[OT] Advice/thoughts on New Zealand

[Tonguez]

Originally posted by WSmith
but does the news media and the uneducated general public have the same anti-D&D bias or is that an American problem?

Thanks

Its an American problem
Outside the RPG community (and one fundamentalist preacher)RPGs hardly if ever get mentioned in NZ. Its a minority hobby in a small country - so it usually goes unnoticed.
Of course when it is noticed it is generally thought of as a harmless diversion followed by geeky-nerds who are too useless to play sports (playing sports is a big thing in NZ)

Hong
See my info re NSW (and by extension the whole West Island)being part of New Zealand to explain our rightful occupation of Bondi...

 

[arwink]

That's mainly Queenslanders, who, most people will agree, aren't really Australians.

Right. Just for that, were giving you back all your pensioners. Let them drain your states economy.

And if we must talk beer, it should be said that the SA have crapped over the rest of the country with Coopers.

 

[mirzabah]

Right. Just for that, were giving you back all your pensioners. Let them drain your states economy.

Originally posted by arwink
And if we must talk beer, it should be said that the SA have crapped over the rest of the country with Coopers.

This is true. Not being a big beer drinker myself, I'd quite forgotten about Coopers.

 

[Derulbaskul]

(snip) That's mainly Queenslanders, who, most people will agree, aren't really Australians.

And most Queenslanders would probably agree!

Interesting fact: approximately 9% of New Zealand's population lives in Australia. After all, for those of us old enough to remember the Samuel Pepys's radio show in the '80s, "God gave us Australia... 'coz you can't live in boiling mud."

Cheers
NPP
(a Queenslander living in Asia)

 

[Thorin Stoutfoot]

New Zealand is an amazing country

I spent 3 weeks there in 2000. In that time, I went cycling, backpacking (they call it tramping), kayaking, and river surfing. Everything outdoors related is so cheap there --- food, camping, etc, you can travel for months on a relatively small budget, once the plane ticket's been taken care of.

My brother just came back from a 6 week trip there as well, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I would not hesistate to spend 3 months there on vacation, if I had that much vacation.

 

[Zander]

I went to South Island a few years ago. I spent a couple of weeks making my way from Christchurch via Queenstown to Te Anau (sp?) and Millford Haven.

I have to say that the scenery is spectacular. We passed a lake (Tekapo?) on our way to Mount Cook. Because of minerals dissolved in the water, the lake is naturally a vivid turquoise colour - like a swimming pool, or something dreamed up by a fantasy artist. Truly amazing.

At Te Anau, we went on a boat ride through some caves where there are thousands of glow worms. That was very interesting too.

The temperate rainforest around Millfor was impressive. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't too good (it usually isn't around there), which was a shame. I think that the southern fjords on a sunny day could rival the Norwegian ones.

The only drawback to whole trip was how we were treated by the NZers in most of the tourist spots. Essentially, if you weren't Japanese/didn't spend lots of money, you were persona non grata. On one particularly long coach trip, the whites were made to sit at the back of the bus (I'm not kidding). The NZ tour guide gave explanations in Japanese, but not in English. And when we stopped along the way, the whites were held back so that the Japanese could go to the shops/restrooms first. When my mother complained, the NZ tourguide laughed in her face! We also thought it was strange that the official signs in the park in Christchurch were in English and Japanese, and no other language.

BTW, I'm not anti-Japanese. My GF is Japanese. I just don't like being treated that way.

 

[Johno]

The really sad thing about Australia/New Zealand relationship is the way ANZAC war widows are treated... My grandmother (a New Zealander) was unable to recieve her war widower's pension in New Zealand, as my grandfather (an Australian) had served in the RAAF...

Pathetic, really... so much for the ANZAC spirit.