The Tasman Glacier

The Tasman glacier is close to New Zealand's biggest mountain Mt. Cook. The glacier looks more like a giant quarry than New Zealands biggest glacier. The rock rumble strewn across this hummocky landscape, called the 'surface moraine', is usually only a metre or two thick. Beneath it there is still a great dept of glacial ice - about 200 metres of it at the head of the lake rising to as much as 600 metres thick as you look into the distance some 9km away.

Like all glaciers in temperate parts of the world the Tasman glacier has been shrinking rapidly over the last century losing about 0.5% of its total volume each year. The accumulation of surface moraine is one consequence of this ice recession; so too is the down-wasting of the surface of the glacier and the formation of the rapidly enlarging terminal lake. Twenty yeears ago this new 'Lake Tasman' was little more than a scattering of sink holes. And 100 years ago you would have had to have been above where this photo was taken from to get onto the glacier surface.

All of the large natural lakes in the McKensie Basin were all created in much the same way when huge ice glaciers issuing from the Mt Cook region began retreating some 14000 years ago. Prior to that the Tasman Glacier had advanced to a maximum length of 85km with an ice surface 700 metres above the point where this photo was taken.

Tasman Glacier: Length 29km; Area 101km square; Maximum speed about 200metres a year (recorded near the head of the glacier).

England vs the Black Caps

Last night the 'Barmy Army' descended on the AMI Stadium in Christchurch to watch England vs Black caps in a 20:20 cricket match. It was a great game and the England team won by 50 runs. It cost just over NZ$100 for 3 adults and one child - about £10 per head.

The stand at the back is being redeveloped for the Rugby World Cup in 2011.

http://www.cricbuzz.com/g/NZ_ENG_FEB07-scorecard.html

NZ Post : Rural Letterbox Specification

Before you can receive or send mail in the countryside you have to get your letterbox registered with your local NZ Post shop. According to the NZ Post website rural letter boxes should:

• have a minimum size of 400mm deep x 270mm wide x 270mm high, with a flag fitted to indicate mail is awaiting collection.
• provide access by a front-opening, non-locking hinged door, facing off the road and fitted with a posting aperture large enough for medium letters to be placed inside without opening the door. The aperture should be no less than 125mm x 25mm
• have the street/road number of your property (if available) clearly printed on the box in numerals at least 25mm high

If your letterbox does not meet the above specification then your Rural Post owner/driver can refuse to deliver or collect your mail. However, most of the owner drivers are far more accommodating and will usually deliver to anything that just about resembles a letter box. They will even sell you a stamp!

I particularly like these two letter boxes that are to be found in rural Canterbury.

More details can be found here:

http://www.nzpost.co.nz/Cultures/en-NZ/Personal/ManageMailDelivery/RuralDelivery/

Are you too old to emigrate to New Zealand? Think again!

A retired dentist looks set to become New Zealand's oldest immigrant by leaving Britain to start a new life in New Zealand reports the NZ Herald.

Eric King-Turner, a sprightly 102 year old, is leaving behind his home in in the village of Titchfield, near Southampton, to start a new life in NZ with his 87-year-old wife, Doris. They plan to settle in Nelson which is at the northern end of the south island.

More details of this delightful story can be found here:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10485260

Cycling Proficiency NZ Style

Christchurch City Council encourage people to leave their cars at home and get on their bikes. However, the council puts its money where its mouth is and provides facilities so children can learn from an early age how to ride their bikes safely. The above 'cycle proficiency track' can be found just off Westburn Terrace in Burnside. There are roundabouts, level crossings and road junctions so the youngsters get their confidence before hitting the road. It is a great facility.

C-JAM : Home Comforts (Part 2) - The Dishwasher

Scouts leaders really hate being left with the washing-up so we have devised an ingenious way to get the washing up undertaken.

Yep, that's right ...... we get the scouts to do it!

C-JAM : Home Comforts (Part 1) - The Washing Machine

One of the joys of camping is taking with you as many of the home comforts as you possibly can. The Harewood and Bishopdale troop don't like roughing it, so we have taken to C-JAM our very own prototype camp washing machine to do the laundry. However, there are a few difficulties that need to be overcome ...... there is no electricity and no running water!

This is not a serious problem to the resourceful Kiwi scouts. The clothes are simply loaded into the machine and the door is closed. The soap powder is loaded into the soap drawer and the water is added from the water container. Then you need to add a willing scout ................... or kea in this case,

to turn the the bike pedal. It works like a dream but this prototype cannot spin - the next version will have a bicycle attached to provide the required gearing.

C-JAM : New Zealand Scouts Jamboree

The New Zealand Scouts have been holding their three yearly jamboree at the Canterbury Showground. 4,500 scouts from New Zealand and further a field have descended upon Christchurch and are having a great time. The activities have been very varied and have included caving, walking, climbing, sailing, canoeing and team games.

Bishopdale and Harewood Scouts are representing the Waimakariri which is part of the Torlesse zone.



The jamboree has a real international flavour with scouts from Australia, Hong Kong, Korea and the UK.

Bishopdale & Harewood scouts have been playing host to a number of girls from the Midlands in the UK. They have been having a great time and have taken in many of the sights of the south island during their stay. Will they want to go home? It is very doubtful!

http://www.scouts.org.nz/sanz/news.php?cat.13

A Video Tour of Christchurch

While looking on youtube, I stumbled upon this video tour of Christchurch - enjoy!

Pegasus Town is coming ....

One of the things I have come to admire about the kiwi's is their ability to 'think big and make things happen'.

Due to an increased demand for housing, a property company is currently developing a complete new town for 5000 residents about 20km north of Christchurch. The town comes complete with restaurants and cafes, boutique shopping and larger-scale retail stores, a resort hotel, yacht club, swimming bay and aquatic centre, a golf club and community course on the beatiful Pegasus Bay coast.

The plans look fantastic and I am sure the whole project will be a huge success.

http://www.pegasustown.com/

Hamner Springs Thermal Pools & Spa

Situated 90 minutes drive north of Christchurch you will find the Hamner Springs Thermal Pools and Spa. There are many different pools for adults and children alike with different mineral content and temperatures. The complex is currently undergoing a major expansion due to increased visitor numbers.

The thermal water originates from rainwater that fell 180 years ago, which seeped down through fractured rock in the Hanmer Mountains, to a depth of about two kilometres below the Hanmer plains.

When the springs were first discovered, the hot water rose to the surface under its own pressure from a depth of 10 metres. Today, the water has dropped to some 28 metres below the surface level and is pumped to the surface from a borehole. The water is at a temperature of 52˚C when it is first pumped up and the heat is extracted out of the water using a series of heat exchanges until it reaches bathing temperature of between 32-42˚C.

The complex is open all year round even during winter. We have been before when there has been snow on the ground, and I can tell you, we didn't take much time moving between the pools then!

It is another 'must do' and it is a great day out.

http://www.hanmersprings.co.nz/

Waipara - Vineyard Country

Travel approximately 60km north of Christchurch and you will come to the Waipara. The Waipara is currently the fastest growing wine producing region on New Zealand producing some outstanding wines from around 80 vineyards covering more than 1,200 hectares of plantings. The views are simply stunning.

http://www.waiparawine.co.nz/

Christmas Berries

Kiwi's not having freash berries for Christmas Day is a bit like the POM's not having roast turkey, chestnut stuffing or Christmas pudding. Everybody in New Zealand goes to buy fresh berries to enjoy over the festive period - over the years it has become a real tradition. They are usually bought from a local pick your own outlet or from a local farm.

Kirsty, pictured above, is certainly looking forward to having them for breakfast on Christmas morning.

2007 House of Travel Golf Tournament Champions

House of Travel is a NZ travel company. They believe in making work as fun as possible and they go out of their way to make sure we (their employees) enjoy ourselves during the festive period and many other times besides!

Last Wednesday afternoon, we left work early and made our way to Avonside Golf Club to play 10 holes in the annual House of Travel Golf Tournament. There were 9 teams of four/five players from across the business - a mixture of developers, accountants, customer service, service delivery, infrastructure, project managers, business analysts, outlet operators, travel consultants, senior management and representatives from some of our business partners. It was a really fun evening.

Above is pictured the winning team (from left to right) Andrew, Ian, Grant, and Niall. Rik, the fifth member of the team, took the picture.

So how much does it cost to build a house in New Zealand?

I am not going to state how much it has cost us to build our house as it is not off the plan. However, I am going to direct you to our builders website so you can see first hand how much it costs to build a house in New Zealand.

http://www.peterrayhomes.co.nz/single_storey_homes.html

We have incurred additional costs relating to resource consents, power to site, heating, sewage treatment, floor coverings, water pumps, solar panels and the land to build on which are not insignificant.

It makes you start thinking, huh?

Scout Photography Badge

A couple of weeks ago, myself and Andrew (scout leader) took the scout troop to Victoria Square for our regular Wednesday evening troop night. Victoria Square is a lovely garden in the middle of the the Christchurch Central Business District and borders the River Avon. Some of the scouts were doing some work towards their photography badge so they were given a digital camera and told to take some pictures. The two above are my favourites and show the wonderful sunset we enjoyed that night looking over the city skyline towards Hagley Park and the Botanical Gardens.

House Update

Things continue a pace with the house. The external brickwork is now complete and the internal walls have been covered with plasterboard. The drains and household waste treatment plant have also been installed. We are looking at a completion date sometime in the middle of February.

The School Run now takes 39 seconds!

Dropping off the children at school has never been so easy. All I have to do is pull my car into the school drop-off layby, open the car doors, say goodbye to the children and drive away. Come rain or shine the school headmaster is there to greet the children and he is more than willing to talk to parents too. It is such a useful facility.

I can think of at least one primary school in the East Riding of Yorkshire in the United Kingdom that would benefit from something very similar!