CAMERON WILLIAMSON - The Dominion Post | Monday, 31 December 2007
As an export story, it's almost unprecedented, except for the dispatch of coals to Newcastle.
But Londoners are now drinking pints of New Zealand gold medal ale off the taps at a Speight's Alehouse beside the River Thames.
Speight's has achieved the unlikely equivalent of selling ice to the Eskimos by serving draught beer to the English, and cannily employed fiercely loyal expatriate Kiwis to do it.
The sight of a weatherboard Speight's Alehouse sitting beside the Thames at Canary Wharf recently was the opening move in a campaign to export Speight's to Europe. And the way it has been achieved is novel: sending a fully built alehouse on a coastal trader, all the way from Speight's home town, Dunedin.
The Great Speight's Beer Delivery is a story of persistence, determination, stoushes and triumph over adversity - and that's before you hear about the reality-TV style trip that four mates have undertaken to deliver an alehouse to London for a homesick Kiwi.
Of course, the goal of selling beer to the Brits has been wrapped in a story that demonstrates what the brand is all about.
"This is about good mates showing the loyalty, honesty and staunch determination to help out a friend in need," Speight's brand manager, Stu McIntosh, says.
It stemmed from a fairly innocent e-mail from former Dannevirke farmer Tim Ellingham, who was hankering for a cold Speight's after a gruelling day fighting London's dirty, boring grind.
He found himself a bit homesick for the brew, and the crew, he had left behind.
"After dragging myself through the Tube and sitting bored at work, nothing would be more welcome than a cold Speight's at the end of the day," he wrote to the beer makers. But rather than send off a couple of dozen cans to cheer the poor bloke up, Speight's response was to find Tim's best mate, Wellingtonian James Livingstone, and suggest that he and some mates do the honourable thing and deliver the beer in person to London. And not just a couple of slabs, they said: a true mate would do the generous thing and send a whole pub.
The project got serious discussion at Lion, agency Publicis Mojo got involved, and the Great Beer Delivery snowballed into a reality-show behemoth.
Mates were recruited from keen young applicants in a national interviewing drive and from 2009 applicants, 1000 were interviewed, a shortlist of 50 was drawn up and a team of four was selected to accompany James.
They were Mark Wilson, a mouthy Southlander, Taranaki teacher Tim Cleaver, newly married Dunedin IRD manager James Munro, "Big Unit" Lindsay Gilbert. When he became homesick and returned from the Bahamas, Steve Nichol, a farmer from Clark's Junction, Central Otago, replaced him.
Cameramen tracked every activity, every tear and tiff, producing short episodes as the crew sailed across the world, an interactive website built a community of supporters to follow the 25,000km journey, and a suitable ship - the 1000-ton MV Lida - was engaged.
Expats cruising the Internet in London became involved and told their mates, and the campaign became one of the most engaging, viral, friend-get-friend marketing initiatives to hit the Internet waves.
With the arrival in London in October, the journey was complete, and was celebrated with endless "awesome" toasts charged by the 5000 litres of Speight's that accompanied the ship. Then the task of establishing the beer in a permanent alehouse in central London became the focus.
A team of executives from Speight's owner, Lion Nathan, and their planning agents, led by corporate affairs director Liz Reid, entered the equivalent of the lion's den - trying to establish an alehouse in the City of Westminster, an area controlled by a council with the reputation of being conservative and prescriptive, and full of centuries-old pubs (about 2000).
The rather more humble yellow weatherboard two-door pub - with white-framed windows, welcoming wooden bar and shiny copper taps - was trucked from Canary Wharf to the top of an existing Walkabout bar at Temple tube station. It has a six-month remit to seed the ground while a permanent site is developed nearby, probably in the shell of an established pub.
The two-container, blue-and-yellow temporary pub is the 15th alehouse in the concept-bar chain that includes the Shepherd's Arms in Wellington's Tinakori Rd.
But this one is a bit different. It was built, by Speight's preferred team, the Three Bald Men, in two interlocking 12m steel containers. It has been unloaded and reloaded a dozen times during the voyage and will continue to be the forerunner for the five permanent alehouses in five years planned by Lion.
The whanau of friends, contacts and compatriots from the campaign will be at the core of Speight's marketing machine.
Stu McIntosh, in London to lead the last charge, said: "These expat Kiwis are the best brand ambassadors we could hope for.
"There are almost 400,000 of them in England, many in London, and we hope they will bring their English and international friends to enjoy Speight's Alehouse hospitality."
Monday 31 December 2007
A new entry in NZ's top 20
Long serving political figure Don McKinnon has been appointed to the Order of New Zealand, stepping into the place vacated by Maori Queen Dame Te Atairangikaahu, who died last year.
The Order of New Zealand is the country's highest and most exclusive honour, with only 20 living members permitted at any one time.
Mr McKinnon spoke about the appointment while holidaying in northern Tuscany.
"It's a great honour to be ranked alongside so many extraordinary fellow New Zealanders," Mr McKinnon told The Dominion Post.
Dame Te Ata was "a wonderful lady", he said.
"I had a lot to do with her during my time as a minister, both in and out of New Zealand, so that makes it very, very special."
Mr McKinnon tops a New Year honours list that includes opera star Dame Malvina Major, former MP Marilyn Waring, entertainers David McPhail, Johnny Devlin and Ray Woolf, and former All Whites coach Kevin Fallon.
Dame Malvina, who becomes a Principal Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, said: "When I was made a dame, I thought that was it. I did not feel anything would follow a dame.
"It certainly came as a complete surprise. It's lovely, really great."
Mr McKinnon described the past year as one of the toughest in his career because of the "dramas" in Fiji and heightening tension in Pakistan.
He is in his second term as Commonwealth secretary-general, a post he has held since retiring from Parliament in 1999 after 21 years as a National Party MP. He ends his tenure in April. He and his wife, Clare de Lore, plan to return to New Zealand and build a house on Manukau Harbour. "I need fresh, clean New Zealand air and sunshine," he said.
High Court judge Edward Durie has been made a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, as has human rights advocate Margaret Shields, of Pukerua Bay.
Former National Party MP Professor Waring has been made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. The arts are represented by actor McPhail, who has been made an officer of the order, rock 'n' roller Johnny Devlin and musician Ray Woolf.
Expatriate businessman Owen Glenn, who in 2005 gave the Labour Party $300,000, becomes an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit.
MATT CALMAN and BEN FAWKES - The Dominion Post | Monday, 31 December 2007
The Order of New Zealand is the country's highest and most exclusive honour, with only 20 living members permitted at any one time.
Mr McKinnon spoke about the appointment while holidaying in northern Tuscany.
"It's a great honour to be ranked alongside so many extraordinary fellow New Zealanders," Mr McKinnon told The Dominion Post.
Dame Te Ata was "a wonderful lady", he said.
"I had a lot to do with her during my time as a minister, both in and out of New Zealand, so that makes it very, very special."
Mr McKinnon tops a New Year honours list that includes opera star Dame Malvina Major, former MP Marilyn Waring, entertainers David McPhail, Johnny Devlin and Ray Woolf, and former All Whites coach Kevin Fallon.
Dame Malvina, who becomes a Principal Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, said: "When I was made a dame, I thought that was it. I did not feel anything would follow a dame.
"It certainly came as a complete surprise. It's lovely, really great."
Mr McKinnon described the past year as one of the toughest in his career because of the "dramas" in Fiji and heightening tension in Pakistan.
He is in his second term as Commonwealth secretary-general, a post he has held since retiring from Parliament in 1999 after 21 years as a National Party MP. He ends his tenure in April. He and his wife, Clare de Lore, plan to return to New Zealand and build a house on Manukau Harbour. "I need fresh, clean New Zealand air and sunshine," he said.
High Court judge Edward Durie has been made a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, as has human rights advocate Margaret Shields, of Pukerua Bay.
Former National Party MP Professor Waring has been made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. The arts are represented by actor McPhail, who has been made an officer of the order, rock 'n' roller Johnny Devlin and musician Ray Woolf.
Expatriate businessman Owen Glenn, who in 2005 gave the Labour Party $300,000, becomes an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit.
MATT CALMAN and BEN FAWKES - The Dominion Post | Monday, 31 December 2007
Happy New Year - 2008
Wishing everyone a Happy New Year for 2008. For the Chinese out there - It will be the Year of the Rat - February 7th
Cockle Hunting - Paihia -
First Christmas site gains 'historic' tag
5:00AM Wednesday December 26, 2007
By Tony Gee
Samuel Marsden held New Zealand's first Christmas service in 1814.
The Bay of Islands site where Samuel Marsden held the first Christmas service in New Zealand in 1814 has been formally recognised and registered as a historic area by the Historic Places Trust.
Registration of Rangihoua at the mouth of the Bay of Islands now identifies it as a place of outstanding heritage significance.
The trust's Northland area manager, Stuart Park, said Rangihoua was significant because it was the first place in New Zealand where there was prolonged early contact between Maori and Pakeha before British colonisation. This makes Rangihoua one of the foundation sites of modern, bicultural New Zealand.
Visitors to the area can walk the historic landscape on the Marsden Cross track where the Rangihoua pa site was once effectively the country's first capital.
Mr Park said Rangihoua in 1805 consisted of about 100 houses surrounded by gardens producing exceptionally good quality potatoes which were used as currency for incoming ships, whose crews traded axes, adzes and hatchets for fresh supplies.
It was the earliest Maori trading post and a significant economic centre after the then-Governor of Norfolk Island sent technology and animals - one of the earliest introductions of European goods into New Zealand.
Rangihoua chief Te Pahi went to Norfolk Island and Port Jackson, where he met senior New South Wales chaplain, the Rev Samuel Marsden.
The pair became good friends, although Te Pahi died four years later in 1809. His successor, Ruatara, went to Australia, where he lived with the Marsden family in Parramatta while learning about European agriculture. The first mission in New Zealand was established in 1815, which became the first long-term Pakeha settlement in the country.
Hongi Hika followed Ruatara and, under his patronage, the missionary society set up another mission station at Kerikeri near Hongi's pa, Kororipo.
Two of New Zealand's oldest standing buildings - the Kerikeri Mission House and the Stone Store - survive from this period.
By Tony Gee
Samuel Marsden held New Zealand's first Christmas service in 1814.
The Bay of Islands site where Samuel Marsden held the first Christmas service in New Zealand in 1814 has been formally recognised and registered as a historic area by the Historic Places Trust.
Registration of Rangihoua at the mouth of the Bay of Islands now identifies it as a place of outstanding heritage significance.
The trust's Northland area manager, Stuart Park, said Rangihoua was significant because it was the first place in New Zealand where there was prolonged early contact between Maori and Pakeha before British colonisation. This makes Rangihoua one of the foundation sites of modern, bicultural New Zealand.
Visitors to the area can walk the historic landscape on the Marsden Cross track where the Rangihoua pa site was once effectively the country's first capital.
Mr Park said Rangihoua in 1805 consisted of about 100 houses surrounded by gardens producing exceptionally good quality potatoes which were used as currency for incoming ships, whose crews traded axes, adzes and hatchets for fresh supplies.
It was the earliest Maori trading post and a significant economic centre after the then-Governor of Norfolk Island sent technology and animals - one of the earliest introductions of European goods into New Zealand.
Rangihoua chief Te Pahi went to Norfolk Island and Port Jackson, where he met senior New South Wales chaplain, the Rev Samuel Marsden.
The pair became good friends, although Te Pahi died four years later in 1809. His successor, Ruatara, went to Australia, where he lived with the Marsden family in Parramatta while learning about European agriculture. The first mission in New Zealand was established in 1815, which became the first long-term Pakeha settlement in the country.
Hongi Hika followed Ruatara and, under his patronage, the missionary society set up another mission station at Kerikeri near Hongi's pa, Kororipo.
Two of New Zealand's oldest standing buildings - the Kerikeri Mission House and the Stone Store - survive from this period.
Sunday 30 December 2007
Wellington prepares for Hobbit movie windfall
The Dominion Post | Thursday, 20 December 2007
Wellington is set to reap a windfall to match all of Bilbo Baggins' riches, thanks to Peter Jackson's new Hobbit movie deal.
Budgets of US$150 million (NZ$198 million) are expected for each of the two films, and film studio executives say it is likely Wellington will again be home base for Middle-earth.
Based on JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit, the movies will be made simultaneously and released in 2010 and 2011.
They will tell the story of hobbit Bilbo Baggins before the events of The Lord of the Rings.
Michael Lynne, co-chief executive officer of New Line Cinema, said most of the movies would be made in Wellington. It is understood sites in Queenstown and Te Anau are also being considered.
Preproduction begins next month, but no script-writing can begin till a strike by writers in Hollywood ends.
Jackson was in Wellington yesterday, back from filming The Lovely Bones in the United States, but he made no comment on the Hobbit movies.
Wellington Chamber of Commerce chief executive Charles Finny said the return to Middle-earth would be worth "many, many millions of dollars" to Wellington.
"Hopefully this will ensure continued buoyancy in the [film] industry for at least several years to come."
The movies will be also a bonanza for Jackson. The renewal of his relationship with New Line has also been lucrative, The New York Times reporting yesterday that his settlement with the company over Lord of the Rings profits was worth US$40 million.
News of the Hobbit films has sent fans into a frenzy.
Erica Challis, a founder of a popular Tolkien website, said anticipation was already growing. "We are all very excited ... It's absolutely buzzing, the e-mails are flying."
Jackson will produce the movies with his screenwriter wife Fran Walsh, but has not yet signed to direct them, citing scheduling difficulties with his other projects, including The Lovely Bones and TinTin.
However, Jackson and Walsh will have almost complete creative control over the films, with MGM chief executive Harry Sloan saying: "It's Peter's project."
Wellington is set to reap a windfall to match all of Bilbo Baggins' riches, thanks to Peter Jackson's new Hobbit movie deal.
Budgets of US$150 million (NZ$198 million) are expected for each of the two films, and film studio executives say it is likely Wellington will again be home base for Middle-earth.
Based on JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit, the movies will be made simultaneously and released in 2010 and 2011.
They will tell the story of hobbit Bilbo Baggins before the events of The Lord of the Rings.
Michael Lynne, co-chief executive officer of New Line Cinema, said most of the movies would be made in Wellington. It is understood sites in Queenstown and Te Anau are also being considered.
Preproduction begins next month, but no script-writing can begin till a strike by writers in Hollywood ends.
Jackson was in Wellington yesterday, back from filming The Lovely Bones in the United States, but he made no comment on the Hobbit movies.
Wellington Chamber of Commerce chief executive Charles Finny said the return to Middle-earth would be worth "many, many millions of dollars" to Wellington.
"Hopefully this will ensure continued buoyancy in the [film] industry for at least several years to come."
The movies will be also a bonanza for Jackson. The renewal of his relationship with New Line has also been lucrative, The New York Times reporting yesterday that his settlement with the company over Lord of the Rings profits was worth US$40 million.
News of the Hobbit films has sent fans into a frenzy.
Erica Challis, a founder of a popular Tolkien website, said anticipation was already growing. "We are all very excited ... It's absolutely buzzing, the e-mails are flying."
Jackson will produce the movies with his screenwriter wife Fran Walsh, but has not yet signed to direct them, citing scheduling difficulties with his other projects, including The Lovely Bones and TinTin.
However, Jackson and Walsh will have almost complete creative control over the films, with MGM chief executive Harry Sloan saying: "It's Peter's project."
Dollar signs elusive
By GREG NINNESS - Sunday Star Times | Sunday, 30 December 2007
LAWRENCE SMITH/Sunday News
Home-owners and exporters have little to look forward to in 2008, with both mortgage interest rates and the exchange rate expected to stay high next year.
"I think one would have to be quite brave to speak too loudly about what fixed mortgage interest rates might do next year," said BNZ chief economist Tony Alexander.
"About four months ago I was saying fixed mortgage rates might come down by 0.5% in 2008. Now I think they may not come down at all and if they do it will be minimal.
"The reason is, while they will remain supported by domestic monetary policy remaining firm, what happens offshore is pure guesswork at the moment."
While the US Federal Reserve could make further cuts to interest rates in that country, strong inflationary pressure in Europe and Australia could see central banks there raising them.
And the outlook for floating rates isn't much better.
Alexander isn't ruling out the possibility that the Reserve Bank will cut wholesale interest rates next year, a move which would flow through to lower floating mortgage rates.
"But if they do, it will not be until really late in the year."
In the meantime, there was already pressure for floating rates to go higher even if the Reserve Bank took no action at all on the interest rate front next year, he said.
Real estate agents will also have little to cheer about next year.
Alexander is picking the number of housing sales to fall from about 100,000 this year, down from a peak of about 120,000 in 2003, to about 75,000 to 80,000 in 2008.
The only bright spot is that unsatisfied demand from first-home buyers and investors looking for bargains should help support housing prices, he said.
Alexander is also cautious about picking where the NZ dollar might be headed next year.
"Ever since the currency got through US65c in 2004 people have been always having to upgrade their forecasts and it is the same now," he said.
"Most forecasters are saying maybe we could hit US80c in the next few months, but we'll finish 2008 lower than we are now. But the risk is that we finish 2008 maybe near to where we are now. The prevalent view is that the NZ dollar will go up in the first half [of 2008] and go down in the second half.
"But to me what it means is a warning to exporters that maybe for the next 12 months they could do some hedging."
LAWRENCE SMITH/Sunday News
Home-owners and exporters have little to look forward to in 2008, with both mortgage interest rates and the exchange rate expected to stay high next year.
"I think one would have to be quite brave to speak too loudly about what fixed mortgage interest rates might do next year," said BNZ chief economist Tony Alexander.
"About four months ago I was saying fixed mortgage rates might come down by 0.5% in 2008. Now I think they may not come down at all and if they do it will be minimal.
"The reason is, while they will remain supported by domestic monetary policy remaining firm, what happens offshore is pure guesswork at the moment."
While the US Federal Reserve could make further cuts to interest rates in that country, strong inflationary pressure in Europe and Australia could see central banks there raising them.
And the outlook for floating rates isn't much better.
Alexander isn't ruling out the possibility that the Reserve Bank will cut wholesale interest rates next year, a move which would flow through to lower floating mortgage rates.
"But if they do, it will not be until really late in the year."
In the meantime, there was already pressure for floating rates to go higher even if the Reserve Bank took no action at all on the interest rate front next year, he said.
Real estate agents will also have little to cheer about next year.
Alexander is picking the number of housing sales to fall from about 100,000 this year, down from a peak of about 120,000 in 2003, to about 75,000 to 80,000 in 2008.
The only bright spot is that unsatisfied demand from first-home buyers and investors looking for bargains should help support housing prices, he said.
Alexander is also cautious about picking where the NZ dollar might be headed next year.
"Ever since the currency got through US65c in 2004 people have been always having to upgrade their forecasts and it is the same now," he said.
"Most forecasters are saying maybe we could hit US80c in the next few months, but we'll finish 2008 lower than we are now. But the risk is that we finish 2008 maybe near to where we are now. The prevalent view is that the NZ dollar will go up in the first half [of 2008] and go down in the second half.
"But to me what it means is a warning to exporters that maybe for the next 12 months they could do some hedging."
Stars like it Kiwi style
By TAMMY BUCKLEY - Sunday News | Sunday, 30 December 2007
A summer star-spotting frenzy has broken out with two of Hollywoods' biggest names believed to have been joined by one of the world's richest men.
Oscar winners Charlize Theron and Jack Nicholson were reported to be enjoying the sights and sounds of Auckland's Waiheke Island.
And last night music fans were on alert for a possible sighting of the celebrity pair at the first of two Little River Band concerts at the island's Ridgeview Estate winery.
Nicholson, the star of movies such as One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and As Good As It Gets, is no stranger to the country and was one of countless high-profile spectators who arrived here to watch the 2003 America's Cup.
Unconfirmed reports suggest the 70-year-old film legend has a property on Waiheke.
South African-born stunner Theron, who won her Oscar for Monster, has visited before and is a friend of Kiwi filmmaker Niki Caro who directed her in North Country.
Meanwhile, the small northland community of Ahipara was buzzing last week after a surprise appearance by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, said by Forbes magazine to be worth $73 billion.
Gates apparently enjoyed a two-hour quadbike tour near the surf town.
Local quadbike tour operator TuaTua Tours last night refused to confirm to Sunday News that Gates had been in town.
"I can't confirm anything," a spokeswoman said, citing client confidentiality.
Gates, a frequent visitor to our shores, reportedly flew in on Boxing Day with his family and a small platoon of security guards in tow.
The celebrity rumour mill also suggests superstar Johnny Depp is due to visit the surfing hotspot over the next few weeks.
New Zealand has fast become a top holiday retreat for the rich and famous.
When Tom Cruise came in 2003 to film The Last Samurai around New Plymouth he praised the country's beauty and Taranaki's "stunning and breathtaking" scenery and the warmth of the Kiwis he met.
"New Zealanders are known for their warmth and hospitality and generosity and I certainly have seen every bit of that since I've been here," Cruise said.
Singers Jack Johnson and Ben Harper's love for the country and Raglan's surf saw them buy properties in the coastal town.Country music star Shania Twain has also found a haven here, purchasing Motatapu Station near Wanaka a few years ago.
A summer star-spotting frenzy has broken out with two of Hollywoods' biggest names believed to have been joined by one of the world's richest men.
Oscar winners Charlize Theron and Jack Nicholson were reported to be enjoying the sights and sounds of Auckland's Waiheke Island.
And last night music fans were on alert for a possible sighting of the celebrity pair at the first of two Little River Band concerts at the island's Ridgeview Estate winery.
Nicholson, the star of movies such as One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and As Good As It Gets, is no stranger to the country and was one of countless high-profile spectators who arrived here to watch the 2003 America's Cup.
Unconfirmed reports suggest the 70-year-old film legend has a property on Waiheke.
South African-born stunner Theron, who won her Oscar for Monster, has visited before and is a friend of Kiwi filmmaker Niki Caro who directed her in North Country.
Meanwhile, the small northland community of Ahipara was buzzing last week after a surprise appearance by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, said by Forbes magazine to be worth $73 billion.
Gates apparently enjoyed a two-hour quadbike tour near the surf town.
Local quadbike tour operator TuaTua Tours last night refused to confirm to Sunday News that Gates had been in town.
"I can't confirm anything," a spokeswoman said, citing client confidentiality.
Gates, a frequent visitor to our shores, reportedly flew in on Boxing Day with his family and a small platoon of security guards in tow.
The celebrity rumour mill also suggests superstar Johnny Depp is due to visit the surfing hotspot over the next few weeks.
New Zealand has fast become a top holiday retreat for the rich and famous.
When Tom Cruise came in 2003 to film The Last Samurai around New Plymouth he praised the country's beauty and Taranaki's "stunning and breathtaking" scenery and the warmth of the Kiwis he met.
"New Zealanders are known for their warmth and hospitality and generosity and I certainly have seen every bit of that since I've been here," Cruise said.
Singers Jack Johnson and Ben Harper's love for the country and Raglan's surf saw them buy properties in the coastal town.Country music star Shania Twain has also found a haven here, purchasing Motatapu Station near Wanaka a few years ago.
Trans-Tasman rowers set foot on Aussie soil
Sunday, 30 December 2007
A team of four rowers has set foot on Australian soil after completing the first trans Tasman row in 31 days.
Steven Gates, Andrew Johnson, Kerry Tozer and surfboat champion Sally Macready set out on November 29 from Hokianga Harbour, north of Auckland.
They arrived to cheers from wellwishers at Sydney's Neutral Bay at 10.15am (NZ time) after clearing customs at Watsons Bay earlier.
The team members appeared fit and healthy as they were reunited with family and friends.
Gates described the feeling of entering Sydney harbour as "absolute euphoria".
"We were beyond the point of exhaustion, we really were," Gates told reporters.
"We pushed that envelope to its absolute limit and to hit the heads this morning at four o'clock and to know that this was all going to be over really soon was just the most powerful feeling."
Macready was greeted by her students from Loreto Normanhurst and said she was looking forward to having a shower.
"We were pretty confident the whole way, we had ups and downs but we were pretty confident," she said.
"I can't wait to have a nice long shower."
Macready was unsteady on her feet as she spoke to the media and thanked more than 40 spectators who welcomed the team.
"My legs aren't feeling too bad, it's just after being at sea for that long I've sort of got off and it's like you're very drunk, so I find it hard to be balanced at the moment so it's almost like when we were seasick on the first few days."
She said the main aim of the trip was to cross the Tasman sea safely.
"For us it was really just to get across, but it's a bonus always to get a record."
The crew received a congratulatory message from two Australian kayakers who have been delayed by bad weather in their attempt to kayak from Australia to New Zealand.
"We've been in touch with them a bit and every day found out how they're going and we went within 100km of them at one stage crossing paths," Macready said.
"It will be nice to hear that they're safe and sound and have made it."
Gates said the four rowers battled severe weather, encountered sharks, whales and dolphins and narrowly avoided a collision with a ship.
"There were some really nasty storms and some really lucky incidents with ships where they hadn't seen us," he said.
"They were coming for us and if it wasn't for Sal seeing them, identifying them coming towards us, grabbing the spotlight and sticking it in their eyes, we probably wouldn't be here."
-AAP
A team of four rowers has set foot on Australian soil after completing the first trans Tasman row in 31 days.
Steven Gates, Andrew Johnson, Kerry Tozer and surfboat champion Sally Macready set out on November 29 from Hokianga Harbour, north of Auckland.
They arrived to cheers from wellwishers at Sydney's Neutral Bay at 10.15am (NZ time) after clearing customs at Watsons Bay earlier.
The team members appeared fit and healthy as they were reunited with family and friends.
Gates described the feeling of entering Sydney harbour as "absolute euphoria".
"We were beyond the point of exhaustion, we really were," Gates told reporters.
"We pushed that envelope to its absolute limit and to hit the heads this morning at four o'clock and to know that this was all going to be over really soon was just the most powerful feeling."
Macready was greeted by her students from Loreto Normanhurst and said she was looking forward to having a shower.
"We were pretty confident the whole way, we had ups and downs but we were pretty confident," she said.
"I can't wait to have a nice long shower."
Macready was unsteady on her feet as she spoke to the media and thanked more than 40 spectators who welcomed the team.
"My legs aren't feeling too bad, it's just after being at sea for that long I've sort of got off and it's like you're very drunk, so I find it hard to be balanced at the moment so it's almost like when we were seasick on the first few days."
She said the main aim of the trip was to cross the Tasman sea safely.
"For us it was really just to get across, but it's a bonus always to get a record."
The crew received a congratulatory message from two Australian kayakers who have been delayed by bad weather in their attempt to kayak from Australia to New Zealand.
"We've been in touch with them a bit and every day found out how they're going and we went within 100km of them at one stage crossing paths," Macready said.
"It will be nice to hear that they're safe and sound and have made it."
Gates said the four rowers battled severe weather, encountered sharks, whales and dolphins and narrowly avoided a collision with a ship.
"There were some really nasty storms and some really lucky incidents with ships where they hadn't seen us," he said.
"They were coming for us and if it wasn't for Sal seeing them, identifying them coming towards us, grabbing the spotlight and sticking it in their eyes, we probably wouldn't be here."
-AAP
Sunday 16 December 2007
Kia ora from London town
5:00AM Thursday December 06, 2007
By Stephen Jewell
As I emerge from the tube station, the chaotic throng of shoppers milling around the junction of Oxford and Regent streets initially confuses me. It's the first Saturday in December and more than one million Londoners have descended upon the city's premier retail district, which has been pedestrianised for the occasion. Despite the absence of cars, the West End is even more hectic than usual, but as I make my way through the crowd, I am drawn to the familiar accents of the friendly faces queuing outside the Salvation Army's Regent Hall.
Today, the church is playing host to London Maori club Ngati Ranana's 13th annual Christmas celebration of Maori and Polynesian culture. As a trio of Salvation Army horn players from the Regent Hall band push past, one of them remarks on the impressive size of the sold-out crowd.
Upon entering the auditorium, the intricately carved arch that forms the centrepiece of London-based artist George Nuku's set looms auspiciously over the stage, turning the theatre into an erstwhile marae for the afternoon.
_Burrows - who co-hosts with New Zealand-born Samoan performance artist/poet Rosana Raymond - opens the festivities with a heartfelt "kia ora".
"When a Maori says kia ora to you, you should say kia ora back," he declares - before the muted response prompts him to add the proviso "with some enthusiasm."
First up on stage are the young members of Te Kohanga Reo o Ranana, who perform an endearing piece, based on a story written by their own Sade Anderson. According to British-born member Gerry Williamson, the kohanga reo is very much the heart and soul of Ngati Ranana.
"Some of the children are of Maori descent but are not born in New Zealand," she says.
"But even though they are born and raised overseas, they are still aware of their Maori heritage and are able to be taught Maori customs and culture."
Ngati Ranana - which translates as "descendants of London" - was first formed in the late 1950s with the intention of providing expat Maori with a place to learn te reo and cultural traditions such as haka and waiata. The club regularly performs at weddings and anniversaries, and for visiting dignitaries, politicians and film and sports stars.
"The concert is mostly a thank you to our friends and family and the people we've worked with throughout the year," says Aaron Hapuku, who hails from Christchurch but has called London home for more than five years. "The majority of people here live and work with English people, so this is an opportunity to get together and show them exactly what we do."
Originally, the concert was solely the province of Ngati Ranana but in recent years Pacific Island groups have also been included on the bill. "There's a major Polynesian presence in London now," says Hapuku.
"We've done what a lot of other cultures, such as the Muslims, have done in London. What we enjoy about London is that you can walk up the street and hear half a dozen conversations and only three or four of them will be in English.
Strangely, people in this melting pot tend to be more patriotic. They hang on to their traditions, religions and cultures."
The programme is evenly split between Maori and Pacific Island acts. London Fale's traditional Tongan and Fijian songs contrast neatly with Raymond's hip-hop slam-style spoken word poems, while the colourful dancers and thunderous log drums of Beats of Polynesia threaten to bring the house down. Finally, Ngati Ranana bring the show to a close with a stirring set of original song and dance that climaxes with a special haka written by Hapuku.
"I wanted to write something that reflected on those people who came across all those years ago and started Ngati Ranana as well as those who came before them, such as Hone Heke," he says. "When the British first went to New Zealand, all those early Maori chiefs came over to London to meet Queen Victoria and the British Crown. They made the presence of our people known to the rest of the world."
As the title of one of Ngati Ranana's waiatas written by John Dwyer suggests, the concept of turanga-waewae - having somewhere to call your own - is even more important to Maori living in London than it is to those living in Australia because of the distance from Aotearoa.
"Back home, turangawaewae is centred around a certain piece of land but, because we are in London, it is more about the place that we have to stand with each other," says Hapuku.
By Stephen Jewell
As I emerge from the tube station, the chaotic throng of shoppers milling around the junction of Oxford and Regent streets initially confuses me. It's the first Saturday in December and more than one million Londoners have descended upon the city's premier retail district, which has been pedestrianised for the occasion. Despite the absence of cars, the West End is even more hectic than usual, but as I make my way through the crowd, I am drawn to the familiar accents of the friendly faces queuing outside the Salvation Army's Regent Hall.
Today, the church is playing host to London Maori club Ngati Ranana's 13th annual Christmas celebration of Maori and Polynesian culture. As a trio of Salvation Army horn players from the Regent Hall band push past, one of them remarks on the impressive size of the sold-out crowd.
Upon entering the auditorium, the intricately carved arch that forms the centrepiece of London-based artist George Nuku's set looms auspiciously over the stage, turning the theatre into an erstwhile marae for the afternoon.
_Burrows - who co-hosts with New Zealand-born Samoan performance artist/poet Rosana Raymond - opens the festivities with a heartfelt "kia ora".
"When a Maori says kia ora to you, you should say kia ora back," he declares - before the muted response prompts him to add the proviso "with some enthusiasm."
First up on stage are the young members of Te Kohanga Reo o Ranana, who perform an endearing piece, based on a story written by their own Sade Anderson. According to British-born member Gerry Williamson, the kohanga reo is very much the heart and soul of Ngati Ranana.
"Some of the children are of Maori descent but are not born in New Zealand," she says.
"But even though they are born and raised overseas, they are still aware of their Maori heritage and are able to be taught Maori customs and culture."
Ngati Ranana - which translates as "descendants of London" - was first formed in the late 1950s with the intention of providing expat Maori with a place to learn te reo and cultural traditions such as haka and waiata. The club regularly performs at weddings and anniversaries, and for visiting dignitaries, politicians and film and sports stars.
"The concert is mostly a thank you to our friends and family and the people we've worked with throughout the year," says Aaron Hapuku, who hails from Christchurch but has called London home for more than five years. "The majority of people here live and work with English people, so this is an opportunity to get together and show them exactly what we do."
Originally, the concert was solely the province of Ngati Ranana but in recent years Pacific Island groups have also been included on the bill. "There's a major Polynesian presence in London now," says Hapuku.
"We've done what a lot of other cultures, such as the Muslims, have done in London. What we enjoy about London is that you can walk up the street and hear half a dozen conversations and only three or four of them will be in English.
Strangely, people in this melting pot tend to be more patriotic. They hang on to their traditions, religions and cultures."
The programme is evenly split between Maori and Pacific Island acts. London Fale's traditional Tongan and Fijian songs contrast neatly with Raymond's hip-hop slam-style spoken word poems, while the colourful dancers and thunderous log drums of Beats of Polynesia threaten to bring the house down. Finally, Ngati Ranana bring the show to a close with a stirring set of original song and dance that climaxes with a special haka written by Hapuku.
"I wanted to write something that reflected on those people who came across all those years ago and started Ngati Ranana as well as those who came before them, such as Hone Heke," he says. "When the British first went to New Zealand, all those early Maori chiefs came over to London to meet Queen Victoria and the British Crown. They made the presence of our people known to the rest of the world."
As the title of one of Ngati Ranana's waiatas written by John Dwyer suggests, the concept of turanga-waewae - having somewhere to call your own - is even more important to Maori living in London than it is to those living in Australia because of the distance from Aotearoa.
"Back home, turangawaewae is centred around a certain piece of land but, because we are in London, it is more about the place that we have to stand with each other," says Hapuku.
Saturday 15 December 2007
:02AM Wednesday December 12, 2007
By Jim Eagles
I presume the view of Auckland from the top of Sky Tower was stunning. The photos certainly suggest it was. But I was too scared to look.
Instead I was studying the fragile-looking metal grille under my feet, the one making up the 1.2m-wide circular walkway that now runs all the way around the tower 192m up, wondering if it really would take my weight.
The experience wasn't helped by the fact that through the holes in the grill I could see tiny cars and ant-sized people moving around on the street way, way below.
I was also focussing very hard on retaining my balance and trying to tell myself how easy it would be to walk a 1.2m-wide path at ground level.
It was a stunning day, with almost no wind, but it still seemed as though the tower was swaying around ... or maybe it was just that my knees were shaking.
Welcome to SkyWalk, Auckland's latest terrortraction, which officially opened on Saturday as part of the tower's 10th birthday celebrations.
By Jim Eagles
I presume the view of Auckland from the top of Sky Tower was stunning. The photos certainly suggest it was. But I was too scared to look.
Instead I was studying the fragile-looking metal grille under my feet, the one making up the 1.2m-wide circular walkway that now runs all the way around the tower 192m up, wondering if it really would take my weight.
The experience wasn't helped by the fact that through the holes in the grill I could see tiny cars and ant-sized people moving around on the street way, way below.
I was also focussing very hard on retaining my balance and trying to tell myself how easy it would be to walk a 1.2m-wide path at ground level.
It was a stunning day, with almost no wind, but it still seemed as though the tower was swaying around ... or maybe it was just that my knees were shaking.
Welcome to SkyWalk, Auckland's latest terrortraction, which officially opened on Saturday as part of the tower's 10th birthday celebrations.
Skywalk 360
http://www.skywalk.co.nz/
'A towering accomplishment'
SkyWalk 360® is a new adventure activity where participants experience a guided interpretation walk on Sky Tower’s famous pergola.
Adventurers experience the heightened sensations of being outside the Sky Tower’s observation decks on a 1.2m walkway, with absolutely nothing on either side except a 192m drop off.
You are out there beyond the realm of the window cleaners – actually being part of the view. The basic idea is to walk onto the pergola on the east side of the SkyJump platform and traverse the 360 degrees of the ring stopping at several points for interpretation including Auckland history, landmarks and of course a smattering of old fashioned Kiwi humour to provide local flavour and help steady the nerves!
Do it 363 days a year at Sky City corner of Federal and Victoria Streets, Auckland (Not open Christmas day or New Years Day
'A towering accomplishment'
SkyWalk 360® is a new adventure activity where participants experience a guided interpretation walk on Sky Tower’s famous pergola.
Adventurers experience the heightened sensations of being outside the Sky Tower’s observation decks on a 1.2m walkway, with absolutely nothing on either side except a 192m drop off.
You are out there beyond the realm of the window cleaners – actually being part of the view. The basic idea is to walk onto the pergola on the east side of the SkyJump platform and traverse the 360 degrees of the ring stopping at several points for interpretation including Auckland history, landmarks and of course a smattering of old fashioned Kiwi humour to provide local flavour and help steady the nerves!
Do it 363 days a year at Sky City corner of Federal and Victoria Streets, Auckland (Not open Christmas day or New Years Day
Friday 14 December 2007
Saturday 8 December 2007
New UK visas require stopover in Wellington
The Timaru Herald | Wednesday, 05 December 2007
Kiwis wanting to head off on their OE will first see themselves landing in Wellington because of new security restrictions on United Kingdom visas.
People going to the United Kingdom for more than six months will have to be finger-printed and photographed after the British Government introduces biometric visas on December 11.
About 12,000 New Zealanders who visit the United Kingdom each year will have to book an appointment at the British High Commission in Wellington to have their fingerprints scanned and a digital photo taken. Applications will be denied if people refuse or are unable to provide acceptable finger scans and photographs.
Timaru travel agent Kate Flynn said biometric information was just an added cost for people working hard to meet the hefty OE restrictions.
Travelling to the nearest British embassy was another expense on top of airfares, visas and the $6000 of savings needed.
The British High Commission looked unlikely to lower visa costs but hoped to open facilities in Christchurch and Auckland in January 2008.
Mrs Flynn said global security had increased the restrictions on travelling since 9/11. People applying for an American or French visa also had to visit the country's embassy before their application was granted.
Mrs Flynn believed the tougher restrictions might deter some people from doing their OE, choosing instead to travel further abroad for shorter stints.
The biometric system was already operating for United Kingdom visa applications in more than 100 countries around the world. It was now the global norm for protecting against identity fraud.
Data would be sent straight to the United Kingdom allowing immigration to validate people's identity on arrival. It would be held for 10 years and was protected by the United Kingdom's Data Protection Act 1998.
Kiwis wanting to head off on their OE will first see themselves landing in Wellington because of new security restrictions on United Kingdom visas.
People going to the United Kingdom for more than six months will have to be finger-printed and photographed after the British Government introduces biometric visas on December 11.
About 12,000 New Zealanders who visit the United Kingdom each year will have to book an appointment at the British High Commission in Wellington to have their fingerprints scanned and a digital photo taken. Applications will be denied if people refuse or are unable to provide acceptable finger scans and photographs.
Timaru travel agent Kate Flynn said biometric information was just an added cost for people working hard to meet the hefty OE restrictions.
Travelling to the nearest British embassy was another expense on top of airfares, visas and the $6000 of savings needed.
The British High Commission looked unlikely to lower visa costs but hoped to open facilities in Christchurch and Auckland in January 2008.
Mrs Flynn said global security had increased the restrictions on travelling since 9/11. People applying for an American or French visa also had to visit the country's embassy before their application was granted.
Mrs Flynn believed the tougher restrictions might deter some people from doing their OE, choosing instead to travel further abroad for shorter stints.
The biometric system was already operating for United Kingdom visa applications in more than 100 countries around the world. It was now the global norm for protecting against identity fraud.
Data would be sent straight to the United Kingdom allowing immigration to validate people's identity on arrival. It would be held for 10 years and was protected by the United Kingdom's Data Protection Act 1998.
Conchords save viewers' sanity
Ah, for originality on the television. Chance would be a fine thing, which is why there's a glimmer of hope having Flight of the Conchords still up and going on Prime (Monday, 10pm).
It's not rating through the roof, but what do you expect when it has to follow the beyond-contempt comedy Welcome to Paradise.
By the way, did you see the show's director Geoff Murphy's cameo appearance at the end of the last episode dressed up as some sort of Irish cultural figure dancing in a crowd scene?
Apparently there's a very strong possibility that this stinko show could actually get a second season. They're kidding, surely?
On Flight of the Conchords Murray, Bret and Jemaine's band manager, had decided to add a bongo drummer with a penchant for solos to the duo and make it a threesome.
The lads were not impressed and fell out and split up, with Jemaine getting Dimitri on his keytar to join his "band" and Bret soldiering on with the odious bongoist.
There was an extremely endearing moment when Murray and the lads were bickering about the makeup of the band, when Murray suddenly noticed they were standing in front of a map of New Zealand.
"Look, we shouldn't be arguing in front of the map. It's not right," Murray tsked tsked, herding the party away from the background of the sacred cartography.
In a cruel twist of muso fate, Dimitri and Todd ride off into the sunset to become overnight recording sensations and even Mel, The Conchords' odious stalker, defects to the new boys on the block.
With discord in The Conchords it was a little skimpy on the song offerings and fans had to content themselves with Bret doing gauche knock-offs of 80s dance routines instead. He ain't no Flashdancer but the effort put into constructing a geekish dance routine that went on for some minutes would have been just as tricky as trying to look like a professional.
It's not rating through the roof, but what do you expect when it has to follow the beyond-contempt comedy Welcome to Paradise.
By the way, did you see the show's director Geoff Murphy's cameo appearance at the end of the last episode dressed up as some sort of Irish cultural figure dancing in a crowd scene?
Apparently there's a very strong possibility that this stinko show could actually get a second season. They're kidding, surely?
On Flight of the Conchords Murray, Bret and Jemaine's band manager, had decided to add a bongo drummer with a penchant for solos to the duo and make it a threesome.
The lads were not impressed and fell out and split up, with Jemaine getting Dimitri on his keytar to join his "band" and Bret soldiering on with the odious bongoist.
There was an extremely endearing moment when Murray and the lads were bickering about the makeup of the band, when Murray suddenly noticed they were standing in front of a map of New Zealand.
"Look, we shouldn't be arguing in front of the map. It's not right," Murray tsked tsked, herding the party away from the background of the sacred cartography.
In a cruel twist of muso fate, Dimitri and Todd ride off into the sunset to become overnight recording sensations and even Mel, The Conchords' odious stalker, defects to the new boys on the block.
With discord in The Conchords it was a little skimpy on the song offerings and fans had to content themselves with Bret doing gauche knock-offs of 80s dance routines instead. He ain't no Flashdancer but the effort put into constructing a geekish dance routine that went on for some minutes would have been just as tricky as trying to look like a professional.
Sunday 2 December 2007
Mai Time comes to an end
Sunday Star Times | Sunday, 02 December 2007
MAI WAY: Oliver Tukino Coddington and Gabrielle Paringatai will host the end of Mai Time.
Maori youth show Mai Time comes to an end, its first and last presenters talk to Karen Tay about its legacy.
Oliver Tukino Coddington was 12 when he first appeared on Mai Time. "The crew was filming in Raglan one day and I just jumped in front of the camera."
It was the first year Mai Time went to air as a stand-alone show and the little boy from Raglan was awe-struck at seeing his own young, brown face on TV.
So it is no surprise that, 11 years later, the 23-year-old Maori presenter chose Mai Time as the launchpad for his television career.
Coddington and fellow presenter Gabrielle Paringatai will host the last episode of the iconic TV2 Maori youth series on Saturday morning. The 12-year-old show has been canned by TVNZ to make way for a new series that is still in the works.
The series first appeared as a segment on the TV One Maori current affairs programme Marae, before going on to get its own timeslot on TV2. It won praise over the years for its emphasis on the use of te reo and its positive portrayal of Maori culture and role models all back when Maori TV was still just a twinkle in someone's eye.
The final episode, says Paringatai, will involve "glitz, glam, red carpet, highlights of the past 12 years, old presenters, new presenters, Mai Time history".
Coddington has been with the show two years and Paringatai, a former a primary school teacher, just a year. Both are sad to see the end of the show, and not just because they will lose their jobs.
"It's probably one of the few shows where you could see positive Maori stories. Maori don't always come off the best in the media, but you watch Mai Time and Maori are always on top," Coddington says.
Paringatai is more philosophical: "It was a shock," he says. "But all great eras must come to an end eventually, and this time around it just happens to be Mai Time."
The show came to be known for its eerie knack of picking out local talent way before they become celebrities. Former presenter Stacey (then Daniels) Morrison who was with Mai Time for nearly eight years and is now a radio host on Flava FM is presenting a small segment on the final episode on this very topic.
"We do seem to have interviewed a lot of people just before they become really, really famous," Morrison says. "When you're not at a primetime show, you're not top of the list when you want to interview people. So you have to get creative about it and grab people before they're too cool for school.".
One of those tall poppies is former All Black Carlos Spencer "people were like, who's this guy with the funny haircut? We interview him and next minute he's humongous".
Then there were people like Brendon Pongia and Melody Robinson; both appeared on the show before they went on to the Tall Blacks and Black Ferns. There were so many athletes that after a while, the running joke became "you wanna be an All Black, come on Mai Time," Morrison quips.
She was one of the show's five original presenters, along with Teremoana Rapley, Quinton Hita, Mike Haru and Bennett Pomana. All have gone on to successful media careers and still keep in touch. Hita, who was the youngest member of the Maori Language Commission, had a brief acting stint on Shortland Street and now makes short films with his own company Kura Productions. Haru is a DJ with his own show on Base FM. Rapley is a producer and hip-hop artist and Pomana a DJ at Flava FM.
Hita admits he would still be a smalltown boy if not for Mai Time.
"It was my foray into television. In terms of my longer-term career trajectory, it was the catalyst for me to come to Auckland, which opened up the door for me."
He credits the show with helping him clarify what he wanted out of life.
"Two things stand out for me. One is the presenters. What was really great about Mai Time is everybody got along, which doesn't happen all the time. And back in the day, Mai Time offered Maori youth an opportunity to participate in national television," says Hita.
Mai Time never attracted huge numbers of viewers (its early Saturday morning slot was perhaps a deterrent), but even so, Paringatai and Coddington grew up watching it. Morrison and Haru still have people approach them about their time on the series.
Haru feels the show became a victim of its own agenda. It didn't stay relevant to today's rangatahi.
"With all the technology that's available to the youth today, the show really has to have some kind of learning curve. It's got to be something that's going to make me want to sit down and watch Mai Time. To me, it's just catering for young little kids."
He uses Maori TV as an example of what good Maori programming should be about.
"When I look at it, it's really professional and they play good programmes. I don't think they just box themselves into one style."
For Hita, Mai Time was an opportunity to work towards the bigger picture rather than a chance to watch hip-hop videos, undoubtedly why many youth tuned in. The series was the first to bring hip-hop into the mainstream during the 1990s, before it became chart music.
"We [Maori youth] were renegotiating our identity at the time. Things have changed since but Mai Time was an important vehicle. So in that sense a lot of these new shows targeted at Maori youth is Mai Time's legacy. So even though we played hip-hop music, which helped to hook in the younger Maori generation, more importantly, there were a lot of field items in there and it was always from a Maori perspective."
The final Mai Time screens on TV2, Saturday, 10.30am.
MAI WAY: Oliver Tukino Coddington and Gabrielle Paringatai will host the end of Mai Time.
Maori youth show Mai Time comes to an end, its first and last presenters talk to Karen Tay about its legacy.
Oliver Tukino Coddington was 12 when he first appeared on Mai Time. "The crew was filming in Raglan one day and I just jumped in front of the camera."
It was the first year Mai Time went to air as a stand-alone show and the little boy from Raglan was awe-struck at seeing his own young, brown face on TV.
So it is no surprise that, 11 years later, the 23-year-old Maori presenter chose Mai Time as the launchpad for his television career.
Coddington and fellow presenter Gabrielle Paringatai will host the last episode of the iconic TV2 Maori youth series on Saturday morning. The 12-year-old show has been canned by TVNZ to make way for a new series that is still in the works.
The series first appeared as a segment on the TV One Maori current affairs programme Marae, before going on to get its own timeslot on TV2. It won praise over the years for its emphasis on the use of te reo and its positive portrayal of Maori culture and role models all back when Maori TV was still just a twinkle in someone's eye.
The final episode, says Paringatai, will involve "glitz, glam, red carpet, highlights of the past 12 years, old presenters, new presenters, Mai Time history".
Coddington has been with the show two years and Paringatai, a former a primary school teacher, just a year. Both are sad to see the end of the show, and not just because they will lose their jobs.
"It's probably one of the few shows where you could see positive Maori stories. Maori don't always come off the best in the media, but you watch Mai Time and Maori are always on top," Coddington says.
Paringatai is more philosophical: "It was a shock," he says. "But all great eras must come to an end eventually, and this time around it just happens to be Mai Time."
The show came to be known for its eerie knack of picking out local talent way before they become celebrities. Former presenter Stacey (then Daniels) Morrison who was with Mai Time for nearly eight years and is now a radio host on Flava FM is presenting a small segment on the final episode on this very topic.
"We do seem to have interviewed a lot of people just before they become really, really famous," Morrison says. "When you're not at a primetime show, you're not top of the list when you want to interview people. So you have to get creative about it and grab people before they're too cool for school.".
One of those tall poppies is former All Black Carlos Spencer "people were like, who's this guy with the funny haircut? We interview him and next minute he's humongous".
Then there were people like Brendon Pongia and Melody Robinson; both appeared on the show before they went on to the Tall Blacks and Black Ferns. There were so many athletes that after a while, the running joke became "you wanna be an All Black, come on Mai Time," Morrison quips.
She was one of the show's five original presenters, along with Teremoana Rapley, Quinton Hita, Mike Haru and Bennett Pomana. All have gone on to successful media careers and still keep in touch. Hita, who was the youngest member of the Maori Language Commission, had a brief acting stint on Shortland Street and now makes short films with his own company Kura Productions. Haru is a DJ with his own show on Base FM. Rapley is a producer and hip-hop artist and Pomana a DJ at Flava FM.
Hita admits he would still be a smalltown boy if not for Mai Time.
"It was my foray into television. In terms of my longer-term career trajectory, it was the catalyst for me to come to Auckland, which opened up the door for me."
He credits the show with helping him clarify what he wanted out of life.
"Two things stand out for me. One is the presenters. What was really great about Mai Time is everybody got along, which doesn't happen all the time. And back in the day, Mai Time offered Maori youth an opportunity to participate in national television," says Hita.
Mai Time never attracted huge numbers of viewers (its early Saturday morning slot was perhaps a deterrent), but even so, Paringatai and Coddington grew up watching it. Morrison and Haru still have people approach them about their time on the series.
Haru feels the show became a victim of its own agenda. It didn't stay relevant to today's rangatahi.
"With all the technology that's available to the youth today, the show really has to have some kind of learning curve. It's got to be something that's going to make me want to sit down and watch Mai Time. To me, it's just catering for young little kids."
He uses Maori TV as an example of what good Maori programming should be about.
"When I look at it, it's really professional and they play good programmes. I don't think they just box themselves into one style."
For Hita, Mai Time was an opportunity to work towards the bigger picture rather than a chance to watch hip-hop videos, undoubtedly why many youth tuned in. The series was the first to bring hip-hop into the mainstream during the 1990s, before it became chart music.
"We [Maori youth] were renegotiating our identity at the time. Things have changed since but Mai Time was an important vehicle. So in that sense a lot of these new shows targeted at Maori youth is Mai Time's legacy. So even though we played hip-hop music, which helped to hook in the younger Maori generation, more importantly, there were a lot of field items in there and it was always from a Maori perspective."
The final Mai Time screens on TV2, Saturday, 10.30am.
Army medal theft 'insult' to our nation's heritage
:00PM Sunday December 02, 2007
By Derek Cheng
Charles Upham, double VC winner during the Second World War.
Nine Victoria Crosses were among a dozen medals stolen from the Waiouru Army Museum early this morning, in what the Defence Force says is an insult to the nation's heritage and history.
Defence Force personnel and police are appalled at what appears to have been a well-executed robbery that targeted the gallantry medals in a building protected by an alarm, security cameras and regular patrols.
The alarm at the museum went off at 1.10am, but when a security guard arrived within minutes, there was no sign of the thieves.
Two George Medals and an Albert Medal were also taken in the robbery. The most recent addition to the VC medals - awarded to Corporal Willy Apiata - was not taken.
The VC is regarded as the highest military honour that can be awarded.
Chief of Army Major General Lou Gardiner said the theft was an attack on everything that soldiers had fought for in the last century.
"The value of these medals is what they symbolise and what they were awarded for. They were awarded for extraordinary valour, for courage and commitment and come to symbolise what our military forces have committed to over the years. It's a lot more than just monetary value.
"My message to the thieves is that you've stolen an important part of New Zealand's heritage. [These are] just not some medals for some medal collector. They symbolise some huge sacrifices that New Zealanders, over a century worth of conflicts, have actually put in for their country."
Defence Minister Phil Goff said the theft was a crime against the nation.
"These medals are national treasures. New Zealanders will be appalled and disgusted at the greed and self-interest of those who have stolen the medals."
The museum's executive trustee, Lt Gen (Rtd) Don McIver, said the medals would be worth millions on the black market.
"Some of them will be hard to sell. Every one of them is identified by name on the medal and in that context they could be identifiable as stolen.
"But that wouldn't mean hard collectors wouldn't be prepared to have the medals, even if they couldn't display them.
"They can't be replaced. You can get replicas of the medal sets, but they are known as replicas and in terms of value, it's nominal."
The family of New Zealand's most decorated soldier, Captain Charles Upham, last year sold his VC and Bar for an undisclosed amount, estimated to be well in excess of $1 million.
When asked to describe what he thought of the offenders, Mr McIver said: "I don't think I could out loud."
Inspector Steve Mastrovich said the thieves seemed to know what they were looking for.
"Entry was gained through a fire escape at the back of the building ... by smashing a window and opening a door.
"They targeted the Valour Alcove, which is where the gallantry medals are kept. It looks as though it was well-planned and well-executed.
"Some material was left behind, so it looks like they possibly had an idea of what they were looking for."
He said the thieves only broke into one display cabinet before escaping through a fire escape door. He had yet to determine how they fled the scene.
Major General Gardiner said there were no leads at this stage.
All security measures at the museum - including reinforced glass, security patrols and security cameras - had worked as they should have.
"In an event like this the security will be looked at again. But all the standard operating procedures were activated and ... everyone's done the right thing at the right time," he said.
Video footage has been handed to the police. Border control had also been put on alert in case someone tried to tae the medals out of the country.
The medals that were stolen belonged to the museum, families of war heroes and trusts. All artefacts in the museum are insured.
The museum director was last night making contact with all families of medal-winners.
Police have set up a hotline - 0800 349 0606 - for anyone that may have information leading to the recovery of the medals.
By Derek Cheng
Charles Upham, double VC winner during the Second World War.
Nine Victoria Crosses were among a dozen medals stolen from the Waiouru Army Museum early this morning, in what the Defence Force says is an insult to the nation's heritage and history.
Defence Force personnel and police are appalled at what appears to have been a well-executed robbery that targeted the gallantry medals in a building protected by an alarm, security cameras and regular patrols.
The alarm at the museum went off at 1.10am, but when a security guard arrived within minutes, there was no sign of the thieves.
Two George Medals and an Albert Medal were also taken in the robbery. The most recent addition to the VC medals - awarded to Corporal Willy Apiata - was not taken.
The VC is regarded as the highest military honour that can be awarded.
Chief of Army Major General Lou Gardiner said the theft was an attack on everything that soldiers had fought for in the last century.
"The value of these medals is what they symbolise and what they were awarded for. They were awarded for extraordinary valour, for courage and commitment and come to symbolise what our military forces have committed to over the years. It's a lot more than just monetary value.
"My message to the thieves is that you've stolen an important part of New Zealand's heritage. [These are] just not some medals for some medal collector. They symbolise some huge sacrifices that New Zealanders, over a century worth of conflicts, have actually put in for their country."
Defence Minister Phil Goff said the theft was a crime against the nation.
"These medals are national treasures. New Zealanders will be appalled and disgusted at the greed and self-interest of those who have stolen the medals."
The museum's executive trustee, Lt Gen (Rtd) Don McIver, said the medals would be worth millions on the black market.
"Some of them will be hard to sell. Every one of them is identified by name on the medal and in that context they could be identifiable as stolen.
"But that wouldn't mean hard collectors wouldn't be prepared to have the medals, even if they couldn't display them.
"They can't be replaced. You can get replicas of the medal sets, but they are known as replicas and in terms of value, it's nominal."
The family of New Zealand's most decorated soldier, Captain Charles Upham, last year sold his VC and Bar for an undisclosed amount, estimated to be well in excess of $1 million.
When asked to describe what he thought of the offenders, Mr McIver said: "I don't think I could out loud."
Inspector Steve Mastrovich said the thieves seemed to know what they were looking for.
"Entry was gained through a fire escape at the back of the building ... by smashing a window and opening a door.
"They targeted the Valour Alcove, which is where the gallantry medals are kept. It looks as though it was well-planned and well-executed.
"Some material was left behind, so it looks like they possibly had an idea of what they were looking for."
He said the thieves only broke into one display cabinet before escaping through a fire escape door. He had yet to determine how they fled the scene.
Major General Gardiner said there were no leads at this stage.
All security measures at the museum - including reinforced glass, security patrols and security cameras - had worked as they should have.
"In an event like this the security will be looked at again. But all the standard operating procedures were activated and ... everyone's done the right thing at the right time," he said.
Video footage has been handed to the police. Border control had also been put on alert in case someone tried to tae the medals out of the country.
The medals that were stolen belonged to the museum, families of war heroes and trusts. All artefacts in the museum are insured.
The museum director was last night making contact with all families of medal-winners.
Police have set up a hotline - 0800 349 0606 - for anyone that may have information leading to the recovery of the medals.
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