13 June 2008

[Caravan Ray]

Well - I've been in New Zealand for just over a week now. Time to use my now even greater time advantage to start one of these ridiculously early for everyone else.

Cold, wet Taranaki is certainly a change from hot, humid Brisbane. But it is a beautiful place. When the clouds clear and the sun peaks through - we get sudden glimpses of Mt Taranaki, the snow-capped volcano that towers over New Plymouth, the town we are living in. Very spectacular. And we sit here on the south-west coast of the North Island, right in the path of the swells blown in by the Roaring 40s from the Southern Ocean

Just got word that the ship with all our stuff has arrived in Auckland and will soon be here. We have found a rental house near the beach that will allow our 2 dogs and cat and we will move in there next Friday. And the 2 dogs and cat will be landing in Wellington next Monday. Life may now be able to assume some sort of normalcy again - but normalcy with a distinctly kiwi flavour.

New Plymouth is a small city, even by NZ standards (pop. 50,000), and being 5 hours drive from both Auckland and Wellington - it is about as remote as you can get in this very small country. And NZ is so very small - that is the probably the thing that makes it all so "different" from Australia. The entire national population is only about 4 million - that's less people than live in Sydney. Weird.



Anyway - for the QotD - I'd like to share a wonderful little piece of NZ trivia I learned yesterday. Many of you may be aware that NZ's pride and joy, it's famous and successful Rugby team, is known as the ALL BLACKS. Less of you would aware that NZ's considerably less famous and less successful basketball team is known as the TALL BLACKS. Even fewer of you again would care that NZ's downright ordinary cricket team is known as the BLACK CAPS.

QOTD: (without googling) Who can guess the nickname of the New Zealand national badminton team?

[erik]

BLACK BIRDS?

[fluffy]

BLACK (shuttle)COCKS

[Billy's Little Trip]

Kiwi big black girl blouses?

[Billy's Little Trip]

BLACK (shuttle)COCKS

Oh come on now, I find that hard to swallow.

[Caravan Ray]

BLACK (shuttle)COCKS

Oh come on now, I find that hard to swallow.

Well done Fluffy - though you didn't need to add the "shuttle" bit. If you have been watching the Flight of the Conchords, you would realise the kiwi sense of humour is delightfully blunt. They are indeed the mighty BLACK COCKS



Which led to this dream headline for some lucky sub-editor at a UK newspaper
NZ Finds Black Cocks hard to swallow

Badminton New Zealand adopted the name a year ago as "a gimmicky label to attract sponsors and fans". It worked to a degree, because the organisation was quickly innundated with cash offers from companies such as - you guessed it - condom manufacturers.

[fluffy]

Wow. I was just being snarky, too. I had no idea.

[Caravan Ray]

I want to start getting into badminton, just so I can go to their Test Matches and shout loudly:

C'arn the Cocks
Go hard you Cocks
Black Cocks, Black Cocks, Black Cocks, Oi, Oi, Oi
We-want-Black-Cocks, We-want-Black-Cocks

without getting arrested.
Again.

[rone rivendale]

I'll reply to this when it's the 13th.

Oh wait... darn.

[jack]

Oi, Oi, Oi

[HeuristicsInc]

CR, M wants to know if there are penguins about. In Auckland, she says. Or is that Auckland different from Auckland Islands? Hmm...
-bill

[Caravan Ray]

CR, M wants to know if there are penguins about. In Auckland, she says. Or is that Auckland different from Auckland Islands? Hmm...
-bill

Auckland is New Zealand's largest city. Auckland Island is a bleak, barren sub-antarctic rock. So - your mistake is quite understandable, because the two places are virtually indistinguishable. The main difference is that you are less likely to be shot in a drive-by shooting on Auckand Island, because penguins have trouble handling guns with their flippers.

I think penguins would be uncommon in Auckland, but they may get there occaisionally I haven't seen any penguins in Taranaki yet, but blue penguins do apparently hang out here.
The best place to see penguins is on the South Island - they are very common. On the Otago Peninsula near Dunedin there is an awesome viewing site where there is a series of tunnels you can walk through so you can watch the birds without disturbing them. You can also see wandering albatross nest there

[roymond]

New Plymouth is a small city, even by NZ standards (pop. 50,000), and being 5 hours drive from both Auckland and Wellington - it is about as remote as you can get in this very small country. And NZ is so very small - that is the probably the thing that makes it all so "different" from Australia. The entire national population is only about 4 million - that's less people than live in Sydney. Weird.

"It is also noted for being a coastal city with a mountain within 30 minutes drive, where residents and visitors to New Plymouth can snowboard, ski, water ski and surf all in the same day."

That sounds pretty ideal, CR. The photos from space of the volcano are awesome, too. But I guess you have a different view. Hope your stuff arrives intact. Especially the cat & dog. What's their animal immigration like? Do they do the confinement thing like many countries do?

[Hoblit]

qotd: already answered. Penis.

DRC: busy Busy BUSY day at work. The guy I work with most is on his way to PANAMA! PANAMA HA HA HA HA! So, if the problem is over my head, I have to reach higher.

However, once I hit the door running I get home and load up. The Funeral Dazies are headlining The Friday the 13th SLASHER BASH @ The Crowbar tonight. (Just a few blocks from The Ritz Ybor where the songfight LIVE event will be on August 16th.)

So anybody in the Tampa Bay area, get dressed UP and come on DOWN to The Crowbar tonight for the Horror Movie themed shindig tonight.

[ujnhunter]

Ray, do they sell t-shirts with "I *heart* Black Cocks" on them?

[Billy's Little Trip]

CR, M wants to know if there are penguins about. In Auckland, she says. Or is that Auckland different from Auckland Islands? Hmm...
-bill

Auckland is New Zealand's largest city. Auckland Island is a bleak, barren sub-antarctic rock. So - your mistake is quite understandable, because the two places are virtually indistinguishable. The main difference is that you are less likely to be shot in a drive-by shooting on Auckand Island, because penguins have trouble handling guns with their flippers.

I think penguins would be uncommon in Auckland, but they may get there occaisionally I haven't seen any penguins in Taranaki yet, but blue penguins do apparently hang out here.
The best place to see penguins is on the South Island - they are very common. On the Otago Peninsula near Dunedin there is an awesome viewing site where there is a series of tunnels you can walk through so you can watch the birds without disturbing them. You can also see wandering albatross nest there

Kiwi's look like warm penguins. I think that it's terrible that they make shoe polish out of them.

[Hoblit]

I just learned that there is a city called Auckland and its in New Zealand.

[Caravan Ray]

New Plymouth is a small city, even by NZ standards (pop. 50,000), and being 5 hours drive from both Auckland and Wellington - it is about as remote as you can get in this very small country. And NZ is so very small - that is the probably the thing that makes it all so "different" from Australia. The entire national population is only about 4 million - that's less people than live in Sydney. Weird.

"It is also noted for being a coastal city with a mountain within 30 minutes drive, where residents and visitors to New Plymouth can snowboard, ski, water ski and surf all in the same day."

That sounds pretty ideal, CR. The photos from space of the volcano are awesome, too. But I guess you have a different view. Hope your stuff arrives intact. Especially the cat & dog. What's their animal immigration like? Do they do the confinement thing like many countries do?

Mt Taranaki looks great on google earth if you set the maximum vertical exaggeration and tilt the view. You can see that the entire Taranaki plain is the basalt flow from the volcano. The volcanic soil makes this one of the richest agricultural areas in NZ. The beaches have black volcanic sand, like some Hawaiian beaches.

I don't know who would "snowboard, ski, water ski and surf all in the same day". Of course it would be technically very easy to do - but there is no snow in summer, and there's no way I'm going surfing in winter - it's too freaking cold.

No problems moving the animals - there is no quarantine between Aus and NZ. We are both nice, clean island nations. We are not like the pox-ridden hordes from those dirty places like Europe and America with their rabies and such.

Actually, for all intents and purpose - Aus and NZ may as well be the same country. There are virtually no immigration requirements between the two. We needed no visas, work permits, or anything. We just come over and say "Hi, we're Australian, we're moving in." (and then everybody says... "WTF!?!?!? Why?" - because 99.9% of immigration goes the other direction. Aus is where all the jobs, money and better weather is)

Ray, do they sell t-shirts with "I *heart* Black Cocks" on them?

I'm on the case. That was my first thought too. Let you know if I find one.

I just learned that there is a city called Auckland and its in New Zealand.

It is in fact the largest city in Polynesia

But that's OK Hoblit. We really don't expect much from you Seppos. You don't know any of the people in these videos by any chance do you?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esbS_vT25GU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOQLx3em7z0

[Hoblit]

New Plymouth is a small city, even by NZ standards (pop. 50,000), and being 5 hours drive from both Auckland and Wellington - it is about as remote as you can get in this very small country. And NZ is so very small - that is the probably the thing that makes it all so "different" from Australia. The entire national population is only about 4 million - that's less people than live in Sydney. Weird.

"It is also noted for being a coastal city with a mountain within 30 minutes drive, where residents and visitors to New Plymouth can snowboard, ski, water ski and surf all in the same day."

That sounds pretty ideal, CR. The photos from space of the volcano are awesome, too. But I guess you have a different view. Hope your stuff arrives intact. Especially the cat & dog. What's their animal immigration like? Do they do the confinement thing like many countries do?

Mt Taranaki looks great on google earth if you set the maximum vertical exaggeration and tilt the view. You can see that the entire Taranaki plain is the basalt flow from the volcano. The volcanic soil makes this one of the richest agricultural areas in NZ. The beaches have black volcanic sand, like some Hawaiian beaches.

I don't know who would "snowboard, ski, water ski and surf all in the same day". Of course it would be technically very easy to do - but there is no snow in summer, and there's no way I'm going surfing in winter - it's too freaking cold.

No problems moving the animals - there is no quarantine between Aus and NZ. We are both nice, clean island nations. We are not like the pox-ridden hordes from those dirty places like Europe and America with their rabies and such.

Actually, for all intents and purpose - Aus and NZ may as well be the same country. There are virtually no immigration requirements between the two. We needed no visas, work permits, or anything. We just come over and say "Hi, we're Australian, we're moving in." (and then everybody says... "WTF!?!?!? Why?" - because 99.9% of immigration goes the other direction. Aus is where all the jobs, money and better weather is)

Ray, do they sell t-shirts with "I *heart* Black Cocks" on them?

I'm on the case. That was my first thought too. Let you know if I find one.

I just learned that there is a city called Auckland and its in New Zealand.

It is in fact the largest city in Polynesia

But that's OK Hoblit. We really don't expect much from you Seppos. You don't know any of the people in these videos by any chance do you?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esbS_vT25GU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOQLx3em7z0

'cept I ain't stoopid!

[Billy's Little Trip]

You don't know any of the people in these videos by any chance do you?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esbS_vT25GU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOQLx3em7z0

Dad?

[drë]

You don't know any of the people in these videos by any chance do you?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esbS_vT25GU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOQLx3em7z0

… and am proud to be an America, where we invented youtube and the internet… the spellchecker ... and some other things..
And home of the free.

[Billy's Little Trip]

You don't know any of the people in these videos by any chance do you?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esbS_vT25GU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOQLx3em7z0

… and am proud to be an America, where we invented youtube and the internet… the spellchecker ... and some other things..
And home of the free.