New Zealand

haha cricket. Well I knew India and NZ had that relationship. Cricket is all about good sportsmanship you know..otherwise it's just not cricket!

Yes. Our neighbour australia not that we don't like them it's just they a bit weird. They our cousins though. They talk funny. Also they are bigger than us, and our flags look too much alike. People get confused, which is why our PM wants us to have a new flag.

Cue many flags designed with silver ferns and kiwis on them.
Yes we have lots of sheep. And trees. And milk and honey. Did you know NZ used to be called Godzone. Well, only christians called it that. Because when they saw it, they thought it was like the promised land, unlike australia which is the worlds giant penitentiary. Convicts got sent there to be eaten by crocodiles die of thirst in the desert.
We just lucky we don't have any snakes and horrible wild animals.
 
Ravindran said:
All my knowledge about New Zealand has been through cricket! I love Kiwis.. Brendon McCullum is one of my favorite players.. They are a passionate team.. They pursue sports with so much passion and with humbleness as well.. They reach finals of the world cup.. I was hoping they would beat Australia :) Didn't happen though..
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I'd have liked to have seen NZ win that one too. I had anticipated the final would be close but in the end, it turned out to be a comfortable victory for Australia.

My all time favourite NZ player is Richard Hadlee. In more recent times, I've liked Danny Vetorri. In some ways maybe he's not the sort of guy you notice (eg. cf, the hitting power of B McCullum when he gets going) but he's been a very handy cricketer.
 
I have read that NZ is called the shaky isles because of all the earthquakes / tremors. You experience much?

I found this interesting fact. A hill there is called 'Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu' :giggle:
 
"KingJ, post: 416577, member: 6674"'Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu' :giggle:
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I've just found Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu.

This (presumably alternative version???) comfortably beats Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.

The Welsh one is 19th C extension/invention (I think from Llanfairpwllgwyngwyll) though and its often referred to "Llanfair PG". It's not the only Llanfair (parish of Mary - there are a number of them...) to get shortened btw. Llanfair Talhaiarn is known as Llanfair TH.
 
KingJ said:
I have read that NZ is called the shaky isles because of all the earthquakes / tremors. You experience much?

I found this interesting fact. A hill there is called 'Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu' :giggle:
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Well, we do get tremors up here in auckland and have had devastating earthquakes in christchurch recently. Napier was also nearly destroyed by earthquake many years ago. Nz is on the pacific rim, so has volcanos. Auckland is built on top of dormant ones.

In the event of a volcano, not sure what we can do. There are active ones on the north island, and one come up out of the sea called rangitoto.

Maori legend says the north island is a fish that Maui pulled out of the sea...it looks like a sting ray, the south island was his canoe and stewart island the anchor. In their creation stories the gods are rangi and papatuanuku,. Rangi is the sky god and papatuanuku is the earth god. Tane is the god of the forest. The north island is said to be hilly cos Maui ate the fish. I suppose he ate it and left the lumpy bits and bones, like he didnt fillet it or something.

There are more plains and mountains in the south island, which has southern alps and glaciers and fiords.
 
boltardy said:
I'd have liked to have seen NZ win that one too. I had anticipated the final would be close but in the end, it turned out to be a comfortable victory for Australia.

My all time favourite NZ player is Richard Hadlee. In more recent times, I've liked Danny Vetorri. In some ways maybe he's not the sort of guy you notice (eg. cf, the hitting power of B McCullum when he gets going) but he's been a very handy cricketer.
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Vettori has recently retired. Yes hes a very good cricketer.
 
Lanolin said:
I have been there. Wales. Got my passport stamped, as all the tourists do.
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I don't know how it works but I'd have thought most tourists enter the UK via England with London receiving the most?

Where did you get to in Wales? I've only lived in and around Llandudno in North West Wales (and I live on the East coast of England these days - Norfolk). South Wales is another country to me...
 
All I know about New Zealand is that it has amazing scenery, as seen in the Lord of the Rings films. :D

Oh, and I bought a book from a charity shop in Glasgow a while ago, and it had a bookmark in it from Takapuna Public Library, North Shore City. So I know that at some point in time, you could've gone to 40c Takapuna Village for a colonic irrigation, stopped off at 188 Kitchener Road, Milford, to stock up on 'natural supplements', bought your groceries at the Bin Inn Bulk Food Market on 21-23 Shakespeare Road, and then nabbed a 10% discount at Adam Avocado Ltd ("The Friendly Fruiterers") by presenting the bookmark. (y)
 
Grant Melville said:
What a song! One of my ultimate favourites. Never fails to bring a tear to the eye.

I have to admit, I'm quite partial to the Dropkick Murphy's version. :whistle: A bit raucous, but they do give it welly!

Cannae beat a bit o' Paddy Reilly though!
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Thanks for that one. I'd not heard it. I think for me though I'd stick with Paddy Reilly for that particular song.
 
boltardy said:
I don't know how it works but I'd have thought most tourists enter the UK via England with London receiving the most?

Where did you get to in Wales? I've only lived in and around Llandudno in North West Wales (and I live on the East coast of England these days - Norfolk). South Wales is another country to me...
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I went to the place with the long name, and Snowdonia. It was on a backpakcing tour round the British isles. I remember lots of castles and ruins.
 
Lanolin said:
I went to the place with the long name, and Snowdonia. It was on a backpakcing tour round the British isles. I remember lots of castles and ruins.
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My mother loves the mountains of Snowdonia and (not that she's been able to get there in years) Llyn Dulyn is her favourite place. I find it a bit dark and eerie but she loves it there.

The nearest castle to where I've lived is Conwy castle. I mostly lived in a village above the towns. I prefer the view of the castle from other angles but driving down one of the roads from the village at some point, you would have something similar to this view of Conwy Castle.

conwy-castle.JPG


If you did wind up there in the future. Try the river trip from Conwy quay, It's only a short (30 minute?) trip down a small river but once you get under the bridge and past the castle, I think the scenery is lovely,
 
boltardy said:
Even further OT but seeing as where you are. Do you like the Corries? I liked the group and particularly liked Roy Williamson's singing and the weird hybrid instruments (combolins) he came up with - I'd love to try one.
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I was raised on The Dubliners. I like the Corries as well! I don't have any of their stuff, but I did used to like watching the videos of them playing, on YouTube. I don't tend to really listen to much music nowadays. I used to be totally obssessed with all sorts of music (anything but mainstream modern popular!) but now I've sort of lost interest a bit.
 
Grant Melville said:
I was raised on The Dubliners. I like the Corries as well! I don't have any of their stuff, but I did used to like watching the videos of them playing, on YouTube. I don't tend to really listen to much music nowadays. I used to be totally obssessed with all sorts of music (anything but mainstream modern popular!) but now I've sort of lost interest a bit.
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That musical background is not too dissimilar to mine although of my childhood groups I'd pick out the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. Dubliners: I was mid to late 20s by this time but I really wanted to (and still can't...) play the tenor banjo like Barney McKenna did and know a lot of their songs through the various lineups over the years.

I'm not really sure where I sit these days. Chart music is something I mostly left in the mid 80s (that can cause difficulties with some "Christain music btw" - some of it is just sort of "foreign" but as I think has been commented on another recent thread, the whole picture is more complex than just that...).

Folk music is something I do keep a hand in from time to time. I've changed over the years and have cut out the (not sure how to express it) more modern and confrontational rebel type songs from my own (amateur) repertoire (eg. it's been many a year since I'd do Off To Dublin in the Green). That said, my interests tended more and more towards favouring the tunes anyway.

In reality, I still can enjoy a session of jigs and reels in a pub even with the occasional song but in some ways do ponder whether I should still do this (not that I can do it often - only been out 3 times this year for music) and whether it is time to let it all die a sort of natural death. I had hoped I might find some sort of Christian (probably stemming from a church - I don't share your views but do tend towards the more traditional hymns in a church on that - but as an outlet maybe from something like that) outlet - perhaps it could even be a sort of "replacement therapy" but that has not happened to date.
 
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Nanon said:
New Zealander's are called 'kiwis' (after the native bird)?
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Do New Zealanders have a song about the kiwi?

I know Australians have a (actually still copyrighted and became part of a copyright row with Men at Work's Down - A Land Down Under - it was ruled the latter stole a few notes and had to pay) song about the Kookaburra - even I learned that one in UK childhood - Kookaburra Sits in an old Gum Tree - but I don't know what NZ has.

A song I know that has been liked by people I've encountered (online) from NZ is a modern shanty stlye songh Mollymuak/MollyMawk/Southern Ocean but that refers to Cape Horn and I don't think originated from NZ. (For those who may not know, a mollymawk is an albatross).

 
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