Volume XVI, No.3

MARCH 2004

EARLY NEW ZEALAND ...

But there is a fascination in living in such places, away from all communication with the outer world which attracts many people-especially the failures. As one of the ithabitants said, "There are plenty of birds and fish, no taxes, no bother about clothes, no coal, no firewood, or gas to pay for, no churches, charities, parsons, lawyers or doctors to bother you; splendid health, you're lord of all you survey, what more does a fellow want?" Perhaps he was right. There is no use philosophising on the subject.

(Charles Douglas at Big Bay, about 1894)

TOUGHER SCREENING FOR MIGRANTS

tainer. Dr. Goldson said the "sniffer" was attracting international interest as many countries tightened controls on shipping following terrorist attacks of the past two years. Dr. Goldson is in Britain collaborating with the former Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, now called Quinetiq, to use technology developed to detect explosives and other military devices.

CHOCOLATE!!

The World's Favorite Flavor, even hailed by health experts as having the same beneficial qualities as red wine, CHOCOLATE is not produced in New Zealand, but they certainly know how to prepare and present it for public enjoyment! Often, when we plan a trip, we choose a theme, organizing ways to pursue it as a focus for the trip. This time we chose chocolate.

Some chocolate product distributions are regional. Several years ago we found Richfield's bars only on the South Island, at Kaikoura. Now they're everywhere, thanks to Pak'n'Save! Hooray! They made plain milk or dark chocolate bars, kiwifruit added, various nuts, scroggin (trail mix) added, sultanas (raisins) added, apricots added, honeycomb added, and other imaginative flavors. We never found one we didn't like!

Cadbury, the British company, also has a chocolate factory or two in New Zealand, but we forced ourselves to avoid them, even the tempting factory tours. Cadbury was the easier brand to find, but we were supporting NZ products.

Another commercial bar chocolate we enjoyed was Whittaker's. It had all the flavors that Richfield and Cadbury offered, was also a 250 gram bar (half pound) and scrumptious. Whittaker's was made in Porirua near Wellington, and also in Australia. It proudly announces Whittaker's has made chocolates since 1896, but I'm not so sure it's a New Zealand company. It's also available everywhere in gas stations to grocery stores.

Near Bay of Islands at the top of North Island, we were visiting a steam-driven specialty wood sawmill at Kerikeri (pronounced Kiddy Kiddy locally). In the same township on Kerikeri Road we happily discovered Makana Confectionery. Created and operated by an exAmerican from Hawaii, her employees made truffles, peanut and macadamia nut brittle, fruit jellied candies and more where tourists could watch. She half-dipped in chocolate many dried fruits, such as apricots and even prunes! All were carefully wrapped and in gift boxes of various sizes. No promises of low carbs, but dried fruit and nuts have vitamins, of course. Her computer webpage is:

www.makana.co.nz.

We had some extra time to explore near Auckland, North Island, and chose South Head Peninsula. Mostly it's dairying and cropland, or camp ing and fishing playgrounds, but we saw signs for MacNut Farms and followed them to near Helensville. In 1980 the MacNut Farms Macadamia Orchard was established on 100 acres of rolling hills country on the southern headland of Kaipara Harbour, though away from the sea. MacNut's Teashop has a beautiful view of MacNut's man-made lake (for irrigating the young macadamia trees early-on) and the orchard.

The tea-shop probably makes good tea, but they make GREAT iced coffee and serve various cookies and "slices". We arrived during blooming season-lovely pink fragrant long flowers. MacNut sold foil and vacuum packed macadamia nuts with many seasonings and, my personal favorite, dark and milk chocolate-covered macadamia nuts. MacNut's package proclaims macadamias are the finest nuts on the planet! No argument here. Website:

www.macnut.co.nz, and his email is: info@macnut.co.nz. It was a lovely one-day drive and a beautiful place.

I brought untaxed baggage home from that trip-I'd gained a "stone" (14 pounds) to remind me of how much chocolate I'd enjoyed!

There are surely other local and regional chocolate companies in NZ, but these were the ones we found. Loved doing the research for this essay, and I can't always say that!

Ginger and Doug Dotson, Calif.

HOT COCOA ANTIOXIDANTS

Adding to the above, this winter that hot cup of cocoa after sledding or other outdoor winter activi ties provides a delicious warm-up and a big dose of healthy antioxidants. Researchers at Cornell

University demonstrate the popular winter beverage contains more antioxidants per cup than a similar serving of red wine or tea. Antioxidants, which have been shown to fight cancer, heart disease, and aging, are found in abundance in cocoa, and the heat of the liquid tends to release them in greater quantity, said researcher Chang Yong Lee. "Although we know that antioxidants are important for good health, nobody knows the exact daily amount required per person. Nevertheless, a cup or two of hot cocoa every once in a while can provide a delicious, warm and healthy way to obtain more antioxidants," he said. Lee noted the milk and sugar usually found in hot cocoa have nothing to do with the antioxidant load, and soy milk and sugar replacements could be used instead.

ACCLAIMED NZ WRITER DIES

Acclaimed New Zealand writer Janet Frame has died in Dunedin Hospital at the age of 79.

Frame revealed in December she was suffering from acute myeloid leukaemia (a cancer of the blood and bone marrow). She had been diagnosed with the terminal disease on August 28, her birthday.

Frame, whose books had received numerous awards and seen her frequently touted as a prospect for the Nobel Literature Prize, won her final award this year, the Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement.

Frame was born in Dunedin in 1924.

Her first collection of short stories, The Lagoon and Other Stories, won the Hubert Church Memorial Award in 1952.

Her first novel, Owls Do Cry (1957), received national and international acclaim and in 1958 won her the inaugural New Zealand Literature Fund for Achievement. From there, her career developed rapidly.

Living in London and the United States for extended periods, she published five novels and a collection of short stories during the 1 960s, closely followed by another two novels in the early 1970s- Intensive Care and Daughter Buffalo.

Living in the Maniototo, published in 1979, was followed by Frame's acclaimed autobiography. Each of the volumes won prizes - To The Island (1982) and The Envoy From Mirror City (1985) won the Wattie Book of the Year Award, while the second volume, An Angel at My Table (1984) was placed third.

Altogether she wrote 11 novels, five short story collections, a poetry collection and her auto-

biography. She was a member of the Order of New Zealand and a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Last year she also received an Arts Foundation of New Zealand Icon.

The film is available. A biographical account of the life of Janet Frame (Kerry Fox/Alexia Keogh/Karen Fergusson], a sweet-natured but painfully shy and insecure red-headed woman who battles schizophrenia but goes on to become an acclaimed novelist. Was the first New Zealand film to screen in competition at the Venice Film Festival. Many international festival awards. Filmed in Auckland, Helensville, Kariotahi and Cook Strait among various NZ locations.

AIR NEW ZEALAND - NEW SAN FRANCISCO SERVICE

Air New Zealand is proud to announce new non-stop 747 service from San Francisco International to Auckland beginning 30 June 2004. The airline will initially operate 3 services a week, with evening departures and early morning arrivals on both ends.

Air New Zealand has been flying to Los Angeles since 1965 when they introduced a twice weekly DC8 service from Auckland.

Go to http://www.airnewzealand.co.nz for information.

NEW ZEALAND CUSTOM TOURS

New Zealand offers landscapes of vast horizons, extraordinary mountain ranges and coastline. Fire and ice have sculpted the spectacular backbone of New Zealand's North and South Islands.

In an area approximately the size of Florida, glaciers grind to the roots of subtropical forest; 47 million sheep graze verdant pastures; South Pacific waves lap sandy beaches; and a friendly population of 3.8 million lives in harmony with the magnificent environment that sustains and inspires them.

Tailored Travel New Zealand Custom Tours will design an exclusively personal tour-to help you uncover the fascinating balance between culture and nature, in this intriguing land. (Including the scenery from the movie "The Lord of the Rings")

Join us on your personal guided tour (maximum 4 people) in the comfort of our safe and refresh ing country-Aotearoa New Zealand.. You'll get to KNOW the country rather than just see it.

(Tailored Travel, Thorpe, RD 2, Wakefield, Nelson, New Zealand. PH (64) 3 543 3825. E-mail Robert@CustomTours.co.nz)

TAILORED TRAVEL NEW ZEALAND

CUSTOM TOURS GAINS TOURISM'S

OFFICIAL QUALITY ENDORSEMENT

Media Release-November 2003

Tailored Travel New Zealand Custom Tours designs and guides unique New Zealand-wide personal and private luxury tours for only 2-4 guests per tour. Creating a true balance between the culture and nature.

The tour company has been recognised as one of New Zealand's leading tourism businesses by being licensed to carry the Qualmark-New Zealand tourism's official mark of quality.

To gain their Qualmark endorsement Tailored Travel New Zealand Custom Tours underwent an on-site assessment-using criteria developed with the tourism industry and based on research into what travellers want.

Owner Robert Panzer says the new Qualmark endorsement is important for local and international visitors alike. "The endorsement reassures potential visitors that we're good operators and that we're going to look after them. We think it's important that visitors have these official and independent benchmarks to refer to when they're making decisions about how to spend their time and money."

KIWI SCIENTIST BRINGS LAW AND ODOUR IN LA - from INL Newspapers

The "skunk squad" of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's department has given a New Zealand inventor-Lower Hutt physicist Andrew Rakich-a big business boost with innovative use of his dog repellent.

An American policeman has started ordering bulk shipments of Rakich's Skunkshot repellent to keep prostitutes, drug dealers and homeless people out of abandoned buildings.

The repellent makes the interior of the premises very unpleasant for several weeks.

Mr. Rakich said yesterday that an article on the "skunk squad" in the Los Angeles Times was probably the best publicity the product had ever had.

It was likely other orders would now come from people wanting to clear properties of squatters and other unwanted residents.

'We've designed it so that it lingers for several weeks," he said. The active chemical is syn thesized at Wellington's Victoria University and is a copy of a compound from the mercaptan family, found in American skunks. The product was created in 1994 initially as something people could spray at a threaten ing dog, but was adapted for use to protect garden plants and lawns from dogs and cats.

Mr. Rakich is splitting the profits 50:50 with Victoria University's business arm, Victoria Link, after putting together the smelly sulphur compound while in his first year university chemistry class in 1993.

He said the latest use for his little stinker came about when Los Angeles sheriff's deputy Scott Gage bought a few stink bombs in a novelty store to make some of the squats unpleasant.

Mr. Gage then searched on the internet for a stronger smell, and tried Liquid Fence, an animal repellent that smelled like rotten garlic, but found it faded too quickly.

So he ordered Mr. Rakich's Skunkshot over the internet.

He knew it was promising when his wife opened the parcel, and inadvertently contaminated his whole garage with the synthetic gel that comes in a small 200g tube.

The policeman decided to try the repellent in an abandoned, burned-out motel where there had been a series of 36 arrests of street people, some of them several times.

Three hours later, the police returned and found the dilapidated motel empty, a rare sight at the illicit flophouse. The deputies went back again two hours later, and it was still evacuated-something that fences, gates, barbed wire and multiple arrests failed to achieve.

In another unit at the motel, the "skunk squad" became engaged in a war against an industrious crew of squatters-who fought back with air fresheners.

"We'd hit 'em with Skunkshot, and they'd come back with Glade," another policeman, Lieuten ant Shaun Mathers, told the los Angeles Times.

Mr. Rakich said he did not expect to launch an American arm of Skunkshot to capitalise on the publicity, because it would require several hundred thousand dollars in laboratory trials to register the product with regulatory authorities there.

It cost the university $25,000 and two years of work to win regulatory approval in Australia.

"Apart from the money-making side of it, it's been a good model for the university's chemistry

department in taking something through to a commercial product," he said.

Ironically, Mr. Rakich is not a chemist. He graduated as a physicist and works at Industrial Research Ltd as an optical scientist specialising in designing telescope systems.

WELLINGTON HARBOR - Brian Harmer, by permission

Somewhere in the archives of Wellington's Museum of City and Sea (which used to be the Maritime Museum, of fond memory), there is a picture of Wellington Harbour during the Waterfront strike of 1951. I think there were something like 65 ships at anchor in the harbour. Of course that number was quite abnormal, but the port always used to be busy.

When I arrived in New Zealand as a child with my parents in 1954, the port was still a very busy place. In those days of general cargo ships before containerisation or bulk carriers, there were always dozens of ships in port, offloading manufactured goods, taking on frozen lamb carcasses in great netting slings, or pallets of butter in cardboard cartons. Cranes lined every wharf; with their long jibs bending and reaching, swivelling and lifting, loading and unloading.

The ships bore the house colours of many shipping lines and the flags of many countries. Mostly they were ships of the Conference Lines, a sort of legal cartel that had all of the country's major exports tied up in a near unbreakable monopoly. Shaw Savill and Albion, the Federal Steam Navigation Co., Port Lines, the Blue Star Line, the New Zealand Shipping Company, and of course the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand were visitors as regular then as airlines are today. Occasionally a Scandinavian visitor from the Lauritzen lines or Wilhemsen would appear, and now and then one of the big Dutch liners, Oranje, or the memorable Johan van Oldenbameveldt would deliver a new load of hopeful immigrants. American ships were a rarity until the Matson lines began running the Mariposa and the Monterey from Hawaii.

Somehow I have never lost my fascination with ships and the sea. Pethaps this is because my late father worked in the marine repair industry, and I often was permitted, when he was working Saturday overtime, to accompany him down into the engine rooms and other machinery spaces of what in those days were big ships. Typically, a freighter was in the order of 15,000 tons, and a big passenger liner (they

were on regular schedules rather than cruising back then) such as the Orsova was 28,700 tons.

All of this was brought to mind in the last few days by the seeming busy-ness of the port. Several container ships and bulk carriers were in port, and the German luxury cruise liner Deutschland dropped in for a few days. She is a handsome ship of very conservative lines, and quite modest tonnage by today's standards. It looked approximately similar in bulk as the interisland ferry Arahura. Then she was gone, and in her place was the monstrous "Star Princess." It was as if a new central business district had been erected overnight. Drivers coming along the Hutt Road into town slowed appreciably to take in the awesome bulk of this enormous white vessel. Row upon row of balconies made it look more like a gargantuan hotel than a ship afloat on the fickle sea.

Accommodation for 3,100 passengers and 1,200 crew must take a lot of windows. On her own, she weighed more than seven of those freighters that once seemed so big, and with so much aluminium in her superstructure, she is physically even bigger in proportion.

Modes of transport fascinate me, and it is a pleasure, on the way to work, to see road, rail, air and sea all being utilised to keep the port and city alive and well.

THE BAY OF PLENTY - Erena Hodgkinson, Travel Digest

After a decade of absence, Erena Hodgkinson ventures back to the Western Bay of Plenty to relive some childhood memories. Mission: To find a pulse in the sleepy region, colloquially referred to as God's Waiting Room. Mission outcome: Read on...

My earliest recollection of Mt. Maunganui involve sticky ice creams, digging for pipis on Ocean Beach, the infamous blowhole at Leisure Island and huge industrial mountains of salt and saw dust, Mt. Maunganui-translated to mean Big Mountain, hence the fond reference The Mount-was a peaceful borough where we escaped from the bustle that is Auckland for many a school holiday.

It has been 10 years since I touched down on the North Island's best kept secret, and judging by comparable visitor statistics elsewhere in New Zealand, the Bay of Plenty (BOP) region is still proving relatively elusive.

According to the Tourism Research Council of New Zealand, it's the fourth most frequently visited region within New Zealand, trailing behind Auckland, Waikato and Canterbury.

It is the region's double-edged sword. The BOP, tucked away in a nook on the North Island's east coast, is not one of those drive-through places that benefits from passing through visitors from other regions. Because it is a stand-alone destination, this has a geographical toll on visitor numbers. However, it is this very disassociation from the rest of the North Island that works to the region's benefit because crowd numbers are refreshingly down.

Then there is the stigma associated with its residents. Tauranga is translated to mean Resting Place, and is dubbed such due to Maori legend that the original canoes that brought Maori to New Zealand stopped in the harbour. However, it has another ironic meaning in that the Bay of Plenty is an epic magnet for people in their retirement years due to the relaxed, comfortable lifestyle.

There is also an enormous polarity, as its youth population equally matches the region's elderly residents. Tauranga and Mt. Maunganui come alive after dark as carloads of youth peruse the streets looking for action.

With this in mind, I have donned my objective glasses and I'm here to explore some of its best tourism product for the weekend. A bit of the old, a bit of the new, a heap of innovation and style-the Bay of Plenty in 48 hours. And yes, much has changed.

Something old...

Flanked by the busy port of Pilot Bay and the 15km stretch of beach or Ocean Beach, Mt. Maunganui sits in state casting a lazy eye over the town centre's proceedings.

Rising to 232 metres, the volcanic cone is a popular challenge for visitors to gain unrivalled views of the surrounding area. There are two choices of walking tracks-the Mauao base track which is an easy 2.9km meander, or the hairier 1.5km walk to the summit.

Other than letting the actual feet do the walking, Man discovered the automobile as the ultimate mode of transport. Travelling the route from Mt. Maunganui to Wakatane, the sight of a restored classic car traveling the highway is commonplace itself, but it is more likely to pull up behind one halfway through at the kiwifruit capital of the country, Te Puke.

Te Puke Vintage Auto Barn is the local temple of worship for all car lovers, located on State Highway Two south of Te Puke enroute to pie country, Maketu. Proudly displaying over 90 restored and classic cars, workshop, resource centre and tour operator all in one

the attraction combines the facilities of a museum, workshop, resource centre and tour operator all in one punch. From the hardy Holden to the jazzy Jaguar, all cars are no less than 30 years old and all have been restored to their former, working glory. The vehicles are partly owned by the business and partly by private New Zealand and international owners, but all have been clearly treated with the grace and dignity to which they are accustomed.

I got a sense of what it is to be a bride with a personalised tour to Maketu via a beautiful old 1929 Auldsmobile, and yes she goes up to 100km per hour. I could almost feel my hand rising to form the familiar shape that is the Queen's wave, but quickly snapped back to reality when a sleek Subaru Legacy zoomed past the window. It really is a step back in time, back to simpler and more elegant days when the automobile was revered as a thing of beauty and not a thing of speed.

For my generation of nostalgia, the business has also taken on the stationary engine and tractor collection of former Tauranga Historic Village Fame. Further up the road, Longridge Park is another old favorite on the tourism scene and THE place to travel with children. It's basically a farm taken up a notch or two in the adventure category. The typical farm animal experience has been embellished to include hand feeding, watching bees frantically make honey and petting slippery eels in the park's touch tank. After all, the park has to pay some tribute to its crown feature, the Kaituna River, translated to mean the River of Eels.

While some farms would offer visitors tractor rides, Longridge Park offers adrenaline-charged jet boat rides, complete with 360-degree spins, exploring 25km of this breathtaking river. The company has a monopoly over the river and is the only jet boat opera tor licensed to work its highly scenic bends and loops. Once again the ancient, proud beauty of untouched New Zealand comes to the fore as the river narrows and the shores become abundant with thick, native for est. I am almost expecting to meet an ancient canoe around the corner travelling back from the sea, laden with harvest. The river is still flush with tasty fresh water fish, including both brown and rainbow varieties of trout, as well as koura (freshwater crayfish).

Combos are also available to include grubby 4WD tours, thrilling helicopter rides, skillful clay shooting and wild whitewater rafting. Although it makes for the ultimate school field trip, the park is also a perfect conference, incentives and team building venue.

Nothing like confronting physical fears and challenges to break the ice with your work colleagues.

Something new...

Two of the region's newest attractions are progressing at a rapid pace. The O'Hara Wildlife Estate is the brainchild of Kelvin O'Hara who is on a mission to transform a deer farm into one of the region's most dynamic tourism products. Many an idea jostle for room in Mr. O'Hara's head and the ones that have eventuated thus far are impressive. Having only opened to the public in December 2002, the estate icorporates horse riding safaris, 4WD safari tours (the real McCoy, modelled on South African-type safari wagons) across farmland, kayaking journeys up the delightful Kaituna River, a challenging archery course amidst native bush and heaps of other fun stuff. The business philosophy is to showcase all of the introduced deer varieties in NZ and so far, four species claim the estate as home (along with two identity-confused goats that display distinctly canine traits). The estate also houses a small museum that explores the deer enthusiast culture, from helicopter hunting to good old bush camping.

Balancing out the introduced wildlife is Mr. O'Hara's commitment to native species and plans are well underway to develop an enclosed native bird aviary-type feature.

To round off the experience, a day's adventure in the divine outdoors is finished with a billy of tea at the outdoor hut Forrester's or a short stroll along the riverfront on the Reflections walkway, signposted with the thought-provoking quotes of the famous poem Desiderata.

Speaking of reflections on the great outdoors, the Ridge Country Retreat, swallowed by the hills above serene Welcome Bay, is the newest kid on the block in the region's luxury accommodation sector, having only opened in April this year. Although still a work in progress, the exclusive hideaway covers the four Rs-retreat, replenish, recharge and revitalize. The key ingredient in its appeal is simple. Space. And loads of it.

Owners Joanne O'Keeffe and Penny Oxham are old hands in the local tourism industry, having previously owned and operated a Papamoa beachside restaurant for eight years. Since upgrading their hospitality skills from feeding guests to fully hosting them, they have taken their own work and travel experiences to create their ideal retreat.

Something out of this world...

White Island, New Zealand's only marine volcano. Gotta Go. She sits 50km offshore from

fromWhakatane (which coincidentally, won the New Zealand Town Centre Awards 2002 award for Best Physical Improvements) in all her moody splendour spouting volcanic ash and sulphur crystals while grumbling incessantly. The island is privately owned and access to it is limited, although White Island Tours is a well-established business that has been successfully transporting the adventurous for the past 14-odd years.

Set aside several hours for the trip, which in cludes a return cruise aboard, a two-hour tour on the volatile ground of the volcano itself, a light lunch and a guaranteed special time. Although the tours are high ly subject to favourable weather conditions, if fate deals a good hand, the trip is reputed to be one of a lifetime.

RUGBY WORLD CUP - by Stephen Mangum

New Zealand's rugby fortunes were headed up after a brilliant Tri-Nations Tournament concluded in August. The All-Blacks concluded the series at 4-0 and reclaimed the Bledisloe Cup from Australia. Coach John Mitchell and the boys breezed into Aus tralia for the Rugby World Cup as co-favorites with England and a 6-1 record.

The All-Blacks stormed through Pool D, fin ishing 4-0. The boys defeated Italy 70-7, conquered Canada 68-6, crushed Tonga 92-7, and defeated Wales with a come-from-behind 53-37 victory. Matches in all four pools went pretty much as expected with the favorites winning virtually all tests. Samoa played a near-perfect match but finally lost to the powerful England squad 35-22. There were also three one-point matches. Fiji over the U.S. 19-18, Ireland holding off Argentina 16-15, and the resurgent Aussies beating Ireland 17-16.

In the quarterfinals the favorites all swept to victory. England beat Wales 28-17 and both teams supporters sang loudly and off-key. France defeated Ireland 43-2 1, Australia pounded Scotland 33-6, and New Zealand outclassed their traditional rival, South Africa 29-9. The Abs dominated the match and sealed it on a brilliant 16 meter try by Keven Mealamu.

The semi-fmals were not as close as may have been expected. England crushed France 24-7 in the first match. The second saw Australia completely re covered from four losses earlier in the season and fired up on home turf as they upset New Zealand 22-10. Stirling Mortlock scored on a length of the field inter ception of a Carlos Spencer pass early on to set the tone. The All-Blacks, as in the prior World Cup lost

the semi in a state of confusion and lack of leadership. Their brilliant scrum-half, Justin Marshall, was out with an injury and they couldn't get it together. Oddly enough, he didn't play in the nightmarish semi-fmal loss to France in 1999.

A huge crowd watched the final match between England and Australia on November 22 in Sydney along with a world-wide television audience. It was a real classic as everyone got their money's worth. England finally prevailed in the two ten minute overtimes formula used in.the World Cup.

England led at halftime 14-5 off a try by Jason Robinson and the kicking of Jonny Wilkinson. In the second half the Wallabies held England scoreless while Elton Flatley narrowed the lead to 14-11 with two penalty kicks. Finally in the last seconds Flatley got another penalty kick and made the heart-stopping kick to tie the match. In the ensuing overtime, Jonny W. kicked a penalty at the 82nd minute, matched by Flatley at the 99th minute, England then recovered the ball from Australia and set up Wilkinson for a last second drop goal attempt which he made. It was a brilliantly played match between two great defensively oriented teams. The game was refereed by Andre Watson of South Africa.

The Aussies put on a first-class World Cup with almost two million fans in attendance. The fans also provided great support to some of the less powerful and poorer squads like Georgia, Namibia, Uruguay, Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa.

Jonny Wilkinson was named player of the tournament. Top New Zealand performers included Richie McCaw, Jerry Collins, and Joe Rokocoko.

England became the first Northern Hemisphere nation to hoist the William Webb Ellis trophy emblematic of rugby supremacy. The Balmy Army seemed to be everywhere down under making their presence felt and heard.

The New Zealand Rugby Union decided not to renew Mitchell's contract in December despite a 12-2 season and a career 80% success rate. The primary factors were his off-field handling of the squad and relations with management and the press. Graham Henry, a former Auckland and Wales coach, was named as the new head man.

Kiwiphiles: Let's look forward to a lot more rugby action in 2004, followed by the British and Irish Lions squad touring New Zealand in 2005.

Until next time, play on!

KIWINEWS - LETTER FROM HOME (www.kiwinews.co.nz)

Milford Sound Oil Spill. In what is thought to be an act of sabotage, 13,000 litres of diesel oil was released into the pristine waters of Milford Sound when a water hose was put into a scenic charter boat's tanks and the diesel was siphoned off. The ensuing slick caused the Sounds to be closed for a Sunday while a 20-man team attempted to clean the area with booms and absorbent pads. Fortunately diesel, unlike oil, evaporates in the open and no long term effects are expected. No harm to wildlife has been reported even though the slick was close to a reserve which is home to a rare penguin, the Fiordland Crested. Police are investigating.

Peter Jackson's Latest Award. Peter Jackson, Director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy of films, yesterday won the Directors Guild of America award for his latest film The Return of the King. This augurs well for the forthcoming Oscars as 50 times out of the past 56 years since the DGA awards started, the winner has gone on to take the Oscar for Direction and invariably his film to take the Best Picture Award. The Oscars will be decided on February 29th in Hollywood.

Top Cities. Auckland and Wellington are in the top 20 cities of the world in a recent survey of 130 cities by the UK based Economist Intelligence Unit. The EIU bases its assessment on the level of hardship for expatriates using 12 factors including housing, education, recreational facilities, health, climate and terrorism.

The two NZ cities shared 19th spot with Honolulu. Best city was Melbourne, Vancouver 2nd, Perth got 4th with Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide sharing 6th place with Copenhagen, Zurich and Oslo. Some others of interest: Paris 28th, London 45th, as was Madrid, Los Angeles and San Francisco. New York came in 51st, Athens 64th, and at the bottom of the list Port Moresby, the capital of Papua, New Guinea.

LES HUTCHINS- PIONEERING SPIRIT - from Tourism News

As TOURISM NEWS went to print in December we were sad to hear that one of the early innovators of the New Zealand tourism industry - Les Hutchins has passed away. As a tribute we take a look at him and his legacy Fiordland Travel (now Real Journeys).

Grit and detrmination, faith and tenacity. They are all words to describe one of New Zealand's lead ing tourism pioneers.

Les Hutchins was a man who battled the odds to build a business from scratch, in the middle of nowhere. He was Fiordland Travel and 46 years on, the company remains one of the leading tourism operations in New Zealand.

It was at Manapouri that Les and wife Olive Hutchins made their first base and it was to Doubtful Sound that they brought their first paying guests. Later the business was to expand into Milford, Te Anau and Queenstown.

The story begins in 1954. Aged 29, Les Hutchins formed the Manapouri-Doubtful Sound Tourist Company, built a new lodge at Doubtful Sound and re-engined their fleet of two launches. By the following year, the Hutchins were living full-time at Manapouri.

The early days were hard and challenging. Doubtful Sound was certainly one of the most adventurous tourist attractions in the country- unspoiled, rugged and grand.

By the third year of operation the Manapouri Doubtful Sound Tourist Company made its first small profit. But excitement soon turned to despair with a loss in the fourth year, which nearly saw the pioneering couple give up.

Ironically, it was the development of the Manapouri Power Scheme in the early 1960s that saw the company find its feet. The scheme brought people to the region and opportunities for expansion, and the Manapouri-Doubtful Sound Tourist Company won the contracts to ferry personnel, supplies and freight to and from the dam site. But at the same time, the Hutchins vehemently and publicly opposed the plan to raise Lake Manapouri by 30 metres and join it with Lake Te Anau. After many years of protests the people of New Zealand fmally won the battle. In the late 1960s, Les Hutchins made another move forward with the purchase of Fiordland Travel's assets and name (which the Hutchins took over).

In 1969, Fiordland Travel expanded into Queenstown with the purchase of the historic TSS Earnslaw. Formerly a government steamer running passengers and cargo between Queenstown and the railhead at Kingston, it had been operating on Lake Wakatipu at a loss for many years. And it was to be another 11 years before she returned a profit for Fiordland Travel.

Today the stately vessel is one of the most photographed of all Queenstown attractions.

Les Hutchins' vision and foresight won tourism awards and he also played a major role in the preservation of one of the most spectacular areas of New Zealand.

"It was a voyage into the unknown and we spent a long time paddling against the flow of a swift current of events."

Les Hutchins was a true pioneer of tourism in New Zealand.

NEW ZEALAND PEOPLE - From "Fragile Eden" by Robin Hanbury-Tenison

They (New Zealanders) have also led the way in many areas of social advance, having one of the most developed welfare states anywhere. It was created in the late 1930s under Prime Minister Michael Savage, when the country was undergoing a period of economic prosperity. A comprehensive health-care plan and social security system were established, which were the envy of Britain ten years later when the welfare state was being created after World War II. A newly arrived ADC to the Governor at that period, now a member of the House of Lords, tells the story of how his boss explained to him one of the differences between New Zealand and 'home'. 'You know, my boy, that we now say we take care of people from the cradle to the grave. Well over here they go a lot further and have done for some time. You could say that they look after you from erection to resurrection.' New Zealand men were the first in the world to give their women the vote and individual freedom is still the lynchpin of their political philos ophy. This does not, however, stop the majority retaining a Victorian puritanism and a sometimes quite astonishing chauvinism in their attitudes towards women as wives and companions, taking it for granted that they will be content with a subservient role in society. Gordon McLauchlan, a leading and cynical New Zealand journalist, suggests in his funny, cruel book The Passionless People that this may account for the disproportionate number of New Zealand women who have become writers 'to keep themselves relatively stable in their mentally and emotionally numbing roles in a materialistic socity'. Ngaio Marsh wrote:

We are often told by English people how very English New Zealand is, their intention being compli mentary. I think that this pronouncement may be true, but not altogether in the intended sense. We are, I venture, more like the English of our pioneers' time than those of our own. We are doubly insular. We

come from a group of islands at the top of the world and we have settled on a group comparable in size but infmitely more isolated, at the bottom of it. We are overwhelmingly of English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish stock and it seemed to me, when I came back after five years, that we had turned in on our origins. You might say, I thought, that if you put a selection of people from the British Isles into antipodean cool-storage for a century and a half and then opened the door: we are what would emerge. There have been internal changes, the things that matter least, which leap most readily to the notice of non-New Zealanders. Our voices and our manners have deteriorated to such an extent that many fourth-generation New Zealanders have a strong, muddled instinct that prompts them to regard any kind of a speech but the indigenous snarl as effeminate and even the most rudimentary forms of courtesy as gush. It is good honest kiwi to kick the English language into the gutter and it shows how independent you are if you sprawl in armchairs when old women come into their own drawing-rooms. I refuse to say lounges.

And then, I thought, how complacent we are and yet how uncertain of ourselves! Why do the young ones say so often and so proudly that they suppose New Zealand seems crude and then, if you agree: 'Well, in some ways, perhaps,' why do they look so furious.' I had forgotten what we are like, I thought. We really are rum. Or so it seemed to me when I returned.

(Editor: I checked with a NZ friend who tells me that "rum" is slang for "we're a funny lot" or "we're a weird mob",)

HAWKE'S BAY

The sunny and abundant fruit-growing region of the East Coast (North Island) is continued in Hawke's Bay. Full amenities for visitors, including fine museums, are provided in the twin cities of Napier and Hastings.

Napier is known as one of the world's best cities for art deco architecture, the result of a thorough rebuilding after an earthquake in 1931 which killed 256 people in the Hawke's Bay region. Hastings is known as the fruit bowl of New Zealand, and is at the centre of the region's wine country.

One of the main wine-making areas in New Zealand, with over 40 local vineyards, Hawke's Bay's vineyards are internationally renowned. Follow the Wine Map to take you to 33 wineries which are open to the public for wine tasting, many offering delicious locally grown fresh food in both indoor and outdoor settings.

Uncover the full range of epicurean delights behind each distinctive sign at the entrance with the Food Trail Map. Hawke's Bay Wine Country is host to several annual events including the International Mission Estate Concert, Harvest Hawke's Bay, Art Deco Weekend, Horse of the Year, Blossom Festival and other seasonal festivals.

The world's largest accessible gannet colony is situated at Cape Kidnappers, just outside Hastings. Nature lovers can also absorb the pristine scenery of Lake Waikaremoana, hike remote valleys or wander through the beautiful gardens that dot the region.

Travelling to this region can be as rewarding as the destination itself. The Pacific Coast Highway works its way down from Auckland into Hawke's Bay Wine Country. The Thermal Explorer Highway, an inland touring route down from the north, finishes in Hawke's Bay Wine Country's Esk Valley, with its vineyards and hilltop views of the Pacific Ocean.

(For more information on Hawke's Bay Wine Country visit their website at www.hawkesbaynz.com.)

BITS AND PIECES

* There are a number of NZ actors who will be in the last Star Wars episode coming out in 2005. In addition to Rena Owen and Temuerea Morrison, who were in the last episode, Keisha Castle-Hughes ("Whale Rider") will be filling the role of Queen of Naboo. A very interesting full-page photo of her in her "Queen" costume is within the current (March) issue of Vanity Fair.

* Words from aromatherapist Sarah Maitland: "I love the green and the smell of New Zealand. It has an atmosphere that allows people to be healed. There's an enormous amount to happen here, and there's room for it to happen." In the meantime, she'd like to see New Zealand grow aromatic herbs for its own oils. Lavender and citrus do well in the Bay of Islands." Who knows what else could come next? Pohutukawa oil, perhaps?

HISTORIC CHURCH LOST TO FIRE -

From Stuff.co.nz

A Northland community was this day (6 Feb. '04) coming to terms with losing an historic wooden church destroyed by fire overnight.

Fire safety officers and police were at the site of the 126-year-old St. Paul's Anglican Church at Kawakawa this morning to detennine the cause of the blaze.

The town's deputy chief fire officer, Wayne Martin, said six appliances from Kawakawa, Kerikeri and Kaikohe responded to a call just before midnight.

"On arrival, the church was well ablaze," he said.

"It took 45 minutes to bring it under control. The building was totally gutted.

Mr. Martin said there was little that was recoverable, although he hoped to find and salvage the church bell.

"It was a very large church and it was a real focal point of the community," he said.

Church member Ethel Woods believed the cause of the fire was suspicious, because she was the last person to leave the building last Sunday and had turned the power off.

"People are devastated because it was an imposing sight," she said. "It was one of the treasures in the area."

The blue-and-white church was near the town museum and across the road from another attraction, the toilets designed and built by Austrian-born artist and architect Frederick Hundertwasser.

It was renovated for 125th anniversary celebrations in January last year.

'We're just here to retrieve a few things for our little museum," Mrs. Woods said.

"There's very little left. I've got a block of charred wood and the remains of the altar cloth."

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS -

Do you have some thoughts to share with fellow travelers to New Zealand? Please send them in and they'll appear in the next KIWIphile FILE. Thank you.

KIWIphile FILE

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Copyright 2004 by Eva Trapani