TOURISM AND NEW ZEALAND

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.

EARTH HOUR: Reduce your carbon footprint

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.

Japanese whaling condemned by international community

In recent days, the publication of graphic whaling photos showing the reality of Japanese whale hunting has outraged the international community and added fuel to the anti-whaling campaign.

Video footage and photograph stills of two dead whales – claimed by some to be mother and calf – have circulated throughout the world. The images were captured by the Oceanic Viking, an Australian ship sent to make a visual record of Japanese whaling activity. The photographs will be used as evidence in planned legal action by the Australian Government, in a bid to stop illegal whaling in the Southern Ocean.

Greenpeace Japan’s website has been inundated with thousands of visits every day from Japanese citizens questioning the need for whale hunting – either for scientific research or as a source of food. While Japanese whalers claim the images of whale slaughter are all part of the anti-whaling campaign’s “emotional propaganda”, the footage has reignited the issue of whaling and triggered outrage around the world.

Mark Rocket, an ardent anti-whaling supporter, said:

Whaling has to stop. For the Japanese whaling establishment to say that they are killing thousands of whales for research is a blatant lie. It is clear to everyone that they are processing these whales for food… because whale meat is openly sold! Do they also want to kill thousands of Japanese cranes or snow monkeys to ‘research’ them?

Whales are protected by a 1986 moratorium; since then, Japan has used a ‘scientific research’ loophole to justify the slaughter of thousands of endangered whales. This year, Japanese whaling was halted for 14 days when the Esperanza, a Greenpeace vessel, pursued the Nisshin Maru whaling fleet and brought worldwide attention to Japanese whaling activity. For the first time, media coverage and public debate on the issue is being openly aired in Japan, forcing Japanese Prime Minister Fukuda to raise the issue in Parliament.

Will it be enough to save the whales? To show your support, sign the Dominion Post’s anti-whaling petition or become a Greenpeace Whale Defender.

Image from Flickr.

Carbon Crusade for the environment: every step counts

Here are two words for you: Personal. Responsibility.

As an advocate for the environment, I also harp on about personal responsibility when it comes to these things. If you’re not going to do something positive, then those around you won’t bother either. But if you do take positive action, then others around you may be inspired to do the same (think how wide your social circle reaches). On a larger scale, if people take action on an issue, the trend will gain momentum until it’s a fully-fledged social movement.

Now Hubbards (yes, the friendly face of breakfast cereal) has launched the Carbon Crusade, with lofty ambitions to battle climate change. Er, I mean Climate Change. Yes, it’s big, but they’re doing it one step at a time with the philosophy that every step counts.

The Carbon Crusade is a series of off-road running and walking events in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Each participant will walk or run a 13-15km course, stopping halfway to plant four native trees. Climate change is caused by rising levels of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, which are attributed to (among other things) the burning of fossil fuels such as oil, petrol, gas and coal. Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) is the most predominant greenhouse gas – trees absorb and store CO₂, so they’re the perfect antidote. By taking part, you’ll also get the chance to admire stunning views from usually inaccessible parts of our be-oot-iful country.

Get into it; you know you want to.

Wild walking, part 4: Who?

Who do you go tramping with?

People you can get along with, and who are reliable, and have good judgement.

You will be spending most of the time on your tramp in the company of your tramping partners. Sometimes, tramping can be pretty miserable – you can be tired, wet, hungry, frustrated, and worried, all at the same time. Such situations tend to bring out the best and worst in people. You will also have times on a tramp where you are witness to breathtaking natural beauty. These times seem better when shared with a friend you trust.

A good selection of people with the right qualities for tramping partners can be found, unsurprisingly, in a tramping club. Often, you will be able to learn much from more experienced members of tramping clubs. Mind you, there often seem to be one or two people who rub you the wrong way.

I’ve found tramping with family a good way of enriching family relationships. I started taking my kids on overnight tramps when they were about 5 or 6 years old and they have, by and large, enjoyed it. The key to tramping with children is light packs and good snacks. Half-hour chocolate stops keep their energy and spirits up, especially on the hills.

Get off the paper and onto the Web!

Are you a news addict like me? For me, it’s essential to know what’s been happening in New Zealand and in every corner of the world, every single day. And yet I don’t read a newspaper (aside from the occasional Sunday news with tea and toast).

So what’s the story? Well, I read the news online. It’s updated almost instantly, is archived from previous days, shows links to related news stories, and best of all, it’s free! See my earlier post for proof that I love a free lunch.

While it’s good news that Kiwis are a media savvy bunch (with 80% reading a newspaper at least once a week), the bad news is that the 750,000 daily newspapers we read are gobbling up over 640 trees every day. While newspapers are fully recyclable, many end up in our landfills. So, not only is online news up to date and full of features, it’s good for the earth.

For a daily news fix online, my choice is Stuff, where you can read a collection of top national, world, sport, business and entertainment stories. Stuff also allows you to view the day’s stories from your own local paper and is quick to update the site with breaking news stories. For more independent news and indepth political analysis, try Scoop, a self-professed “fiercely independent” online news resource.

Around the world, papers are struggling to retain readers as more and more people head online to read the news. While that’s not-so-good news for media organisations and print advertisers, newspapers going online has been great news for readers and for the environment.