New Zealand Search Blog

It’s official – Christmas Day is just five weeks away! For those of you who still believe, that means Santa will be shimmying down your NZ Christmas chimney in only 35 sleeps – but fret not if you’re feeling a little disorganised.

Whether you’ve had your Christmas shopping sorted for months or you’re still deciding who in your family will be hosting the typical NZ Christmas dinner this year, NZS.com has you covered with a whole host of great Christmas ideas and tips to help you save money at Christmas and make the most of the holiday season.

The Christmas holidays may still be some weeks away, but office Christmas parties are already in full swing, which may mean participating in a little “secret Santa” shopping at the last minute.

If hitting the mall and finding some great Christmas gifts and the best toys for Christmas is your next priority, consider doing some of your shopping online to reduce your stress and help you avoid impulse purchases.

As for the silly season and Christmas Day traditions, why not get in to the spirit of things by sending out real Christmas cards (not emails), or by baking up a storm with some delicious Christmas recipes? And if you’ll be celebrating a Christian Christmas with the family this year, you could even get together with members of your church to sing some traditional Christmas carols at a local rest home to spread some holiday cheer.

Of course, the Twelve Days of Christmas doesn’t start for another couple of weeks so you’ve still got a little time up your sleeve to hang your Christmas pictures and sort your Christmas trees and decorations.

Good luck with your NZ Christmas planning! Be sure to keep checking NZS.com as more Christmas articles, hints and planning ideas are added over the following weeks.

So you’ve been asking yourself what cool Kiwi businesses have featured most recently on NZS.com? This week it’s been all about health, wealth and summer holidays.

The worst of the cold weather is behind us, but that doesn’t mean you can stop looking after yourself. If you’re looking for a health shop drop in online to My Natural Health for a great range of natural health supplements and products.

And while you’re taking care of your wellbeing, why not consider your back pocket too? Want to work from home and create the ideal work life balance? Trilogics online racing software may hold the key to your success.

Yup, summer is just around the corner and Christmas is well and truly on its way. If you’re starting to plan your summer holiday, make sure you check out the range of campervan NZ rentals with Driftaway Campers and airport rental cars with Apex Car Rentals.

Forget subtle hidden charges and outrageous foreign exchange fees. Working with an independent currency exchange provider can mean better rates than you could secure with the banks.

International money transfers and buying foreign currency online is now even more convenient with 24 hour access and support. When it comes to getting the best deal when transacting your currency, you need to find a provider that combines a great rate with the lowest foreign exchange fees.

Find a reputable online foreign exchange provider committed to delivering you the best of both worlds, waiving all their transfer fees when you transfer large amounts.

Unsure which currency conversion expert to put your trust in online? A secure, reputable company should be your first criteria, but simply put, when it comes to foreign exchange fees, less is most certainly more.

Looking to book NZ accommodation while planning your New Zealand travel and summer holiday?

Whether you’re looking for a holiday house or bach to spend a couple of weeks relaxing with the family, or a luxury retreat to indulge in the upcoming New Year’s festivities in style, the list of NZ accommodation options is huge for NZ travel buffs.

Make the most of the excellent online travel resources while researching your holiday, and book your NZ accommodation online now to grab some great travel deals.

And while you’re searching, why not check out the fantastic selection of NZ attractions available at your holiday destination? With so many great places to stay, sights to see and adventures to be had, your next holiday is bound to be a great one.

Looking to driftaway from the city and explore the country to bring in the New Year?

Christmas and the summer holidays are right around the corner, meaning lots of Kiwi families will be opting for an adventurous camping NZ holiday.

Getting out and seeing New Zealand’s great outdoors doesn’t have to mean roughing it though. If you’d like to experience New Zealand your way, why not opt for a campervan rental, so you can take care of your travel and accommodation in one easy hit.

A campervan NZ road trip is one of the best ways to see the countryside, while also being able to take the comforts of home with you while you travel. Whether you’re exploring the north or the south during your camping NZ summer holiday, getting behind the wheel of a campervan or motorhome will offer you the best of both vacation worlds.

Looking for a weight management plan to get you in shape for summer?

There are a great range of natural health products available to help you in your weight management goals safely, without harmful chemicals and additives.

Just browse online or visit your local health shop for the best options and advice for achieving your weight management and weight loss goals.

You may even want to try a herbal detox to begin your weight management journey and give your extra energy and vitality to make the most of summer.

Christchurch will celebrate spring this Friday as country comes to town for the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Show.

The Show will showcase the very best of rural life, allowing Cantabrians to experience the unique sights, sounds and smells of the country along with plenty of retail therapy.

The Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association has held the annual Canterbury A&P Show every year since 1862. Livestock and machinery exhibits featured from the outset.

The Canterbury A&P Show has a proud history of promoting Canterbury agricultural and pastoral interests and is New Zealand’s largest A&P Show. The Show is the jewel in Canterbury’s agricultural and entertainment crown and continues to build on a long and successful reputation for bringing the country to town.

Tickets are available in advance through Ticketek, and gates sales will be $25 for adults, $8 for children, and $12 for students and seniors. Children under five years will be able to attend free of charge.

For racing fans the long awaited and much celebrated Melbourne Cup got underway at 5pm today with five New Zealand trained horses in this year’s field, including Daffodil, Capecover, Harris Tweed, Gallions Reach and Spin Around.

While 2008 Melbourne Cup winner Viewed shared the favourite’s tag along with Alcopop, the results were these:

Shocking took the win, paying $9.90, while Crime Scene took second place paying $10.80 and Mourilyan took third, paying $8.20.

No New Zealand trained horse has won the Cup since the Shiela Laxon trained Etheral won in 2001.

Here are the browser statistics for NZS.com over the month of October 2009.

The key trends that we’re seeing in this month’s NZ browser statistics;

• IE8 is now the most used browser on NZS.com with a 3% margin to IE7
• Internet Explorer has dropped by over 1% overall
• Firefox, Safari and Chrome are all gaining in popularity

This month Internet Explorer has dropped by over 1% with most of this drop related to IE6. Over the past few months Internet Explorer 6 has been decreasing rather slowly, but this month has seen it drop by over a percentage.

Is this due to the highly anticipated Windows 7 now being released? Could this be the IE6 killer that us web developers all long and hope for? We will have to wait and see, but next month’s stats could well tell us if there is any truth behind this theory.

This data is taken from Google Analytics on NZS.com over the month of October 2009. You can see more information on the number of visitors the data is sourced from on the NZS.com Statistics page.

InternetNZ, through Domain Name Commission Limited (DNC), is currently reviewing the existing Second Level Domains (2LD) policy.

This policy was last reviewed five years ago when public consultation was sought for comment on a number of issues including introducing registrations in .nz at the second level and the process for creating a new second level domain.

The review resulted in changes to the process of creating a new second level domain but did not introduce .nz registrations at the second level.

Since that review, three new second level domain name extensions have been added to the .nz space, including .bank.nz, .parliament.nz and .health.nz. All three of these new second level domains are moderated ones.

The 2LD Policy sets out the general rules regarding the structure of the .nz domain name space. The policy currently includes the list of open and moderated second level domains, defining the communities of interest reflected in the .nz 2LD structure, and the criteria for new 2LDs and the process undertaken upon application for a new open or moderated second level domain. It also includes the procedure for closing an existing 2LD.

The Domain Name Commission welcomes comment on any aspect of the policy, and submissions will be published here on the DNC website.

The current policy can be viewed online.