The Weekender 05/09/2010
Submitted by darrenh on Sun, 05/09/2010 - 18:45
Watch out for the earth shakes here in the shaky isles. Christchurch was hit by a 7.1 earthquake early Saturday morning, more details below.
Sport
Well there were lots of great sporting moments this week - where to begin. I think the basketball. The Tall Blacks started the Basketball World Champs with a couple of loses, to Lithuania & then Spain. But then they started winning. First they thrashed Lebanon 108-76. Then they eliminated Canada, beating them 71-61 and for their third in a row they stunned highly-ranked France 82-70. That leaves NZ ranked third in Group D.
Secondly was the netball. Last Sunday the trans-tasman series started with some new silverware up for grabs - the Constellation Cup. Australia held their nerve and won 48-43 to continue the incredibly tight wins - the difference between the two teams is hardly ever more than 5. And the Australians were gloating - all the way to Thursday. The teams were basically the same but the Silver Ferns obviously put in something a little extra for a 59-40 win. Wow, I don't remember a margin that big before. That certainly rocked Australia & gives the Kiwis some confidence ahead of the Commonwealth Games. Update: Australia have won the cup winning the final game 46-40.
Finally on to NPC rugby. Sonny Bill Williams made his long awaited introduction to national level rugby this weekend helping Canterbury to a 28-9 win over Bay of Plenty. The weekend started with Counties Manukau beating Tasman 23-3, and ended with Auckland beating Taranaki 27-13. The upset of the weekend was shared between the Manawatu Turbos beating the Wellington Lions 36-24, and the Northland Taniwha beating Southland 33-22 - handing the Stags their first loss. Waikato beat North Harbour 36-27.
The Black Ferns booked a spot in the women's rugby World Cup in England with a 45-7 win over France.
In other rugby news, John Mitchell is to leave Perth's Western Force a year before his contract expires, and Australia had a historic high-veldt 41-39 win over South Africa to secure second place in the tri-nations.
Team New Zealand won the MedCup yachting regatta in Cartagena finishing 10 points ahead of Argentina's Matador.
Kiwi surfer Billy Stairmand had a win on the ASP Men's Star-Series, winning the second tier world tour event in Spain this week.
The NZ Warriors carried their winning momentum into the NRL play-offs after beating Parramatta 26-12 & spoiling the farewell for the Paramatta & Kiwi's legend Nathan Cayless.
In the NRL club championship, the Warrior Juniors have won the trophy after thrashing Parramatta 52-6 - four points clear of their nearest challengers.
NZ News
The earthquake was the biggest TV news story on Saturday - but it wasn't the biggest news of the day. Nine people were killed when a light plane crashed on take off at Fox Glacier. A pilot and four master skydivers were among the dead - the team had a spotless record with almost 35,000 jumps between them. Along with the five who worked for Skydive NZ, there were four overseas tourists from Ireland, Australia, Germany & England.
Details on the Christchurch 7.1 richter scale earthquake. It was a huge earthquake, centred 40kms from Christchurch at 4:35am Saturday morning. A couple of people were seriously injured by falling glass & a falling chimney but there were no deaths. The entire city started the day without power, a good many without water, and a fair number with walls fallen down. Many of the cities old buildings have been damaged. It was estimated that this was the biggest earthquake in terms of effect since 1931 in Hawke's Bay. After shocks have continued throughout Saturday with a number higher than 5 on the richter scale. The Earthquake Commission says the bill could hit $2b with the 100 buildings damaged, along with water pipes, sewerage, roads & footpaths.
There is a storm heading Christchurch's way, although the power company was expecting to get power back to around 90% of residents by Saturday night.
A kiwi, Kelby Cheyne, was the only person to walk away from a plane crash in Papua New Guinea which killed another kiwi and three Australians. He was thrown clear as the plane slid off the wet runway.
The NZ Police have taken quite a different tack to the rest of the world in regard to Google's alleged "spying" on open wifi networks as they collected Street View images. After an investigation the police laid the blame squarely with people who didn't put passwords on their wifi. They said that there was no evidence Google committed a crime and that "Anyone using Wi-Fi needs to ensure they have appropriate security measures in place."
A New Zealand-based bid to jetski from London to Auckland (to raise funds for cancer research) has ended due to Terror threats. The group of three kiwis and a Croatian got as far as Turkey but were advised not to travel south of Egypt.
TVNZ's deputy political editor, Francesca Mold resigned this week and is apparently considering a senior position in the Labour Party media team. Makes me wonder about bias in the news.
12: people dying each week from accidents in their homes - alcohol is estimated to be a factor in nearly 25%
15: years jail for the man who killed undercover police officer Sergeant Don Wilkinson
15: % decrease in tobacco demand at supermarkets after the tax rise in April
50: % fewer cars on the road in Auckland on Saturday as a key part of the southern motorway was closed for the finishing touches on the Newmarket viaduct
100: bioplastic spoons can be made from one kiwifruit after a Crown research institute developed a new technical process
100,000: NZers are now using our "third" mobile phone operator "2degrees"
3.5m: $ to be spent by the government on improving the Pacific tsunami warning systems
6m: $ bill for convicted fraudster Michael Swann, he will have to forfeit his $4.4m properties bought from money from Otago District Health Board
13m: overseas visitors use Auckland airport every year
Finance NZ Dollar
GBP 0.4669 (+0.0087)
EUR 0.5596 (+0.0020)
USD 0.7213 (+0.0099)
AUD 0.7874 (-0.0043)
The
Weekender NZer of the week
Kate Sheppard
SUFFRAGIST
The leader and main figurehead of the suffragist movement in New Zealand, the first country in the world to grant universal adult suffrage to men and women equally. Kate was a source of inspiration to suffragists, both in New Zealand and throughout the world.
http://www.nzedge.com/heroes/sheppard.html
Watch This
A C-130 Hercules cargo plane was lumbering along when a cocky F-16 flashed by. The jet jockey decided to show off.
The fighter jock told the C-130 pilot, 'watch this!' and promptly went into a barrel roll followed by a steep climb. He then finished with a sonic boom as he broke the sound barrier. The F-16 pilot asked the C-130 pilot what he thought of that?
The C-130 pilot said, 'That was impressive, but watch this!' The C-130 droned along for about 5 minutes and then the C-130 pilot came back on and said: 'What did you think of that?' Puzzled, the F-16 pilot asked, 'What the heck did you do?'
The C-130 pilot chuckled. 'I stood up, stretched my legs, walked to the back, went to the bathroom, then got a cup of coffee and a cinnamon bun.'
Check
out my photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/dunwich42
Darren Harrison:
darren@harrison.gen.nz
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