Peter Petterson's blog

Red Ruler has won the 2010 running of the Wellington Cup at Trentham in the Hutt Valley...

Red Ruler, a five year old gelding, has just won the Wellington Galloping Cup at Trentham Racecourse in the Hutt Valley, just a few miles outside of Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. It was a fine riding performance by South African born jockey, Mark Du Plessis, and a great staying performance by the horse who had been eased behind the pacemakers, and finished with a powerful sprint to win the 2400 metre event going away. He is undoubtably the best stayer racing in New Zealand at present. He won the lead up race a week ago, and the City of Auckland Cup over a similar distance at New Years. The horse has also raced in Australia with distinction.

The Wellington Rugby Sevens party might be over after next year...

Wellington applied for a permanent place as host of the New Zealand Sevens. They have hosted the tournament for ten years. Its been a great place for top games and great fun for two days every January.

But the New Zealand Rugby Union has told them they must reapply along with all the other main centres. Dunedin which is in the process of constructing an indoor stadium, has applied along with Auckland and Christchurch, both of whom are revamping their stadiums for the Rugby World Cup in NZ in 2011.

All is not lost for Wellington, after all their great party has been going for ten years. Auckland doesn't have a great record organising anything, Dunedin are new at that sort of thing, and Christchurch the home of the champion Crusaders Super 14 franchise, could be the dark horse. We will all find out next year. In the meantime the semis and finals continue tonight, without New Zealand. Party party

A palindrome birthday reminder for you even in NZ...

United Staes recreational mathematician and puzzle maker Martin Gardner's two palindrome birthdays coincided with two palindrome years: his 77th was in 1991 and 88th in 2002.

The year 2002 marked the 171st anniversary of Michael Faraday's discovery of electromagnetic induction. The next palindrome year, 2112, will mark Mother Teresa's 202nd birthday.

The 535th anniversary of the publication of the first edition of Isaac Newton's natural philosophy book PRINCIPIA will take place in 2222. Benjamin Franklin's 626th birthday will happen in 2332, and 2442 will mark the 686th birthday of Austrian composer Wolfgang Arnadeus Mozart, the 636th birthday of British mathematician Augustus De Morgan, and Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan's 555th birthday.

The shaky isles maybe, but better monitoring of earthquake risks in the future...

Being part of the Pacific ring of fire New Zealand is both a volcanic and earthquake risk, although most of New Zealand's volcanoes have been dormant for many years. However earthquake fautlines have been mapped out in New Zealand. Australians love to have a crack about the country being the 'shaky isles'. Better a few shakes than bushfires I reckon.

NIWA says if a large earthquake occurs it will probably be contained to one NZ island; fault lines through Cook Strait have been mapped out.

Scientists hope research into the country's most active seismic risk area will help to better predict earthquakes in the future.

Do you agree with MSN Travel that New Zealand is in Top 10 places to travel to...

New Zealand listed as one of top 10 in Best in Travel guide:

New Zealand has been awarded another international travel gong after being named one of the top countries to visit in 2010 by Lonely Planet's Best in Travel guide.

Each year staff and author's from the travel bible put together an overview of some of their best travel experiences from around the world.

When describing New Zealand, authors adhered to the motto "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".

"The land of Maori and hobbits certainly didn't need repairing," according to the guide.

The Hutt River clean up kicks off New Zealand's campaign to clean up its waterways...

The Hutt River clean up in the Hutt Valley district of Wellington kicks off New Zealand's campaign...

Green Party co-leader Russel Norman, plans to raft and kayak down some of NZ's most polluted rivers to raise water quality issues

A New Zealand national campaign to clean up the country's waterways gets underway at the Hutt River this morning.

Green Party co-leader Russel Norman is planning to raft and kayak down some of the country's most polluted lowland rivers to raise awareness of water quality issues.

Parents of a Kiwi teen who took his own life make passionate appeal...

The parents of a Kiwi teenager who took his life have made a passionate appeal to prevent similar deaths.

A 15-year-old schoolboy took his own life after being part of a late-night text conversation about suicide.

Michael Powell was found dead near his home in Waihi Beach, in the western Bay of Plenty, last April.

At an inquest in the Waihi District Court this week, coroner Peter Ryan ruled the death was self-inflicted and described the case as "every parent's worst nightmare".

Ryan reserved his final findings but expressed "grave concern" about the content of texts between teenagers - and when they sent them. He also promised to investigate how troubled youngsters could be offered more help.

The Hobbit to be filmed in New Zealand...

Seems Hollywood can’t get enough of our Kiwi beauty. This film will be one of two prequels to the Lord of the Rings triology. In otherwords what went before!

Location scouts for the movie 'The Hobbit' have been sighted around Queenstown as it could be the main filming location for the production.

Crews could be arriving as early as March this year, according to media reports.

A film crew freelancer told media that location scouting was "happening around the Wakatipu area, but is also happening in Canterbury, Wanaka and the Nelson area".

History of the Mackenzie Country, South Canterbury, New Zealand:

The first people to enter the Mackenzie Basin were Māori. They quarried stone for tools, fished for eel, hunted birds, including moa, and established summer camps along the rivers and lakes. Māori names were given to the inland lakes – Tekapo, Te Kaupururu (Alexandrina), Otetoto (MacGregor), Pukaki, Ohau. The name Tekapo derives from the Māori words Taka (sleeping mat) and Po (night).

Māori told white settlers of the grassy plains of the interior, but the Mackenzie Basin really only became known in 1855 when James Mckenzie, a Scottish shepherd was arrested for sheep stealing. Seeking a less conspicuous route for his flock, he ventured inland and discovered the high country that now bears his name.

Donate to the HUMANITARIAN COALITION for Haiti...

Canadian government matches donations to Haiti.
Oxfam teams delivering water.

Oxfam Responds to Haiti Earthquake:

Oxfam is beginning to get aid through to earthquake survivors despite immense challenges. We've distributed tools to rescue workers, started water supply at temporary camps and many more supplies will be in place in the next day. All we need is financial support to ensure that we can reach as many people as soon as possible. Please donate today.

Donate to Haiti

The Hutt River flows through the southern North Island of New Zealand. It flows south-west from the southern Tararua Ranges for 56 km, forming a number of fertile floodplains, including Kaitoke, central Upper Hutt and Lower Hutt.

The headwaters in the Kaitoke Regional Park are closed to preserve the quality of the drinking water drawn off at Kaitoke to supply the greater Wellington area. Below Kaitoke is the Kaitoke gorge, a popular destination for Rafting. Below the gorge is Te Marua, where the Mangaroa River joins the Hutt from the east. Further down, just above of the Upper Hutt floodplain, the Akatarawa River joins the Hutt from the west. The Upper Hutt floodplain contains the greater potion of Upper Hutt city. At this point the river starts to flow along a virtually straight geologic fault. At the lower end of the Upper Hutt floodplain is Taita Gorge, which separates Upper Hutt from Lower Hutt, this gorge is significantly shorter and less constricting than Kaitoke gorge. The river's outflow, at Petone, is into Wellington harbour. The geological fault which the river previously followed continues as a steep bluff at the edge of the Wellington Harbour.

Giving up smoking? Good idea, because cigarettes are full of poisons..
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First published at Qondio:

Giving up smoking? Good idea, because cigarettes are full of poisons. Lets read a bit about them.

Tobacco smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals. These include tar, carbon monoxide (found in car exhaust fumes), ammonia (found in floor cleaner)and arsenic (found in rat poisons).

Cigarettes contain nicotine, which is an extremely addictive drug. The mixture of nicotine and carbon monoxide in each cigarette you smoke temporarily increases your heart rate, and blood pressure, straining your heart and blood vessels. It slows your blood flow, cutting off your oxygen to your feet and hands, and therefore affecting circulation.

Gout - just what exactly is this condition?

1/ The third most common form of arthritus, gout causes severe pain and swelling in joints

2/ It usually affects only one or two joints at a time. The ball of the big toe is the most common site.

3/Gout is caused by the buildup of the waste product uric acid in the body.

4/ Most people can process uric acid, but if they can't, it crystallises in the body's joints and causes swelling.

5/The new drug (in the following story) targets and blocks uric to crystallise.

6/Existing drugs do not target those enzymes, but work to reduce the buildup of uric acid once it has crystallised.

Well the contract has been signed for five years, and my 14 year old grandson knows the terms.

There is a sort of grading scale depending on the level he plays at. He will receive free schooling at Brisbane Grammar, a rugby league boarding school, or in Melbourne if he prefers that, and lives with a family there. I won't release the financial details, apart from saying its pretty good for his age.

To me it is like beginning an apprenticeshop that may last five years. If he is in the Melbourne Storm first grade team permanently by the end of this contract, and would be about 19 years old, they could rip up the old contract and offer him one at top rates. He has a great future in the NRL in Australia. In his contract he is asked to state what country he would like to play for eventually. Bit premature, I would thought?

When Kiwi standardbred pacer 'Mr Williams' broke down for a third time 12 months ago, trainer Brent Mangos tried to give him away as a hack because he didn't want the horse to become dog tucker.

But no one wanted Mr Williams, who in the previous two years had bowed a tendon, then gone sore twice more in the same foreleg with holes in the tendon.

So when co-owner Scott Plant suggested they try revolutionary stem cell surgery, Mangos had no hesitation.

"We had nothing to lose because he was just sitting in the back paddock doing nothing."

Mangos and his wife Dianne, a co-owner, did have something to lose actually as the surgery cost thousands but they also knew if they could ever get their speedy pacer back on to the track, he had plenty more to offer.

New Zealand blogger bailed on suppression breaches...

An internet blogger has been remanded on bail after appearing in court on five charges for alleged breach of suppression. He released information on his blog about the identity of a person who had name suppression from the courts.

He is actually an irresponsible fool for doing what he did. Many of us in NZ would like to see changes made to that particular act, because there are many people hiding behind it until sentencing; and in some cases suspicion can be pointed at innocent peopl.

The blogger charged with breaking name suppression orders has been remanded on bail.

The cybermen are on the march - new cyber monitoring powers have been given to Kiwi police and SIS...

New Zealand's cyber spies have finally been given new powers by the National Government. The Security Intelligence Service and the police force have been given new powers to monitor all aspects of New Zealand citizens' online activities.

The measures are extensions of powers the police and SIS have had for decades in surveillance capacities, but have been extended to cover the monitoring of cell phone calls and texts; emails, internet surfing, online shopping, chatting, social networking, blogs and other websites.

Oil production in NZ surge...

Oil production is rising sharply in New Zealand, but with qualified success.

Figures from the Ministry of Economic Development show production rose almost 20% in the three months to September, compared with the previous quarter and was 7% higher than the previous year.

The figures precede a summer of oil prospecting described by the Government as the busiest in New Zealand's history.

Energy Federation chairman Rob Whitney says the trend is good for New Zealand's trade figures.

However, the oil industry warns that in some places, the search for oil can cost tens of millions of dollars - yet have only a 20% chance of success.

Former Prime Minister Helen Clark has joined world famous film maker ( Lord of the Rings) Peter Jackson in topping the New Year honours, it was recently announced.

Miss Clark has received New Zealand's highest accolade, becoming a member of the Order of New Zealand, while Sir Peter is among five to become knights or dames. But, however, she will not become a Dame; under her administrations titles were abolished, and reinstated this year under the new National Government.

In all, 193 people have received honours, covering fields as diverse as music, speedway, education and horticultural science.

We have a new year ahead of us and I hope we can put aside the garbage of the past.

2009 was a pretty lousy year for most of us and I hope we can starting realising all our hopes and achieving our goals for the coming years. Lets hope 2010 is a successful year in New Zealand and abroad.

Let us hope that the disappointment of the failed Copenhagen talks can be put behind us and new talks will be planned and held in the near future. Climate change is an important subject in all our futures.

Kiaora.

Resomation or green cremation part of increased alternatives to traditional burials...

Resomation or green cremation is part of increased alternatives to traditional burial as cremations increase around the world, due to a scarcity of land. The highest national use of traditional cremations is Japan at a massive 97%, United Kingdom 70%, New Zealand 58% and China 41%, with US currently on 30%, but expected to rise to 38% in 2010.

Green burials where bodies are placed in biodegradable wooden or wicker caskets without being embalmed, and often under a tree have gained popularity around the world. Veterinarians have been using this process for years.

A Coal Mine in Our Backyard

By Meg Appleby(nz)

"New Zealand's state owned coal producer, Solid Energy, and fertiliser company Ravensdown are currently investigating the building of a lignite to urea plant in Mataura's backyard. Solid Energy says the urea plant could be the foundation of a New Zealand capability in coal gasification technology, which could also be used to produce diesel domestically.

Solid Energy has been on a buying spree over the last couple of years - buying up farms in the area that sit over the extensive lignite deposits (some 8 billion tonnes) and pushing up land prices.

Lets face it, no matter how you look at it, or whatever kind of a spin you put on it, the Copenhagen climate change talks were a fiasco and a total failure!

Nothing constructive was achieved at these talks; they were hamstrung by rhetoric and discord between developed and developing nations. The so-called accord between 192 nations simply noted that the average world temperature increases should not exceed 2 degrees Celsius. But there are no commitments to any emission cuts to achieve this - just a wish I presume.

The aid charity, Oxfam, warned that by the time of the next scheduled round of United Nations sponsored talks, due, I believe in December, 2010 in Mexico, about 150,000 people would have died and a million more displaced through climate change.

I would like to wish readers a very Merry Christmas and a most happy New Year for 2010.

Have a marvellous time with family and friends.

See you in 2010.

New Zealand hasn't had a great deal going for it in recent times, but its still not a bad place to live in...

New Zealand leads the global race when it comes to honesty.

Anti-graft watchdog Transparency International (TI) ranked it number one in the world’s least corrupt countries, according to media reports.

New Zealand scored 9.4 points out of a possible 10.

The score is based on perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people and country analysts.

Trailing New Zealand is Denmark, Singapore, Sweden and Switzerland. Lawless Somalia and war-torn Afghanistan were the most corrupt.

The Astronomical Knowledge of the Maori, Genuine and Empirical
Origin of the Heavenly Bodies...

Origin of the Heavenly Bodies
The mythopoetical Maori, when explaining the origin of the heavenly bodies, put his ideas on the subject into the form of an allegory. He derived them from certain mythical beings, many of whom appear to be personifications of some form of light. Thus the Awa folk of the Bay of Plenty explain that Tangotango and Wainui, two of the offspring of the Sky Parent and the Earth Mother, produced the sun, moon, and stars. Wainui is the personified form of the ocean. This myth is given in the form of a genealogical table:—

A controversial church billboard has created worldwide attention.

The poster depicts Joseph in bed with Mary,"Poor Joseph. God was a hard act to follow." Indeed.

Threats and vandalism failed to discourage the efforts of Auckland's, St Matthew Church- in-the City poster campaign which shows a dejected Joseph and a sad looking Mary. It had paint thrown over it within six hours, was stolen, and a replacement copy was cut to ribbons. They do not intend to replace that copy.

The church said the aim of the billboard was to lampoon the literal Christian conception story and to think about what a miracle is.

My 14 year old grandson signed up by the Melbourne Storm NRL...

We just heard some fantastic news; our 14 year old grandson, Pride, who featured in an earlier post after being nominated for an athletic award here in Wellington, and just this week awarded the top athlete and sportsman of the year for his secondary school in Upper Hutt (Upper Hutt College), here in the Hutt Valley, has been signed up after a boot-camp by the champion NRL club in Australian rugby league, the Melbourne Storm, and will be flown over for a trial with the club in April,2010. He was among the three final selections after a 125 were trialled here. Two of the players, including Pride, play for the same Upper Hutt Tigers club.

Hidden tribe of Kiwi discovered in the Ruahine Range in NZ...

A hidden tribe of Kiwi were discovered in the Ruahine Range near Taihape in the North Island of New Zealand.

A new tribe you say? Why of course, the kiwi bird of course. Did you think I meant a human tribe?

This tribe of Kiwi has been found after volunteers made a stoat cull at the northern tip of the Ruahine Range, near Taihape. The stoat is one of the most dangerous predators of our native bird.

A group of 29 previously undetected North Island brown Kiwi were heard "singing, screeching and growling " among the red beech and red cedar on a perfectly still, quiet evening. It was reported that four years ago, Conservation Department staff found only four Kiwi in the area.

Factory dairy farming proposal in NZ condemned by the Greens...

From THE GREEN PLANET BLOG - Our World and Environment:

New Zealand is on the brink of introducing factory farming of dairy cows, the NZ Green Party said today: The party condemns the proposal.

Consent applications were recently lodged with Environment Canterbury for factory-style dairy farms in the Mackenzie Basin.

Three companies plan to establish 16 new farms with nearly 18,000 cows in the area. According to the applications, all 18,000 cows will be housed in 'cubicle stables' 24 hours a day for eight months of the year, and 12 hours a day for the remaining four months.