When is Labour Day?

Each year as we enter October, many of us look to the calendar and wonder ‘When is Labour Day?’. The answer is that Labour Day in New Zealand is a public holiday that falls on the fourth Monday of every October each year.

For the inquisitive amongst us, the next question could be ‘Why do we celebrate Labour Day?’. The short answer is that Labour Day is a celebration to mark the anniversary of New Zealand’s 8 hour working day and to celebrate the collective of Labour Unions and New Zealand’s hard workers as a whole. Find out more in our Labour Day article.

I’m sure the next question following that for many of us that are lucky to have the time off is ‘Great, so what can I do with my day off?’. It’s fairly safe to assume that many shops and attractions may be closed on Labour Day so why not partake in some traditional activities such as catching up with family, taking a walk around your local botanical gardens or venturing further afield on a road-trip with friends.

For ideas on what to do with your day off (or for the whole of the long weekend), take a look at the Entertainment, Attractions and Recreation categories of the NZS.com directory.

Flickr image credit: Informatique

The Ultimate Experience

Thrill-seekers looking for the ultimate experience will not be disappointed when they spend a day partaking in a driving experience that will leave a lasting impression for life.

Driving experiences provide fantastic experience gifts and allow those who have always dreamed of owning their own supercar or of bring a racing driver to sample their dream, if only for a day. Driving experiences are usually offered at racing tracks and on days when the track is available to hire by the public. Some tracks may reserve the entire track for those partaking in a driving experience, while others may allow you to share the track with other members of the public who are using the track at the same time.

Driving days open up tracks otherwise used for fully fledged racing to members of the public so that the rest of us can experience what it’s like to be a racing driver. As the tracks are privately owned rather than public roads, there will be a number of strict rules that you will have to adhere to in order to maintain your own safety and that of others on the track at the same time. However, this won’t get in the way of the ultimate experience you will receive by sitting behind the wheel of a powerful supercar.

Family Holidays in New Zealand

Family holidays in New Zealand are experiences that you and your loved ones will never forget, whether you’re travelling here from overseas or you’re a New Zealand resident heading on a road trip.

Proper planning will help to avoid any nasty surprises and ensure your holiday is a success. Booking holiday insurance is top of the agenda to ensure you’re covered should anything go wrong.  A good insurance company will give you maximum peace of mind so that you and you family can carry on with enjoying your holiday.

Once you’ve got your insurance sorted, you’ll need to decide how you’re actually going to travel around New Zealand once you get here. New Zealand car hire can be an inexpensive way to get around that gives you a large amount of freedom. Otherwise, you can choose a motorhome holiday (motorhomes and campervans are the New Zealand RV) so that you and your family can travel in comfort without worrying too much about your next accommodation venue.

With your insurance booked and your mode of transport selected and ready to go, you’ll need to plan your itinerary through checking out the great tourist places that you’d like to visit. If you love the sea, you could take a look at the Harbour Cruise packages on offer, try some Auckland fishing or experience one of New Zealand’s famous whale watching tours.

If firmer ground is your thing, don’t worry as there’s a huge array of other tourist attractions to view in the NZS.com directory.

Flickr image credit: myklroventine

Whale Watching Season in New Zealand

If you’ve ever tried to find good tourist attractions in New Zealand, you’ll undoubtedly have found that whale watching is amongst the top ten tourism experiences to be had.

A great place to watch whales is one of the most sought after tourist places as whales frequent some locations far more than others. Once you’ve found the location, a common question is ‘when is whale watching season?’. The answer to this actually depends on the species of whale that you are most interested in seeing.

Some whales, like the Humpback Whale, can be seen off the coast of Kaikoura during our winter months. These whales pass close by the shore on their way to the tropics to mate. Other whales, like the Giant Sperm Whale, can be seen all year round.

To find out more about whale watching, contact a whale watch tour operator directly and discuss what you can expect to see at the time that you want to take the tour.

Hotel Video

Those in the hospitality industry know that one way to stand out in the competition is through providing superior in-room digital entertainment. Advanced hotel video services can really give your guests something to talk about when they return home.

Services such as hotel video on demand can provide guests with an extensive range of entertainment options at their finger tips. Hotel’s can have their own video on demand servers that provide High Definition program content to guest rooms without the use of a set top box in the actual room itself. This extra freedom means less devices and cables in each room. In turn, this means less installation time, less clutter and less maintenance which can save substantial costs in the long term.

For providers of video on demand services for hotels, motels and more, visit the digital signage category in the NZS.com directory.

More Freeview Services and Channels

Do you still get fuzzy TV reception? In my opinion, technology should be good enough so that bad TV reception is one of those things we look back on and laugh about – like those old brick mobile phones.

Freeview are working hard to make it so. There have been a number of TV commercials recently to try and get more people signed up to the Freeview TV service. The service is now well out of its introductory period (having been around for three years now) so the channels have settled down into regular quality content.

Services are continuing to expand. Freeview started with just five channels and has grown to 17, including the latest channel C42. There are also plans to allow viewers to copy and distribute HD (high definition) content over the internet. Of course, there are no monthly charges but we all know that there are technically some setup costs. Users require a Freeview receiver but costs are falling since the birth of Freeview three years ago making Freeview even more accessible.

Visit the directory to find Freeview installers and receivers in your area.

Looking for love?

Whether we’re implementing this year’s business marketing strategy or part way through some big development project, we often find we don’t have the time to work on our social life and meet new people. That’s where online dating services can help.

Many single people can feel awkward when using a dating site for the first time to find a new relationship, but the big news is that the other members may be feeling just as nervous!

Once you’ve found a respectable dating website, it doesn’t take long to set up a profile and start browsing through the other members. Within 10 minutes you may have made contact with your future long term partner.

If you’re looking for other ways to meet people, take a look at the community groups in your area and find a like-minded group to socialise with.

New Scrabble Rules

Games company, Mattel, have announced that they are releasing a new version of Scrabble in July this year that features new rules.

The new Scrabble rules will allow the use of proper nouns, i.e. names beginning with a capital letter, which will dramatically change the game.

When the new version is launched, players will be able to use people’s names, company names and names of cities, towns and hamlets all over the world.

This will make for some fantastic arguments – those who are great at geography or modern pop culture will have a great advantage. Names that will probably be allowed included those such as:

• First names: Steve, Cree, Mark
• Last names: Parry, Lincoln, Key
• Places: Auckland, Waiouru, Ohui
• Pop stars and bands: Jay-Z, Gaga, Shakira
• Company names: NZS, Watties, Google

With the new rules, it seems it would be quite easy to lay a few letters on the board and insist that it’s a name of something, somewhere. Chances are, the name would be allowed!

This news might actually open the door for one particular NZS.com Editor to actually win a game against his wife for a change …

Cruise the Harbours and Swim with the Dolphins

It can be hard to think of a better way to spend your day than cruising around a harbour and going for a swim with dolphins. These are two highly popular Christchurch attractions that will give you lasting memories and great stories to tell your friends.

A harbour cruise will take you out to deeper water. Once there, an experienced boat captain will know where to track down a local pod to go dolphin watching.

Whatever you do, don’t forget your camera! The dolphins are not shy and will come right up to the boat, so close that you can almost touch them, making the perfect photo opportunity.

Lotto Online in New Zealand

In New Zealand, we have the benefit of playing lotto and getting lotto results online.

If you’ve only bought lotto tickets from an actual store before, it’s about time you tried playing lotto online. You can purchase tickets as well as check the lotto numbers through a few simple clicks.

Imagine what winning lotto would feel like. What would you do, right now, if you found out you were a millionaire? Who would you tell first? Would you quietly sneak out of the office and go for a celebratory glass of champagne? Or would you leap up from your desk, run into the boss’s office and scribble out a hastily written resignation letter before heading straight to the nearest new car dealership?

What, exactly, would you do?