sun light every day. The Southland museum has a superb public viewing area for the tuatara so make sure you say gidday to Henry, Albert, Juliet and her kids the next time you go through Invercargill.

>====================== Clothing with a sense of adventure

Nearly everyone has heard about AJ Hackett Bungy, lots of people have thought about doing it, and quite a few have taken the plunge, but what about the clothing? Wild Gravity (get it?) are an off shoot of AJ Hackett Bungy and have some amazing home grown gear. Designed in Glenorchy at the head of Lake Wakatipu ( now there's a story ), made in Invercargill at the bottom of the South Island and worn around the world. Innovative design and quality production with that practical flair. The oilskin bomber range are our favourites and if you get out in the mountains you would have to check out the phenomenal one piece suits. This gear gets better the more your wear it! What's more Wild Gravity have just got the nod to design a range of clothes to carry the Team New Zealand logo in preparation for the America's cup invasion in 1999 / 2000. Brill.

>================ Coronet Peak SnowCam

Want to have a peak at todays snow and weather conditions at Coronet Peak, Queenstown? Slide on over to our KiwiNewZ SnowCam and check out your chance to win a free weekends accommodation in a luxury lake front lodge in Queenstown.

>================ That's all folks

Thanks for joining us see ya next month. Remember we welcome any feedback, suggestions, requests, comments etc. We do try and answer every one personally. Click here to Email us.

This newszine is assembled from our own observations and reports from others and while every effort is made to get it right we can not attest to the accuracy or otherwise. Happy tripping.

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