The Weekender 13/09/2009

Sport

Well we just got back from the latest tri-nations game & South Africa clinched the title with a win over the All Blacks in Hamilton. It was a close game & I'd really like to see that first SA penalty kick again but the Springboks have done enough to win the title. Hopefully we don't get two games against SA in SA again for a while!
There was other rugby around as well. In the Air NZ cup Canterbury made up for their loss last week with a Ranfurly Shield defence 36-16 win over Otago, Hawke's Bay kept their playoff hopes alive with a 17-34 win over North Harbour, Waikato continued a miserable season with a 23-9 loss to Tasman and Southland beat previous table leaders Bay of Plenty 19-12. In other upset wins Taranaki beat Wellington 29-16, Counties Manukau beat Northland 21-37 and finally Auckland had a dramatic 23-20 win over Manawatu with a last minute try.

While the Twenty20 looked promising for the Black Caps they've lost both one dayers in the brief tri-nations tournament. The first game was against Sri Lanka & they made 216 for seven but NZ only got to 119 all out! In the game against India we chose to bat first but only reached 155 and were beaten by six wickets. India & Sri Lanka will be in the final.

The five test netball series against Australia is now even, after Australia bounced back to win the second game 48-44. The scoreline didn't quite tell the whole story with NZ 16 points behind at one stage but staging a huge comeback in the fourth quarter.

New Zealand football was given a boost this week when the All Whites beat Jordan 3-1 with a couple of Shane Smeltz goals in their friendly warm up. They will shortly be playing for a spot in the Football World Cup.

Brendon Hartley had his first win of the F3 season finally breaking his run of bad luck. It was the second race in the seventh round at Brands Hatch in England.

NZ News

The completion of Auckland's western ring road was given the go ahead this week, despite the chairman of the Transport Agency acknowledging that there are concerns regarding the Waterview $1.4b project which covers 4.5km and will require removal of up to 365 houses. Construction is due to start 2011-12.

It's been a long time coming but a 39 year old man has pleaded guilty to the burglary of the Victoria Cross medals from Waiouru Army Museum back in 2007.

The government has fast tracked some changes to the Resource Management Act. The changes are basically around the ability of home owners to trim their own trees. The laws as created under Labour blanket protect all trees & you need permission to trim or chop them down (with trees over a certain height). The new changes revert back to the (sane) policy where councils can protect trees individually but home owners are given freedom to deal with their own properties.

An Auckland woman who was in England at a World War II evacuees' reunion, died in a car crash while looking around England with her sister.

A knife wielding woman who tried to rob a bank in South Auckland didn't count on the customers, and three of them tackled her and held her for the police.

The Numbers Game

0.2: degC higher temperatures for winter this year than average - but May was 2-2.5 degC colder
2: nd concert for Fleetwood Mac at the Bowl of Brooklands after the first show sold out in minutes
30: flights cancelled & another 30 delayed due to fog at Auckland Airport on Tuesday
37: police properties sold by Labour shows that their horror at National selling unused police property is misplaced
52: years late but Sir Colin Meads (& many other players) have finally received his first test cap - the practice was stopped after WWII
110: convictions for a 37 year old man but a judge has given him one more chance after cannabis possession and $10,000 ACC fraud
111: call alleging a bomb at Auckland's Britomart train station caused an evacuation Friday morning
332: cyclists use the Takapuna-Devonport cycle lanes daily (in mid winter), but the lanes could be removed by the council
15,000: $ prize money won by an artist in the Waikato National Contemporary Art Award - the overseas artist asked gallery staff to tip rubbish into a pile - that was his entry
15,000: Tauranga locals walked across the new harbour bridge this week to mark it's completion, it will open in December - three months early
37,500: $ lump sum for government ministers for accommodation is the end result of all the complaints about accommodation over spending

Finance NZ Dollar

GBP 0.4251 (+0.0054)
EUR 0.4861 (+0.0046)
USD 0.7080 (+0.0202)
AUD 0.8202 (+0.0114)

The Weekender NZer of the week

Godfrey Bowen
FASTEST SHEARER IN THE WORLD
With a history steeped in agriculture it is natural that New Zealand's shearers are known throughout the world for their skill and toughness. Only one has been invited to Buckingham Palace, appeared on late night American television and been honoured by the leader of the Soviet Union. Godfrey Bowen.
http://www.nzedge.co.nz/heroes/bowen.html

Joke of the Weekender

Dining Problem
Everyone had weighed in, and our diet-workshop leader began her lecture on the week's topic - the problems of dining out. She talked about alternatives, such as requesting diet sodas and dressings, and having meat broiled instead of fried. Finally she turned the question over to the group for discussion. "What is the greatest problem you encounter when going out to eat?"
Replied one woman quickly, "Running into you!"

Weekender Photos

I have a few random photos up this week - check out the flowers from the Hamilton gardens!
Check out my photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/dunwich42/GoatsFlowersPrunning

Darren Harrison: darren@harrison.gen.nz
The Weekender: mailed weekly (Sunday nightish)
Website: www.dunwich.co.nz/weekender/
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