Here we go then. It's been quite a good week weather wise, some lovely sunny winter days - but the wind has been cold!

Sport

Sam Warriner won her third half ironman this year. This time the win was in Racine Wisconsin.

Daniel Vettori has been rated the second-best test all-rounder in the ICC's latest rankings.

The Warriors were aiming for their sixth win in a row but it was one step too far as they lost 38-28 to South Sydney.

The NZ men's hockey team, the Black Sticks, have beaten France 4-2 in the first of three internationals in Paris.

Julian Dean had his second second in the Tour de France in the 18th stage. That wasn't his only drama recently. In a case of mistaken identity a policeman crash-tackled him to the ground when he was warming up for the 16th stage!

The Wellington Phoenix the junior team from a formerly top Argentine club side Boca yesterday, winning the A-League warm-up 2-1. The Boca Juniors beat the A-League champions Melbourne Victory 1-0 last week.

Fifteen year old Jack Gill from Takapuna Grammar became the youngest winner of a junior title at the under 20 world junior shot put champs. If he was 10 days younger he would have been ineligible to enter as too young!

The All Blacks had a weekend off in the tri-nations, but Australia thrashed the Springboks 30-13. Australian Quade Cooper was banned for two tests for a dangerous tackle and Springbok Jaque Fourie was banned for four weeks for a dangerous tackle.

NZ News

Three directors of a Hawke's Bay company that employed illegal workers in orchards have been jailed for three years. They admitted a charge of conspiring to aid and abet foreign nationals to work and stay in NZ illegally.

The film of a group of long-boarders (longish skateboards), boarding down the Bombay Hills hit the internet this week. It's an interesting one to watch as they hope they don't need to stop suddenly!

Gun killings in NZ have declined dramatically. A US publication said NZ had "the most pronounced decline in firearm homicide over the past two decades".

The government has responded to the overwhelming public opinion on mining DOC land and have said they won't be reclassifying land, however Northland and West Coast councils say they would welcome mining lower-value conservation areas. Northland alone has more than $20b in minerals.

New Zealand domain names will from tomorrow be allowed to use macrons enabling te reo Maori to be correctly used.

There have been two news stories hanging around all week & I've left them till last. The first is how Auckland council has been fining people for using bus lanes when turning. Legally they are allowed to use a bus lane for 50m, however many people have said that is not enough time, many (including a former builder & spatial design lecturer) have said estimating 50m is difficult, meanwhile anyone stuck in Auckland traffic is willing to risk a fine to make it to that corner a bit quicker. The council has issued $4.2m worth of infringement notices over the past 12 months.

The second ongoing story is another change the government wants to make to the labour laws. They have announced that employers can ask for (& pay for) medical certificates from staff whenever they are sick. Although there is no documented proof apparently employers up & down the country have been asking the government for that option to help prevent staff "throwing sickies". The current law requires an employee to be sick for three consecutive days before the employer can request a medical certificate. I guess that makes it easy to take every Monday off (hangover Monday?) without any proof of any actual sickness.

The
Numbers Game

3: murders only, in Counties-Manukau so far this year - attributed to an increase in police staff and new policies
3: year contract was won by Massey University to teach members of Brunei's armed forces a diploma course in defence and strategic studies

39: was the median age of a constable last year, it was 34 in 1999 and is expected to be 43 by the year 2019
80: new jobs have been added to a Canon call centre in Auckland after they closed down the Sydney call centre

1,200: parents dropped out of the work force due to Labour's $1.5b Working for Families package - achieving the opposite of it's aim, but it has reduced child poverty
6,000: $ shoplifting spree by some Australian schoolboys in Queenstown just before they flew home

20,000: $ fine for a North Canterbury farmer who made written threats against the Prime Minister
1m: $ in cash & a Lotus Elise have been seized from a man at the top of an organised crime ring importing & distributing P

68m: $ worth of new plane for Sir Peter Jackson after he upgraded to a Gulfstream G550

72m: $ in white-collar crime for the first half of this year - more than for all of 2008

Finance NZ Dollar

GBP 0.4720 (+0.0071)
EUR 0.5639 (+0.0137)
USD 0.7278 (+0.0167)
AUD 0.8130 (-0.0060)warmup

The
Weekender NZer of the week

Frances Alda
INTERNATIONAL DIVA
Born Christchurch in 1879, grew up in Melbourne, to Europe in 1902. Sang at La Scala, and triumphed at the New York Metropolitan Opera. A proud New Zealander, recorder of traditional Maori songs. Famous across America as an opera star, showered with widespread tributes on her death in 1952. 

http://www.nzedge.com/heroes/alda.html

Joke
of the Weekender

Air Boss 
Activated from the Army Reserves for a joint service Arctic exercise, I was assigned to the air reconnaissance section. 
Although I had recently been promoted, I was feeling rusty, and wanted to get started learning my duties so as not to appear too "green." 

I confided to the Air Force lieutenant colonel who greeted me that I was anxious to meet the Air Boss right away. 
"Don't worry, son," he said reassuringly, "the Air Boss is a real professional, knows his stuff cold and works well with his people. Great guy." 

"Terrific!" I replied. "What's his name?" 
Looking through the roster, the welcoming officer replied, "O'Hara." 
"Oh, no," I groaned. "That's me." 

Weekender
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Darren Harrison:
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The
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Website:
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Welcome to the week that was.

Sport

Well the Football World Cup is over. The worlds biggest sporting event has finished and little old NZ came out as the only unbeaten side. With the Netherlands losing the final, all teams in the competition lost at least once - except for the All Whites with their three draws. The All Whites - Unbeatable!

In other ratings, captain fantastic Ryan Nelsen was named by ESPN in the "World Cup Best 11" for his "defiant" and "heroic" defence, while the Sunday Times in Britain rated the All White's game against Italy as "the match of the World Cup".

Ricky Herbert, legendary All Whites coach, has finally announced that he will be staying in NZ as coach for the Wellington Phoenix. Talks about his role with the All Whites are continuing.
Everyone was a little surprised when Shane Smeltz announced he was leaving for the Chinese Super League. However after only five days he has returned to the A-League. Clearly there was an issue but he isn't yet saying what it was. And now fellow All White Ivan Vicelich is heading to China! Ivan has signed a four month contract with Shenzhen Ruby FC.

Finally, the new FIFA rankings are out and NZ has jumped 24 spots to be ranked 54th in the world. They were ranked 47th in 2002.

Rowing regattas continue, and NZ continues to do well. This time at Lucerne in Switzerland, we got six medals including three golds. Mahe Drysdale got bronze with golds for women's pair Rebecca Scown & Juliette Haigh, men's pair Hamish Bond and Eric Murray and lightweight double scull duo of Peter Taylor and Storm Uru.

Is shearing a sport? Napier shearer John Kirkpatrick won the open final at the Lakeland Shears in England. David Fagan & Cam Ferguson finished second & third in the machine shearing, and blade shearers Brian Thomson and Allen Gemmell finished first and second.

In the Cothi Open at the Royal Welsh Show, David Fagan put in his best performance in 20 seasons to win. I think that means he now has his 600th open-class title!

I've got the game recorded & all ready to watch but Ron & Rachel's wedding was more important than watching the All Blacks live this week. For the second week in a row the All Blacks hammered the Springboks, this time 31-17 for a second bonus point win. Everyone expected the boks to bounce back & while the second test was a more even contest the end result was never in doubt.

The Springboks continued to play "their" game with the yellow card coming out after only a few minutes and wing Jean de Villiers being suspended for two weeks.

The Warriors are on a hot streak, this time beating the troubled Melbourne Storm 13-6. The win pushes the Warriors into the top 5. Melbourne's fall out from their salary cap problems look to continue, first this week with the final announcement that the salary breaches totalled $3.17m, much much bigger than previously estimated $1.7m, and star Greg Inglis looks set to sign with the Brisbane Broncos.

Thomas Saunders won the hotly contested Laser Radial class in the youth sailing world champs and Alexandra Maloney and Sam Bullock won silver in the Open 20ers skiff class.

Julian Dean was in the Tour de France news again this week - but not for his excellent finishing. Australian rider Mark Renshaw took exception to Dean and illegally head-butted him in the final sprint on the 11th stage. Dean was leading the pack & Renshaw apparently didn't want him there - Renshaw was "removed from the competition for a particularly serious case" - perhaps he watched the Aussie vs All Whites pre-world cup game for inspiration?

NZ News

Two police officers were shot & injured and a police dog was killed during a routine call-out in Christchurch this week. The dog handler Senior Constable Bruce Lamb was shot in the jaw and Constable Mitchel Alatalo was shot in the upper thigh. They both managed to escape and call for back up. The armed offenders squad arrested a 34 year old man.

Peter Bethune arrived home last week after five months in jail, after the anti-whaling incident in the southern ocean. Unfortunately he's not also anti-whining after he came back complaining about everyone & everything, saying things like "I remain disgusted with the way Murray McCully has treated us from day one" & claiming NZ had "become a fat little lap dog" to Japan. Prime Minister John Key quickly responded that Bethune was "downright ungrateful" for the large amount of support he received from NZ officials. Obviously it would have been inappropriate for NZ to intervene in the Japanese judicial process. John Key noted that Mr Bethune had got himself into the situation and that "he had a letter that said 'I do not want to be taken off the boat under any circumstanced and I do want to be taken to Japan' and he was". Mr Bethune received a two year sentence suspended for five years.

The government is set to extend the 90-day trial scheme to all companies. The basic idea is that companies can employ people and fire them with the first 90 days without the workers allowed to bring a personal grievance case against the employer (unless on discriminatory grounds). For anyone in a small business who has to hire new people, it used to be a nightmare. It is almost impossible to fire bad employees, regardless of the damage they might be doing to your business. So as with most things, National is on one side & Labour on the other. Businesses call it a "safety belt", a "brilliant idea" & 87% of employers thought the trial period worked "very well" or "quite well". Forty percent of employers said they would not have hired the worker if the scheme wasn't available. But on the other side the Unions (& Labour) are being vocal about the changes & are upset at the moves suggesting that the survey was rigged - simply because they were refused a request of the copy of methodology and the questionnaire.

You may remember a story from back in May about a four year old boy "roughed up" in Whakatane for wearing a red shirt - the colours of the rival to a local gang. Well it turns out the Police now think the story was made up. The fathers story was inconsistent and the alleged assailant had a fairly good alibi.

The
Numbers Game

-6.8: degC overnight temperature for Taumarunui - the coldest since records began in 1947, Queenstown had -7.2C, it's third coldest in 139 years
2: % drop in food prices for the past year - the biggest annual fall on record (50 yrs worth)

5.3: richter scale earthquake near Wairoa

99: penalties against the Warriors for the first 18 rounds of the NRL - more than any other team, do the Aussie refs target the Warriors unfairly?
240: bed new $40m ward for Middlemore Hospital has been opened to cope with the population boom in South Auckland

60,000: $ fines for two BOP farmers for dirty dairying
5.2m: $ deal for Massey University to train 250 Asian public health workers in bio-security for the World Bank

Finance NZ Dollar

GBP 0.4649 (-0.0074)
EUR 0.5502 (-0.0128)
USD 0.7111 (-0.0002)
AUD 0.8190 (+0.0080)

The
Weekender NZer of the week

Eric Batchelor
One of NZ's most highly decorated World War 2 soldiers died in Waimate this week. He was twice awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal.
Follow the link below to read more about the man, who with three others captured 19 prisoners when they attacked a house, only to find about 30 Germans inside.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10658266&ref=rss

Joke
of the Weekender

Flight Observation 
On a recent flight, an elderly passenger kept peering out the window. Since it was totally dark, all she could see was the blinking wing-tip light. Finally, she rang for the flight attendant. 

"I'm sorry to bother you," she said, "but I think you should inform the pilot that his left-turn indicator is on and has been for some time."

Weekender
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Check
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Darren Harrison:
darren@harrison.gen.nz
The
Weekender: mailed weekly (Sunday nightish)
Website:
www.dunwich.co.nz/weekender/
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these just fill up your junk mail, then send me an email & I'll
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sometimes it's even just an opinion}

Welcome to the week that was!

Sport

In probably the best sporting news for years, Vevuzelas have been banned at Eden Park and in Christchurch!

Julian Dean will be back on the bike for the third stage of the Tour de France. He was among three of his teams riders to be taken to hospital after crashes. He is well off the pace but can hopefully get some time back.

Update: The team has since got a fourth the next day, followed by a fifth and second - Julian got onto the podium with a second!

Mahe Drysdale retained his single sculls title & Eric Murray and Hamish Bond won the doubles by 15 seconds, at the Henley rowing regatta in London.

The NZ Warriors put in a huge defensive effort to beat the Penrith Panthers 12-6. Table: Dragons/Panthers 26, Wests Tigers 24, Roosters/Titans/Warriors 22, Rabbitohs/Sea Eagles 20, Broncos/Knights 18, Bulldogs/Eels*/Raiders 16, Sharks 14, Cowboys* 12, Storm 0 (* 15 games vs 16)

In Origin football, Queensland won 23-18 for the first 3-0 whitewash for their first time in their five-straight series wins.

The Waikato/BOP Magic couldn't quite make the final step and were well beaten by the Adelaide Thunderbirds in the ANZ trans-tasman champs tonight. The Thunderbirds kept ahead almost the entire match to win 52-42.

Well the Springboks were supposed to be the form team this year. After the Super14 they were supposed to have all the options. But it didn't look like it on the scoreline at the end of the first Tri-nations match. The All Blacks won 32-12 getting a bonus point win, and the Springboks couldn't even get a try. I'd like to mention all the players who had great games, but that would be most of the team, a really outstanding complete performance! Bakkies Botha has got himself a 9 week ban for head butting due to his history of offending.

In other rugby, Southland retained the Ranfurly Shield with a 48-3 win over North Otago last night.

Shane Smeltz is the first All White to move on after the Football World Cup. The A-League's best scorer will be moving to a Chinese club in the Chinese Super league.

NZ News

I don't know what to say - nothing really stood out for national news this week. There are a few below in the numbers game, and it was a rather cold weekend. My wife & I went caravanning for a few days and woke to frozen everything while staying at Tongariro National park on Saturday morning. It was a beautiful clear day but everyone everywhere had frosts like they hadn't seen in a long time.

The
Numbers Game

2: year jail term for a Kerikeri man on his 20th drink-driving conviction (& 35th for driving while disqualified)
3: c/L drop in petrol from Shell & BP
30: boy racers arrested in Christchurch

53: % support for National in the latest Roy Morgan poll, up 2.5%, Labour is down four to 29%
1.5m: $ donated for the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Appeal

Finance NZ Dollar

GBP 0.4723 (+0.0186)
EUR 0.5630 (+0.0145)
USD 0.7113 (+0.0223)
AUD 0.8110 (-0.0078)

The
Weekender NZer of the week

Tex Morton
BOUNDARY RIDER
Tex Morton lived a life of breath-taking achievement, attaining mastery, fortune and international fame as a recording star, stage artist, circus entrepreneur, Hollywood screen actor and world authority in hypnotherapy. He was a first original antipodean voice. Tex is a legend from the edge. 

http://www.nzedge.com/heroes/morton.html

Joke
of the Weekender

Leaky Pipe 
A lady answered her front door to find a plumber standing there. "I'm here to fix the leaky pipe," he announced. 
"I didn't call a plumber," said the lady. 

"What?" huffed the plumber. "Aren't you Mrs. Frobisher?" 
The Frobishers moved out of this house over a year ago," explained the lady. 
"How do you like that," grunted the plumber. "They call you up and tell you it's an emergency and then they move away!"

Weekender
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Darren Harrison:
darren@harrison.gen.nz
The
Weekender: mailed weekly (Sunday nightish)
Website:
www.dunwich.co.nz/weekender/
{If
these just fill up your junk mail, then send me an email & I'll
take you off the list | The Weekender is not a verified news source,
sometimes it's even just an opinion}

Welcome to this week, I hope you are all going well!

Sport

The accolades for the All Whites continue! English news paper the Guardian posted some performance rankings for the top 10 performances during the pool play at the Football World Cup. And New Zealand had four spots. Ryan Nelsen was placed third for the Italy game and fifth for the Paraguay game, and Mark Paston was ranked seventh & tenth for the same two games.

The White Ferns beat England by nine runs in their third & final Twenty20 cricket match to wrap up the series 2-1 this week.

The NZ men's rowing eight knocked out the Cambridge crew from the Grand Challenge Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta yesterday. The kiwis dominated the race & will face the British number one eight in the semi final.

Steve Price requires more surgery and the icon of NRL will not be able to play at all in his final season. He hasn't made it onto the field this year at all so far, so maybe it's just as well he wasn't supposed to be captain! He played a total of 313 NRL matches - 91 for the Warriors.

The Waikato/BOP Magic beat the Southern Steel in the ANZ champs minor semifinal in Auckland this week. They now face the NSW Swifts who crashed to a 52-38 defeat - a huge shock for the Swifts who were unbeaten for the entire regular season.

UPDATE: News just in, the Magic have also beaten the NSW Swifts and are through to their second grand final appearance. The title favourite Swifts were beaten 54-49.

The NZ Warriors got their third consecutive win thrashing the Parramatta Eels 34-6 today.

NZ News

This week the suggestion floating around the political arena is that MP's travel entitlements should be scrapped, however John Key has dampened those suggestions saying that a equivalent 10% pay rise to compensate for stopping the perks, would be an outrage to the public.

The stand-off between schools and the government over the national standards policy continued this week. Education Minister Anne Tolley met with 550 principals in Queenstown this week pleading with them to get on with implementing national standards instead of "going to the media" and "making threats". The general view (according to the Principal's Federation vice-president) was that national standards were not working and there was need for change. The standards were introduced this year and Canterbury, Auckland and Southland are now refusing to participate in training (which surely must make it hard for them to know how to implement them properly?). The Labour-friendly unions have been completely against national standards since it was announced & seem more interested in making sure it fails than even giving it a fair hearing.

The first section of John Key's NZ-long cycle way was opened this week. A 200km track from Ruapehu to Wanganui will take four to six days going through Tongariro & Whanganui National Parks & past the 'Bridge to Nowhere'.

The government is planning a ban on smoking in prisons. One warden who contacted the media said banning lighters in prisons would have benefits that would far outweigh threats of violence which have been reported will occur if there is a ban. He said "I'm not a mean dude but, at the end of the day, they get a cell with underfloor heating, a fully supply of bedding, three meals a day, free healthcare and free courses. The inmates get whatever they want, whenever they want, and there are no consequences. We shouldn't treat them like princes."

Tainui is teaming up with Hoyts to build a multimillion-dollar cinema complex at The Base in Hamilton. The new complex will be the first purpose-built, fully digital cinema venue in New Zealand.

New Zealand is now officially Aussie mozzie free! We are the first country in the world to wipe out the southern salt-marsh mosquito after an 11-year eradication programme. The mozzie carries the Ross River Virus.

A British conman was told by a judge that he should "consider taking up work as an actor" as he wept while being jailed for two years after conning kiwis out of nearly $70,000.

Cadbury made enough mistakes this year for the company to drop down the list of NZ's most trusted brands. Bad publicity around their brief replacement of cocoa butter with palm oil, and moving production of our favourite chocolate bars to Australia have put their "trustedness" into free-fall & after six years at number one, this year they dropped to 36th equal. Food producer Watties claimed the number one spot this year. Toyota came in second place and won the car category. Sony came third and won both electronics and computer categories. As if Cadbury's drop wasn't bad enough for the company, their rival, Kiwi chocolate company Whittaker's debuted at number five on the list.

The Readers Digest also polled NZ's most trusted & least trusted people. SAS hero Willie Apiata took out the number one most trusted person spot for the third year in a row. As far as the jobs we trust the least, at the bottom was telemarketers, closely followed by politicians! The top ten professions are Firefighters, Ambulance officers, Pilots, Nurses, Doctors, Pharmacists, Veterinarians, Armed forces, Police officers & Teachers.

Greenpeace has been denied charitable status by the Charities Commission (I bet Auntie Helen didn't see that coming when she set it up!) They have appealed but they were initially turned down because Greenpeace's promotion of "disarmament and peace" was political rather than educational.

The
Numbers Game

1: # voted vege is the spud. Potatoes were closely followed by tomatoes - silver-beet and spinach were in both the top ten and the most disliked 10
3: c/L increase in fuel due to the newly introduced Emissions Trading Scheme - the AA warns a 7c increase due to GST in October will have more of an impact

5.1: richter scale earthquake for Fiordland this week
7.4: out of 10 rating for NZ in the happiest country in the world Gallup poll - that puts us eighth in the world
8: % increase in renewable electricity from 2008 to 2009

50: year ban from watching league for an angry fan who knocked out a linesman during a junior league match in Sydney (just spotted that was Australian news, but there was no bad NRL news this week so I'll keep it in!)

50: years of TV news had people voting on the biggest stories in the past 50 years - runaway winners were September 11 followed by Princess Diana's death
19,000: $ for a lock of hair cut from French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte in an Auckland auction this week - it was sold to a private collector from London

50,000: extra homes have been insulated after the initial target of 27,500 homes started last July
100,000: $ has been pledged by the government towards NZ hosting of the taekwaon-do world champs next March
100,000: $ bonus per player for the All Blacks if they win next years World Cup - I wonder what the All Whites would have got?

15m: $ Government research grant for scientists to study in Antarctica over the next four years
9.7b: $ aviation industry in NZ has been growing strongly in recent years & is set to continue expanding

Finance NZ Dollar

GBP 0.4537 (-0.0208)
EUR 0.5485 (-0.0293)
USD 0.6890 (-0.0254)
AUD 0.8188 (+0.0010)

The
Weekender NZer of the week

Peter Jackson
MADE IN NEW ZEALAND
NZEdge presents a personal account of the Peter Jackson story by filmmaker Costa Botes (written May 2002). His account of Jackson's journey is a steadfastly idiosyncratic case study of innovation, focus and energy from the edge. "In giving himself something to watch, Peter Jackson has given the rest of us good cause to shake off complacency and start thinking about how to realise a few other 'impossible' goals."

http://www.nzedge.com/heroes/jackson.html

Joke
of the Weekender

Dewey Check 
I walked into my sister's kitchen and found my nephew, Dewey, having a snack. 
"Where's your mother?" I asked. 
"She said she was going to have a shower. Just a second, I'll see." 

Dewey went to the kitchen tap and turned the hot water on full blast. 
An indignant yell came from above. 
Dewey calmly turned off the tap and said, "Yep, she's in the shower." 

Weekender
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Darren Harrison:
darren@harrison.gen.nz
The
Weekender: mailed weekly (Sunday nightish)
Website:
www.dunwich.co.nz/weekender/
{If
these just fill up your junk mail, then send me an email & I'll
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sometimes it's even just an opinion}

Welcome to the home of the All Whites Football team!

Sport

The All Whites journey came to an end this week, but they did amazingly well. If there was one story of the week it would be how NZ 'won' a shock 1-1 draw with Italy. Shane Smeltz put us into the lead (from a slightly off side position) and Italy caught up with a penalty after a blatant dive in our box. And then we held on for the rest of the game. What a game.

The All Whites left the tournament unbeaten (three draws against top teams) and finished third in their group - ahead of the current world cup holders Italy! We are immensely proud of what our team has accomplished & it was well worth a couple of 2AM starts this week to watch the games.

As an indication of how far New Zealand came, after early reports of how NZ didn't even deserve to be at the World Cup, many people from the coach Ricky Herbert & captain Ryan Nelsen to a huge number of people in NZ, were all disappointed at not progressing through to the next round - that in itself speaks volumes.

Last week Ryan Nelsen was name World Player of the Week by the Goal.com website. My player of the tournament was goal keep Mark Paston who played so well.

The All Blacks continued their good start to the international season (pre-season?) with a 29-10 win over Wales here in Hamilton last night. Wales never really threatened & got a consolation try near the end of the game. The match was the fortieth win for Richie McCaw as captain, surpassing Sean Fitzpatrick as NZ's most successful captain.

It has been confirmed the Sonny Bill Williams will play for the Canterbury in the national champs and for the Crusaders in the Super 15.
Hosea Gear got himself a hat-trick for the NZ Maori as they beat England 35-28 & continued their centenary rugby celebrations. It was only a second string English team but that is the second win for the Maori's in the last three meetings against the English.

And finally for rugby, NZ won the third junior world rugby title in a row after thrashing Australia 62-17 in the final. Julian Savea was the fourth kiwi in a row to be named the IRB junior player of the year.

Swimmer Nick Ferrif won the 100m breaststroke convincingly in the Oceania Champs in Samoa on the second day. On the first day NZ won nine medals including four golds for Andrew McMillan getting two in 200m freestyle & 200m butterfly, Samantha Lee won the 50m butterfly sprint, and Dylan Dunlop-Barrett won the men's 1500m freestyle.

In the trans tasman netball league, the Waikato/BOP Magic secured their spot in the top four, and the Southern Steel also joined them after the Firebirds were beaten by the Perth Fever. So with the regular season ended the table was: NSW Swifts 26, Adelaide Thunderbirds/Waikato-BOP Magic 18, Southern Steel 16, Queensland Firebirds/Northern Mystics 14, Melbourne Vixens 12, West Coast Fever 8, Central Pulse/Canterbury Tactix 2.

The New Zealand Warriors beat the Roosters 20-18 after Kevin Locke scored in the dying seconds but then he left the field in agony. The Warriors were down 8-18 with six minutes to go before Manu Vatuvei started a come back.

Brent Tate is leaving the Warriors & heading to North Queensland. He has said that he is only leaving to be closer to family.

Juliette Haigh & Rebecca Scown won the coxless pair gold medal at an international meet in Munich.

NZ News

One of NZ's major wine brands has been renamed. Montana Wines has become Brancott Estate with the name change being rolled out globally in Sept/October. The change is due to the brand's 'American' name where Montana would have been associated with the state, and the NZ region of Marlborough would have been associated with the cigarettes.

This week had the shortest day of the year - so summer is on it's way, right?

The
Numbers Game

0.6: % GDP - the economy has been growing - if slowly - for the last year
30.5: % support for Labour, a big drop after their credit card scandals - John Key has 49.6% support as Prime Minister, followed by Phil Goff on 5.1% (& Helen Clark on 4.9%!)

1,480: bureaucrat jobs were cut last year as the government tries to reign in spending - 500 more to go over the next year, that's only 5%. Labour tripled the number of bureaucrats during their three terms
10,000: kms of NZ roads were filmed & assigned ratings, there were no 1 star or 5 star roads, 39% were 2 star, 56% were 3 star & 5% were 4 star

240,000: $/year will be the salary of the new Auckland Supercity mayor

Finance NZ Dollar

GBP 0.4745 (-0.0022)
EUR 0.5778 (+0.0072)
USD 0.7144 (+0.0086)
AUD 0.8178 (+0.0070)

The
Weekender NZer of the week

Sir Harold Gillies
AESTHETIC RECONSTRUCTOR
The introduction of more ferocious weapons and trench warfare in the First World War resulted in devastating injuries. A new type of surgery was needed. Rhinoplasty, skin grafts, and facial reconstructions have been practised for centuries. However, it was New Zealander Sir Harold Delf Gillies who standardised these techniques and established the discipline of 'plastic surgery'.

http://www.nzedge.com/heroes/gillies.html

Joke
of the Weekender

Computer Repair 
An office technician got a call from a computer user. The user told the tech that her computer was not working. She described the problem and the tech concluded that her computer needed to be brought in and serviced. 

He told her, "Unplug the power cord and bring it up here and I'll fix it for you." 
About ten minutes later she showed up at his door... with the electrical cord in her right hand. 

Weekender
Photos

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Darren Harrison:
darren@harrison.gen.nz
The
Weekender: mailed weekly (Sunday nightish)
Website:
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Welcome to a cosy winter's day all you All White supporters!

Sport

Well no one expected it but the All Whites got New Zealand's first point in the Football World Cup. The kiwis played well at the start of the game but looked to be a little outclassed by Slovakia in their first World Cup game. Slovakia went ahead early in the first half and as the game got closer & closer to the end it looked like there was no hope. But after three minutes of injury time, Shane Smeltz managed to chip a kick towards the Slovakian goal and towards the head of Winston Reid for the 1-1 draw. The draw that felt like a win all over New Zealand, all week! Suddenly everyone is excited and there are reports about Italy (!) being a little scared. The game against World Champions Italy is early tomorrow morning & I'll be watching, just like the almost 750,000 (!) were last game - that's almost as many at 11:30pm as watched the All Blacks at 7:30pm!

The All Blacks continue their international season and farewelled Dunedin's Carisbrook stadium when they beat Wales 42-9. It was quite a close first half but the All Blacks ran away in the second half with Dan Carter getting 2 penalties, a try & a conversion to kick off the half.

As for other internationals... as the tri nations gets closer everyone is practising. Australia lost their second test against England 20-21 and the Springboks won a scrappy 29-13 game against Italy.
This weekend saw the NZ Maori take on Ireland - and win 31-28. That helped their centenary celebrations over in Rotorua!

The Waikato/BOP Magic were in danger of missing out on the playoffs for this years ANZ netball Champs after losing three of the last four games, but they've found some form again, last night beating the second placed Thunderbirds 53-44 to make the playoffs in the final game.

The State of Origin has been the rugby league of the week! NSW "former" assistant coach, legend Andrew Johns got a little carried away in his team talk and made some comments that were considered racial slurs by NSW player Timana Tahu - so he walked out of the NSW team. The talk also fired up Queensland & the target of the comments, Greg Inglis who took only three minutes to score and help the Maroons to a 34-6 game win, taking out the series for a record five straight times.

NZ decathlete Brent Newdick has got passed the 8000 point mark for the first time after he placed sixth in an international meet in the Czech Republic.

NZ News

Manukau Mayor Len Brown has been in the news lots this week. While it's getting a bit boring this has all been about politician spending. A while ago he was found to have some personal spending on his credit card. He cut up his card on TV weeks ago but the story continues. A few weeks ago Mr Brown had 48% support for the new Auckland Super City mayors job, followed by John Banks with 37%. In an unscientific survey the Herald thinks around 13.6% of Brown's supporters have switched to someone else, with Brown & Banks now quite close.

In Labour credit card misuse's, Labour leader Phil Goff returned from China and Shane Jones, Mita Ririnui and Chris Carter have been demoted. However Chris Carter retains his ethnic affairs portfolio but he did require an extra meeting with Phil to apologise to the country.

The navy announced this week their first woman commanding a ship. Lieutenant Alexandra Hansen has taken control of the HMNZS Pukaki, a new inshore patrol vessel. Women are 22% of the regular navy force.

Alastair McWhannell was found guilty of manslaughter this week. Back in March he was operating a bridge swing when he was distracted by a woman he had met over the internet, and didn't tie the rope correctly for first year vet student Catherine Peters.

New Zealand Post has won an award for the people management category at the World Mail Awards.

National and the Maori Party have repealed the Foreshore and Seabed Act. The act which made Labour very unpopular when they put it in, was disliked by almost everyone but for different reasons. The new legislation will mean foreshore and seabed will be removed from Crown ownership and will become a public place with public access guaranteed.

There are new kiwi fruit around, and they are red. I haven't seen any yet but they apparently have an exotic flavour and a creamy texture.

The
Numbers Game

7: months home detention, 100 hours of community service and indefinite loss of licence for a Mount Maunganui woman caught drunk driving for the seventh time - she got off lightly because her adult daughter is mentally ill

186: "please explain"'s send to former Labour ministers Mita Ririnui & Parekura Horomia regarding their credit card spending
391: person increase in unemployment benefit numbers since January - a lower than expected increase after seasonal work ended

3,500: people may miss out on getting in to University next year as Uni's limit numbers to those funded - rather than taking more people like they've done over the recession
35,000: $ fine for Michael Laws who gave an on air tirade about the parents of a boy killed in a trail bike accident

107,000: $ fine for a Canterbury timer company after an employee was killed in a forklift accident
3.6m: $ owed by author Alan Duff, still. After failing to pay any of his creditors, two years after pleading with them to give him until now to pay

757m: $ owed in fines dropping from $800m in the past year

Finance NZ Dollar

GBP 0.4767 (+0.0020)
EUR 0.5706 (+0.0003)
USD 0.7058 (+0.0153)
AUD 0.8108 (-0.0016)

The
Weekender NZer of the week

Sydney Smith
THE SCIENTIFIC DETECTIVE 
In a media age populated with forensic crime thrillers such as CSI, Roxburgh's Sir Sydney Smith (1883-1969) was the original. A forensics pioneer, he achieved world renown through the application of science to justice. From the edge of an Otago goldfield to the telling edge of a murder weapon, Smith learnt to read the stories of dead men - and in doing so changed the way crime was investigated and solved.

http://www.nzedge.com/heroes/smith.html

Joke
of the Weekender

Found Cell Phone 
When a customer left his cell phone in my store, I scrolled through his saved numbers, stopped at "Mom" and pushed send. His mother answered, and I told her what happened. 

"Don't worry," she said, "I'll take care of it." 
A few minutes later, the cell phone rang. It was "Mom." 
"Martin," she said, "you left your cell phone at the convenience store." 

Weekender
Photos

Check
out my photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/dunwich42

Darren Harrison:
darren@harrison.gen.nz
The
Weekender: mailed weekly (Sunday nightish)
Website:
www.dunwich.co.nz/weekender/
{If
these just fill up your junk mail, then send me an email & I'll
take you off the list | The Weekender is not a verified news source,
sometimes it's even just an opinion}

How are you all going this fine week.

Sport

The game of last week was undoubtedly football. The Football World Cup in South Africa attracted all the news last week with the All Blacks first test almost passing unnoticed. The All Whites kick off their campaign on Tuesday. Vice captain Tim Brown has made a remarkable recovery from his broken shoulder and after surgery and a quick recovery he has flown to South Africa to rejoin the team. Tim's shoulder was broken during the game against Australia on May 24th.

I know it can happen anywhere but TVNZ staff were burgled with more than $100,000 worth of equipment taken while they were having dinner.

The All Blacks kicked off their international season on Saturday with a test against the Irish. The Irish weren't helped getting one of their stars sent off, but the All Blacks looked really good in the first half and at the start of the second half, clocking up a point a minute through to the 52nd minute, before the coaches made lots of substitutions to give a few new players a taste of test matches. They seemed to lose momentum and the Irish picked up some momentum but despite the Irish getting three late tries, the result was a comfortable 66-28 win.

In other rugby news, Sonny Bill Williams (former NRL star and Kiwis player) has announced he is leaving behind a $6m contract in France to play rugby in New Zealand. He is likely to play for the Crusaders next year and will be aiming for a spot in the All Blacks for the Rugby World Cup.

The NZ Maori beat the NZ Barbarians 37-31 in Whangarei on Saturday. Both teams were fully of players who didn't quite make the All Blacks & were trying to show they should have.
The Junior All Blacks beat Samoa 77-7 at the junior world champs in Argentina to remain at the top of pool A.

In netball the Waikato/BOP Magic beat the Central Pulse 58-52 but considering the quality of the opposition the win won't impress any one.

A kiwi motorcyclists died on the infamous Isle of Man TT circuit this week. Paul Dobbs was the second kiwi to die at the track with has claimed 229 lives since 1907.

Valerie Vili turned around a couple of recent results when she beat Belarussian Natalya Khoroneko-Mikhnevich (did I spell that right?). She won by 13cm & now leads the Diamond Race in the women's shot put (as if I even know what that is).

North Shore swimmer Melissa Ingram won silver in the final meet of the Mare Nostrum series in France today. She finished second to Britain's Elizabeth Simmonds in the 200m backstroke.

The Warriors always do better when Manu Vatuvei is on the field and this afternoon he was. And they beat the Newcastle Knights 32-24.

NZ News

Cop killer John Skinner was found guilty of murdering a police officer this week. Sergeant Don Wilkinson was killed with a high powered airgun during a covert police operation in September 2008. He was also found guilty of attempting to murder another officer and his co-accused was found guilty of manslaughter. In addition the police have frozen about $1m worth of property & cash as they prepare charges of manufacturing P.

MP's spending has been under the spot light again this week with Labour MP's Shane Jones and Chris Carter feeling most of the heat. The two MP's were having to answer lots of questions from their spending habits back when Labour was in power and they were ministers. Shane Jones was found to have bought a number of dodgy movies at various motels. Both MP's will be facing the music when Labour leader Phil Goff returns from China.

Auckland city is having reliability problems with its hybrid-power buses which were the much trumpeted future of inner-city public transport. Two of the three buses, which cost twice as much as new diesel alternatives, have had turbine faults and are awaiting parts from the USA.

The government is about to repeal the foreshore and seabed law that Labour put into place, however Prime Minister John Key has noted that the Maori Party will have the power to veto the proposal.

A story hit the headlines this week about how Rocky Horror Picture Show creator Richard O'Brien had tried to get residency to New Zealand, but his application had been declined. Upon "actual" investigation by reporters (as opposed to the earlier made up article), it was found that he hadn't actually applied. John Key said that his chances of being granted citizenship would be greatly improved if he actually for it. Incidentally there is a statue in Hamilton of Richard's character from the 'Show' - "Statue bro?" "Yeah it is!" (if you don't get this, go watch "Boy").

The
Numbers Game

0.7: % fall in food prices last month - for the first time in six years
1: # most peaceful country in the world is NZ according to the 2010 Global Peace index
1: # New Zealand newspaper is The Herald on Sunday, taking out both the best weekly newspaper & the best news paper - according to the Qantas Media Awards

1: death on the roads over Queens Birthday Weekend, the lowest in 54 years. It was ruined with two road deaths on Tuesday

4: years jail for a Wellington woman for a $2m fraud - she paid back just under half, but $250,000/yr isn't bad
5.3: richter scale earthquake was felt across the lower North Island yesterday morning
3.2m: $ bill to clean up after floods in Whakatane

Finance NZ Dollar

GBP 0.4747 (+0.0101)
EUR 0.5703 (+0.0091)
USD 0.6905 (+0.0193)
AUD 0.8124 (-0.0033)

The
Weekender NZer of the week

Archibald Hector McIndoe
NO ORDINARY SURGEON
Motivated by a desire to be more than just an ordinary doctor, Archibald Hector McIndoe pursued greatness and became much more than an ordinary surgeon. Appointed plastic surgeon to the Royal Air Force in the midst of World War II, McIndoe brought plastic surgery to the forefront of burns treatment and became a pioneer of what is more commonly known today as 'therapeutic community'.

http://www.nzedge.com/heroes/mcindoe.html

Joke
of the Weekender

Happy Songs 
A retired man who volunteers to entertain patients in nursing homes and hospitals went to Maimonides Hospital in Brooklyn and took his portable keyboard along. He told some jokes and sang some funny songs at patients' bedsides. 

When he finished he said, in farewell, "I hope you get better." 
One elderly gentleman replied, "I hope you get better, too." 

Weekender
Photos

Check
out my photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/dunwich42

Darren Harrison:
darren@harrison.gen.nz
The
Weekender: mailed weekly (Sunday nightish)
Website:
www.dunwich.co.nz/weekender/
{If
these just fill up your junk mail, then send me an email & I'll
take you off the list | The Weekender is not a verified news source,
sometimes it's even just an opinion}

Hi everyone. This weekend was Queens Birthday weekend, so since I was away on holiday the weekender is late! The Forgotten World Highway is a great trip if you get the chance but this weekend has been very wet just about everywhere I think!

Sport

New Zealand lost out to Australia 24-19 in the final rugby seven's tournament, which gave the title to Samoa for their first world series win.

Team New Zealand continue their dominance after a come from behind win over Synergy from Russia in the Louis Vuitton Trophy regatta in Italy this weekend.

The Warriors hung in with the NRL leaders St George Illawarra for most of the game but eventually couldn't overcome losing Brent Tate with a broken jaw. But the final score was 22-20 and the Warriors are going to have a uphill battle over the second half of the season.

Table Dragons 20*, Panthers 18, Sea Eagles/Wests Tigers/Titans 16, Rabbitohs*/Broncos/Roosters*/Raiders* 14, Eels/Warriors 12, Knights*/Sharks 10, Bulldogs/Cowboys* 8, Storm 0 (* All 12 games except for 13 for Dragons & 11 for all others)

In other league news, league sensation Israel Folau has signed a four year deal to switch to Australian rules, for an estimated $AUD 1m per year - about double what he could have earned under the salary cap rules at the Broncos.

The All Whites lost their final World Cup warm up game 3-1 against Slovania.

The BOP/Waikato Magic have a lost a couple of games now, the most recent 55-54 to the Firebirds and are now under pressure if they are to make the payoffs.

Table: NSW Swifts* 20, Adelaide Thunderbirds 16, Waikato/BOP Magic* 14, Queensland Firebirds/Southern Steel*/Northern Mystics 12, Melbourne Vixens 10, West Coast Fever 6, Central Pulse/Canterbury Tactix 2 (* 10 games, all other teams 11)

NZ News

If you haven't seen it already, the movie "Boy" is an absolute classic example of 1980's New Zealand small town life. In great news, it has just become the biggest local movie of all time after overtaking the World's Fastest Indian. On a sad note, one of the co-producers of the movie died after collapsing outside an Auckland TV station today. Merata Mita received the New Zealand Order of Merit during the 2010 New Year's honours list.

John Key has announced that Kiwibank won't be sold while he is Prime Minister. There had been quite a bit of speculation of the past few weeks, but the announcement should clear things up.

Apparently there were hundreds of protesters around the country expressing outrage and anger over the clashes last week between Israeli armed forces and the Gaza-bound ships. It also seems like a safe bet to say the "Global Peace" and "Justice Auckland" groups who organised  the demonstrations are strangely quiet when Israel is continually attacked by weapons smuggled in by ship.

There have been a few knighthoods handed out this weekend. Sir Richard Taylor for his special effects at Weta Workshop, and Sir Peter Leitch - Giddy, it's your old knight, the Mad Butcher!

The top kiwi speller made it to the National Spelling Bee semifinals in the US but was knocked out with Phytoplankter when he used an "o" instead of an "e" at the end. Tom Winter was a 13 year old from Burnside High.

The
Numbers Game

1: recorded road death for Queens Birthday Weekend - with 12 hours to go - the lowest toll for more than 50 years
4: km/h over the speed limit will result in prosecution as the police drop their leniency over the long weekend

5: c/L drop in petrol over May
10: % support is what the Greens are aiming for in the next election - in other news McGillicuddy Serious are aiming for 95%
27: % increase in cyclists in Auckland over the past year

56: % reduction in burglaries in Hamilton following a drive by the police & 200 arrests
100: drivers have been caught under the new drugged driving law
138: mm of rain in 24 hours this weekend for Whitianga - they had 29.4mm in just one hour 

200: % wetter May for Nelson, Marlborough, Canterbury, Eastern Otago, Coromandel, Bay of Plenty, Hawkes' Bay and coastal Wairarapa
700: trips made on the automatic Northern Gateway motorway without paying by the worst offender - he faces $26,500 in fines if he doesn't pay up

40,000: $ fine for TV3 consumer affairs programme Target after they wrongly accused an Auckland cafe of selling dodgy food
600,000: tickets for the Rugby World Cup have been applied for - the organisers are 'very happy'

Finance NZ Dollar

GBP 0.4646 (-0.0058)
EUR 0.5612 (+0.0073)
USD 0.6712 (-0.0083)
AUD 0.8157 (+0.0135)

The
Weekender NZer of the week

Peter Hall
Flight Lieutenant Peter Francis Locker Hall died last week in England aged 88. He was credited as shooting down eight German aircraft while based in Britain with the Royal New Zealand Air Force.

Read more about him here: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10647252&ref=rss

Joke
of the Weekender

Wedding Blessing 
At a wedding ceremony that I was performing, I raised my hand to give the final blessing. 
The bride misunderstood my gesture and surprised me with a high-five. 

Not wanting to exclude the groom, I offered him a high-five, too. 
I was finally able to get my blessing in, amid the laughter of the guests. 

Weekender
Photos

Check
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Darren Harrison:
darren@harrison.gen.nz
The
Weekender: mailed weekly (Sunday nightish)
Website:
www.dunwich.co.nz/weekender/
{If
these just fill up your junk mail, then send me an email & I'll
take you off the list | The Weekender is not a verified news source,
sometimes it's even just an opinion}

Well we have some on the weekender list who are picking up some house guests. We just got back from dropping my brother, his wife & son, off at the airport as they move to America. Who would want to leave after a beautiful sunny day like today!

Sport

Well the news of the week & possibly the year is undoubtedly the All Whites latest game. In build up to the football world cup the All Whites had a friendly game against 15th ranked Serbia - and won. The 1-0 win for the All Whites was an amazing result and while it probably doesn't mean too much as far as the world cup goes (honestly we'll be lucky to get a goal), it's just a fantastic result against a team which has players from the likes of Manchester United.

Last week the All Whites had a (not very) "friendly" against Australia in which a couple of Australian tackles were so brutal even their coach (& the Aussie media!) slammed his own players that were involved. NZ got an early goal against Australia & then they eventually levelled, but Australia scored in injury time to win however it was mostly a psychological victory for the All Whites knowing that if the game hadn't been a "friendly", two Australia players would have been sent off and the result could have been much different.

I realised something the other day. The Super 14 season was almost over (it's now over & - yawn - the Bulls beat the Stormers 25-17) and I hadn't watched a single game, not live nor on T.V. I think that's a first for me.

The All Blacks are preparing for another international season, but they'll have to do it without a few injured players. Chiefs players Richard Kahui and Mils Muliaina are the latest to pull out injured. Ma'a Nonu and Isaia Toeava are also injured to heap pressure on the mid field selection.

New players announced for the All Blacks this season are Aaron Cruden, Israel Dagg, Benson Stanley and Victor Vito.

The NZ Warriors made up for their win last week with a 50-6 thrashing by the Tigers.

In Origin league, Queensland continued their recent dominance with a 28-24 win after half-back Johnathan Thurston produced his greatest Origin performance.

Kiwi track specialist Marc Ryan came sixth in a stage of the Ras cycling tour in Ireland this week. Julian Dean and Greg Henderson both continue to do well in the Giro d'Italia. On Friday Julian came second and Greg fourth!

In school girls netball the NZ Secondary Schools team beat the School Sport Australia team 29-23 in the final of the International Schoolgirls Netball Challenge.

In netball, NZ has three teams with chances of making the trans-tasman league play-offs after the Southern Steel had an upset 52-47 win over the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic. Then this weekend the Southern Steel thrashed the defending champs Melbourne Vixens 52-39.

The Black Caps were beaten by seven wickets in the second of their Twenty20 matches against Sri Lanka in Florida.

NZ News

The killer of Wanganui woman Marice McGregor handed himself in to police this week. He had been on the police radar as a person of interest.

There have been huge floods down Otago way with the Met Service estimating up to 30mm of rain falling every hour, slips all over the place & buildings being washed around. For most of a day, Dunedin was almost an island with the main highway both in and out (north & south?) closed.

There have been lots of complaints as a Mt Eden Prison development takes place. The eight-story jail block will tower over the Southern Motorway. The Auckland mayors have said their pleas to Labour leader Phil Goff (when he was the corrections minister in 2007) were ignored.

Anti-whaling activist Peter Bethune has pleaded guilty to four charges after his attacks on a Japanese whaling vessel. He could face up to 15 years in prison.

The government has passed a controversial three-strikes law this week after a vote of 63-58.

The
Numbers Game

4: th ranked city in the world to live in is Auckland - Wellington was 12th
140: mm downpour north of Auckland was a relief for farmers who have claimed this was their driest summer in 20 years

6,000: $ fine for a company falsely claiming NZ made on their products
56,000: $ payout for a man sacked after working at a manufacturing company for 29 years
300,000: $ in income wasn't declared by a man who claimed he didn't know what the "$" sign meant - he pled guilty to filing false tax returns

375m: $ NASA satellite project to collect data on greenhouse gases are working with Niwa & using a location in Lauder, Otago

Finance NZ Dollar

GBP 0.4704 (+0.0012)
EUR 0.5539 (+0.0135)
USD 0.6795 (+0.0003)
AUD 0.8022 (-0.0140)

The
Weekender NZer of the week

Morrie Stanley
Morrie got an award from the Australian's this week. Forty four years ago in Vietnam, he & two other kiwis were with an Australian company of 104 people when they were attacked by 2500 to 3000 Viet Cong soldiers. The three kiwis were on the front line, directing artillery fire which eventually drove back the attacking Vietnamese troops. Read all about his Australian Unit Citation here: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10648292&ref=rss

Joke
of the Weekender

Civil War Re-enactment 
Thinking his son would enjoy seeing the re-enactment of a Civil War battle, my niece's husband took the boy, Will, to the event but the poor child was terrified by the booming cannons. During a lull, Will's dad finally got him calmed down. 

That's when the Confederate general hollered, "Fire at will!" 

Weekender
Photos

Check
out my photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/dunwich42

Darren Harrison:
darren@harrison.gen.nz
The
Weekender: mailed weekly (Sunday nightish)
Website:
www.dunwich.co.nz/weekender/
{If
these just fill up your junk mail, then send me an email & I'll
take you off the list | The Weekender is not a verified news source,
sometimes it's even just an opinion}

Welcome along, the week has been a bit wet, but Saturday was nice enough for another ride!

The Numbers Game

Finance NZ Dollar

GBP 0.4692 (-0.0178)
EUR 0.5404 (-0.0324)
USD 0.6792 (-0.0284)
AUD 0.8162 (+0.0170)

The Weekender NZer of the week

William Hudson
SNOWY MOUNTAIN ENGINEER
New Zealand Engineer Sir William Hudson was the man and motivator behind the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme. It is acclaimed as one of the great engineering achievements of the 20th Century, that not only irrigated the Australian interior and generated hydro-electricity, but changed the nature of Australian culture.

http://www.nzedge.com/heroes/hudson.html

Joke of the Weekender

Weekender Photos

Darren Harrison: darren@harrison.gen.nz

The Weekender: mailed weekly (Sunday nightish)
Website: www.dunwich.co.nz/weekender/

{If these just fill up your junk mail, then send me an email & I'll take you off the list | The Weekender is not a verified news source, sometimes it's even just an opinion}