Category Archives: New Zealand

SINGAPORE - At the entrance of the Gardens by the Bay's Cloud Forest, amidthe lush greenery of plants native to New Zealand, a symbolic doorway greets visitors.

The new Maori kuwaha carving, named Tane Te Waiora, represents the strong friendship between Singapore and New Zealand, and was unveiled by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Indranee Rajah on Tuesday (April 19).

Comprising three pieces made of totara wood from the Pureora Forest in the central North Island, the sculpture is crafted from a tree that is estimated to be over 2,500 years old, which fell naturally in the forest during a severe storm.

The carving depicts Tane, the personification of the sun, and Hina, the personification of the moon, reinforcing the importance of light in Maori culture.

"It is a metaphor for our reconnection with Singapore, demonstrating our intention to strengthen the 'doorway' between New Zealand and Singapore, and the rest of the world," Ms Ardern said of the carving.

"The presence on the kuwaha of Hina, represented by the moon, and Tane, represented by the crops, are also significant as they symbolise a relationship of trust and reciprocity - defining features of New Zealand's relationship with Singapore."

Gardens by the Bay CEO Felix Loh said: "Maori art and culture has deep significance in New Zealand's cultural history... We are grateful for this precious gift to be placed permanently at the entrance of Cloud Forest as a lasting symbol of the close friendship between our two countries."

Ms Ardern, who arrived on Mondayfor a three-day visit, also had a new orchid hybrid named in her honour at the Istana earlier on Tuesday.

The Dendrobium Jacinda Ardern, a hybrid of Dendrobium Lim Wen Gin and Dendrobium Takashimaya, produces flowers with white petals and sepals with a flush of orchid purple towards the tips.

New Zealand is opening its borders to international travellers from May 2.

Tourism New Zealand chief executive Rene de Monchy is excited about the prospect of reopened borders. "It's a perfect opportunity to tour around and engage with the culture and the nature. There's lots of variety in activity," he said.

Some newly-introduced activities include the Te Puia, Geysers by Night, where visitors will be guided on a 3km course that ends at the picturesque Pohutu Geyser. There is Wildwire Wanaka, where thrill-seekers can abseil down Twin Falls, while those who prefer tamer activities embark on the Wild Walk Adventure Trail.

Though travelling may be "complicated" due to mandatory testing and paperwork, Mr de Monchy feels that people "have a deep-rooted desire to travel".

He added that now is the perfect time to vacation for Singaporeans who want to escape the heat, as it is autumn in New Zealand. "I certainly hope that Singaporeans will look at our blue skies and green fields and feel refreshed," he said.

Read the rest here:

Maori carving unveiled at Gardens by the Bay to symbolise New Zealand-Singapore friendship - The Straits Times

A new invasive species of wasp has been found in St Marys Bay, central Auckland.

An information flier given to St Marys Bay residents this week by Biosecurity New Zealand said the non-native pest wasp hadnt been seen in Aotearoa, until now.

Biosecurity New Zealand is interested in any further sightings of this insect as we would like to be sure there are no others in the area.

Biosecurity NZ said it was investigating to ensure the single lesser banded hornet found was the only one in the area.

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The find comes after Queensland fruit flies put parts of the North Shore into a fruit and vegetable lockdown for almost a year from early 2019.

Biosecurity NZ said the lesser banded hornet, a type of wasp, was not thought to be established in New Zealand, but is widely found in South East Asia.

Biosecurity NZs manager of surveillance and incursion Dr Wendy McDonald said the hornet found was a worker hornet, and was not able to establish a population on its own.

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A lesser banded hornet, previously not found in New Zealand, has been detected in St Marys Bay, Auckland.

McDonald said no other lesser banded hornets had been found yet. She said Biosecurity NZ was still looking into how the hornet made its way into the country.

The hornets pose a risk to native wildlife by competing with native birds for nectar and fruit.

The lesser banded hornet is also known to feed on insects, including honey bees.

Much larger than other wasp species, the lesser banded hornet grows up to 3cm long, and has a brownish-red or black head, and dark brown legs. The front half of its abdomen is orange or yellow, with the rest black or dark brown.

The wings are a smoky brown colour and not transparent, like other common wasps.

Biosecurity NZ said there were five species of social wasps established in New Zealand.

The colour and markings on these species are quite different to the lesser banded hornet.

The lesser banded hornet, part of the Vespa species, is one of five hornets of biosecurity interest in Australia, New South Wales Department of Primary Industries said.

The New South Wales Department of Primary Industries said hornets use their stings to kill prey and defend their nests.

Barbara Smith/Stuff

Lesser banded hornets are about double size of paper wasps, pictured, which make a distinctive hexagon-patterned nest. (File photo)

Hornet stings are more painful to humans than a wasp sting because hornet venom contains a large amount of acetylcholine.

Individual hornets can sting repeatedly and, unlike honey bees or wasps, do not die after stinging because their stingers are not barbed and are not pulled out of their bodies.

Biosecurity NZ said this type of hornets nest can be as large as a football and is often found high up in trees, shrubs, and under the eaves of buildings.

If you see a nest, dont disturb it. Instead, take a photograph and report it to Biosecurity NZ using the online report form or call 0800 80 99 66.

These hornets can sting, so were not asking people to capture the insect or get too close, McDonald said.

Link:

Invasive wasp, the lesser banded hornet, found in Auckland for first time - Stuff

COMMENTARY: By Professor Rod Jackson

In a recent article (Weekend Herald, April 16) John Roughan wrote that the covid-19 pandemic has been an anticlimax in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Surprisingly, he acknowledges covid-19 has killed about 25 million people worldwide, so hopefully he was referring to New Zealands 600 deaths. He goes on to ask how many lives we in New Zealand have saved and states that its not the 80,000 based on modelling from the Imperial College London that panicked governments everywhere in March 2020.

I beg to differ. It is because governments panicked everywhere that the number of deaths so far is only about 25 million.

A recent comprehensive assessment of the covid-19 infection fatality proportion the proportion of people infected with covid-19 who die from the infection found that in April 2020, before most governments had panicked, the infection fatality proportion was 1.5 percent or more in numerous high-income countries. Included were Japan, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the UK.

Without stringent public health measures, covid-19 is likely to have spread through the entire population, and an infection fatality proportion of 1.5 percent multiplied by 5 million (New Zealanders) equals 75,000.

Thats close to the estimated 80,000 New Zealand lives likely to have been saved because our panicking government, like many others, introduced restrictive public health measures.

Public health successes are invisibleWhat Roughan fails to appreciate is that public health successes are invisible. Unlike deaths, you cannot see people not dying.

Without the initial public health measures and then the rapid development and deployment of highly effective vaccines (unconscionably largely to high-income countries) there would have been far more deaths.

Roughan asks is this a pandemic? He states that 25 million covid deaths are only 0.3 percent of the worlds population (only 16,000 New Zealand deaths).

How many deaths make a pandemic? In 2020, covid-19 was the number one killer in the UK, responsible for causing about one in 10 deaths in every age group, with each person who died losing on average about 10 years of life expectancy.

In the US, more than 150,000 children have lost a primary or secondary caregiver to covid-19.

So, has our pandemic response been proportionate?

Stringent public health measures were highly effective pre-omicron, but are unsustainable long term.

New Zealand is incredibly fortunateWe are incredibly fortunate that highly effective vaccines were developed so rapidly.

Even the less severe omicron variant is a major killer of unvaccinated people, as demonstrated in Hong Kong, where the equivalent of 6000 New Zealanders have been killed by omicron in the past couple of months, due to low vaccination rates.

Unfortunately, despite our high vaccination rates, we are unlikely to be out of the woods, and it is likely a new covid-19 variant will be back to bite us. The only certainty is that the next variant will need to be even more contagious to overtake omicron.

As long as covid-19 passes to a new host before killing you, there is no selection advantage to a less fatal variant. We are just lucky that omicron was less virulent than delta.

Pandemics over the centuries have often taken several generations to change from being mass killers to causing the equivalent of a common cold.

What response will we accept as proportionate to shorten this process with covid-19 without millions of additional deaths?

As immunity from vaccination or infection wanes, we will need updated vaccines to prevent regular major disruptions to society.

A sustainable proportionate responseUnlike the flu, which has a natural R-value of less than two (one person on average infects fewer than two others), omicron appears to have an R-value of at least 10. That means in the time it takes flu to go from infecting one person to two, to four, to eight people, omicron (without a proportionate response) could go from infecting one to 10 to 100 to 1000 people.

There is no way that endemic covid will be as manageable as endemic flu.

The only sustainable proportionate response to covid-19 is for New Zealanders to embrace universal vaccination.

It is likely that vaccine passes will be required again if we want to live more normally and for society to thrive. It cannot be difficult to make the use of vaccine passes more seamless.

Almost every financial transaction today is electronic and it must be possible to link transactions to valid vaccine passes when required.

Almost 1 million eligible New Zealanders havent had their third vaccine dose, yet few are anti-vaccination.

Rather, thanks to vaccination and other public health measures, the pandemic has been an anticlimax for many New Zealanders and the third dose has not been a priority.

As already demonstrated, for the vast majority of New Zealanders, a vaccine pass is sufficient to make vaccination a priority.

Professor Rod Jackson is an epidemiologist with the University of Auckland. This article was originally published by The New Zealand Herald. Republished with the authors permission.

Go here to see the original:

Rod Jackson: Why New Zealand's response to the covid pandemic was proportionate? - Asia Pacific Report

WELLINGTON: Former All Blacks coach Wayne Smith was appointed Thursday to head a new set-up for the New Zealand women's team following a damning review into the way the side had been handled.

The review into the team culture found members of the Black Ferns had been subjected to culturally insensitive comments, alleged favouritism and body-shaming from coaches.

It led to the resignation last week of head coach Glenn Moore, less than six months from the Women's World Cup, which will be hosted by defending champions New Zealand.

Smith, known in rugby circles as "the professor" because of his deep knowledge of the game, moves into the role of director of rugby for the women's side.

The 65-year-old will head a new coaching structure through to the World Cup in October-November, New Zealand Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson said.

"There is no questioning Wayne's calibre as a coach and what he will bring to this team. We know he is excited to be involved in the Black Ferns and about what they can build this year," Robinson said.

Smith will be assisted by Whitney Hansen, who has had an intern coaching role with the team for the past two years, and Wesley Clarke.

Men's World Cup-winning coach Graham Henry will join in a support role while specialists including former All Blacks forwards coach Mike Cron will also prepare the side.

"Wes has been a long-standing member of the Black Ferns coaching team, his insight and experience is invaluable," said Robinson.

"Whitney is a coach with a big future, she has impressed in her two years within the team so this is a great recognition of her ability and potential."

Moore, who steered the team to the 2017 world crown, was under intense pressure to quit after the review found that Black Ferns players had been badly served by both team management and New Zealand Rugby.

The review was launched after hooker Te Kura Ngata-Aerengamate went public with her complaints that she suffered a mental breakdown because of critical comments made by Moore.

She alleged Moore had told her she did not deserve to be on the team and was "picked only to play the guitar".

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Wayne Smith to coach New Zealand women following damning review - The News International

Ernest ''Buz'' Sutherland was one of the best all-round athletes New Zealand has ever produced.

A farmer's son from Bunnythorpe born in Palmerston North in 1894, as a child he tried to pole vault 8 feet (2.4 metres) with a homemade pole and broke his arm.

He became the most versatile athlete in the British Empire and won 13 national championships in six events.

And yet he never got to represent New Zealand at the Empire Games because the first Games weren't held until 1930.

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World War I also got in his way where he survived being shot, gassed and buried alive.

Word first got around about his talent in 1909 when he won the Palmerston North High School under-16 high jump with a leap of ''5 feet'' (1.5 metres), at that time unheard of in Australasia.

He employed the scissors technique where the jumper stayed upright, taking off and landing on rock hard ground, no sawdust pit to land in.

Sutherland also played for the cricket 1st XI.

At the 1915 national championships in Wellington, he became the triple-jump champion and was clearly a decathlete. But not until 1948 was the decathlon contested at New Zealand championships.

He enlisted in the New Zealand Rifle Brigade and his first war injury came when he injured a shoulder in a Divisional rugby match.

Unknown/Stuff

Bunnythorpe's Buz Sutherland, in white, with the New Zealand team at an Australasian championships meeting.

On Christmas Day 1915, Sutherland's battalion saw action in Egypt against the Senussi, a Muslim clan from North Africa allied to the Turks, when six New Zealanders died.

A month later the brigade again attacked the Senussi and this time Rifleman Sutherland was shot in the thigh.

After recovering, he spent the next two-and-a-half years in and out of the hellscape trenches in France and Belgium where gas attacks took their toll. When a German shell exploded nearby and he was buried under a mound of dirt, he was hospitalised again.

At home, his father William died in 1917 after falling from his horse into the Mangaone Stream.

While Sutherland survived the battles at the Somme, Messines and Passchendaele, more than 3150 men of the NZ Rifle Brigade didn't.

As if that wasn't enough for the army, Sutherland was sent to Germany in the Army of Occupation and didn't get home until 1919 when he resumed his athletics.

At the 1920 national championships he won the triple jump, long jump and high jump and was second in the pole vault before more national titles came in 1921, the year he competed for New Zealand in Adelaide.

There he befriended South African middle-distance runner, Dave Leathern, and having struggled to find work in New Zealand, Sutherland agreed to try South Africa in 1922.

En route he stopped off in Sydney where he set an Australasian javelin record of 53 metres.

After settling on the Leathern family farm at Ladysmith in Natal, he wasn't impressed with the arid conditions so he went to work for Natal Railway before joining the police in Durban.

Sutherland had a habit of entering half of the events at athletics meets and broke the South African high-jump record with a 1.88 metres leap.

Unknown/Stuff

Olympian Buz Sutherland displays his hurdling technique which he used to good effect in the decathlon. Photo: PNBHS

Despite having represented New Zealand, he was selected to compete for South Africa in the decathlon at the 1924 Paris Olympics having lived in South Africa for only two years. Nothing came of the anomaly.

Aged 30, the boy from Bunnythorpe was the second oldest of 36 decathletes heading into the final event in Paris, the 1500 metres. He was sitting fourth, but after a 1500m of pure torture, he settled for fifth place, the best result by an Empire athlete.

Sutherland returned to South Africa where he was engaged to marry the sister of another Olympian, but he never felt settled there and they never married. In 1925, he left to be a coach in Britain, in Liverpool and Glasgow.

After a year there, he settled back in New Zealand, joined the police in Wellington in 1927 and when he resumed his athletics career he won his last title, the pole vault, 14 years after his first before retiring from athletics in 1930 at the age of 36.

By 1935, Constable Sutherland was back in Manawatu where he was regularly seen on the beat, only for tragedy to strike a year later when cycling to the Palmerston North Police Station.

Feeling ill, he decided to ride home, but at the intersection of Pirie and Featherston Streets, he careered head-first over the handlebars of his bike and ''dislocated'' his neck. A shoulder strap of his bag became entangled between his knee and handlebars.

To quote Feilding researcher Nick Rutherford, ''the mild-mannered Olympian, war veteran and constable was dead at the tragically young age of 42, leaving wife Marjorie and three children''.

Sutherland was recognised with a funeral procession through Palmerston North.

Peter Lampp is a sports commentator and former sports editor in Palmerston North.

Continued here:

The boy from Bunnythorpe, the best New Zealand Olympian you've never heard of - Stuff

iDenfy has picked up a new client in New Zealand. RBFC Global is a financial institution that specializes in online payments, remittances, and currency exchanges, and it is now using iDenfys identity verification technology to improve the onboarding experience for its users.

According to RBFC Global, iDenfys offering was more cost-effective than the other alternatives it examined, primarily because it can automate many parts of the onboarding process. With it, users are asked to take a photo of an official ID, and iDenfy uses document recognition to make sure that the document is authentic. iDenfy also supplements its automated scans with human review to help improve its verification rate. As a result, RBFC Global does not need to dedicate its own staff to verification operations.

Perhaps more importantly, the arrangement will allow RBFC Global to comply with international Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations. iDenfy noted that a significant number (41 percent) of financial institutions are currently not living up to their AML obligations, and those that dont are more vulnerable to various forms of fraud. RBFC Global, on the other hand, noted that strong identity verification is crucial for any financial institution that engages with its customers remotely instead of face-to-face.

Today, its no longer enough to use simple fraud prevention methods, said RBFC Global CCO Daniel Ramirez. Thats why were proud to partner with iDenfy. They were able to offer us multi-layer security that is also simple to implement and use.

Our mission at iDenfy is to provide safer, faster customer onboarding without compromising the security aspect, added iDenfy CEO Domantas Ciulde. Were glad to partner with RBFC Global and help their customers safely access financial services.

iDenfy is already providing onboarding services for a slew of other financial institutions. CyberstarPay, Nikulipe, and Paynovate are some of the most recent additions to the companys client roster.

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iDenfy Automates Onboarding Process for New Zealand Financial Institution - Mobile ID World

In a ceremony in Fiji on Tuesday, New Zealands foreign affairs minister, Nanaia Mahuta, unveiled a 14-foot carving, which she called a symbol of Pacific regionalism.

It was a small but symbolic moment during the first day of a historic trip Mahutas first official visit to the Pacific, which has included the signing of an agreement promising a shared commitment and vision for regional solidarity with Fiji.

But back in Wellington, the messages of unity faced scrutiny, amid the fallout over Solomon Islands proposed security deal with China, which has prompted concern that Chinese military ships could be stationed in the Pacific.

On Monday, former deputy prime minister Winston Peters accused the government of neglect.

If we wish to be honest with ourselves, we have to look back and say in the recent decades have we put the effort in? The proper answer is no, we havent done as much as we should have done, Peters told RNZ.

While prime minister Jacinda Ardern dismissed the criticism, defence minister Peeni Henare stressed the need to send the right signals to Pacific nations in response to the news. Shortly after, Mahutas office announced a continuation of New Zealands military and police presence in the Solomons.

But as the situation unfolds, New Zealand experts are warning that New Zealands influence in the region may be harmed by overreaction to any perceived Chinese threat.

Theres a danger because it creates a situation of military escalation of tension, says distinguished professor Steven Ratuva, director of the Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies at Canterbury University.

Theres much more complex political narratives at play than what were seeing on the surface Its a matter of playing smart politics, because sometimes when you try to stop another power from engaging in the region, you actually escalate the problem.

New Zealands influence in the Pacific has declined in recent years as Chinas has risen, says Dr Anna Powles, senior lecturer at the Centre for Defence and Security Studies at Massey University.

Powles attributes this shift to periods of decreased engagement by Canberra and Wellington and assumptions that Australia and New Zealand didnt need to put considerable effort into the region to maintain their perceived primacy, which saw Pacific states diversifying their foreign policy relationships.

During this period other actors began to increase their engagement in the Pacific. China was one of those rising regional powers.

China provided around $3bn in aid to Pacific countries between 2006 and 2020 according to the Lowy Institute, and is now the largest export market for the Pacific. In October last year, an inaugural China-Pacific Islands foreign ministers meeting was held, with plans for regular meetings.

Prof Ratuva says the dynamic in the Pacific has changed dramatically in recent years with Chinas increasing presence, but New Zealands influence remains strong.

The strategy has changed Its probably less visible, but that doesnt mean its lost its influence, he says.

The Pacific has long been the primary recipient of New Zealand aid. However, New Zealands total aid declined during the previous government from 0.3% to 0.25% of GDP. About 60% of New Zealands foreign aid goes to the Pacific.

In 2018, New Zealand launched its Pacific Reset which increased development funding in the region. That approach has now been replaced with Pacific Resilience, a doctrine which Mahuta says reflects a Pacific-centric view of our collective interests in the region.

The Pacific Reset had an anti Chinese orientation. It was a way of re-engaging with the Pacific to check Chinese aid and diplomacy in the Pacific. But the Pacific Resilience is a bit different. It is to do with people to people relationships and reengaging with the culture of Aotearoa and the Pacific.

The way forward is not to compete with China, Ratuva says, but for New Zealand to maintain an independent approach to its dealings in the Pacific.

New Zealand has been very independent in its foreign policy and that has been seen by those with hawkish lenses as a sign of weakness. In fact, its probably a sign of strength. It allows New Zealand to engage much more freely with the rest of the world without being cast as being part of a particular alliance.

Its not a matter of being strong or weak, its a matter of being effective in the way that you engage with the rest of the world.

By contrast, Ratuva says Australia has tended toward a very militaristic approach, such as through the Aukus alliance, which will provide Australia with nuclear-propelled submarines.

Dr Powles says New Zealands soft power in the Pacific is its investment in relationships, in part informed by New Zealands growing Pacific identity, but more consistent engagement is needed to ensure New Zealands purported values are coupled with material outcomes.

Opposition National party foreign affairs spokesperson, Gerry Brownlee, says New Zealand needs to increase financial support to the Pacific over time, and increase collaboration with other donors to ensure the general influence of western democracy is not lost.

Back in Honiara, where the recent controversy began, Solomon Islands prime minister Manasseh Sogavare has made clear that its foreign policy is its own business.

Speaking to parliament, he said that, while New Zealand would remain a close partner, to achieve our security needs, it is clear we need to diversify the countrys relationship with other partners. What is wrong with that?

The rest is here:

Power shifts: New Zealand reconsiders Pacific role as Chinas influence grows - The Guardian

After a weeks-long illegal occupation that ended in a riot, New Zealands parliament has a new unwelcome visitor to contend with: cannabis seedlings popping up among its rose gardens.

An eagle-eyed Wellingtonian spotted the tiny green leaves emerging from the soil this week and posted his find to social media. The man wished to remain anonymous, but a parliament groundskeeper confirmed to the national broadcaster, RNZ, that the plants were indeed a few cannabis seedlings thought to be left by the protesters.

A lot of seeds had been scattered around, among other things left from the protesters, the groundskeeper said.

A security guard added that it was probably the first cannabis that has ever been planted on parliament grounds.

A protester who had returned to the site told RNZ that the protesters were responsible for scattering the seeds and many more will likely germinate for years to come.

The plants, which are illegal in New Zealand, have since been pulled out and destroyed after the speaker of the house, Trevor Mallard, asked for the weed to be weeded.

The 23-day protest on Wellingtons parliament grounds was nominally about opposition to vaccine mandates, but was blighted by conspiracy theories, death threats, abusive behaviour and a riot that ended in violence and fires. The grounds were left muddied and charred by campers, who also tore up parts of the established gardens to plant herbs, vegetables and, it turns out, cannabis.

Following weeks of peace, high fences were erected around the grounds and the police presence upped again on Friday morning, after a new group said they would begin another 14 days of action to demand an end to all Covid-19 restrictions.

Two weeks ago, the government announced it would end some vaccine-mandates and the requirement for vaccine passes from 4 April. However, one protester, Tessa Jefferis, told RNZ: Therell be protest action until we, first, get an acknowledgment. Second, we get an apology. Third, we get justice. And fourth personally, Im not stopping until the Covid-19 Health Response Act legislation is obliterated.

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Cannabis sprouts in New Zealand parliament garden in protesters parting pot-shot - The Guardian

Its an exciting prospect for my trips home! More convenient than doing a 24-hour trip from door to door, which typically transited through Los Angeles, San Francisco or Houston, says Noll, who grew up in Montgomery in Orange County.

The new nonstop travel time is 16-18 hours, faster in the Auckland to NYC direction, thanks to the jet stream.

Noll, who forecasts Hudson Valley weather via social media and his website on his own time, typically struggles to get a good nights rest on long-haul flights. He has a few tricks up his sleeve to make the trek easier. My general rule is to get a couple of solid nights sleep leading up to the trip. Im usually happy if I can tuck in a few hours of shut eye on the flight itself.

Still, Noll doesnt think the distance JFK Airport is 8,814 miles from Auckland should keep anyone from the adventure. If youre in New York and considering a trip to New Zealand, two words: Do it!

He has been living in the other hemisphere since the mid 2010s, moving for his job. Being in New Zealand and seeing its scenery is like being inside of a movie set.

Tickets are currently on sale for Air New Zealands nonstop flights, which will take place three times a week on Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. Noll is already enjoying thinking about the possibility they will afford him as an expat.

Being 16 hours from a slice of NYC pizza is alluring.

Be sure to hike to Kitekite Falls while visiting Aucklands west coast, a 45-minute drive from the city.

What should New Yorkers traveling to New Zealand be sure to see and do? While chances are good that travelers will extend their explorations beyond Auckland, Noll recommends pausing a beat to explore his adopted home town.

Auckland is well worth spending a day or two in at the beginning or end of your travels: great coffee, a cultural melting pot that influences its cuisine, an extremely comfortable climate almost any time of the year, and its mix of leisure and adventure activities being located on the water.

His suggestions:

You may not be able to find New York-style pizza in New Zealand, but the countrys grass-fed beef is bar none, says Ben Noll, who recommends Better Burger.

North Island

South Island

New Zealands most jaw-dropping scenery can be found in the South Islands Fiordland, including Milford Sound.

Dont expect to find NY-style pizza or subs up to the standard were all used to.

Dont expect your bill to be cheap: New Zealand is an island nation on the bottom of the planet; import costs are large and expect to pay while youre here. (That being said, the exchange rate is favorable.)

Dont assume the season is the same as New York. New Zealand is in the Southern Hemisphere, so the seasons are opposite.

More Hudson Valley travel

Originally posted here:

Local tips as direct flights from NY to New Zealand go on sale - Times Union

An Air New Zealand Boeing 777-300ER plane taxis after landing at Kingsford Smith International Airport in Sydney, Australia, February 22, 2018. REUTERS/Daniel Munoz

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March 30 (Reuters) - Air New Zealand Ltd (AIR.NZ) said on Wednesday it would raise NZ$2.2 billion ($1.53 billion) to shore up its pandemic-hit balance sheet and repay a government-liquidity package of NZ$2 billion as New Zealand's international border reopens.

The equity capital raise will be conducted via a deeply-discounted rights issue and redeemable shares raising NZ$1.8 billion, of which NZ$850 million will be used to repay outstanding debt owed to the New Zealand government, which owns 51.9% of the airline.

The remaining NZ$950 million will be used to strengthen the balance sheet and aid recovery from the COVID-19 ravages, the carrier said. It has also undertaken a fresh debt of NZ$400 million from the government to provide additional liquidity.

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"The timing is right to position our airline for recovery," Chairman Therese Walsh told reporters.

The carrier, which uses a June-end financial year, plans to return to 2019 profit levels by 2025 and to restart dividends by 2026, she said.

Chief Executive Greg Foran said capacity would reach 90% of pre-pandemic levels by 2025 but would be weighted more toward domestic flights than in the past.

The two-for-one rights issue will be offered to shareholders on record on April 5 at a 61.5% discount to the last traded price.

The shares closed at NZ$1.375 on Wednesday.

Air New Zealand had last month flagged its worst annual loss since 2001 due to a combination of an Auckland lockdown, expiring government relief schemes, rising fuel prices and an international border closure. read more

As international borders reopen, the carrier has seen some improvement in sales, prompting the company to forecast an annual underlying loss before tax and significant items to be less than NZ$800 million, lower than its earlier view.

It logged an underlying loss before tax and one-off charges of NZ$440 million in the last financial year.

The government earlier this month moved up the opening of international borders to some travellers after more than two years of COVID-19 isolation. read more

Vaccinated travellers from Australia, New Zealand's biggest source of tourists, can enter the country without the need to quarantine from April 12 rather than July as previously planned.

Tourists from visa-waiver countries including the United States, Britain and Singapore will now able to visit from May 1.

($1 = 1.4366 New Zealand dollars)

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Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru and Jamie Freed in Sydney; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Raju Gopalakrishnan

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Air New Zealand to launch $1.5 bln recapitalisation as borders set to reopen - Reuters