Volume 21, No. 2
DECEMBER 2007
The Maori concept of Kaitiakitanga sees humans as guardians of the world, assisting the Gods and ancestral spirits to preserve and protect the physical environment, which includes cultural elements such as art and language. Kaitiakitanga is a holistic philosophy that aims to deliver the planet to future gener ations with its ‘mana’ intact.


NEW CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED TO SAVE
THE KIWI

They are New Zealand’s national icon— and a new campaign to protect them has been launched at Auckland Zoo.
The Fragile Kiwi campaign, aimed at primary school children, has been designed to make families recognize their responsibility in controlling pets. Every summer around holiday hot spots, many Kiwi birds are killed by domestic dogs and cats.
It is hoped the children will act as ambassadors, helping to spread the word about the importance of protecting the Kiwi for future generations.
The Kiwi is under threat of extinction un less more is done to protect the fragile, flightless bird. Current numbers stand at around 70,000—a drop of more than 8,000 in just six years.
The New Zealand Kiwi Foundation estimates mainland populations of Kiwi are declining at a rate of four to five percent a year, and if that trend continues, the bird could become extinct within
20-30 years. Most of New Zealand’s original native forest where Kiwi once lived free from predators is now gone.
While there are many initiatives to protect all species throughout the country, the founda tion believes people need to know how they can help minimise the threats. Dogs, cats, stoats and ferrets are among Kiwi’s worst enemies and 70 per cent of chicks are killed before they reach six months of age. Loss of habitat with pressure from new housing development also threatens survival rates.
It’s not all doom and gloom for the flightless bird; breeding programmes throughout the country are showing increased success. Last month Kiwi Encounter in Rotorua celebrated the safe arrival of the 500th Kiwi hatched since their recovery programme began in 1995. Hatching Kiwi in captivity greatly increases the chance of survival—an average of 65-70 per cent as opposed to six per cent for those hatched in the wild.

NEW ZEALAND BACTERIA COULD HELP SAVE THE PLANET

New Zealand scientists have discovered a bacterium that may help to counter global warming.
The methane-eating bacterium, which can survive in hot and acidic conditions was discovered in the geothermal grounds of Hell’s Gate in Rotorua.
Initial calculations estimate that a cubic metre of liquid containing the micro-organism is able to consume up to 11kg of methane a year.
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Researchers from GNS Science hope the bacterium could one day be used to reduce methane gas emissions from landfills and geo thermal power stations.
"What we have found is an extremely tough methane-consuming organism that is new to science. Ultimately, if used in landfills, it, or a similar organism could cut methane emissions into the atmosphere," says Microbiologist Dr. Matthew Stott.
GNS microbiologist Peter Dunfield, who isolated the bacterium, has tentatively named it Methylokorus infernorum, to describe its methane food source, hot living environment and the type of structure within its cell that resembles a koru.'
The bacterium is part of a group known as Methanotrophs, mostly found in soils and in environments where methane is produced, such as marshes and peat bogs. The micro-organism was found about 30cm down from the surface, where manuka and scrub had died through steam incur sion at the Tikitere geothermal field, also known as Hell's Gate.
The discovery has just been published in a paper in the science journal Nature. It stemmed from a collaboration between GNS Science and the owner of Hell's Gate, the Tikitere Trust.

STEWART ISLAND: THE GREAT ESCAPE
(Tourism Southland)

It is a remarkable hideaway that embraces the serenity of nature, spiced with the promise of adventure. Stewart Island is New Zealand's third and southernmost island-an ecological wonder land, where the ardours of everyday life just gently melt away.
Beauty cloaks this destination. A 20- minute flight or one-hour ferry trip across Foveaux Strait gives way to a world of towering, emerald-green rainforest, softening to white sandy shores, summer sunsets and winter auroras so spectacular, they gave rise to the island's Maori moniker Rakiura-Land of the Glowing Skies.
Here, only the chorus of birdsong punctuates the peace. Far, far from the fast lane, Stewart Island's population live in and around Oban, the island's only settlement.
The islanders-many of whom are descended from the first Maori and European settlers-consider themselves not merely residents, but guardians of the environment.
The significance of the land's unique flora and fauna was formally recognized in 2002, with the establishment of Rakiura National Park, which spans most of the island's 157,000 hectares. New Zealand's newest national park teems with wildlife.
A highlight of many visitors' trips to the island is a rendezvous with a kiwi. Sometimes spotted by the eagle-eyed in the thick forest or, perhaps, foraging for food on the beach, the Stewart Island kiwi is among the largest species of New Zealand's flightless bird.
Stewart Island has the largest and most diverse bird population in New Zealand, from the vivid plumage of the kaka and parakeet to the melodic warbling of the tui and belibird.
Birdwatchers also flock to study the sea birds-albatross, petrels, cormorants and gulls soar the skies, while, on land, you'll discover blue penguins and even the rare yellow-eyed penguin.
Stewart Island's many and varied inhabitants thrive in their unsullied surrounds. Ancient podocarp forests blanket the isle; rmu, southern kamahi and miro loom high above a plush carpet of fern and liana. Granite outcrops emerge, sculpted over time into athvorks of the elements.
Stewart Island's setting and wildlife make for a tramper's Utopia. Its 240 kilometres of treks range from 10-minute strolls to 12-day-long adventures in the island's far-flung reaches. The 36-km Rakiura Track has been named one of New Zealand's Great Walks and can be covered in three days.
For the hardy and experienced, the North West Circuit rolls out 125 kilometres of both challenge and beauty, and is a must for true explorers keen to tackle some of the island's most rugged terrain.
The Southern Circuit also offers remoteness and wilderness, it's a six to nine day tramp, part of which can be added to the North West Circuit. The tracks are peppered with huts, complete with running water, mattresses, toilets and wood stoves.
Just a short boat ride from Stewart Island. lies forest-clad Ulva Island, a pest-free "open sanctuary" where visitors can see and learn about species that wouldn't survive on the mainland. There, the Stewart
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Island robin, the South Island saddleback and the yellowhead are some of the rare birds you're likely to set eyes on.
And then, of course, is the weka-a gregarious, flightless bird that'll bound right up to greet you personally. Day trips are easily organised- see the wildlife at close quarters, stand amid the unspoilt forest, visit its historic post office and walk the island's picturesque tracks.
Stewart Island's waters are an adventure all of their own-above and below. Divers and snorkellers pierce clear, green waters to discover abundant marine life and the tall bladder kelp, unique to the island. Chartered boat tours are on hand to take you to the sights or, perhaps, for a day's deep-sea fishing.
If you're keen to go under your own steam, sea kayaks provide arguably, the best seat to meander around the island's waterways. Nature and Stewart Island's locals harmonise to set a pace in a retreat that you'll find as invigorating as it is restful.
It draws visitors by the tens of thousands, vet is deliberately devoid of glitzy tourist trappings; it is the quintessential "great escape".

MORE NEW ZEALAND FILM INFO
by Charles Eggen

A nice thing about New Zealand movies is your ability to see New Zealand in them. Compared to many films made in Hollywood, especially pre-1960s, New Zealand films are shot outside as well as in real buildings. Mainly due to very low budgets, New Zealand movies are shot in outdoor natural lighting and indoor shots are mostly not staged sets. We therefore are able to see and hear many things about New Zealand that are supporting the actors. Often the experience is expanded by the sounds of New Zealand birds. Frankly there are a few titles that about all one can get from the film is the New Zealand scenery and unique sounds.
Consider that a large part of what made the 'Lord of the Rings' series successful was the real New Zealand countryside and those settings can actually be visited. In fact there are books to help you do so: Ian Brodie's 'Lord of the Rings Location Guidebook' is the best, with its photos, maps and GPS co-ordinates. He also has a high-quality paperback, 'A Journey Through New Zealand Film' which takes the idea of film locations further, to include many more films and showing off their special New Zealand images.
There is a high quality dvd of Sam Neill's first feature, 'Sleeping Dogs' that will allow you to "visit"
Coromandel, Auckland, Waikato and Huia. Selling as a "double feature" 2-dvd set with 'Sleeping Dogs' is 'Smash Palace' with an endearing performance by Bruno Lawrence and you will also "visit" Horopito, Ohakune and National Park. Then there is everybody's roadie movie, 'Goodbye Pork Pie', which was shot in many locations from Kaitaia, Northland to Invercargill, Southland. There are dvds of 'Goodbye', with the best being the Australia/New Zealand R4 version. Unfortunately the typical North American dvd player will not be able to play R4 discs. Therefore get the R0 one from Europe or, if you must, get a used ntsc vhs tape version.
If you have ever been inside the Civic Theatre in Auckland, you will be happy to see it not only in Peter Jackson's 'King Kong' but also in 'Constance'. 'The Piano' features the beach at Karekare as well as Matakana, the Waitakere Ranges outside of Auckland and the Bay of Plenty. The chase movie 'Shaker Run' takes us from Dunedin through the Otago interior to Queenstown, then a high speed run through the Mackenzie Country to Kaikoura, Blenheim and ending up in Petone.
'River Queen' was filmed in the beautiful Whanganui River valley, but is only available on R4 or R2 dvds-not North American standard R1. 'Whale Rider' was filmed in and around the East Cape village of Whangara and a dvd of it should be easy to find. If you long for the wild West Coast of South Island, you will thoroughly enjoy 'Perfect Strangers', with Sam Neill as one of the lead actors and Westport the featured town. 'In My Father's Den' features the central Otago region and includes the Taieri Gorge Railway, Roxburgh and the Clutha River providing the settings of a great film.
For Christchurch fans, 'Heavenly Creatures' is the best film to check out and if you enjoy the quaintness of Lyttelton. you will want to take a look at 'The Frighteners'. Both films were directed by Peter Jackson ('Lord of the Rings'), and the latter was Michael J. Fox's last feature film before his announcement that he had early onset Parkinsons. One of 'The Frighteners' scenes is inside 'The Sign of the Takahe', located high on the Port Hills with unsurpassed views over Christchurch and out to the Southern Alps. Sign of the Takahe is an historic building of national significance, with an interior of gothic arches, huge Kauri beams, massive fireplaces and intricate wood and stone carvings.
And then there is 'Lord of the Rings'. With it we end up seeing a great deal of New Zealand, many times from a bird's point of view.
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Upper Hutt, Wellington, Tongariro National Park, Matamata. Takaka, Canterbury, Queenstown area. Skippers Canyon, Arrowtown area, Otago, Glenorchv, Deer Park Heights, the Remarkables and Crown Range are some of the places that are visited and we hardly notice, accepting that this is the picture of middle-earth. So it's not only that tourist video that you bought to 'take you back" to New Zealand-there are many feature films that can do that for you as well, and maybe even better.

CITY GARDEN LODGE, AUCKLAND

For people who like to be in the centre of things without heavy traffic outside, this is the real backpackers' experience in one of Auckland's oldest residential areas, full of historic architecture and character. Located in Parnell on the fringe of Auckland's business centre with not a high rise or apartment building in sight, City Garden Lodge Backpackers has the city's best restaurants, cafes, art galleries and upmarket shopping all within easy walking. Next door to Auckland's largest museum and twice daily Maori concert performances.
Originally built for the Queen of Tonga as her embassy, surrounded by trees and lawns with birdlife galore, City Garden Lodge offers a cozy, clean, home like and quiet atmosphere to relax and plan the next part of your journey, see the attractions of central Auckland and its coastlines or just chill. We offer something between a traditional backpackers lodge, and an old-style hotel, and our visitors range from young people and students on a shoestring budget to open-minded mature travelers. We are close to the Link bus serving Auckland's city centre and surrounding suburbs. We offer free parking, some undercover bicycle storage, fast internet access and free unbiased travel information and bookings. We can arrange transport to and from Auckland airport for a minimum cost.
And for mind-body-spirit enthusiasts, we have a yoga center right on our front lawn.
We know New Zealand and can give advice on the secret places that will make your trip something to remember. If you are a backpacker or simply traveling on a budget, please check out our spacious and comfortable accommodations.
(Email: city.garden@compuweb.co.nz)
SHEAR TALENT SMASHES WORLD RECORD

A 27 year old New Zealand woman has smashed the women's world record for shearing sheep.
Emily Welch has shorn 648 lambs in nine hours-beating the existing women's shearing record by more than a hundred.
The 27 year old from Waikaretu, just south of Auckland, was shearing at a rate of 70 lambs each hour.
It's been 18 years since an attempt on the world record has been made. The past record holder was another Kiwi, Jillian Burney. A team of judges monitored quality and recorded the count.
Welch has been training for the high endurance record attempt for six months, and is the only female shearer in her gang.
She says she was encouraged by her father, Phillip Woodward, to take up shearing, while her husband Sam is also a professional shearer.
Welch attributed a lot of her success to the support of her husband. "I don't think I would have made it so far without his support. . . he and dad were pretty happy."
She's told reporters it's a hard slog for a woman climbing the shearing ladder. "It's very hard work, it's very physical and you have to be determined to stick at it."

MURAL TOWN RICH IN ART AND CULTURE
(from Explorer)

Katikati is the only planned Ulster Irish settlement anywhere in the world, founded by George Vesey Stewart, who brought over 4000 settlers from Ireland.
The settlement also created a lasting sporting link between Ireland and New Zealand.
In 1878 a four-year-old boy left County Donegal as part of the second shipload of Irish immigrants bound for this area on the Lady Jocelyn. His name was Dave Gallaher, and he achieved immortality in this country by becoming captain of the first touring All Blacks rugby team in 1905. He had already taken part in the Boer War, and was killed on the Western Front during the First World War.
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Today Katikati has swelled to a town of multicultural residents, although many of its irish families are descended from the original settlement folk.
The Katikati Heritage Museum
provides real insight into the origins of this vibrant town. Innovative hands-on exhibits keep kids and adults interested, while the souvenir shop and gift gallery are useful for stunning mementos. The Pioneer café is open for delicious food and visitors can play a 9-hole round of miniputt.
Open Air Art Gallery:
Known as "The mural town", Katikati has turned itself into an open air art gallery. Many of the town's buildings are decorated with murals, most of them depicting scenes from the town's past. A guide to the 36 murals is available at the information centre on the main street.
A guided walk is available, taking in the town's murals and outdoor artworks. Tours can be arranged at the information centre. Open-Air Art guides, many of them long-time Katikati residents, take groups to visit each of the artworks, explaining their significance as a record of the town's history. You can also take an unescorted tour by picking up a map from the centre.
The Haiku Pathway
reserve is one of the most pleasant spots for a stroll. A 2km walk, it meanders along the river in Katikati and is littered with boulders with Haiku poetry words inscribed on them. There are many open spaces and clusters of boulders and the walk crosses a beautiful bridge. Follow the steps behind the library building, or join the pathway by Mitre 10 or off the Main Rd just across Uretara Bridge.
Mohair Creations
is the place to visit if you enjoy getting up close and personal with goats. Tame goats at the goat farm are happy to nuzzle visitors, who can also make friends with the miniature horses. Hand-dyed yarns, hand knitted garments and mohair rugs can be purchased.
Katikati Bird Gardens
have been delighting visitors for three decades. Home to a multitude of plant and bird life, the gardens are set in 10 acres of harbourside grounds. Visitors can feed more than 50 varieties of native and exotic birds, including peacocks, cockatoos, pheasants, native keas and emus. Doves add a tranquil note to the gardens, which include a rose garden, water lily ponds, sculpture and fountains. Coffee and delicious refreshments are available at the café, and works by local artists are on display in the art gallery.
Morton Estate Wines on SH2 is a must-see for wine buffs. One of New Zealand's top producers of premium wines. Morton Estate offers tastings and wine sales, along with a fine dining restaurant.

LOVE IN THE KITCHEN - from bullet magazine

A chef's passions for food and love led him across the world to the Coast-and the lifestyle he found has kept him here for over twenty years.
Pierre and Joy Esquilat have owned the Café De Paris in Hokitika for twenty-two years now, but show no signs of cooling passions for the place.
With a staff of twenty-seven, including ten full timers, it does a bustling trade and the walls are dripping with accolades.
Just how did a Frenchman end up in Hokitika on the West Coast you may ask?
"I fell in love!" he says.
But of course.
He and Joy met back in the seventies in Melbourne where they were both working. She is a born and bred Coast girl. and lured him back here. He says he has never looked back.
"I love the West Coast now. It's fantastic. I wouldn't go anywhere else. It's a bit quiet in winter but that's all right." he says.
It hasn't always been that way. When they started out, the isolation and the reputation of the West Coast brought with it some unique problems that he found frustrating at times.
"I couldn't get suppliers to take me seriously. I'd have the menu all ready but then couldn't make half of it because the ingredients wouldn't arrive- now it's not a problem."
Some difficulties have remained however. Despite being 'The Coast' he still can't source fresh fish easily and gets his from Christchurch, but most things are available locally now.
"Twenty-two years ago we couldn't get avocado because no one knew what it was."
A trip back to France last year has provided new inspiration-and pride in his adopted country.
"The French don't know how to make coffee!" he laughs. "A short black and that's all. I found one good coffee."
He visited Provence for the first time, and his eyes light up at the memory.
"I love the flavour of France!" he tells, gesticulating with his arms enthusiastically to emphasise. "All the bakeries and markets. The smells
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and the colours! You ride your bike at seven in the morning each day to get your fresh food. Marvellous!"
He grabs a menu off the table and shows me one of the delicious looking desserts, 'le pot all chocolat'.
This comes from a restaurant in Provence. He emailed them for the recipe. As a diehard chocoholic I make a mental note to come back and try it. To have been worth pursuing from the other side of the world it must be good!
The Esquilats are actually not the first people to run a successful French café in Hokitika-the locals have always embraced the idea apparently with the first Café de Paris' opening in 1869, by a Jewish merchant by the name of Michael Albert Cassius. The blurb on the historic places plaque describes one incident: "In 1866 a pig escaped from the wharf and proceeded into the café where it bowled Mrs. Solomon over, leapt on the table and began helping itself to the coffee.
The only pigs there now are served up on plates as delectable gourmet offerings and the constant stream of people seem remarkably well behaved-no sign of the mayhem of years gone by! Out the back in the kitchen it appears to be the same.
Pierre says he is not like those chefs you see on TV who yell at and abuse their staff, a la Gordon Ramsay.
I try not to get angry with my staff because it goes through to my customer," he says. It is more than that, however. In the time we are there we observe how he treats everybody with the same respect and politeness, both customers and staff. That kind of instinctive courtesy does create a very pleasant atmosphere.
Pierre's success in the kitchen is steadily inspiring others into the trade too. One of his apprentices is now working in the Millennium Hotel in Christchurch, while the café's full time manager Adelle King began her working life at the café.
"I worked here after school, then I went to Christchurch for six years."
While in Christchurch she qualified as a chef, and managed the Copthome Hotel as Restaurant and bar manager. When approached two years ago with this job offer, the temptation to come home was too great however, she says.
"I wanted to come home and be closer to my parents, etc."
Adelle has overseen the development of the café's catering side, and they are very busy all year round. The kitchen pumps out a fair amount of tucker as the café/restaurant itself is open seven days a week,
and is fully licensed. It is something Pierre has never grown tired of however.
"I love food. and I love eating it. Sometimes people don't want to invite us to dinner because I'm a chef, but I say, "don't worry about it, you know!"
(Editor: I heartily recommend this restaurant!)

WYSIWYG NEWS - By Brian Harmer
(Copyright by Brian Hanner, reprinted by permission)

Comparisons are odious, it is said. Yet I could not help comparing Gisborne with Wanganui. The two cities are of a similar size, each having somewhere in the region of 43,000 inhabitants. Each has employment issues, and features too often in the news for the wrong reasons. Each is built around a river, and the ports are in a state of atrophy when compared with their glory days of perhaps a century ago.
A strong relationship with local Maori is a significant aspect of each city. Gladstone Street is Gisborne's main shopping precinct, while Victoria Avenue is the retail heart of Wanganui. Rugged hill country presses each city close to the sea. One is on the East Coast, and the other to the West. One is a sun rise city, the other a sunset place.
One seems to be characterised by youth and push chairs, the other by grey hairs and walking sticks. Gisborne has a youth and vibrancy that I haven't ever felt in Wanganui. Its shops are bright and attractive. Muir's bookshop is probably one of the best bookshops in New Zealand outside of the big chains.
It has original art on display and there are nice restaurants. You may get the impression that I was impressed by Gisborne. Well, I was. Wanganui's civic slogan is "Well worth the journev'. Gisborne's slogan is "first to see the light", and indeed those who recall the millennial celebrations seven years back will recall that is is indeed the first significant population centre in the world to greet each new day.
Well the road journey to Gisborne from any direction is a significant hurdle, and I suspect that it too is "well worth the journey". After almost a month of grey, wet and windy Thummer" in Wellington, Gisborne blessed us with fine calm weather. When I say fine, I mean bright sun, clear skies, warm temperatures, the kind of weather that allows you to feel that all is right with the world.
We attended to the family business that took us there in the first place, and the next day we set out in search of a place called the Eastwoodhill Arboretum
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(http://www.eastwoodhill.org.nz/). The road took us westward through prosperous farmland towards those daunting hills, until at last some 35 km later, at what seemed like the edge of civilization we reached a small slice of paradise. Now arboretums (arboreta?) are small botanical gardens for trees, so I imagine many of Eastwoodhill's visitors might be classed as "tree huggers" by the population at large. So be it. I even persuaded Mary to be photographed hugging a large tree.
This magnificent park is the kind of place that allows you to leave your worldly cares behind. "We're not in Kansas any more, Toto!"
Eastwoodhill's founder and his successors had a vision of a great rolling parkland with examples of many of the world's great trees, and in my view they succeeded magnificently.
We chose a walk from the several on offer, that took us around three hours to complete. So many shades of green, so many graceful forms. As Joyce Kilmer's somewhat overused poem has it, "I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree..." We shall definitely visit there again in autumn. It was even worth the ($80) speeding ticket I got for passing a well concealed speed camera at 61 kmh in a 50 kmh zone.

DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER AGAIN . . . AND AGAIN AND AGAIN
(From New Zealand Herald, October 8, 2007)

The best team, the best players, the best coach... The most expensive, and extensive preparation, and now the worst performance by the All Blacks in any Rugby World Cup - out in the quarter finals.
A $50 million campaign, 30 cosseted players, 3 top coaches and a supporting cast of 24 all headed to France to bring home rugby's ultimate prize.
Despite the Rugby Union's single-minded pursuit of the Cup, including its unprecedented disruption to the Super 14 and the national competition and controversy over player rotations. the All Blacks left with a nation, for once, remarkably united in its confidence that this year was our best chance of bringing home the William Webb Ellis Trophy.
A month later the team are about to limp home, leaving hordes of gutted New Zealand fans in Europe bearing once-prized finals tickets to the Stade de France. Across New Zealand AB flags limply flutter and the mood is a sadly familiar here we go again.
Today we lament how the team sporting year that promised so much has delivered so little-first the Cricket Work: Cup, then the America's Cup, and now rugby's top prize, fallen by the wayside, leaving only next month's netball world championships to pin our hopes on.
But we're also looking ahead and asking our experts (including Robbie Deans) to analyse what can be learned, so when New Zealand hosts the 2011 Rugby World Cup-not as reigning champions as we'd hoped-we can focus on putting behind the haunting knowledge it's really been not four more years, but 24 between drinks.

ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL - from No. 8 Wire, The Best of Kiwi Ingenuity

New Zealand was and, to a large extent. still is an agrarian economy. In all our traditions and popular lore, the country was built on the back of good, honest, God-fearing farmers, quietly tilling the earth and tending the flocks, and in the process ensuring our country's place as the 'farmyard of England'.
It's only natural, then, that New Zealand inventions and innovations have a 'farming' air about them. Not (just) an odour of silage, more the impression that these inventions were born of mother necessity, and sired by father practicality. Not the frivolous 'invention of the cellphone', nor the idle 'creation of the frisbee' for us. No, on the whole. New Zealand inventions are bound to be far more practical and applicable to life on the farm.
Perendale, Drysdale and Corriedale - Half sheep, half. ... another type of sheep.
New Zealanders didn't invent sheep, although we would have if it weren't for the small stumbling block of them having already been invented. However, sheep were brought to New Zealand early and eventually thrived (although the first sheep were two luckless Merino brought here by Cook in 1773, and dead by 1774).
Sheep form half the backbone of the New Zealand economy, the heart of our farming culture and the leg of our Sunday roasts. Say 'New Zealand' to a foreigner and chances are they'll say either 'We kicked your arse in the World Cup' or 'Sheep'. New Zealand is the second largest producer and exporter of wool in the world. In this endeavour we are beaten only by Australia, and far outstrip our nearest rival- China (who also buy a lot of our wool).
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Surprisingly the size of the New Zealand flock has been in steady decline-from 69 million in 1984 to around 47 million in 1998. Which begs the question: where have they all gone? We're talking about the disappearance of 22 million sheep-88 million leg roasts, or 25.1 roasts for every man, woman and child among us. Surely we would have noticed the shortage in mint sauce by now? Forget 'Who ate all the pies?', how about 'Who ate all the sheep?'?
But, of course, despite the ready-made varieties of sheep available to us, and in the true spirit of Kiwi ingenuity, we decided to invent our own flavours to suit our own geography. The Merino is the most popular breed of sheep in the world, but it proved too sissy for our climate, so we began to experiment. The New Zealand Romney is a distinct breed developed from the English Romney to form the basis of our meat and wool industry, and almost 60 percent of our flock.
GeoffIey Sylvester Peren of Massey University was a sheep researcher at what was, in the 1950s, a solely agricultural college. He invented a crossbreed of Cheviot and Romney to meet the needs of hill country farmers on developing land. The Perendale is a hardy, low maintenance kind of all-terrain sheep for either wool or meat production. Mr. Peren's genetic innovation was a resounding success. At one stage there were over 10 million Perendale sheep in New Zealand and in 1975 the breed was officially recognised by Australia (who presumably said, 'Hey, aren't you Perendale?')
The Drysdale sheep was originated by Professor FW Dry who discovered the sheep gene that affected the hairiness of the fleece in Romney sheep. Formerly these sheep were culled as being too 'hairy' - not fine enough. Professor Dry teamed up with an English company who wanted the wool from these extra hairy sheep for carpets, and developed the breed. Because he was breeding sheep that might taint the national Romnev flock, Dry's programme was rigorously curtailed by the government of the time until the demand for the flock grew. Now New Zealand and Australia both have considerable Drysdale flocks.
But New Zealand's most successful sheep invention is undoubtedly the Corriedale. This is a large-framed, hornless sheep, with dark pigmented skin on nostrils and lips and a heavy fleece of long stapled, bulky wool (you know the one). The Corriedale was developed in New Zealand and Australia during the late 1800s by crossing
Lincoln or Leicester rams with Merino females. The breed is now distributed worldwide, making up the greatest population of all sheep in South America, and thrives throughout Asia, North America and South Africa. While its popularity suggests it is the second most significant breed in the world after Merinos. it now makes up only about 5 percent of our national flock.
Of course, the real joy of the sheep invention industry is having the sheep named after you. Peren and Dry (and presumably some unknown Mr. or Ms Corrie) are now forever immortalised in wool. As New Zealanders we are more likely than any other nationality to one day have a sheep named after us. To try it on and see how it fits, simply add the word 'dale' to the end of your name. How does it sound? Good, I bet.

MAORI FOOD

Maori legend says food came as a gift from the gods, Ranginui the Sky Father. and Papatuanuka the Earth Mother. A year-round outdoor cooking style is the traditional Maori hangi (pronounced hung-ee). A hangi is food steam cooked over hot coals in an under ground oven. It includes a vegetable called the kumara (sweet potato, pronounced koo-murra) in its feast, along with fish, chicken, pork, lamb, pumpkin, potatoes and other vegetables. Visitors to New Zealand can experience a hangi in many tourism areas.

Readers - Please send in your stories and letters for the next issue of K.F. Thanks.

Have a great holiday season and a happy 2008!


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