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New Zealand

Bunny Tossing

Strange things happens in New Zealand.

stuff.co.nz - Tourist No Bunny as a Thrower

A German tourist has been crowned New Zealand’s champion rabbit-thrower [^] in Waitomo according to stuff.co.nz. Lisa Lutz managed to overthrow the Kiwis by tossing a dead rabbit into a trailer attached to a motobike; something seen across farms in New Zealand and Australia.

Event organiser Barry Woods said that the event was staged as a stand against political correctness. Rabbits are not native to either country, and cause a great deal of damage to indigenous flora and fauna. Only dead rabbits were used in the competition.

Kiwis Throw Politicians to the Dogs.

I always knew that the New Zealanders were different to everyone else.  These are sensible people, they are throwing their politicians to the dogs [^].  Unfortunately not quite literally!

The New Zealand petfood company, Mastepet has create dog toys modelled on the two leading Kiwi political leaders – the incumbent Helen Clark and challenger John Key.  The sales of the toys will be used to unofficially track voter sentiment in the lead-up to the 8th November election.  The toy that gets thrown to the dogs the most wins.

 The website has also issued some guidelines for the use of the toy:

  1. Remember your purchase is part of a political poll – your vote counts
  2. Wear suitable ear protection when supervising your dog’s playtime with the toy. As with real politicians, the squealing can become quite deafening.
  3. Keep dog on a leash if around real politicians. Masterpet does not accept any liability for dog toy mistaken identity.
  4. When choosing a toy, take your dog along with you. Man’s best friend doesn’t like political ideologies thrust upon him/her more than the next person.
  5. If your dog destroys the politician in the first five minutes don’t hold this against your dog – the media do it every week!  (Source:kiwiblog.co.nz [^])

Many comenters on the site have complained that the “Hulun” Clark toy has been made to look less unattractive than the real-life version.  Is this so that the dogs don’t get scared-off?

Clark & Keys Politician Masterpet Dog Toys

Clark & Keys Politician Masterpet Dog Toys

The "Real" Helen Clark - 37th Prime Minister of New Zealand

The "Real" Helen Clark - 37th Prime Minister of New Zealand

Aussie in Kiwi Rape Claim

A Motueka man who claimed to have been left speaking Australian after being raped by a wombat, has been sentenced to 75 hours’ community work for his trouble.

…[He] admitted in the Nelson District Court yesterday to the charge of using a phone for a fictitious purpose, after calling police with the message, ‘I’ve been raped by a wombat’ … He called police again soon after, …"I’ll retract the rape complaint from the wombat, because he’s pulled out …Apart from speaking Australian now, I’m pretty all right you know, I didn’t hurt my bum at all,”          Source:  stuff.co.nz[^]

I think that we can consider this as heralding a new era of Trans-Tasman relations!  That just goes to show, it’s true that a wombat "Eats, Roots and Leaves"!

 Australia_zoo_wombat_1

Image: Modified from the Phasmatisnox original licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0.

More Wellington

The Kiwi’s seem absolutely mad for their national emblems. You find Kiwis, Fern leaves, and Tree Ferns everywhere.
Wellington Fern2.JPG
This is again in the Civic Centre in Wellington. In the mid left you can see the Fern Ball suspended – seemingly in thin air.

Wellington Fern Ball

While we were in the New Zealand capital – Wellington – we managed to
capture some blue sky. A welcome relief after some rather wet weather, we
soon found out why they call it “Windy Wellington” though! At the Civic
Centre they there is a Fern Sculpture that hangs about 30 feet up in the
air – suspended between the surrounding buildings.
Fern Ball.jpg

The picture on the Wellington Map website really gives you a fairly good idea of what Wellington looks like from the air – looking across the habour to Mt Victoria.