Life in New Zealand

“Some flats have traditionally several big parties in a year, but at least once a month I’d say there was a big annual one.” Greymouth Star, 12/10/19

He also gave a bottle of Manuka Whiskey to Jacinda Ardern just before the election and soon after she became pregnant. Hibiscus Matters, 4/9/19

He had shown them the reference number from the police and the invoice he had sent them, but the littering ticket had not gone away. “This is just rubbish,” he said.

Nelson Mail, 18/10/19

“Obviously, it’s got to be on its game with all this water work coming downstream.”

Otago Daily Times, 11/10/19

“For me, it’s just as important to share Martinborough’s wonderful dark skies with fellow astronomers, as it is with people who have never seen stars close up before.”

Dominion Post, 23/10/19

I have just spent 18 days in China, where the absence of birds is nearly total. Much of the country is paddy fields and there should have been loads of birds. But I saw 12 ducks, three chickens, three sparrows, two magpies, one crow and, on a four-day Yangtze River cruise, two white heron-like birds. Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring certainly holds true there.

Sally Blundell’s story was timely. In this country, many dog owners seem to believe their animal is a family member and entitled to human rights. This shows on beaches where dogs are encouraged to “play with the birds”, which risks disturbing nesting sites and killing chicks or injuring birds.

Dogs are predators and can locate nests and birds with alacrity. I do not like cars on beaches, but they are not fine-tuned bird-killing machines like dogs. Neville Cameron (Coromandel)