TV3 NEWS: A group of New Zealanders heads off to Antarctica this month to go on an unexplored route to Mt Parry.

Mt Parry is 2520m high and is located on Brabant Island within British Antarctic territory.

The expedition will be the last of seven adventures funded through the Hillary Expedition Grants.

The grants have been awarded by Sport and Recreation New Zealand (Sparc)  in March last year.

On “Exploration Antarctica”, the climbers will sail to Brabant Island off the Antarctic Peninsula to make the first ascent of the West Ridge.

Sparc also plans to shoot a film about the five-week expedition.

- read more here (NZ HERALD)

- read more on Mt Parry and Antarctica

- visit the website of Antarcitca New Zealand

(Pic: NZ HERALD)

IMAGINE you could stretch out and relax on a cream leather couch, while glancing through a floor window at the clouds beneath your feet.

The evening sun would let the clouds shine golden and you just forget about time and space while you drift away through eternity…

AIRCRUISE: The sky is full of dreams... (pic: seymourpowell)

SPIEGEL: Design company Seymourpowell (London, UK) promises to make dreams like this come true.

Yesterday they announced “Aircruise”, a flying luxury hotel in the sky, lifted by hydrogen and powered by solar energy, that gives travellers a “more reflective journey”.

Based on the concept of a large, vertical zeppelin, Aircruise features a bar and lounge zone, four duplex apartments, a penthouse and five smaller apartments.

VISION: A giant flying luxury hotel (pic: seymourpowell)

“It’s a world cruise not limited to any ocean, offering instead a dream-like quality and absolute freedom of flight,” Seymourpowell’s Design Director Nick Talbot says.

Seymourpowell works together with Korean giant Samsung Construction and Trading on the project.

The “Aircruise” zeppelin will be 265 m high and can reach a cruise ceiling of 12,000 feet or drop within a few hundred feet of the ground to allow passengeres a closer view on landmarks.

With a travelling speed of 100 to 150 km/h it would take “Aircruise” 37 hours to get from London to New York and 90 hours from Shanghai to Los Angeles.

In the early 20th century, the first airships were shaped like cigars (Zeppelin). The German news magazine SPIEGEL writes, “Aircruise” would be in the shape of a diamond – sounds nice, but first thing I thought of, when I saw the picture, was a rugby ball.

- have a look at the Seymourpowell website and view more images of the “Aircruise” here 

- read the full SPIEGEL article here (German)

‘GO ALL THE WAY’ to New Zealand is what my fellow countrymen are being told by a new 100% Pure New Zealand advertising campaign for backpackers.

The campaign was launched in September last year; the website is online since January and paid online advertising had begun in Germany, the UK, Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark.

100% PURE NEW ZEALAND: go all the way

Go all the way is an unmistakable message to young people from the other side of the world: no gap year is complete as long as you haven’t paid a visit to New Zealand.

According to Tourism New Zealand, during 2008/09 visitors from Germany were amongst the most satisfied of all international visitors to NZ. (Which is quite surprising for me, to be honest, because Germans generally tend to complain as they are rather hard to please - so in effect, this is good news: the Kiwis must have done a pretty good job here!)  

There was a 4%-increase in visitor numbers from Germany: almost 64,000 German visitors came to New Zealand in 2009, with 70% of them being holiday visitors.

The median length of stay was 22 days with an average expenditure of almost NZ$ 5,000 per visit.

The Go all the way-campaign targets mainly young people in order to increase the number of backpackers travelling to New Zealand.

The International Visitor Survey defines backpackers as travellers who spend more than 30% of their stay in backpacker accomodation and hostels.

BACKPACKER: with a backpack (pic: houseofdoom.wordpress.com)

A number of about 183,000 backpackers came to New Zealand in the year up to September 2009. This is an increase of 6% within one year.

In late 2009, Tourism New Zealand gave out 50 video cameras to travellers, who shot video footage of their experiences while travelling around the country.

Some of the videos can already be viewed on the Go all the way-website and are especially aimed at people who are still in the process of planning their trip (or haven’t even made the decision whether to go to NZ or not, yet).

Go all the way is also being actively supported by NZBackpack.com to “help coordinate industry involvement in the campaign”.

- get more information on Go all the way here and here

- see more stats here

- get an overview over the European tourism market here

- follow Tourism New Zealand on Twitter

NZ HERALD: Air New Zealand’s economy class upgrade - which includes the installment of the world-first Skycouch - may be an opportunity for the airline to increase prices.

Air NZ’s General Group Manager International Airline Ed Sims said the airline was challenged to develop a new category of air travel, as 70 per cent of passengers were visitors to New Zealand.

The airline would start with broadly similar pricing for the new seats as its current services, he said.

“If demand runs away with us then clearly it gives us greater flexibility,” Mr Sims said.

Air New Zealand aimed at building up a history of innovation and being the first Australasian airline to introduce the Skycouch seat-beds was one step towards this aim, he said. 

- read the whole story here

-read about the Skycouch here

- view related blogposts here and here

ONCE AGAIN Air New Zealand - recently named “Airline of the Year” – proved to be ahead of other airlines when it comes to customer service and aircraft facilities.

SHARISM: Passengers will have to share the new skycouches. (pic: Stuff)

STUFF.CO.NZ/NZ HERALD: Air New Zealand designers and engineers have developed the Skycouch as the world-first economy class bed-seat.

The convertable bed-seats have been announced in October 2009 and will be available on flights of the new Boeing 777-300ER aircrafts later this year.

According to an article by the NZ Herald, people purchasing a skycouch ticket will have to pay for two seats at standard prices and the third seat at half-price.

The airline also announced new interior and services on long distance flights.

These include on demand food and beverage options, changes to the entertainment system on board and wine tasting and destination seminars, according to an Air New Zealand press release.

- read more on Stuff and on the Herald’s website

- view the related blogpost from October 2009 here

DURING my little summer break, I have travelled a fair bit myself, visited places I have not seen for years and other places I have never been to before.

A couple of friends and I went for a short trip to the Marlborough Sounds and stayed in an absolutely fantastic hostel.

We were convinced that we had found paradise on earth, but according to an article by the NZ HERALD, we were quite close, but not close enough.

WINNER: Air NZ is Airline of the Year (pic: own)

The best bed & breakfast in the south pacific region is on New Zealand’s South

Island, not in Marlborough, but in Queenstown.

Readers of the Tripadvisor website have voted for Crown View Bed & Breakfast between Queenstown and Arrowtown as best bed & breakfast in the annual Traveler’s Choice awards.

Seven other New Zealand B&Bs from all over the country made it into the top ten.

If you are keen to travel, but are not quite sure where to go, you may get some inspiration straight from your bookshelf.

The NZ HERALD gives ideas on how to turn your summer read into a holiday – with a little help from Roald Dahl, Mark Twain and Katherine Mansfield. – read more

But there were more good news for New Zealand’s tourism industry, lately.

Air New Zealand has been awarded “Airline of the Year” for 2010 by airline magazine Air Transport World.

The magazine commended the airline for

• innovative use of technology
• customer service
• committment to environmental research and protection
• sound financial performance during the last year
• conducting the world’s first sustainable biofuel flight

And for those of you who can’t get enough of flying… or flying objects… well, actually unidentified flying objects – STUFF has good news: you can look forward to later this year when the military will release secret files on New Zealand UFO sightings.

STUFF.CO.NZ: Being two years behind schedule, Boeing’s new lightweight and titanium Dreamliner finally had its first test flight.

Boeing claims the 787 Dreamliner, designed to carry about 250 passengers on long distance flights, will save the airlines millions of dollars in fuel and maintenance costs.

About 840 of the aircrafts have already been ordered by airlines, which production had been delayed five times in the past three years – due to a shortage of bolts, faulty design and a two-month strike at its factory. - read more

THIS morning, when I came back from the supermarket, I bumped into Rodney Hide.

Maybe it’s just me… – but I kind of had the impression he looked angry.

I don’t know why he would have been angry, though – it was such a nice day today, sunshine, Christmas time and the holidays are coming up.

Well, maybe that’s why: holidays. Maybe, he hasn’t figured out how to spend the summer, yet.

 

~ JUST LIKE HOLIDAY ~ (pic: own)

 

 

However, once again I am confident to say that I can help out in this matter and it is my pleasure to refer to Lyndon Hood’s excellent column.

The piece Travel Ideas for MPs on Scoop offers suggestions and advice and yet keeps it simple:

“Or try anywhere else Obama goes”

If you don’t want to go as far as Aleajos (Spain) the “global antipode of Wellington[...]: the place you go when sent as far from the Beehive as possible, and also where you end up if you find yourself in a hole and keep digging.”

No matter which piece of advice Rodney Hide choses to take or not to take in the end, he should keep in mind that Copenhagen Airport is one of the things Kiwis love when it comes to travelling.

As the NZ Herald reported earlier this week, a list, previously released by House of Travel, shows what New Zealanders rated as their “love and loath”-top-ten of travel.

Top Ten Travel cheer and loathing

Kiwis are cheering for

• having an own entertainment system with movies starting as soon as you board
• counting down the number of sleeps until you leave
• realising that you have made it (when you stand in front of the Pyramids or the Taj Mahal)
• getting entrenched in the local customs and culture
• feeling the blast of heat when arriving at a tropical destination
• Copenhagen Airport
• super cheap Thai foot massages at Bangkok Airport
• having someone else to make your bed in the mornings
• authentic fresh local cuisine (“real pizza”)
• planning your next trip when getting home

and loathing for

• passport photos
• virtually every airport in the country “making some changes”
• early morning international flights
• having to take your laptop out when going through security
• “fighting” for the arm rest
• realising that you have only one sleep left before you go home
• hotels and beaches that look different from their website pics
• humid holiday spots causing “bad hair days”
• leaking toothpaste, shampoo or moisturiser
• tipping

 

(pic: simpsonscrazy.com)

 

I agree with most of the bulletpoints.

Passport photos, for instance. I got told I look like Sideshow Bob (RIGHT) - and that is only the most recent one. The prior picture showed someone (well, let’s face it: me), who looked like a member of the band Europe.

 

EUROPE (pic: getback.com)

 

I also agree with most of the other points. Finding that your moisutriser was leaking all the time, when you are just about to unpack your bag, sucks.

Authentic fresh cuisine sounds good. And to realise that you have made it, is a pretty damn good feeling.

But what does Copenhagen Airport have to do with all that? I mean, why – all of a sudden – Copenhagen?

Have all Kiwis ever been to Copenhagen Airport (as well as to other airports which they can compare Copenhagen with), so that they can say for sure that this is a great airport?

Well, I haven’t been to Copenhagen – neither to the city itself nor to the airport. (But – mind you – I am not a New Zealander, either). So I can’t really tell if Copenhagen Airport is special or not.

Must be special, because it’s on the list. Or is it special because Copenhagen is big news because of the climate summit?

Then we might as well just take Lyndon Hood’s advice – and go wherever Obama’s going. And he knows Copenhagen Airport for sure.

IT GOT pretty quiet around Rodney Hide since he paid back the money he spent on his infamous super-city-trip, but yet again a politician is in the limelight after a questionable overseas trip.

The debate about Hone Harawira and his email exchange with a member of the New Zealand public, in which he justified a private trip after skipping a tax payer-funded conference goes on for about a month now.

WORTH A TRIP? - Europe is a common destination for our politicians' big overseas experience (pic: art.com)

Instead of staying with an official delegation and attending a taxpayer-funded meeting in Brussels, Harawira had gone on a private trip to Paris.

Former Waitangi Tribunal director Buddy Mikaere approached Harawira via email on this matter – and got a rather unpleasant response.

TVNZ uses the term “strongly worded” to describe the reply Mr Mikaera got, the New Zealand Herald calls it an “angry email”.

Fact is: you needed almost as many blank-out-stars like this * as actual letters, if you wanted to display the context…

But “star”-struck displays in all leading media outlets and accusations of having made racist comments when reacting to the emails (referring to Pakeha as “white motherf.******”) were not the only results, Harawira’s actions led to.

The Maori Party announced to consider his future while Harawira was banned from Parliament for the last two weeks.

RENEGADE: Hone Harawira's emails are "star"-struck (pic:spasifikmag.com)

An apology made by Hone Harawira this week was welcomed by Mr Mikaere, who does not expect a “personal sorry”, the NZ Herald reports.

Harawira has made clear his intention to stay with the Maori Party, but a decision has yet to be made by his Tai Tokerau electorate and the Maori Party on whether he should resign. – read more

In a column, published in the Northland Age and displayed on the Maori Party’s website, Hone Harawira gives us more insight in his email inbox:

-Here’s a ‘love letter’ I got in the email. Enjoy it. I did.

“Dear Grim Reaper,

This year you have taken my favourite male actor, Patrick Swayze. You also took my favourite female actor, Farrah Fawcett Major, and my favourite entertainer and dancer, Michael Jackson.

I want to be sure you know that Hone Harawira is my favourite politician. Thanks.”-

 

 

- read the whole column here

- read more about the “angry email” between Harawira and Mikaere here

- watch a TVNZ clip on why Mr Mikaere went public with the emails here

HAWAII, Britain, the United States, Canada – if Rodney Hide had to write a travel guide, those destinations would quite likely  appear in his personal top five.

You can also presume that such a travel guide (“Hide’s hiding spots – a travel guide for NZ politicians on perk progress”, that’s how I’d call it) would not be aimed at the average Kiwi family but to those with a packed purse.

It would rank top hotels and feature recommendations to visit the Universal Studios and in the appendix you would probably find “Tipps & Tricks on how to justify a world trip before the taxpayer“.

PICTURE: WAKE-UP CALL: Rodney Hide has not so much to laugh about these days. (Pic: Chris Skelton/Sunday Star-Times)

Well, our Rodney will have to re-think that, because so far his strategy didn’t work out: the media bombard him with questions, the taxpayers shake their heads in disbelief, and his boss, Prime Minister John Key (recently being labelled as a ‘does-nothing’-Prime Minister by Hide himself) cannot be happy either.

Hide’s bill, including flights, travel fares and accomodation for himself and his partner Louise Crome, is as high as about $25,000 – money paid by New Zealand taxpayers.

Funny how Hide says he disagrees with the perk that enables MPs to travel on taxpayers’ expenses but admits the same time that he used to take his girlfriend overseas. All in terms of his own work, of course, as he was paying visits to super-cities that are stating examples for soon-to-be-super-city Auckland.

[I suppose you could call it "research"... and I wonder why I have decided to become a journalist and not a politician. When I do research, it involves a lot of time at my desk, ringing people until my ears glow and typing into search engines until I suffer from OOS in my hands... If I were a politician, I could pay a visit to the Universal Studios instead...]

Rodney Hide already seemed pretty much with his back against the wall when he was “Caught Red Handed” by Mike Hosking on Close Up on 30 October 2009 (PICTURE RIGHT), but since then he more and more got himself into hot water.

Saying that Prime Minister John Key “doesn’t do anything while ACT did everything and is hated” on a breakfast function in Christchurch last week certainly did not help – although it was quick thinking of Rodney to forewarn Mr Key of what was to come, shortly before the newspapers could pick up the story.

And good on him for apologising to the taxpayers and to Mr Key and for paying back the costs for his partner’s flights and for the trip to Hawaii in June.

In a personal statement released to the press on 8 November 2009 he says: ‘It’s not about the rules, it’s about doing the right thing.’

Right. But I still wonder…

- How come there is a 180°-turn in your opinion within one week (since the appearance in Close Up where you still stressed how the rules -and the Prime Minister himself- allowed you to take your girlfriend on a world trip until yesterday when you admitted that you have done the wrong thing)?

Anyway, what’s happening at “Breakfast With Rodney” on Thursday should be interesting (experience shows breakfasts with Rodney reveal interesting opinions on our government)…

-View another blog on this topic here

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT RODNEY HIDE’S TRIPS OVERSEAS? JUSTIFIED?