You’ve still got a few days until Easter Sunday or organise your Easter treats. What do you have planned? Make sure before you and your family dig into the indulgent side of Easter you understand the meaning of Easter and why it is celebrated.

While Easter is a fun time for kids, adults can indulge in a little chocolate too. Check out the chocolate shops on NZS.com for some inspiration!

If are keen on making your own Easter eggs (it’s easier than it sounds) check out our Easter egg recipes. For those who want to enjoy Easter without the super-sweet tooth, how about some homemade hot cross buns? Easter baking isn’t restricted to chocolate, so get the oven firing this weekend.

Image from Flickr.

Earth Hour 09 kicks off in New Zealand tomorrow night, with 1760 cities worldwide over 80 countries participating. The event, now in its 8th year, asks every house in the world to turn off the lights for one hour on one night of the year.

The first Earth Hour saw 2.2 million homes and businesses switch off their lights in Sydney, and this year’s event hopes to reach 1 billion people over the globe. Last year, landmarks such as the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca-Cola billboard in Time Square all stood in darkness for the hour in mention.

By switching off your lights on Saturday night, your household can help take control of the future of our planet by combating climate change. Make sure you join Earth Hour between 8.30 - 9.30pm tomorrow night!

Summertime is blissful isn’t it? Many Kiwis are still lapping up sun rays on their summer beach holidays this week - but for everyone back at work it’s great to know that the New Zealand summer has only really just begun. It’s still light until after 9pm at the moment, meaning every night after work can be filled with BBQ dinners, late night walks and meet-ups at local bars and pubs.

The weather is looking better than ever this week, with temperatures predicted to go over 30 degrees in several parts of the country. Keep tabs on the main centres’ weather and temperatures by regularly visiting our Auckland weather, Wellington weather and Christchurch weather pages, or if you’re in a smaller city or town find your location on the New Zealand weather map.

Begin??? The spring time change is near, and it has probably popped into your mind over the last few weeks.. when does daylight savings start?

The answer to your question is next Sunday, September 28, when 2am becomes 3am.

We first experienced the much appreciated extended daylight savings (an extra three weeks!) last September, amidst a little confusion from many of our computers. While we’re all hoping these issues have been fixed this time around, make sure you read up on the background of how your computer and daylight savings interact, and what you may still need to do manually.

Bring on the 27 coming weeks of extended daylight! For more info on stat holidays in New Zealand and when they begin (daylight savings signifies the beginning of the public holiday season!), check out the article on NZS.com.

Being in Christchurch, I was lucky enough to attend some of the Writers Festival events that we held here over the last three days. The festival was a truly massive gathering of literary folk young and old, all keen to listen to some of their favourite authors speak. I witnessed international-scale book signings, and even a few celebrity sightings.

The most interesting for me and relevant to NZS.com was, of course, the panel discussion about blogging.The session featured legendary Los Angelino lit-blogger Mark Sarvas, whose blog The Elegant Variation has been named one of the best on the Web by publications Forbes and Entertainment Weekly.

Sarvas had a very interesting take on the importance of blogging for self-promotion, as he blogged of the process of his last novel whist writing it. Upon the book’s completion, he contacted several publishing agents (some of whom had been keeping up with his blog) and just minutes after first contact, he had sold his novel. The agent who acquired the novel’s rights had been regularly visiting Sarvas’ blog and knew he was about to contact potential publishers, so was eager to jump on the rights as soon as Sarvas let the world know he had finished it.

Blogging for business isn’t just restricted for self-promotion, so make sure your company regularly contributes to the blogosphere - you might find your next client is a regular visitor!

After several months of counting down, the Olympic Games 2008 are finally just a week away. Beijing has been highly criticised over the last few weeks because it has not yet managed to clean up the air pollution problem to a standard which the IOC (International Olympic Committee) has been counting on.

With just 8 days to go, can China pull one out of the bag? Media reports have claimed the city plans to cut 95% of all motor vehicle usage for the 48 hours preceding the opening ceremony - a move which will bode well with competitors, visitors and perhaps vital to the Games themselves. This restriction however, is one that will incapacitate Beijing residents, leaving them confined to public transport and non-motorised ways of travel such as walking and cycling.

China is well known for only providing limited and censored internet access within its perimetres, however the IOC announced yesterday that the 21,500-odd journalists and news media travelling to Beijing for the Games will be allowed near-unrestricted online access.

“Sensitive”, non-Games related websites such as those associated with the governmentally-prohibited spiritual group Falun Gong, and the Amnesty International website which condemns the Chinese nation for its inability to respect human rights quotas, will continue to remain inaccessible in China throughout the Games.

Earlier this year the Chinese government unblocked the English-language Wikipedia website, in what some say was owing to pressures from the IOC. However, the “sufficient, convenient internet access” which will be made available for journalists to be able to do their job for the Olympics will expire in October, when full Web restrictions will be reinstated in China.

NZS.com will be covering the Games daily with an Olympic Medals tally, don’t forget to check back each day from August 10 for updates on the New Zealand Olympic team’s winnings!

While Monday this week (Queen’s Birthday in Australia) officially marked the opening of Australian ski season, it looks again like tens of thousands of Aussies will be venturing over the ditch to New Zealand when our major ski fields open at the end of this month.

New Zealand’s ski resorts receive approximately a quarter of their annual tourism from Australian visitors, last year totaling 70,000 Aussie holidaymakers, reports the Dominion Post. This figure is increasing by 20 percent each year, due to better and more reliable skiing this side of the Tasman.

New Zealand is leading the world with advances in environmental sustainability, as demonstrated at last weeks World Environmental Day in Wellington. New Zealand increasingly attracts international tourists committed to sustainable eco-tourist travel options, as we are privy to several tour operators determined to leave a smaller footprint on the globe.

Luxury tour companies such as Green Realm Travel offer tours on the New Zealand roads which are the cutting edge in comfort and environmental standards. This company has built their coaches based on the eco-friendly MAN A67 Euro 4 coach chassis, which uses progressive technology that reduces fuel consumption, exhaust-gas emissions and noise. The particle filter system in the engine make these coaches arguably the cleanest diesels in the world.

Image from Flickr.

The price of petrol is continually on the minds of New Zealanders these days. Going up, going down (the former being the ever-present this month), the price of this essential commodity is causing public concern and media interest all over the country. I was sure that not too long ago I used to fill up my car for less than $1 per litre, but others around me seem to think it was much longer ago that I did, so I set out to get to the bottom of this and find a petrol pricing archive.

To Google I went, and I searched, and searched. Unfortunately, this was proving one of those few moments in life where Google simply cannot find the information you’re looking for. While daily petrol prices were readily available, there seemed to be no online source with an archive for the past decade. After much frustration, I contacted the good folks at Statistics New Zealand, who happily collected the data for me from their archives and promptly e-mailed it to me, even though the data was not even published on their own website.

So I am proud to say that, to the best of my knowledge, NZS.com is the only online source with an archive of petrol prices for the last decade…and the last time 91 Unleaded was under $1 per litre? Just five years ago in June of 2003.

Image from Flickr.

When you hear statistics like ‘one-third of your total home energy bills are from heating’, the media-hyped energy saving techniques can suddenly seem relevant to you and your home. It is easy to block out the advertisements for heat pumps and fireplaces during summer, but when the weather cools you can suddenly find yourself stuck with so many home heating options you do not know where to start.

A warm home is vital for comfort and health. Before you go out and spend hundreds or even thousands on a new heater of some type, use these tips to make your home heating more efficient:

• Insulate your home

Make sure the heat you are paying for can’t get out. Thermal curtains and double glazed windows are two of the most efficient and cost-effective ways to ensure your home is heated smartly.

• Place your heater wisely

There is a reason many fireplaces are surrounded by brick walls. Place your heater near a source of thermal mass such as an internal concrete wall - the heat will be absorbed and re-radiated.

• Use the winter sun

The low morning and evening sun in New Zealand is great for heating your home naturally and for free, so don’t close curtains during the day.

• Use the thermostat

Many heaters have thermostats to keep a room at a consistent temperature. Instead of using the maximum settings to keep your room toasty, use the thermostat to intermittently keep you comfortable by turning on and off while in use.

Image from Flickr.

With just one day left until Earth Hour this Saturday, have you made plans to reduce your carbon footprint and take part in this worldwide event yet?

At 8pm on March 29th, Earth Hour asks you to turn off your lights and non-essential appliances for one hour to promote the conservation of electrical energy in an effort to lower carbon emissions. The first Earth Hour started in Sydney last year, and as many as 2.2 million people took part. This year, Earth Hour is spanning the globe for participation, with 34 official sister cities taking part including Christchurch in New Zealand.

This doesn’t restrict all Kiwis from helping out the earth this weekend, here’s what you can do to make a difference:

• Turn off all lights around your house - luckily daylight savings‘ end is still a week away, and it’s not pitch black yet at 8pm.
• Turn off your television, heated towel rails, air conditioners, and don’t forget that computer monitor!
• Have a salad or other meal that doesn’t involve cooking for dinner - go without the oven, stove or microwave for one night.
• Don’t use your car - stay at home or walk to a friend’s place.

Many major landmarks around the country will turn their lights off for this hour - take a look around your city and see the difference we can make together.

Image from Flickr.