The New Flag

Josh has designed a new flag for NZ..

He says:

"I did an informal survey and found that kiwi's don't feel much when they gaze upon their flag. they don't feel any national pride, like when they see the haka or something. so i figured we might as well help them out and make a flag that everyone can rally around and not have it be a symbol of colonial control, but rather a flag that symbolizes NZ's march forward as united country with a common future as opposed to a colonial past.

The Silver Fern represents the fauna of NZ and the Black represents the All Blacks, the pride and joy of their sporting history (and really the de facto national colour).

It will be a way for NZ to feel a swell of pride over a national symbol instead of ambivlence. The same thing happened in Canada. they used to have the red ensign with the crest of Canada on it. Then they changed to the maple leaf flag and people really took to it and love it now."

Thoughts?

So far I've gotten:

"A bit pirate-ish"

"Great!"

26 - 2008!

The 17th of August dawned bright and sunny. I treated the birthday boy to an unfinishably large breakfast, which included an assortment of four different beverages..


Josh spent a lovely afternoon hiking at Owhiro Bay, whilst I attended a committee meeting with the Wellington Improv Troupe. Then, we had dinner at Wagamama - yum.

This is Josh with his assortment of gifts from his dad:

Uninteresting? Perhaps...it was funny at the time..

WellingDUH?

I recently had a friend over here ask me what I thought of NZ and Wellington.

It’s interesting because we’ve now been over here for nearly 8 months, and I’m starting to forget how certain aspects of our countries are different. Also, the fact we don’t have TV is hindering my assumption-making!

I’ve sometimes heard people refer to AU and NZ as “pretty much the same country.” After actually spending some time here, I would have to disagree. New Zealand people do have quite a different culture to Australians – though we both like similar sports.

New Zealanders, as a generalized whole, seem to me more ‘Britishy’ than Australians. In my view, they’re a little more:

While Australians are a bit more like:
“Where the Bloody Hell are YA?”

New Zealand is also home to the ‘Kiwi Mumble’ (which I am going to develop a wiki for I think). They (very politely) don’t like to speak up under any circumstance, and may not even do so under duress. I am already a loud person in general, so team me with a loud American and we sometimes get strange looks on the bus…maybe for disturbing the peace?

Bus drivers in Wellington are also too polite sometimes – they can’t seem to drive past a person waving at a stop, even when the bus is full. Conversely, you’re also sometimes dropped off in the middle of the street, something which I never encountered in Brisbane – where the bus drivers are adamant about safety in different ways. Mostly gruff/ angry ones shouting “move to the back of the bus” at the passengers.

New Zealanders also seem to have a stronger, unifying sense of national identity. Although this is not lacking in Australia, it’s quite different here because of the overarching embracement of Maori culture and language. Sadly, I wouldn’t know a word of any Aboriginal languages, or even much about history and culture. Here, the people are strongly identified with the idea of NZ being a country of shared heritage and dual language (Maori is the second official language). Through my work I can even to a Maori language course, or one about the Treaty of Waitangi – so that I can be a better informed public servant.

People are also more keen to get into arts and cultural events. I went to see Be Kind Rewind on Monday as part of the NZ Film Festival. It was a 4pm screening and I was expecting it to be pretty empty really. However, the huge Embassy Theatre was PACKED. I have found this amazing because people want to engage with the arts seemingly so much more than in Brisbane. Even the weekly WIT shows recently have averaged 50+ people on a WEDNESDAY! We struggled to get 10 people to come to our shows back home..

So anyway, this is getting rather long.

I’ll just stop for now. Maybe if anyone has any specific questions they could comment? Ok

Merrilee

Soon to be properly linked

I've just started editing our Improactive site to be a bio/ resource page for us.

You can check out the beginnings here:
http://www.improactive.info-a.googlepages.com/home2

Once I get my act together, it will be accessible via http://www.improactive.com, but alas my work internet security blocks my web host client godaddy.com because of apparent "adult references"

I don't get it...

The Deep South

We've been lucky enough to have had Josh's mom Dee come to visit. It's been lovely to hang out and show someone new around Wellington.

Also awesome that we got to travel to the south island and see some more of NZ's spectacular scenery. And I'm not just saying that for flattery of the country - it is seriously amazing...

Thus, let's begin the photographic journey of our trip:

Flying in as the mountains peek through the clouds..

In Arrowtown, which is a small goldrush town

This is a tiny shack from the chinese village that existed during the gold rush..

In the Eglinton Valley - SO amazing!! It was carved by a glacier - and is steep mountains either side, then this golden grass along the bottom without trees. I've never seen anything like it!

Mirror Lakes

Me on Milford Sound - I can't believe we got to go!!

More Milford

Me outside the Skyline Queenstown with...SNOW!!!

View of the Remarkables from Queenstown

So, that's all for now...but yes it was AMAZING.

BIG thanks to Dee for taking us! xxx

I thought I knew...

New Zealand - land of Hobbits, hokey-pokey ice cream, kiwi and sheep.

Also the land lacking insulation and central heating.

It has been SO cold and it's not even fully winter yet! Believe me, for a person who has lived in tropical Queensland for over ten years, it's a shock to the system. There was a time back home where I couldn't take enough layers off (and felt like removing my skin to get cooler), whereas here, I could be wearing four shirts and still feel like my marrow has frozen.

At any rate, the coldest is still to come. I'm going to invest in more thermals and do what any warm-blooded person would do - HEAD FURTHER SOUTH..

Queenstown here we come!

Tired...so tired!!

Well, we have been busy bees lately. It seems that Wellington really is an active city, and naturally so are our friends. I think Josh and I have had but 2 nights at home this week!

It's been fun, but man I am glad tomorrow is Saturday.

This week, we saw "Sensible Susan and the Queen's Merkin" a positively delightful and hilarious tale about a 'boring' girl who has to journey to Hades to save her husband. And, we just got home from "Funk Rabbit" - a two-man improvised show starring our friends Derek and Julian. Which was also delightful and funny...

So I'm all theatred up, which is a nice feeling after quite a theatrical drought (apart from my own shows). It really makes me feel alive and inspired to see other shows. Which is great, because we're soon to start the first drafts of our TV show script - so inspiration is essential!! I've really been amazed not only by the variety and quality of theatre on offer here, but also peoples' willingness to get out there and see it (hence the aforementioned "active city") It's envigorating and heartwarming...despite the icy-cold-rainy-windy night we're having.

mmmmm...

Anyway, I also wanted to put up some photos of Jen and Joe's farewell. They will be on the plane as I write, jetting their way to the motherland. I was quite sad to see them go, because I only just got to know them properly and they are awesome!! The party was fun though (see below)

The cuties..

All the WITsters at the party..

Steven and Josh's Connect 4 battle

Christine's handiwork with lipstick..