No, Duke, all the sane Kiwis are delighted we lost the Cup 
Mr P is still sulking though.
I was thrilled, myself. My real last name is of German-speaking Swiss extraction, so – you could say I’ve a boot in both camps. 
Nah, I’m just glad it’s gone. Sorry for the rest of my countrymen still in mourning, though (and to heck with Coutts doin’ a skite in Geneva!)
New Zealand sounds too cool to be true. Gods willing, I’ll be there this summer.
If it is true, of course, I might not leave…
I don’t get that. Were the sailors seen as unsufferable jerks or what?
I can’t speak for Primaflora in this, Duke, but it wasn’t just because of the sailors (although the Team New Zealand syndicate showed poor sportsmanship this time round, IMHO.) Over here, it’s the whole hoopla, the unbelievably overt one-upmanship, the spending of our local rate taxes and government monies on something which is, truly, a rich man’s sport that has our teeth grinding.
We’ve had our bit of national pride over it. There are those among us here in Auckland, at least, that are just keen to move on now.
We’ve got a nice Viaduct Harbour out of it, though.
No (well, yeah), the BEST thing about the place is that there are…
NO
TOXIC
CRITTERS
That’s what I hear, anyway. That spider in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring sure looked scary to me, but I take it’s harmless. (?)
Pros:
LOTR
Peter Jackson
Xena
Shona Laing
Anna Paquin
Jane Campion
Beautiful scenery
Really great people
No toxic critters
The Quiet Earth (I forgot about that!)
Once Were Warriors
Everything I’m sure I’ll think of as soon as I hit Submit
Cons:
Is one of THE most volcanic places in the world, and everybody there is going to die a horrible, but mercifully quick, death. Someday.
I hope it doesn’t happen before The Return of the King is released, and before I get a chance to visit the place.
Pardon?
Man, I hope you’re kidding, or my fire and contents insurance is gonna go through th’ roof!
We’re situated across the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, yes, but I don’t think we’re in a whole lot of danger as a nation. The last deadly eruption of major consequence was 1886, and that was a localised event.
However, I do love our Volcanic Plateau region.
Shona Laing?? The Quiet Earth??? What the hell?
You guys are weird.
Mark Todd <swoons>
Absolutely the most beautiful place on the planet!
Mr. Singular and I were married there, in Rotorua, 15 years ago.
I had earned 2 round trip, first class tickets anywhere United flew, and we thought we’d go to Australia. But we couldn’t figure out where to begin, and found out about New Zealand instead. Best thing that could’ve happened! We were married in a civil ceremony, and that evening celebrated at a hangi, and a bottle of champagne the innkeepers had bought us when they found out we got hitched that day!
Can’t wait to get back and explore the southern island!
Come on Equipoise, it wasn’t that big an explosion. It wasn’t as if a volcano comitted seppuku, causing a crater the size of Singapore that is now NZ’s largest lake, happened that recently 
The volcanic regions do make nice thermal hotpools through…
I’d say you’re just about due, huh?
I have “New Zealand” in my Tivo Wishlist so any time it appears in a program description on any channel, my Tivo records it automatically. It got a special called “Secrets of New Zealand” from The Travel Channel, and according to it, Auckland and Wellington both are sitting directly on top of a lake of volcanic lava, just itching to burst out and destroy all that unfinished footage from Return of the King. (ok, the special didn’t say that, but the implication was quite clear). It all sounded very scary and authoritative, and of course, I believe everything I see on The Travel Channel (did you know that the Plaza Hotel in New York is one of the most expensive hotels in America?)
Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find any web pages concerning the show. It’s not the best thing to promote tourism, I understand. I can find several pages talking about the numerous volcanos in NZ, but nothing about the lakes of fire underneath the two main cities.
I also saw a movie called Terror Peak about NZ exploding. It starred Wonder Woman (Lynda Carter) so it has to be based on reality, right? (Actually, it was a terrible movie, but gave some good information about NZ. My Tivo picks up everything!)
Concerning NZ going kablooie in general, the various Volcano sites all mention the possibility. From here, for example: *
New Zealand’s North Island contains a number of active and potentially active volcanoes. Although the probability of an eruption affecting a large area of the North Island is relatively low in any one year, the probability of an eruption occurring in the future is high.*
I doesn’t matter. I could get hit by a slab of beef here in Chicago and die tomorrow. Volcanos just add to the thrill of the place. The volcanos are what made NZ breathtakingly beautiful in the first place.
I love these descriptions found on a web page :
“Hot Water Beach - create your own hot-tub by digging a hole in this black-sand beach and letting it fill with steaming spring water”
and
“Rotorua - ‘Sulphur city’ - geothermal activity - geysers, boiling mud pools, silica terraces”
“Silica terraces created by subterranean thermal activity in the central part of the North Island around Rotorua. Due to the amount of geothermal activity, if you’re allergic to sulphur, you’ll have to avoid this area. Seriously!”
“Wellington’s concert bowl - in an extinct volcano. Wellington is a city of hills and this picture was taken from my bus stop in Brooklyn. What a pleasant place to wait for the bus.”
and
“Wellington harbour. It’s amazing what can be done with an extinct volcano!”
Hey GuanoLad, what’s wrong with The Quiet Earth, a good movie that I wish would come out on DVD, and Shona Laing? No matter what else she’s done, and I’ve heard very little of it, the songs “Soviet Snow” and “Glad I’m Not A Kennedy” are absolute classics, still brilliant to this day.
Rabid,
Okay, here’s some of the gen on the dangers affecting my hometown and Wellington, Equipoise.
Auckland: Situated on a field of rising magma bubbles, moving nor-eastward (last time I checked th’ info). The last one reached the surface during the Middle Ages and created Rangitoto Island in the Hauraki Gulf. The Maori report seeing the eruption in their oral histories. The field of volcanoes (all extinct, bar Rangitoto which is classed as dormant) that make up Auckland’s distinctive landscape all derive from the magma bubbles. They think the next one might come up under the Tamaki area or out on the North Shore. Auckland would be largely uninhabitable for a time afterward. The eruptions usually last a few weeks, then die away, never to be heard from again.
Wellington:, No, not so much volcanic threat, mainly tectonic. Wellington is built across one of the main earth faults in the country, and stands a high risk of another major earthquake. Last one was around 140 years ago. Stay tuned.
Lake Taupo is a concern if that blows again, but mainly because of ash fall and loss of hydro-electric power (similarly with Mt Taranaki, also dormant.)
Come on. New Zealand has never exploded as a whole. Just how small do you think we are, mate? 
Still, if it gets you guys mounting a doomsday watch, waiting for the moment our clocks tick over and we go boom – who’s complaining?
ROFLMAO!!! Yep gotta love that greeness, of course now is the time of the year when it’s all wet greeness 
But WOW who knew so many of you foreign types knew so much about lil ol NZ. YAY to The Loaded Dog. Thanks for noticing us cuz
sorry Ice I still want the “tight 5” to sink to the bottom of lake Geneva…but I’m just good at being bitter
Ice :eek: I live on the North Shore and I didn’t need to know this! Seriously my son as a wee chap had a year of nightmares after a doco of what would happen if Rangitoto should blow its spout so shhhhhhhhhhh k
Another thing to love about NZ: Dispute resolution through arm-wrestling.
I saw this on the tv news, but couldn’t find the results anywhere online.
Telecommunications Arm-Wrestle
from the article:
“TeamTalk CEO David Ware says his company will make concessions to MCS - but only if his MCS opposite number Allan Cosford pins him to the table in an arm wrestle first.”
If anyone can tell me how the event turned out, I’d appreciate it.
calm kiwi: Hey, that’s a cool thought actually, a sinking in Lake Geneva. I may be glad th’ Cup’s outta th’ backyard, but I still think Coutts is a term which I can’t refer to here ‘cause this is th’ nice forum.
And sorry t’ give you and your son worry about the volcano hazard – I was at a Civil Defense open day a few years ago now in Auckland City, and they referred to the possibility of one blowing just off the eastern coast of the North Shore. They don’t know for sure, of course. Probably won’t until we have a few weeks to skeedaddle.
I live in Avondale, so our own volcanic neighbour, Mt Owairaka, is long gone at age 30,000. Cool to look out the window and know it as an extinct volcano, though.
Stringy I did see the “match” on the news and I think the team talk guy lost…but don’t quote me, look no quote or anything and I have a fairly fuzzy memory. I thought that the whole thing was a cool way to settle things and was hoping Saddam and Bush might take the hint
Ice Wolf Maybe we could start a “bleeeeeeping Coutts and bleeeeping Butterworth etc and how they are a bunch of money hungry bleeeeeeeeeeeeeps” thread only I don’t think it would catch on and thats probably a good thing…when I get bitter I get really bitter (I’m just over the underarm bowling thing )
Don’t worry about the Rangitoto thing…he doesn’t believe in Santa now either.
Have you ever climbed Rangi? Never to been a place that looks more like how I imagine Mars would be…very odd place not to mention a really good day out.
Oh, I’d love to climb Rangitoto one day. It’s on my list of experiences I’d like to do before I leave this mortal coil. Haven’t had th’ chance or the wherewithall to do it yet (pity), but here’s hopin’ I get to do it some day.
Oh, yes. I remember the underarm incident. But I’ve been told by a good friend over in Aussie that while the media was doing a bit of a bray at th’ time, the ordinary bloke and blokess on the street over the Tassie weren’t all that sure of the honour gained or lost.
The America’s Cup, mind, might be a very different matter, eh?
Good to see you around again, my compatriot!
Here I am!!! Back again, under the watchful eye of Mrs. Wolfe!
We’ve just fed and watered her in payment for her tuition, I’m writing it down this time so I can come back again…and again…and again.
Ya Ya…I’ve been up Rangitoto so many times I never want to return. I think I’ve averaged a visit once every two years while my son was at school. It must have impressed him no end as he has just passed a comment about not remembering ever going there!
I’d rather trip over to Waiheke Island. My brother has a place over there and I keep promising him that we will visit one of these days, but just never seem to actually do it! The last time I was there was about 11 years ago…don’t remember a whole lot about that trip either as I had a major Hypo’ (Diabetic Hypoglycaemic attack for those not in the "know) and was oblivious to most of what was happening around me. We caught the ferry over and my brother suggested that we walk to Surfdale where his bach is…well, he said it was only a hop, skip and a jump away. After an hour of scaling cliffs, skirting around bushes and admiring far way hills, we asked the usual question, “how much further?”. His reply, “See those hills over there, just behind them”. We thought he was having us on, but he wasn’t. I might add that we had my sister who was 8 months pregnant with us.
Mrs. Wolfe is looking sideways at me, I think I’m raving on abit too long so am taking the hint and going.