Ferry
A great night for a ferry crossing. We’re off to Nelson next week and there’s a ground swell coming our way, so our trip will be a bit bumpier.
cocktail
It’s almost christmas and New Zealand will shut down and kick back, as almost everyone has next week off to enjoy their summer holidays. To mark the end of a very busy period at work, we celebrated with a summery cocktail: 1 1/2 oz light rum, 3/4 oz lemon juice and 1/4 oz grenadine. shake and enjoy!
whales
Reasonably good news! Japan finally gave up on the idea of killing about 50 humpback whales for their “scientific programme”, after strong diplomatic efforts and pressure from many countries, including Australia and New Zealand. The Japanese whaling fleet will still slaughter 935 minke whales and 50 fin whales, but it’s good to see that international protests do have some effect.
From Stuff.co.nz:
The humpbacks Japan intended to kill under the guise of scientific research were already being studied by non-lethal research programmes in Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia and Tonga.
Humpback and fin whales populations were yet to recover from decades of over-exploitation from commercial whaling.
quake
A 6.8 magnitude (40km deep) earthquake hit the Gisborne area tonight, at 9pm. It even made the dutch news: “strong quake hits New Zealand”, but Gisborne is over 400km from where we are. We only felt the lightest trembling; only after we were told about the earthquake we realised the shaking wasn’t caused by the wind (it’s quite usual for our house, which is on top of a hill on Wellington’s South Coast, to shake).
Gisborne suffered material damage but no casualties were reported so far. Houses and interiors were damaged, the phone system is out, etcetera. Even in Lower Hutt, which is only minutes north of Wellington, alarm installations were triggered by the quake.
Which reminds me that we should make sure that our heavy furniture is securely attached to a wall, and that our emergency supplies (plenty of water in containers, cans of food, etcetera) are complete.
whoops!
Just read something interesting on stuff:
Olivia Hislop was waiting for a wave at the Meatworks surf break when she felt something tugging at her surfboard. When she turned around she got the fright of her life to see a shark’s face and upper body on her board gnashing its teeth about.
Heh. We know that break:
the aquarium
Unfortunately, the battle to stop the building of the aquarium on Wellington’s south coast is not over yet. Earlier, we reported that the Environment Court decided not to give resource consent for building the aquarium, but the developers and the city council have appealed this decision, which means the High Court will hear the case early 2008.
This means that the people fighting the proposed aquarium still need your support, especially since the Environment Court decided that Save The Point will not be awarded any costs that were made fighting the decision.
Quote from Save The Point:
The Wellington Marine Conservation Trust and the Wellington City Council have appealed the decision of the Environment Court to the High Court. The case is set down to be heard in May 2008. The Environment Court has also decided not to award Save the Point any costs despite the Court deciding that the aquarium and cafe development were not consistent with the National Coastal Policy Statement, the Wellington Regional Coastal Policy Statement or the District Plan. Save the Point urgently needs your financial support to help pay our outstanding costs and towards the cost of the High Court Appeal.
Please send donations to the address on the fundraising page or there is still time to purchase calendars to give to your friends for Xmas. Ring Marietta 3836 896.
Read more about the issues on the Save The Point FAQ.
Support the Save The Point Fundraising effort.
pissed off.
This kind of shit pisses me off tremendously.
Oil tanker Hebei Spirit collided with a barge near the South Korean coast, close to a nature reserve and important rest stop for migratory birds, and in a bloody maritime reserve, where it is leaking oil through several holes in its single hull.
Yes. Accidents happen. That’s why you wear seatbelts, right? Then why is oil still being shipped in Single Hulled oil tankers?
Whales Revenge
Every year, thousands of whales are killed inside internationally acknowledged whale sanctuaries, under the guise of “scientific research”. This “science program” doesn’t meet any standards for scientific research and it doesn’t provide any new knowledge about whales. However, the kiling of whales in the name of science is a very profitable business: The commercial sale of whale meat obtained through “scientific whaling” yields over US$ 50 million annually for Japan alone.
The current whaling programmes are poorly controlled and the effects on whale populations are not considered sufficiently. This so-called scientific program needs to stop. Whales Revenge is “ambitious campaign to gather 1 million signatures for a petition to stop whaling”. They had almost 600K signatures this morning, so they could use a few more.
Visit Whales Revenge and sign the petition: http://www.whalesrevenge.com/
