It’s been a dark and stormy few days in New Zealand weather this week, and we’re only just starting to see the end of Mother Nature’s turmoil this afternoon. Nationwide flooding has caused evacuations, road closures, rolling ships, power cuts and landslides over the last two days, threatening the homes and lives of New Zealanders in several different parts of the country.

Civil defense emergencies have been declared in several difference provinces. The Marlborough region of the South Island saw the storm carve a 1100 metre swathe down the country, destroying almost everything in its path. Wellington has seen 120 kilometre per hour winds which have toppled trees and cut electricity, and a small tornedo has ripped roofs off houses in Mt Maunganui. The cruise liner Pacific Sun was hit by seven metre swells and 50 knot winds at sea, rolling the ship and injuring 42 people on board 600kms off Auckland. Kaikoura has seen a bus flushed out to sea, and a woman in the Bay of Islands was swept to her death while trying to cross a swollen creek in the Bay of Islands. These are just some of the horrifying events New Zealand has seen over the last 48 hours.

Weather forecasts are showing the storm easing this evening over most parts of the country, with heavy rain becoming occasional, and gusts lessening. People are being allowed to return to their homes in the North Island, however many North Canterbury residents will be forced to brave the night elsewhere tonight.

If you’re able to help out anybody in distress, make sure you’re true to our Kiwi ideal of sticking your neck out for others, and lend a hand to those in need. If you or anyone you know is in need of any emergency services, staff and volunteers are working overtime countrywide to assist wherever they can. Stay safe and rest assured that the worst is over New Zealand!

Latest netball results from this weekend’s competition (Final, July 28):

• Swifts beat the Magic; 65-56 in Sydney

Unfortunately, that means this year’s competition went to the Aussies. Check out the netball standings to find out where your team placed, and stay tuned to the blog next year for the 2009 ANZ Championship netball results.

The new Batman flick The Dark Knight has opened in New Zealand cinemas today, giving Kiwis a chance to see Heath Ledger’s final performance before his untimely death earlier this year. Tickets are sold out for tonight’s screenings at many of the larger theatres (I got mine on Tuesday and even then only had two options: VIP or front row!). Did you manage to get your hands on any?

The Dark Knight has been an all-time box office smash worldwide, taking in the highest US opening day gross of $67 million USD when it went nationwide in the States last Friday. This beat out the previous leader, Spiderman 3, by $8 million. The film has grossed over $200 million worldwide in just 7 days, already breaking even over the $185 million production cost. Cinemas in the US even ran showings at 3am and 5am on the first night, to accommodate as many eager fans who couldn’t wait just hours later for the Saturday morning showings.

Meanwhile, the actor behind the mask, Christian Bale, was arrested after being accused of assaulting two of his family members in London on Sunday. Quite timely considering his movie just opened that weekend - is this scandal a true crime of domestic violence, or a crude PR stunt? Only time will tell…

Image from Flickr.

Did you know that searches for Maori tattoos are quite a popular directory query on NZS.com? While many may want a Maori design on their arm, how many Kiwis actually speak the language? The last census revealed it is just 4% of the country - so what can you do to learn a little Te Reo Maori?

It’s Maori Language Week in New Zealand, and NZS.com has an extensive directory of Maori related listings to keep you culturally informed.

Maori culture is an important part of New Zealand’s history - we are a nation very proud of our indigenous culture and national support is actively increasing through promotional festivals and arts funding every the year.

Are you interested in learning some phrases from the Maori language this week? Many resources are available online via NZS.com which strive to make learning Te Reo fun, easy and accessible for all.

Image from Flickr.

Latest netball results from this weekend’s competition (Preliminary Final, July 21):

• Magic beat the Thunderbirds; 51-49 in Hamilton

Check out the netball standings to find out where your team placed, and stay tuned to the blog for next week’s ANZ Championship final netball result…

We love launching new sections here on NZS.com, and this week we’ve just launched a piping hot New Zealand News section!

In true NZS.com style, we’re offering categorised news headlines content in a short, sharp format to get you the information you want, faster. From the latest national stories to breaking international news, NZS.com is the only news headlines source you need.

Too often internet users are made to filter through various pages trying to find one short news story. The NZS.com News section is dedicated to providing you with snappy, to-the-point headlines which keep you informed and up to date with New Zealand and the world.

Just like in our directory, we’re also categorising by region to give you the stories most relevant to you and your city. Alongside the rest of the news categories, keeping tabs on the Regional News page will mean not only will you be up-to-the-minute with the wider world around you, but also what is going on in your local area.

Latest netball results from this weekend’s competition (Semifinals, July 13 - July 14):

• Magic lost to the Swifts; 56-57 in Hamilton

• Thunderbirds beat the Vixens; 53-48 in Adelaide

Check out the netball standings to find out where your team placed, and stay tuned to the blog for next week’s ANZ Championship preliminary final netball results…

Image from Flickr.

Do you feel it? While we are officially in the middle of winter, the country has been a-flurry with sunny days this week. We’ve had a few chillers this season (to say the least!) so I was interested to find out when exactly, the cold weather of winter starts to fade in favour of spring breezes.

With the help of the National Climate Database, a New Zealand database of historical climate information, I set out this week to analyse temperature patterns in two of the main NZ centres to determine when exactly we should be expecting a little relief from the weather gods.

I think I’ve uncovered good news too. My (albeit un-meteorologically educated) assessment of the winter temperatures in Auckland and Christchurch over the last two years has determined that the coldest point of the year is the first ten days of July, with a low going down to around -7 degrees once or twice during this period. We’ve just hit July’s double digits today, so my optimism says we’re over the worst, and summer is on the way up! Also interesting to note that both cities rarely are submitted to negative temperatures (i.e. frosty, dangerous mornings!) after around July 23, just two weeks away.

Keep an eye on New Zealand weather by visiting the NZS.com weather section frequently (it’s updated hourly!) for both short and long range forecasts for your town or city.

Have you been looking for a place to go to find tips for website owners all bundled together? NZS.com is your new source for Webmaster Resources!

We’re building a centre of information for Web-friendly site owners like you, aiming to help you improve your online presence.

After search engine optimisation tips? Check out the SEO resource section, where you can learn about keywords, linking, Pagerank and more to help improve your rankings within search engines in the World Wide Web.

Need some help with your website design? Learn what you can do (or ask your Web developer to do) to quickly and easier update the look and feel of your website.

Eager to understand your website’s visitors? Want to know why they behave they way they do, and how you can keep them on your site? Read up on usability - user behaviour tips and learn how to interpret user-related statistics and what you can do to entice your visitors and keep them coming back for more.

We’ll be adding new categories throughout the year and the entire NZS.com team will be continually adding to the resources available, to keep you covered when it comes to your New Zealand web presence…so keep posted! You can find the Webmaster Resource section in the left-hand navigation menu on the NZS.com homepage.

If you have any suggestions on how we can improve this new section, e-mail us on info@nzs.com and let us know!

The official price for the iPhone 3G was released just 90 minutes ago - although telecommunications provider Vodafone’s website has been sparsely accessible since then due to overloading.

The entry level 8GB model can be bought for the cheapest upfront price of just $199, upon signing up to a 24 Month Plan with 1GB of data for a whopping $250 per month access fee. Minutes and texts are included in this package.

For a smaller ongoing fee, the new iPhone 8GB model is available for an upfront price of $549 with the monthly plan price set at $80/month for 250GB of data.

Similarly, the 16GB iPhone ranges from $349 (1BG plan) -$699 (250MB plan).

The iPhone goes on sale in 3 stores at 12.01am Friday in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, and nationwide at 9am.

Image from Flickr.