Our friends Andre and Exelda Kruger invited us to be their guests at their Citizenship Ceremony - (they are seated front right on the picture). Having pledged allegiance to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of New Zealand, they await their new passports with the flash silver fern on the front! Now all they need to do is teach the kiwis how to pronounce their surname - incidentally Andre dabbles a bit in home brewed beer, the name of which is Kreer Beer! Now that's how to say the name- so it CAN be done!
This is a picture of the Godley Head Lighthouse down Christchurch way - beside the sea, the mountainside supporting the whole structure has fallen away with the huge quake of February last year and all the thousands of aftershocks since. The whole caboodle is threatening to plunge hundreds of feet into the sea! Last week, the 6 o'clock news had footage of a helicopter trying unsuccessfully to lift the 'light' part of the structure with it's copper dome. The helly was just not able to and the glass has now been removed in an effort to lighten the load - this too proved beyond the capabilities of the chopper, so now the plan is to remove the dome and get the whole thing off the cliffside a piece at a time. Since the lighthouse is of historical value and importance, every effort is being made to save the building and the big light - but nobody can get near the structure for fear of falling to their death - quite a challenge!!
New Zealand, being part of the commonwealth, is watching and waiting with bated breath for the announcement of the newest royal addition.
And here they are, no doubt would be Princess Diana's pride and total joy!
New Zealand, being part of the commonwealth, is watching and waiting with bated breath for the announcement of the newest royal addition.
And here they are, no doubt would be Princess Diana's pride and total joy!
The royalist organisation Monarchy New Zealand has come up with the idea to mark the birth of the baby of William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, expected in mid July.
Chairman Sean Palmer says the sites involved will light up in the appropriate colour at dusk on the evening of the day following the royal birth.
He has signed up 20 sites to the plan, including the airport in the South Island city of Christchurch, and a quirky metal sheep dog shaped building which acts as the headquarters for the Tirau visitor centre in the central North Island.
"That should be a very interesting feature, particularly if it is a girl."
The gesture was made possible by modern lighting technology, Palmer said.
"Hundreds of years ago they would have lit bonfires from one side of the country to the other, but here we have the modern equivalent of that and it is a lot easier."
He said New Zealanders were keen to acknowledge the birth of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's baby, who would grow up to be the King or Queen of New Zealand one day."
"This is a big deal, not just to Britain. This family really does belong as much to New Zealand as it does to Britain or Canada or Australia and while most of the focus is going to be on Britain it will not go unnoticed in any of these other countries and it's fantastic to see this international sharing of this particular moment.
ANDY MURRAY IS THE FIRST BRITISH WIMBLEDON CHAMPION IN SEVENTY SEVEN YEARS??
Virginia Wade: a Wimbledon champion
Appearance: Airbrushed. Out of history.
Who or what is Virginia Wade? Until last Sunday, the last British tennis player to win Wimbledon.
Huh? When? 36 years ago. Back in 1977.
Then how come I've never heard of her? Because journalists have forgotten she exists.
Really? Really. Wade has been written out of the headlines in several major newspapers.
Such as? On the front page of the Times today: "Murray ends 77-year wait for British win."
Ouch. And, on the front page of the Telegraph: "After 77 years, the wait is over."
Oof. And, on the front page of the Daily Mail: "Andy Murray ends 77 years of waiting for a British champion."
Jeez. Even the Daily Mail forgot about her win? Yep. Which is especially unforgivable, since they also published an interview with her, in which she told the paper: "You never forget how it feels to win Wimbledon."
Incredible. So where does the 77-year figure come from? That's the figure for the men's championships. The last British man to win before Murray was Fred Perry in 1936.
Meaning the real wait was actually just 41 years? No, in reality, British tennis fans were never made to wait at all. Dorothy Round Little won the women's singles – for the second time in her career – one year later, in 1937.
So there have been two British winners since? No, actually there have been four.
Four British women have won Wimbledon since Fred Perry? Yep. Partially deaf player Angela Mortimer won the championship in 1961, and underdog Ann Haydon-Jones beat legend of the sport Billie Jean King to win again in 1969.
This is a dark day for sports journalism, isn't it? Afraid so. But a good day for feminist writer Chloe Angyal, whose comment "Murray is indeed the first Brit to win Wimbledon in 77 years unless you think women are people" has been re-tweeted, at time of writing, 9,425 times.
That's a lot, right? It is. But it only really counts when men re-tweet it.
Do say: "If Murray wins, he's British. If he loses, he's Scottish." (NOW ISN'T THAT JUST TYPICAL)
Don't say: "If Wade wins, she's forgotten."
mmmmm......... ENOUGH SAID!
Age: 67.
Appearance: Airbrushed. Out of history.
Who or what is Virginia Wade? Until last Sunday, the last British tennis player to win Wimbledon.
Huh? When? 36 years ago. Back in 1977.
Then how come I've never heard of her? Because journalists have forgotten she exists.
Really? Really. Wade has been written out of the headlines in several major newspapers.
Such as? On the front page of the Times today: "Murray ends 77-year wait for British win."
Ouch. And, on the front page of the Telegraph: "After 77 years, the wait is over."
Oof. And, on the front page of the Daily Mail: "Andy Murray ends 77 years of waiting for a British champion."
Jeez. Even the Daily Mail forgot about her win? Yep. Which is especially unforgivable, since they also published an interview with her, in which she told the paper: "You never forget how it feels to win Wimbledon."
Incredible. So where does the 77-year figure come from? That's the figure for the men's championships. The last British man to win before Murray was Fred Perry in 1936.
Meaning the real wait was actually just 41 years? No, in reality, British tennis fans were never made to wait at all. Dorothy Round Little won the women's singles – for the second time in her career – one year later, in 1937.
So there have been two British winners since? No, actually there have been four.
Four British women have won Wimbledon since Fred Perry? Yep. Partially deaf player Angela Mortimer won the championship in 1961, and underdog Ann Haydon-Jones beat legend of the sport Billie Jean King to win again in 1969.
This is a dark day for sports journalism, isn't it? Afraid so. But a good day for feminist writer Chloe Angyal, whose comment "Murray is indeed the first Brit to win Wimbledon in 77 years unless you think women are people" has been re-tweeted, at time of writing, 9,425 times.
That's a lot, right? It is. But it only really counts when men re-tweet it.
Do say: "If Murray wins, he's British. If he loses, he's Scottish." (NOW ISN'T THAT JUST TYPICAL)
mmmmm......... ENOUGH SAID!
Dis al!
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