Category Archives: New Zealand

IATA boss Alexandre de Juniac says that the Travel Pass is key to reopening borders safely. Video / CNN

Following what was the worst year on record for air travel, the industry in New Zealand continues to be pounded, with suspension of the transtasman bubble just the latest blow.

And the phrase "shelter in place", first heard widely last in March last year, continues to hang over the industry in this region.

Air New Zealand this week said losses will blow out further in the current financial year, and analysts at Jarden have now downgraded their target share price for the company. They also say the country's biggest airport, Auckland, will have its balance sheet stretched if Tasman traffic remains low into next year.

As Qantas stands down 2500 staff, an airline body warns that aviation workers' jobs here are at risk although Air New Zealand has not stood down any crew because of the transtasman bubble pause.

Passengers face continued disruption.

Among new cancellations announced this week, Air New Zealandis ditching its three-times-a-week services from Auckland to Vancouver and San Francisco between October 31 and the end of December. On Monday, Jetstar advised passengers that it has pushed out planned flights between Auckland and the Cook Islands to the end of March next year.

Air New Zealand expects its underlying loss before tax could now be as much as $530 million, worse than the $450m in previous guidance.

The company said that when transtasman travel resumes following the pause in the quarantine-free arrangement, the expectation is that demand may be slow to recover and there remains a risk of future suspensions. Travellers were warned last March that they were largely on their own if they were stranded overseas, and the Government reiterated that message for those travelling to Australia when quarantine-free travel briefly resumed.

Jarden analyst Andrew Steele said that when travel does normalise, Air New Zealand also faces higher jet fuel prices.

The airline would tap further into its government loan facility because of the suspension of the bubble and planned payments for aircraft.

The firm continues to forecast an underlying loss of $446m when the airline releases its result to June 30 later this month.

Steele said because there was no comfort in the balance sheet or earnings recovery profile, Jarden reiterated its sell recommendation and lowered its target share price from 95c to 90c. Shares today closed at $1.49.

''We retain our sell rating, reflecting our view that given [Air New Zealand's] requirement for what we expect will likely be a highly dilutive capital raise, material ongoing near-term losses and lack of comfort on the timing and trajectory of any earnings recovery, the shares present a negatively skewed risk-reward profile."

Risks included doubts over the timing of border reopening, changes to competition, fuel costs, foreign exchange and underlying consumer demand.

Jarden's Steele now covers Auckland International Airport and the firm has downgraded its rating of that company from neutral to underweight, and its target share price from $7.10 to $6.60. Shares closed at $7.20 today.

He said that in a Covid-impacted world, the airport company's operational and earnings outlook was inherently uncertain.

The underweight rating reflected a combination of factors: the company's share price was already expensive with its enterprise value broadly in line with pre-Covid levels, uncertainty about the timing and pace of volume recovery - especially with the Delta variant outbreak across the Tasman - the closure of the transtasman bubble raising prospects that banking covenants may be tested once the waiver period ends at the end of this year, and balance-sheet uncertainty pushes back the resumption of dividends.

He said Jarden now assumed there would be no dividend in the 2022 financial year.Putting together assessments of passenger flows by market, passenger type (visiting friends and relatives, leisure and business) and the direction of travel (inbound versus outbound) results in passenger flows not reaching 2019 levels until 2025 under a base case (from the 2024 financial year). It could be pushed out to 2026 under the more pessimistic bear case.

Under that pessimistic case, the important transtasman travel volume would be just 25 per cent or so of pre-Covid levels.

The analysis showed that further near-term travel bubbles were unlikely to materially support earnings.

Markets with bubble potential highlighted Samoa, Tonga, French Polynesia, New Caledonia and Niue.

While opening these markets would be helpful for passenger recovery, in total they only accounted for about 6 per cent of 2019 seat capacity through Auckland Airport and had very seasonal passenger flows.

Jarden's base case is that New Zealand's border reopens towards the middle of 2022 and under this framework, key travel markets of Britain, the United States, Canada and travel hub Singapore could all result in solid passenger flows. There was greater caution around what was New Zealand's second biggest inbound market, China, where a Covid resurgence has this month led to lockdowns in cities including Wuhan.

Steele said it would be sensible to delay the aeronautical pricing reset - due to begin in July next year - until there is greater confidence in aircraft volumes.

The International Air Transport Association says passenger traffic volumes meant industry-wide revenue passenger-kilometres (RPKs) dropped by 65.9 per cent in 2020 compared to 2019.

There were around 1.5 billion passenger trips overall during the year.

That plunge was the largest recorded since global RPKs started being tracked around 1950.

Since 1990, the long-run industry average growth rate had been around 5.5 per cent a year, association figures show.

International RPKs decreased by 75.6 per cent compared to 2019 and domestic air passenger RPKs dropped by 48.8 per cent compared to 2019.

The number of routes fell by more than half, total industry passenger revenue fell by 69 per cent to $US189 billion ($269b) in 2020, and net losses were US$126.4b in total.

Last April, two-thirds of aircraft were grounded and last year one million jobs in aviation were lost.

"2020 was a year that we'd all like to forget. But analysing the performance statistics for the year reveals an amazing story of perseverance,'' said IATA's director general Willie Walsh.

''Many governments recognised aviation's critical contributions and provided financial lifelines and other forms of support. But it was the rapid actions by airlines and the commitment of our people that saw the airline industry through the most difficult year in its history."

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Air New Zealand and Auckland International Airport downgraded by Jarden - New Zealand Herald

Its Friday and International Beer Day. What better excuse could there be for celebratory beersies this weekend?

As comforting as it can be to crack a cold one on the couch after a tough week, it cant compete with sampling some of the best craft beers in the country in the places they were brewed.

Rosa Woods/Stuff

Cheers to International Beer Day and the weekend that follows.

Speights Brewery in Dunedin, the Tui Brewery in Mangatainoka and Monteiths Brewery in Greymouth are surely on the radar of beer drinkers nationwide, so weve compiled a list of craft breweries which arent as widely appreciated as we believe they should be. Brewtown in Upper Hutt is an exception, but they get a mention because theyve recently gone where no Kiwi brewery has before and turned themselves into a beer-focused theme park.

Let us know your favourites in the comments.

READ MORE:* Drink your way around the world from the safety of your home * Wanderlust Solo Women Tours: The Coromandel retreat with wine, pizza and cosy fireside chats* NZ's top winter towns: Where to go in August for a last-minute escape

Ross Giblin

George Duncan (left) and Shane McGregor at Duncan's Brewing Company in Paraparaumu.

Transformed by the beers they drank on their OE in North America, George Duncan and Waimatao Familton returned to Georges hometown of Paraparaumu determined to give brewing a crack themselves.

Often using American hops, their beers tend toward the experimental, with recent additions including the Mai Tai Sorbet Sour with lime, tangerine, blood orange, molasses and Orgeat syrup; the tropical-tasting Oat Cream V.3 Hazy IPA; the Tiramisu Imperial Pastry Stout inspired by the popular dessert; and the Toasty Marshmallow Imperial Pastry Stout inspired by campfire-cooked marshmallows. The brewery hosts a pop-up bar once a month with eight beers on tap and food available from the Smoked & Pickled Food Truck. Or you can get a Passo pizza delivered straight to your table.

Quitting their corporate careers to take over a pizza joint in the small Northland town theyd grown up in, brothers Clayton and Geoff Gwynne quickly realised they were underdelivering in one key area: The beer. Big fans of the bold brews they had enjoyed on their overseas travels, they began messing about with brewing themselves to mixed success initially.

After seven years in business though, theyve got the craft down pat. They were named Champion Small International Brewery at the 2019 Australian International Beer Awards, and have a good trophy collection going for brews such as the Traders Scotch Ale. The pizzas at McLeods Pizza Barn & Brewery are designed to complement the signature beers on tap, which range from pale ale to stout. The Cooper topped with roast chicken, bacon, mushroom, sun-dried tomatoes and Parmesan is a winner, as the vegetarian Herbalist with kmara, avocado and brie. You cant go wrong with the giant burgers either.

Its tagline the first beer to see the sun mightnt reel you in if youre not in the habit of starting your day with an alcoholic beverage, but youll want to give it a try at a more appropriate hour if you consider yourself a beer connoisseur. This is Gisbornes liquid gold.

Founded in 1989, the Sunshine Brewing crew reckon theyre the second oldest craft brewery in the country. Which is to say they were obsessing over craft beer before many of the hipsters who decided it was cool were even born and certainly long before any of them cultivated their trademark well-groomed bushy beards. Theyre still going strong: This year, the brewery won six gold medals, five silver and eight bronze at the Australian International Beer Awards. The gold-winning brews included the Gisborne Gold Lager (aka Gizzie Gold), a staple at the brewery since the nineties; the Stockies Pale Ale; Mexican Lager; Pilsner; and No Access IPA. Visit the taproom a couple of blocks back from Waikanae Beach and you can watch the brewers do their thing while you sample their creations. With pizzas also on offer, it makes for a pretty sweet afternoon out.

The Beer Project/Stuff

Craftworks Michael O'Brien and Lee-Ann Scotti specialise in Belgian-style beer.

Teleport yourself to early 1900s Belgium at this top little spot in Oamaru. Michael OBrien and Lee-Ann Scotti began brewing Belgian-style beer back in 2014 and do such a good job at it were sure even a Trappist monk would be impressed.

The pair still brew beer some of their beer in the stone basement they started out in, but thankfully visitors have been seated in a far more comfortable Tasting Room in the Victorian Precinct. Beers on tap include the Farmhouse ale, Belgian-style speciality ales, and a barrel-aged sour. The multiple award-winning Dark Lord speciality ale is a good choice on a frigid winters day. Made with Trappist Rochefort yeast, its a bit like a beer version of pinot noir the brewers describe it as rich as Christmas cake and a lovely digestif. They recommend visitors pair their beers with one or more of the New Zealand-made cows, goats and sheeps milk cheeses on offer. Craftwork was in the process of moving premises at the time of writing, but you can catch them at the Otago Craft Beer Invitational on Saturday, August 7.

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Old schoolmates Jaden and Fraser produce some of the best beers in the Waikato.

Tired of so-called craft breweries churning out beers they felt were tailored to Lion Red drinkers, old schoolmates Jaden Hatwell and set out to prove they could do better. Their first beer, the Blind Mule APA, went down a treat Waikato-wide Stuff reporter Simon Wood described it as a meaty, flavour-packed brew with bucket loads of zingy, bright hops. And blindingly good.

Their Apehanger IPA won a trophy in the strong ale category of the Brewers Guild Awards in 2017, just a year after the brewery opened. Woods verdict: dry and weighty with some powerful citrus notes coming through, followed by a wonderfully tasty belt of hops and a crisp finish. Hidden away at the back of an old dairy factory, the brewery and taproom is very industrial chic with bright red barstools, tables with kegs for legs, and space to sit outside when the suns shining. Signature beers on tap include the oak-aged Dark Saison, and the T Straight Smokey Burnout Stout. Free brewery tours are on offer on Thursdays between 4pm and 6pm.

When Seb Burke first upped his homebrewing game in June 2015, he supplied one restaurant in Twizel. It went down such a treat he soon found himself swamped with orders from the Mackenzie Region and beyond. A Kiwi pioneer in hazy IPAs, the #Fakenews version he developed for Twizels Hops and Hooves beer festival five years ago made the New World Beer & Cider Awards Top 30 this year. The judges praised its balance and easy drinkability, describing it as a very, very nice beer.

While you can get the #Fakenews hazy IPA at New World supermarkets, theres nothing quite like cracking a Burkes brew at its Lake Tekapo base, the Blue Lake Bar & Eatery. The food is pretty damn good too. Think hearty mains such as slow-cooked lamb shanks with seasonal veggies and mash, smoked beef brisket burger with brie and onion jam, and a Mackenzie Rustler pizza with lamb, mushrooms, tzatziki and mozzarella.

Chris Skelton/STUFF/Stuff

Joseph and Christina Wood of Liberty Brewing.

Tucked away down the back of a block of shops in the North Shore suburb of Helensville, this husband- and wife-owned brewery is credited with making some of the countrys best beers. Founded by Joe and Christina Woods in a New Plymouth garage in 2009, its won pretty much everything going, including Brewers Guild, NZ Beer and Society of Beer awards. Its Prohibition Porter, which is aged for nine months in whiskey barrels, is particularly highly regarded, as is its Citra Pale Ale with its mango and guava undertones.

With 13 signature beers on tap, the cosy taproom over the road is a very pleasant place to while away an afternoon. For something a bit different, try the Jungle Juice with its notes of pineapple and passionfruit, the Yakima Monster Pale Ale, or Darkest Days oatmeal stout.

When Ground Up founders Oli and Julian quit their jobs to start a brewery in 2015, they knew they had their work cut out for them. As rock climbers and mountaineers, they were used to living life on the edge, so perhaps its no surprise they handled the resultant stress and sleep deprivation admirably. The self-taught brewers developed something of a cult following in their first year and, these days, a stop the taproom is a #wanakamustdo.

Grab a seat in the brewery or on the deck and set about deciding which of the 22 brews on offer to order for starters. The fruity Crag Dog Pale Ale and Punks in the Gym IPA are popular choices, as is The KPA the pale ale that originally endeared them to Wnaka locals. More experimental brews include The Fifth Voyage with its coconut, cocoa and vanilla tones and the Alpine Start stout. Just the thing after a day on the slopes. Or of doing anything really.

ROSA WOODS/STUFF

Brewtown is home to five breweries and a distillery.

With five breweries, a distillery, ice rink, go-kart track, trampoline park, tenpin bowling and indoor paintball field, Brewtown is living proof to many that heaven is a place on Earth. Local craft beer legends Panhead Custom Ales, Boneface Brewing and Kerer Brewing have all set up shop in the self-described craft beer village, as has Wild Kiwi distiller Russel Kirk, whos teamed up with Hamilton-based Good George Brewing.

Theres plenty of good grub on offer to line your stomach, and if you like, you can join a tour which will take you behind the scenes at the breweries and see you sample at least 12 beers and sit down to lunch. Its a one-of-a-kind offering in this country: Owner Malcom Gillies has described the place as New Zealands first craft beer theme park.

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Beerly beloved: The best craft breweries you can visit in New Zealand - Stuff.co.nz

Saturday night will be relatively mild for Auckland, with a few passing showers expected.

The real action will begin on Sunday with frigid winds across Canterbury and Marlborough moving towards the lower North Island

By Sunday evening, Kiwis could expect to see a dusting of snow across the Hawke's Bay and Gisborne Ranges at quite low elevations.

"And it's going to be a cold one for all of us," Noll says.

He added that climate change means these cold snaps will become less frequent as time passes - evident by the fact this June and July were the warmest on record - as was last year.

"So that's two in a row [that have broken records]. Climate change is shrinking the winter as we know it - there will be droughts earlier, less cold extremes and more warm extremes."

Continued here:

New Zealand to shiver this weekend as biting chill creeps across country - Newshub

By Geoffrey Miller*

As New Zealand's very successful Olympic campaign in Tokyo draws to a close, it's easy to be equally positive and optimistic about the state of New Zealand's wider relationship with Japan.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaking during a joint press conference with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on September 19, 2019. Photo: AFP / Pool

If New Zealand's trading relationships were Olympic sports, Japan would miss out on a medal - but not by much.

Japan is New Zealand's fifth-biggest trading partner - behind only China, Australia, the US and the EU.

There is a healthy trade surplus in New Zealand's favour.

Fruit, dairy and aluminium currently top the list of New Zealand's exports, while tourism and education were also strong contributors before Covid-19.

In exchange, Japan's exports to New Zealand are dominated by vehicles.

The trading relationship is set to only strengthen over time, as phased-in benefits gradually accrue under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

For example, tariffs on New Zealand beef exports will gradually fall to 9 percent by 2033 - from a hefty 38.5 percent.

Tariffs on nearly all cheeses will be eliminated entirely, as will those on seafood.

Even before these gains, the Japan relationship was one of New Zealanders' absolute favourites.

In the latest 'Perceptions of Asia' survey by the Asia New Zealand Foundation, released in June, 71 percent of respondents thought Japan was friendly towards New Zealand.

It was the most popular Asian and non-English speaking country - by a considerable margin.

The next countries on the list, Germany and South Korea, received 'friendliness' scores of 59 percent and 51 percent respectively.

A long tradition of sporting and cultural exchanges goes some way to explaining the positive sentiment towards Japan.

Simon Draper, the head of the Asia New Zealand Foundation, points to working holiday visas, a heavy New Zealand involvement in Japan's JET English teacher programme and a long list of sister city relationships as just some of the driving factors.

Rugby diplomacy also helps.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, finance minister Grant Robertson and then foreign minister Winston Peters all made largely successful official visits to Japan in 2019 to coincide with the country's hosting of the Rugby World Cup.

A rare diplomatic gaffe by Ardern - when she said China instead of Japan - did not appear to cause any longer-lasting damage.

The foreign ministers of Japan and New Zealand, Taro Kono and Winston Peters Photo: RNZ

Peters was even invited back to Japan as a special guest of the G20 foreign ministers' meeting, held a month later.

Japanese popular culture serves as the background theme music to the relationship.

David Capie, who wrote a report on the New Zealand-Japan relationship for the Asia New Zealand Foundation in 2019, pointed to the rise of Japanese culture in New Zealand from the 1980s onwards - including karaoke, manga, Pokemon and sushi.

In his view, Japan is a 'soft power superpower'.

People-to-people ties between New Zealand and Japan have also played a major role.

Jacinda Ardern herself is a good example - she learned Japanese and hosted a Japanese exchange student when she was at school.

From the New Zealand perspective, the last few years have also largely neutralised two main areas of tension - trade and whaling.

Japan's decision to join the CPTPP, which came into force at the end of 2018, resolved major differences over trade.

Whaling has also ceased to be the obstacle it once was, after Japan stopped hunting whales in the Southern Ocean in 2018.

But New Zealand's relationship with Japan might be about to become a lot more complicated.

Under Shinzo Abe, Japan's Prime Minister from 2012-2020, Japan sought to become a bigger global player.

Abe's surprise decision to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations in 2013 - against fierce domestic opposition - was one of the first signs of this new engagement.

Another came in 2015, when the Japanese parliament voted - despite widespread public protests - to allow the country's military to fight overseas, provided certain conditions were met.

The move had previously been unthinkable, thanks to Japan's war-renouncing pacificist constitution that came into force in 1947.

Abe even tried - but ultimately failed - to change the constitution itself.

Tokyo's relationship with Beijing might have been expected to deteriorate as a result of Abe's policies.

After all, Abe was also the architect of the "free and open Indo-Pacific" doctrine - later enthusiastically adopted by Australia and the US - that can only be understood as a direct challenge to China's dominance in the region.

But surprisingly, China-Japan relations gradually improved over Abe's tenure.

Abe got on surprisingly well at a personal level with Chinese President Xi Jinping - who, like Abe, took office in 2012.

Regular high-level exchanges helped to smooth over tensions. Abe made an official visit to China in 2018 and even invited Xi to Japan for a highly symbolic state visit (Abe left office before the visit could take place).

Essentially, Abe adopted the "tightrope" approach of keeping both the West and China happy.

It is a strategy that New Zealand itself is very familiar with.

But Japan now has a new Prime Minister - and the country's relations with China are deteriorating.

Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. Photo: AFP

Yoshihide Suga, Japan's new leader, lacks the personal rapport that Abe had with Xi - and he appears to be charting a more confrontational course.

Last month, an annual white paper from Japan's defence ministry focused on China as its main national security threat. For the first time, it also warned of a crisis over Taiwan.

Another overt signal - or a very unfortunate gaffe - came in June, when Suga angered Beijing by calling Taiwan a country.

Suga has aligned Japan even more closely with the US's recent more hardline position on China.

After a rare joint visit by the US Secretary of Defence and Secretary of State to Tokyo in March, a joint statement by the US and Japan explicitly addressed "China's behaviour" in no uncertain terms and stressed the US's "unwavering commitment" to defending Japan.

To underline the point, the statement specifically backed Japan's claim to the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea.

Also in March, Suga joined the inaugural leaders' summit of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (or 'Quad' for short) with his counterparts from Australia, India and the US.

While Abe himself had revived the Quad, this was the first time it had been held at the leader level. It was another highly symbolic challenge to China.

Where do these changes leave New Zealand?

Since the CPTPP was signed, the Japanese-New Zealand relationship has been almost too good to be true.

But if Tokyo continues to take a firmer line on China and becomes more interested in "hard power" defence issues, this may make New Zealand's own relationship with Japan trickier.

The relationship would inevitably end up focusing on much more than just trade and people-to-people ties.

Trade might end up being linked or combined with other, more uncomfortable issues.

In this regard, there are early signs that New Zealand is reading the room.

At conferences in July, Jacinda Ardern and foreign minister Nanaia Mahuta both signalled that New Zealand might be interested in a 'Quad-plus' arrangement, alongside Australia, India, Japan and the United States.

It remains to be seen exactly what form any cooperation would take.

Tokyo 2020 is coming to an end.

But the real games might be just beginning.

*Geoffrey Miller is the Democracy Project's international analyst and writes on current New Zealand foreign policy and related geopolitical issues.

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Geoffrey Miller: NZs Olympic-sized relationship with Japan may be about to change - RNZ

Health Minister Andrew Little revealed the next step in his health system reforms in a speech to a GPs' conference today. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Health Minister Andrew Little faced tough questions from GPs today, which he later welcomed, telling reporters that he's "not here to be licked up and down".

In a speech to the Conference for GPs in Wellington, Little revealed 12 health indicators that will be used to monitor how the health system is performing once it transitions to a new national system, with a number of DHBs being disestablished.

They included immunisation rates for children at 24 months, under 25s accessing specialist mental health services within three weeks of referral, and ambulatory sensitive hospitalisations for adults aged 45-64 and children aged 0-4.

The purpose is to see where the system should be improved, followed by local consultation to target improvements in order to shift funding to primary care, rather than hospital EDs.

But the audience was unforgiving, and even chuckled when Little mentioned the mental health indicator in an apparent criticism of the Government's inability to make meaningful improvements in that sector.

"We're not trying to measure things that we think we've got it already. We're trying to measure things that actually tell us whether the system is working," Little said afterwards when asked about the laughter.

The questions from the floor were also highly critical, prompting Little to say afterwards: "I don't come here to be licked up and down. I come here to engage with people. If I'm not being told, how can I and the Government respond properly?"

Rose, a Hawera GP, told Little she was one of two GPs covering 20,000 patients, and implored Little to make fruit and vegetables free and to tax sugar to avoid a worsening diabetes crisis.

Little thanked her for the advice, later saying there was policy work on nutrition underway and there would be more to say next year.

He then told West Auckland GP Deb that pay parity for primary care nurses would follow the conclusion of negotiations with hospital nurses.

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That would set the yardstick for the pay level for other nurses, he said, which might be in place in about two years' time.

"Two years! Yay!" was Deb's sarcastic response.

A GP from Porirua then asked Little "how big a dose of laxative" he planned to administer to Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi to sort out visa issues for overseas-trained GPs in New Zealand, whose futures are up in the air as residency expressions of interest are frozen.

Little replied he was in active discussion with Faafoi about the issue.

Retired GP David Hill, from Palmerston North, told Little the indicators he announced were looking at the wrong thing, and poverty was what made people sick enough to visit GPs - or to go to hospital if they couldn't afford a GP visit.

Little talked about the lifting of benefit rates in Budget 2021, but Hill retorted: "I hear it but I don't see any changes ... you are failing the people of New Zealand. You are failing people who live in poverty."

Afterwards, Little said the health system had been "under the hammer" even before the pandemic.

"There was frustration. Of course there was. And with the GP workforce ageing, more retiring, they're struggling to fill the vacancies. They've got more patients turning up with more complicated conditions. This is the reality of the system right now."

But he rejected the comments the Government wasn't addressing the drivers of poor health outcomes.

"We will have some important policy announcements to make as we start with the new system in July next year. Nutrition is one of them. That is a driver of poor health.

"We have to work out practical, sensible things that are actually going to make a difference. We're working on that now."

The crowd reception to director general of health Ashley Bloomfield, whose address was after Little's, couldn't have been more different.

One GP in the audience, during questions from the floor, thanked Bloomfield for possibly saving his life, and his question was to ask him for a selfie.

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Health reforms: Andrew Little's hostile reception from GPs at Wellington conference - New Zealand Herald

One of the best parts of exploring New Zealand is stumbling across tiny towns and their tasty treats.

From eclairs to pua pies and even a town that runs on gin here are the best things I ate and drank on a recent 100-day road trip around New Zealand.

Brook Sabin/Stuff

The pua pies at Cafe 35 are worthy of the hype.

A trip around East Cape is a bucket list drive; kids play on horses, wild pigs run down the road, and cows can be found wandering along remote golden beaches. The road that links this beautiful slice of New Zealand is known as State Highway 35. Although "highway" is perhaps a generous term; it is more like a grand voyage of winding roads that takes you to some of the most untouched parts of the country.

While you'll pass dozens of empty beaches, quaint little communities and the eastern-most point of New Zealand one of your compulsory stops is Tokomaru Bay's Cafe 35. Here you'll find the Cape's iconic pua pie. During the school holidays or long weekends, there will be queues fresh batches are gone within minutes. You can even try loaded paua fries.

If you're not a fan of seafood, the pork belly pies are also unmissable.

READ MORE:* Choc and awe: How to have a chocolate holiday * Secrets of the Wairarapa: a spectacular road trip full of hidden gems* The travel hot list: The Stuff travel team's picks of things to try in 2021

Brook Sabin/Stuff

The Lawrence Mint is one of the busiest shops in town.

Lawrence was once the centre of the Otago Gold Rush, but today it's another kind boom taking the village by storm: a sugar rush.

The Lawrence Mint is a chocolate shop with a difference. It's all about small-batch handmade creations, and in a tiny town of around 500 people, it has a steady stream of devotees worshipping at the altar of cocoa. The cheesecakes are also worthy of high praise. Part of its popularity is that everything is handmade using Belgian chocolate and you can taste the love that goes into every morsel.

The shop has closed for winter, with plans well underway for a new location just down the road complete with a tiny food truck called "The Little Minty". If a spring road trip through Otago is on your horizon, don't miss this sweet stop.

Brook Sabin/Stuff

An eclair with a view in Ohakune.

In the winter months, Ohakune is a bustling gateway to Mt Ruapehu. But every morning, well before dawn, the busiest place in town is Johnny Nation's Chocolate Eclair Shop. There youll find bakers hard at work preparing hundreds of eclairs, which start flying off the shelves from 0630 each morning.

The family-run store, which has been operating for more than 70 years, sell their giant chocolate creations for just $3. During busier days, queues will snake out the door. At $3 each, you won't find better value.

BROOK SABIN/Stuff

Hokitika Sandwich Company has quickly become a West Coast institution.

"What? A 45-minute wait!" The person in front of us walked out.

All of us in the queue grinned. Those who have tasted the creations at the Hokitika Sandwich Company don't walk out. Ever.

How good can a sandwich be? I compare it to chocolate: it's a little like eating cooking chocolate your entire life, then suddenly discovering Whittakers. These sandwiches are that good.

A few years ago, Kiwi Joseph Walker left his restaurant in the US to open a sandwich bar in Hokitika, and it's now the most exciting place in town.

And it's not hard to see why; the bread, meat and cheese are all sourced as locally as possible. And Walker has perfected some kind of sandwich sorcery bringing it all together. What looks simple, tastes sensational.

The last time I was there, a Wnaka resident had decided to make her annual holiday on the West Coast for the second year in the row simply because she wanted to stay in Hokitika and eat a few sandwiches while enjoying the wild scenery.

Brook Sabin/Stuff

The cheeseburger doughnut at Smoking Barrel, Motueka.

The South Island town of Motueka has become Destination Doughnut. Its all thanks to the towns Melbourne-esque eatery known as The Smoking Barrel, where hundreds of doughnuts are created early each morning.

The flavours are extraordinary. We're talking R18 Naughty Snickers with bourbon salted caramel, Bounty Bar, vanilla creme brulee, Caramilk deluxe, and salted caramel popcorn to name a few.

Then there are the breakfast doughnuts, like bacon and eggs benedict. It's miraculously all packed inside the dough - cut it open, and a perfect egg is revealed.

The Smoking Barrel is run by husband and wife team Josiah and Rachel Smits. The talented pair started the cafe with a focus on slow-cooked barbecue meats, but in recent years the doughnuts have proved enormously popular. So much so, the cafe usually makes more than 400 each day and are almost always sold out within hours.

Brook Sabin/Stuff

Schoc has amazing chocolate caramels.

Greytown's Schoc Chocolates is like visiting Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory if it decided to relocate to a tiny turn-of-the-century cottage. Creator Murray Langham calls it a Chocolate Therapy Studio, and I suggest you check-in for some serious rehab.

Inside is a cocoa wonderland with truffles, boxes of chocolates, hampers and marzipan. The pice de rsistance is the "chocolate tablet": Schoc's version of a chocolate bar. You'll find a wall with more than 60 flavours, and drum roll, please you can taste any of them for free. If you have a sweet tooth, head straight for rose milk.

Alternatively, if you have a penchant for unusual chocolate, Schoc makes flavours like carrot and coriander, curry and poppadoms, and even apricot and rosemary. The dark chocolate with ghost chilli (one of the hottest in the world) will test your constitution.

Brook Sabin/Stuff

You can watch goodies being made at Makana Confections.

The best sweet treat Ive ever tried is a macadamia butter toffee crunch from Makana Confections in Kerikeri.

A visit to the chocolate shop includes free samples, alongside views of the workshop where you can watch the latest creations being made.

While the truffles and chocolates are delightful, the luscious slabs of toffee coated in milk chocolate and dusted with macadamia are in a league of their own. Helpfully, if you can't make it to the original store in Kerikeri, the company also has another store near Blenheim.

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Reefton Distilling Co offers tours of its small distillery.

This old gold mining stronghold on the West Coast seemed destined for a slow decline until budding entrepreneurs decided to focus on making gin the big game in town.

In 2017 the Reefton Distilling Co was formed, combining pure mountain water with a host of high country botanicals to create a uniquely West Coast drop.

The distillery has won a host of international awards and raised more than $3 million to expand its operation.

For $35, experience a factory tour, then go on a sensory journey through the rainforest with a tasting at the bar.

There are now plans for a larger distillery alongside a blueprint to reinvigorate the town with other tourist attractions.

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The mince and cheese pies at Fairlie Bakehouse.

Pie lovers, start your (digestive) engines. While a trip to Lake Tekapo and Aoraki/Mt Cook is a scenic highlight of any holiday, your taste buds won't be satisfied until you stop off at the Fairlie Bakehouse and try their pies.

You'll find this bustling little town between Timaru and Lake Tekapo, and it's easy to spot the pie shop: the bakehouse is the busiest place in town.

While all the flavours are delicious, it's the pork belly with apple sauce and crackling that have most raving. The bacon and salmon pie also has its fair share of worshippers, although, Im not one of them. Salmon in a pie is one step too far for me.

Brook Sabin/Stuff

Cheesy mushrooms on toast at Cest Cheese.

If you're in the Wairarapa for a wine weekend, remember what also gets better with age: cheese. The town of Featherston has a shop called C'est Cheese, and its home to one of the largest ranges of speciality cheeses in the country.

This little shops dedication to cheese makes you feel like you could be in Europe; you'll find creations like The Drunken Nanny, which is goat's cheese from Martinborough, Grinning Gecko camembert from Whangrei and even creations by its own brand: the Remutaka Pass Creamery.

The cheesey nirvana is located in one of the town's historic buildings (almost 150 years old), which is also home to a cheese bar, where you can try heavily-cheesed scones alongside cheesy mushrooms on toast with a giant cheese wafer.

What are your favourite tiny town treats? Tell us in the comments.

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New Zealand's tiny towns with amazing treats - Stuff.co.nz

In the age of coronavirus, New Zealand can seem like an idyll: a tightly sealed hermit kingdom, recently rated best place to survive global societal collapse, and one of the last countries in the world to evade incursions from the Delta variant. But the walls of fortress New Zealand arent only successful at keeping out Covid-19.

With demand for government-required quarantine greatly exceeding the supply of spaces, desperate New Zealanders are going to enormous lengths employing bots, coders, and $2000 booking assistants to try to secure entry to the country. For many, the emotional and psychological toll is enormous.

It is 1.15AM in Dubai, and Alan Rowlands is once again at his computer. The ritual of endlessly refreshing a booking screen in hope of securing a spot in managed isolation has consumed all of his waking moments for the past three weeks. Its so demoralizing, he says. Theres just nothing.

Rowlands and his wife are in Dubai. Several weeks ago, his employment contract ended unexpectedly and with it, his visa. Soon, he will become an illegal overstayer, and on top of having no income, he will face significant fines for his visa violation.

New Zealand has protected its Covid-free status with extremely strict border controls, requiring returnees to spend two weeks in a government-run Managed Isolation and Quarantine Facility [MIQ]. The stay is time-consuming and often expensive in itself but expats say the true barrier is securing a booking at all. At present, all available dates are booked. New spaces made available after cancellations disappear within seconds.

The system does not distinguish between people who have been trying to book a space for months, and those booking for the first time the spoils go to the fastest fingers. Im on there 24/7, Rowlands says. You have to just keep refreshing it and refreshing it and refreshing it, in the hope that something will come up.

Rowlands has tried a variety of methods: initially, he signed up for bots online services that scan for available dates, and send alerts when they arrive. Each time one came up, it disappeared before he could click through. He approached people branding themselves as MIQ assistants whom you pay to watch the site constantly, or run computer scripts to book on your behalf. Three turned him down. They were all overwhelmed with work, and had significant client waiting lists.

His problem is shared by thousands of overseas New Zealanders who, in recent months, have found passage home increasingly hard to secure. Online, a cottage industry has sprung up to meet the demand, with one site charging up to $2,415 for their services. The Guardian also viewed advertisements on Fiverr, where a range of sellers were charging between $150 and $300 to secure a space one of whom had a waitlist of 152 people.

One woman has elderly parents in Switzerland, but was now unable to leave the country to visit them. People are desperate to come home it is an absolute disgrace they cant return unless paying a ridiculous amount to absolute strangers who then also hold your passport number and information, she said.

The government is forcing so many into transactions with some shady operators who are making a very healthy profit out of peoples desperation.

Facebook support groups with thousands of members have sprung up, with people swapping tips and strategies for securing a spot. Over time, they have become a source of emotional and mental health support, as well as logistics even a brief scroll through the pages pulls up dozens of stories of people separated from terminally ill family members, laid-off workers with no financial support, parents separated from children. Many say the process has taken a significant toll on their mental health, and some report feeling anxious, depressed, and suicidal.

Its shattering. Rowlands says. Im literally tearing my hair out. Then I get people saying oh well, you know, maybe you need to go to another country. Where am I going to go?

We feel as though were being treated as pariahs, we feel like nobody wants us back.

The Guardian received numerous messages from New Zealanders struggling to make a booking.

I never could have imagined the broken system we have now, one woman said, My heart breaks for all the people who have been trying for months to return & often under very painful circumstances. At this point, I feel my anxiety growing, wondering when Ill see my ageing mother again.

My father has bowel cancer and he will need surgery next week, wrote another. Others relayed stories of being separated from their children, attempting to get parents home for surgeries, or forced into illegal visa status because they could not get home.

Cherie Brown, a lecturer based in Japan, is 66 and is trying to return home to retire. For now, she sits refreshing the site every 7 seconds faster than that and the system will identify you as a bot and block you, she says. She has been self-isolating at home for nearly 18 months.

None of those interviewed objected to the requirement to quarantine itself only to the current booking system.

Supply chains expert professor Tava Olsen said research showed queues caused psychological stress. That toll was exacerbated, she said, by uncertainty, length of time, and unfairness such as queue-jumping all of which were present in the current booking system.

Olsen suggested that the government create a high priority cohort for people who were moving home, or affected by illness and family separation, and recommended a waitlist, which while it may be long would give people certainty to plan ahead.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment said in a statement that MIQ has served New Zealand well, helping to bring more than 158,000 people here, while protecting the freedoms that we all now enjoy.

Demand for space in managed isolation facilities is always high, and there is finite capacity within the MIQ system, and thats for good reason Covid-19 is raging around the world and we need to keep New Zealand safe.

The spokesperson said they had implemented measures to prevent bots making bookings, and that if people chose to employ third parties to book, we advise they make sure it is a reputable person or company, and warned that sharing login details was a breach of rules.

They added that a waitlist was under consideration but would be complex and pushes the problem further up the pipeline it would not guarantee people vouchers, it would only save their place in a queue, where demand is still significantly greater than supply.

Claire Sisam, a lawyer in Barcelona, has been attempting to secure a spot for three months. I dont want to sound dramatic but I cry about it sometimes. I havent seen my parents since February 2020 and it frightens me because if something happens to them, I cant get to them, she says.

Those that do tell their stories say they are sometimes met with vitriol online, or a lack of understanding from the New Zealand public. I think theres a lack of empathy and it feels like its becoming them and us, Sisam says. I just feel like were rendered stateless we have no country.

Link:

Bots and scalpers: desperate Kiwis try everything to get into Fortress New Zealand - The Guardian

Britain's Trade Minister Liz Truss walks after the ceremony of State Opening of Parliament at the Palace of Westminster, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions, in London, Britain, May 11, 2021. REUTERS/John Sibley/Files

(Reuters) -Britain is nearing an agreement in principle on a free trade deal with New Zealand, its trade ministry said on Saturday, as London looks to bolster its post-Brexit trade ties with non-EU partners.

The European Union is Britains single largest trade partner and the two sides have signed a post-Brexit trade pact, but business groups say they still face extra red tape dealing with European customers and suppliers as a result of Brexit.

Trade minister Liz Truss said that great progress had been made in a sixth round of discussions which ran from July 19-30.

A trade agreement with New Zealand could see the removal of tariffs on British and New Zealand goods making products available at lower prices, the ministry said.

A deal would also enable small and medium enterprises to export more goods and services to New Zealand, it added.

Were closing in on an agreement in principle, with 6 more chapters now complete, Truss said.

In June Britain received a green light to start the process of joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) trade bloc of 11 countries.

In June Britains trade ministry also signalled confidence in its trade talks with New Zealand and said it aimed to conclude a fantastic agreement in August.

Reporting by Akriti Sharma and Aakriti Bhalla in Bengaluru; Additional Reporting by Aishwarya Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Richard Pullin and Jason Neely

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UK 'closing in' on free trade agreement with New Zealand - Reuters

TOKYO, July 30 (Reuters) - New Zealand came out on top in an Olympic rowing regatta for the record books at Tokyo's Sea Forest Waterway, as the United States suffered a historic medal shutout and Britain's dominant run dried up.

The competition concluded on Friday with a half dozen new world best times in place, according to World Rowing statistics, as many athletes thrived despite sweltering and windy conditions to set new benchmarks for excellence in the sport.

New Zealand topped the Olympic rowing medal table for the first time, with three golds and two silvers, seizing the perch that Britain had enjoyed over the previous three Games. read more

"Words can't really describe the feeling right now," said 27-year-old Sam Bosworth, after he and his team mates picked up New Zealand's first gold in the men's eight since 1972. "We kind of crossed the line, and I couldn't quite believe it that we'd done it."

Adding to the Kiwis' gold medal haul on Friday was Emma Twigg, as the 34-year-old clinched the single sculls after failing to reach the podium in Beijing, London and Rio.

"It has been a long and rocky journey. To cross the line with the gold medal was pretty mind-blowing and special," said Twigg.

The Tokyo regatta was the first Olympic rowing competition in which the United States has come up empty handed, a crushing blow for the Americans.

The U.S. won gold in the women's eight in the three previous Games but finished fourth in the race on Friday behind Canada, New Zealand and China, respectively.

The competition was forced to take a two-day hiatus due to adverse weather forecasts but otherwise carried on as planned despite prior concerns over heat and wind, a far cry from the 2016 Rio Games, when competitors had lambasted the conditions at the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon.

"I remember thinking back to Rio, a butterfly flapped its wings on one side of the lake and it was unrowable on the course," said Briton John Collins, as the competition kicked off. "This is a bit of a relief in that respect." read more

The sport was not immune to the challenges of carrying out a competition in the midst of a pandemic, however, as a Dutch rower, coach and staff member tested positive for COVID-19 and had to leave the event. read more

An Italian rower was also forced to withdraw on Wednesday due to a positive test hours before his team mates won bronze in the men's four. read more

Reporting by Amy Tennery in TokyoEditing by Shri Navaratnam

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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REVIEW Olympics-Rowing-New Zealand soars in drama-drenched Tokyo Regatta - Reuters

Sport

31 Jul, 2021 12:20 AM4 minutes to read

NZ Herald Focus Sport's Cheree Kinnear wraps all the action from a historic day for New Zealand sport and we check out three Olympic flatmate's Cambridge crib. Video / NZ Herald / Sky Sport

New Zealand's anticipated challenge in the triathlon mixed relay fizzled like a popped balloon as they fell behind on the first leg and were not seen in anger again until Hayden Wilde finished in 12th place, 3m 12s behind the winners.

It was a chastening experience for the squad of Ainsley Thorpe, Nicole van der Kaay, Tayler Reid and Wilde, the majority of who were picked with this event specifically in mind.

"At the end of the day we did our best out there," Wilde said, acknowledging the team struggled.

"It was good to see the fight there we all had a bit of a torrid battle."

"You can't have highs without the lows," Reid said. "We'll come back hard."

Full Kiwi schedule below. Click on a name to see athlete's bio, upcoming events, past Games performance and medal chance.

As it turned out, it developed into an enthralling three-way battle in an event being held at the Olympics for the first time.

Alex Yee anchored Great Britain to a dominating win, crossing the line before Wilde completed the first of his two laps on the run.

The USA finished second, 14s behind, while the top-ranked France took bronze, a further 9s behind.

The race, four legs of a 300m swim, 6.8km bike and 2km run, was a bit of a trip into the unknown but it quickly developed into a race of the have and have-nots depending on how the team was placed after the bike sector on leg one.

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Of the teams that were out of the lead group of four, only France managed to battle themselves back into contention; as making up time and places in cloying conditions and on a tight, technical bike leg was difficult.

Ainsley Thorpe was first away in the swim, a 300m dash across the Odaiba Marine Park, and came out of the water in eighth, 11s down on the leader, Great Britain's Jessica Learmonth.

USA, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Germany quickly established a lead group on the cycle and it was always going to be tough to make up the ground.

Thorpe handed over to Tayler Reid in 16th, 1m 28s behind the leaders.

Reid was being asked to make up a lot of ground, but we never saw his progress as the cameras focused on the front of the pack.

The bald facts were he handed over to his partner Nicole van der Kaay 2m 01s behind Great Britain, who were staked to a handy lead by a brilliant Jonny Brownlee 2km run, while improving New Zealand's place from 16th to 14th.

Speaking to the cameras as van der Kaay was on the course, Reid said the heat made it tough to make up ground but he gave it everything and risked blowing it up rather than trying to play safe.

Van der Kaay held her ground and Wilde, already establishing himself as a star of the sport, picked up a couple of places.

It was another strong performance but the truth is that 12th is nowhere near where New Zealand expected to finish.

It has been a curious Olympics for Triathlon NZ. If you'd offered them a medal before the Games they would have bitten your hand off to get it, but they would have expected it to be in this mixed relay.

There has been talk in triathlon circles for some time that they have an extraordinary talent on their hands in Whakatane's Wilde, 23, but the suggestion was he would be primed for a medal tilt in Paris in 2024.

Instead he was at the forefront of a youth movement that dominated the men's race as the senior statesmen like Jonny Brownlee and Mario Mola faded from view.

Wilde's bronze was a desperately needed shot in the arm for a sport that has endured a number of dry campaigns since Bevan Docherty's bronze in Beijing.

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Tokyo Olympics 2020: New Zealand team finish 12th in triathlon mixed relay - New Zealand Herald