In the middle of the city there's a place where it seems all the emo kids, skateboarders and other youthful types hang out, kicking footballs about and scaring old ladies (I'm not really up on the demographics or politics of it ...) Lately, there's been a big To Do about it because despite much protest and campaigning, the City Council voted to turn it from a pedestrian mall into a bus lane!
The video below is an emo ode to the demise of Manners Mall, but the reason I'm sharing it here is because it gives my far-flung family and friends a chance to see what it's like on the streets of Wellington - you'll see the famous Go Wellington buses, Lambton Quay and various other bits and pieces. It's also pretty funny in places, so hoping you enjoy it!!
Happy Sunday!
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
Another Reason Why Moving to NZ was a Great Idea!!
New Zealand has been named the World's Most Peaceful Nation for 2009, according to reports in today's international newspapers.The South Pacific nation of four million people and 40 million sheep has knocked Iceland off its perch after violent demonstrations followed the collapse of Reykjavik's banking system.
The Global Peace Index, a report prepared for the Australia-based Institute for Economics and Peace in conjunction with the Economist Intelligence Unit, ranks 144 countries in a league table of peacefulness.
The index defines peace as "the absence of violence".
Twenty-three criteria on which the league table is compiled include political stability, risk of terrorism, murder rate, likelihood of violent demonstrations, respect for human rights, internal conflicts, arms imports and involvement in foreign wars.
Read the whole story HERE. And yeah - we made a GREAT choice moving to Aotearoa!! By comparison, the UK is 35th, the USA is 83rd and South Africa comes in at 123, just ahead of Myanmar (126). Down at the bottom are Zimbabwe (134), Afghanistan (143) and Iraq (144).
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Snow!!!
The last few days have been beautiful, weather-wise. It's been cool, but not cold; the winds fresh and chilly even, but invigorating. Today I came out of work and walked home (my new commitment to keeping the weight off ...) and it was definitely colder than it's been in a while.
An hour later, I glanced out of the lounge window and spotted this:
... the first snows of winter dusting the tops of the Rimataku Mountains on the far side of the bay!!! A quick check on Accuweather told us that the temp was around 6C with a real feel (ie including the wind chill factor) of minus 4!! We also learned later that the roads over there got closed due to heavy snowfalls .. from Kilbirnie, we can just seeing the outer edges of the snow falls. The road between Upper Hutt and the Wairarapa (Highway 2) was closed for several hours in the middle of the day - this is what it looked like when it opened again:
An hour later, I glanced out of the lounge window and spotted this:
... the first snows of winter dusting the tops of the Rimataku Mountains on the far side of the bay!!! A quick check on Accuweather told us that the temp was around 6C with a real feel (ie including the wind chill factor) of minus 4!! We also learned later that the roads over there got closed due to heavy snowfalls .. from Kilbirnie, we can just seeing the outer edges of the snow falls. The road between Upper Hutt and the Wairarapa (Highway 2) was closed for several hours in the middle of the day - this is what it looked like when it opened again:
Maybe this weekend we'll take a short trip ... :-)
Sunday, June 14, 2009
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