The Trip

How can something be both "new" and "improved"? New Zealand is so called because the first guy to bother naming the Islands as a whole was Dutch (I think). It might have been that Tasman chappie, but he named is Neue Seeland which means New Sea-Land. So there. I thought I would try to summarise the things I liked about the place while I'm still here. Things I like about New Zealand: the air, the Winter light, the countryside, Speight's, Marlborough Sounds, the birdlife, the temprement of the people (I have not met a single hostile person outside of Auckland), the sense of humour, Speight's, the South Island roads, the views of the Southern Alps, the lakes, the weather (even in Winter it's pleasant when the sun shines), Hubbard's Breakfast Cereals, cheap rental cars, Mount Cook, Milford Sound, Picton (I know it's only a port but I really liked it there), NZ postage stamps - all different shapes, the rugby (I'm not a major fan but it...

I bitched and moaned about Auckland when I first got here about 6 weeks ago. I still maintain that it has no soul. This time around though I decided to spend some time with a good friend on Waiheke Island which is only 35 mins out of Auckland's ferry terminal by boat. This island is green, quiet, large, and beautiful. The terrain is rolling green hills and at the very Eastern end of the island are outcrops of granite rocks and boulders resting on the grass. It looks strange as they dot the landscape like the sheep I have become used to. The weather was kind, as it has been throughout most of my trip here, and we both had a lovely time going about the island. It was extremely restful and we both checked out some wineries (the wine was not that great but it was a good stop on a suicidal bicycle ride - too many hills) and one even had a brewery on the go which pleased me no end. After the bike ride it was always nice to get back to the hostel and cook. One night we took someone...

Blue Whales are so named because they are predominately blue. Humpback Whales are named because of their distinct hump on their back. Killer Whales are mis-named as they are a type of dolphin. Then we get to Sperm Whales. For all these years I had presumed that the word "sperm" had some old-fashioned meaning that was lost to time. This is not the case. When the first whalers captured a Sperm Whale they cut into its large nose and out squirted about 1000 gallons of sticky white liquid. Not being very good anatomists they decided that they had struck the whale's reproductive organs (in its nose?) and so the whale was so named. Then they took several long baths. We now know that this creamy white stuff is not sperm at all but a very viscous oil that the whale uses as ballast for diving and surfacing. It's quite interesting: this oil is a liquid when warm but when it chooses to it constricts the blood supply to the region that holds it and it cools and solidifies. This in...