December 15, 2006
NZ Holidaymaker -- Issue #011 -- December 2006
Table of contents
1 Doctor's Prescription: a Trip to NZ
2 Icebergs in New Zealand!
3 New Zealand Wool
4 Addition to Abel Tasman National Park
5 Enjoy Tekapo's Night Sky
6 Free Online Maori Dictionary
Doctor's Prescription: a Trip to NZ
Wouldn't it be nice if your doctor wrote you a prescription for a trip to New Zealand? And why not: a study held by former NASA scientists in collaboration with Air New Zealand proved that vacations dramatically increase work productivity and health.The program was conducted in April and May of 2006 and studied passengers flying Air New Zealand from Los Angeles to Auckland. The vacationers showed a 82 percent spike in performance and continued to operate at an increased performance of nearly 25 percent after returning from their New Zealand vacation. According to this study, people who on vacation gain one hour of sleep a day, increase their overall productivity by 80 percent and reduce their stress levels between 10-25 percent on average. Get your own prescription online!
Icebergs in New Zealand!
Last month, New Zealand offered a very exiting - though temporary - attraction: icebergs! The icebergs came so close that they were visible from ashore and drifted as far north as Timaru. A lot of people took a helicopter or plane flight to have a closer view at them. If you weren't among those lucky ones, you can still watch this phenomenon online. Though it was difficult and dangerous to set foot on the icebergs, a couple of people managed to shear Shrek - a famous NZ merino - on an iceberg floating off the coast of Dunedin, in a stunt to raise money for a charity and to promote New Zealand wool.
New Zealand Wool
Speaking of New Zealand wool - you really should bring some merino clothing home with you. We bought a couple of merino sweaters two years ago, and find we're still wearing them a lot. Originally we bought them for our hiking trips: merino keeps you warm, even when it's wet, while it keeps you comfortable in hot weather, as it transfers the moisture to the outside. And, what's also important: merino clothes aren't smelly. Besides, our sweaters still look good and they don't pill (although we just throw them in the washing machine, instead of hand washing them separately). One of the most famous labels of merino clothing is Untouched World. You'll find their (beautiful) stores in Christchurch, Auckland, Queenstown, and soon in Wellington.
If you'd like to buy merino clothing, but have no plans to visit New Zealand shortly, you can also order merino garments online, like this merino jumper. There's absolutely no risk, because Productsfromnz.com offers a 100% money back guarantee if you're not satisfied with the product -- no questions asked!
Addition to Abel Tasman National Park
The Abel Tasman National Park, one of NZ's most popular parks and renowned for its beautiful beaches and the walking and kayaking opportunities it offers, will soon be a bit larger. The park is New Zealand's smallest national park (22,530 hectares), but will add a 793 ha block of private land to it. The land has been bought from the Hadfield family, a family that farmed it since the 1860s. When Bill Hadfield died two years ago, his family decided to sell the property to the government. It contains native forest and wetland, and rises from sea level to 700 m high.
Enjoy Tekapo's Night Sky
The town of Tekapo (on New Zealand's South Island) has applied to the UNESCO to turn the area into the first World Heritage park of the night sky. It seems Tekapo has one of the most spectacular night skies in the world, with a great number of stars visible to the naked eye during the night. This is because the area in and around Tekapo is largely undeveloped, which makes for clear skies and low levels of local light pollution. So if you're going to visit Mt Cook Village, make sure you stop at Tekapo for the night, to enjoy the view from its Mt John observatory.
Free Online Maori Dictionary
As you will no doubt experience when you travel around New Zealand, the New Zealand language contains a lot of words of Maori origin. An easy way to find out more about them, is by consulting the free online Maori dictionary. Just enter a word (in Maori or English) and a result page will open with translations and explanations. The dictionary also contains information about the names of plants and animals, stars and planets, important Maori people, key ancestors, tribal groups, etc.
Happy travels and best wishes for 2007,
Boukeline & Rob
www.new-zealand-camper-van-adventures.com