Founded by Max Farndale 1947 - 2018
Dec 19, 2017 - Legendary antipodean actors Bryan Brown and Sam Neill have reunited on-screen as the distinctive voices behind the latest instalment of Air New Zealand’s Better Way to Fly campaign to convince more Australians to fly the Kiwi airline across the Tasman and beyond. Bryan Brown is currently the voice behind Air New Zealand’s lovable CGI character Dave the goose who demonstrates all the reasons why the airline is a great choice for Australians flying to North and South America. Now he’s joining forces with acting mate Sam Neill as the voice of an adorable new CGI character, Pete the Kiwi. Together Dave and Pete are reminding Australians that Air New Zealand is the best way to spread their wings across the Tasman. Air New Zealand Chief Revenue Officer Cam Wallace says, “Not only do we have more flights between Australia and New Zealand than anyone else, we’re a premium carrier offering customers a whole range of choices from lie flat Business Premier™ beds through to an award winning Premium Economy™ cabin, a full service Economy experience or just a Seat and carry-on bag. “Wherever customers choose to sit, they can enjoy Air New Zealand’s world class food, top New Zealand wines and free access to inflight entertainment.” After a relaxing trans-Tasman flight into Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch or Queenstown, customers can then connect seamlessly with Air New Zealand’s network of 21 domestic destinations. Air New Zealand’s alliance relationship with Virgin Australia means Australians can also choose to earn Virgin Velocity points for their trip. Air New Zealand’s General Manager of Global Brand and Content Marketing Jodi Williams says, “Aussies have already grown to love Bryan’s performance as Dave the goose and when the long-standing friends got together again in the recording studio to debut Sam’s version of Pete the Kiwi, their shared sense of humour produced some great comic moments.” Click here to view the behind the scenes video with Bryan and SamAustralians can fly direct to New Zealand from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Cairns. The latest instalment of A Better Way to Fly featuring Bryan Brown and Sam Neill is available for download here.
| An air New Zealand release || December 19, 2017 |||
Dec 18, 2017 - Kiwiana, heritage, steam punk and luxury have merged at one of Featherston’s most loved historic buildings, which is reopening this week writes Hayley Gastmeier in the Wairarapa Times Age.
In all its glory, The Royal Hotel will be back in business from Wednesday, after an extensive two-year makeover.
Owners Rob Allen and Janelle Harrington bought the prominent Revans St building when it came up for sale in 2015.
The couple has put in considerable effort to ensure the hotel reflects both its own roots, and the history of the town.
Inspired by the town’s rail history, the hotel has tapped into the steam punk genre, while also embracing the coming together of Maori and Pakeha, as well as the town’s military history.
The hotel’s 12 upstairs bedrooms each have its own “personality”, themed on a unique character.
Most have elegant ensuites, in which the basins have been cleverly crafted with vintage sewing machine bases.
The largest room “belongs” to King Tawhiao, who was leader of the Waikato tribes and was the second Maori King.
Other rooms are themed after Victorian writers, such as Jules Verne (author of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea), classic children’s books, and inspiring people of the past, such as Meri Te Tai Mangakahia, a campaigner for women’s suffrage in New Zealand.
Continue here to read the full article
Dec 18, 2017 - Air New Zealand will fly nearly 6000 extra seats on its seasonal service between Christchurch and Fiji in 2018, an increase of more than 40 percent. The airline currently operates two services per week from Christchurch to Nadi International Airport between July and October, increasing to three services per week at peak times. Next year Air New Zealand’s Christchurch-Fiji service will start five weeks earlier on 26 May, with up to four services per week in the busy school holiday period. Air New Zealand Chief Revenue Officer Cam Wallace says the airline has tripled capacity between Christchurch and Fiji over the past five years. “Fiji is a clear favourite for Kiwi holidaymakers. We’re pleased these extra flights will offer South Island travellers greater flexibility for their holiday plans.” The new flights will be operated by the airline’s A320 aircraft and are available for purchase at www.airnewzealand.co.nz
| An Air New Zealand release || December 18, 2017 |||
Dec 18, 2017 - The Government is investing $14.9 million in tourism infrastructure and cycle trails around the country, Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. $14.2 million has been awarded to various local councils for 30 visitor-related infrastructure projects and four feasibility studies.
“We need to make sure we have the basics right – so that visitors continue to have high quality experiences at every point of their holiday and want to return,” Mr Davis says
“Increasing tourist numbers, while good for New Zealand, is putting pressure on infrastructure in many areas around the country. The projects selected for funding are essential for some of the communities that really need help to develop infrastructure – those places with high numbers of visitors in comparison to ratepayers, for example.
“As a starting point we are co-funding carparks, toilets and other facilities in popular visitor spots from Kaimaumau, north of Kaitaia, to Lumsden in Southland. It includes co-funding for a new carpark and toilets to support the growth of tourists at Mt Taranaki’s Pouakai Crossing trail; facilities at Blackball on the West Coast to support the planned Paparoa and Pike 29 Memorial tracks, and a new carpark and walkways at Lake Tekapo’s Church of the Good Shepherd.
“Other areas require more significant infrastructure. In Hanmer Springs the wastewater system will be upgraded, in Gisborne new carparks and walkways will be constructed in preparation for the 250th commemoration of the arrival of James Cook, and in Tauranga enhancements will be made to provide safe public access to the bottom of Omanawa Falls.”
This investment is made through the first round of the Tourism Infrastructure Fund. A second $10.7 million funding round is expected to be held in early 2018.
A further $700,000 will be invested in the upkeep of seven Great Rides of Nga Haerenga, the New Zealand Cycle Trail.
“We know that Nga Haerenga is delivering significant economic benefit to communities around the country – $37.4 million per year according to the latest estimate,” Mr Davis says.
“These trails are becoming an important part of New Zealand’s tourism offering, drawing high-value visitors off the beaten track and helping provide employment and new business opportunities for our regions. We want to ensure that they are well looked after.”
The investment comes from the Maintaining the Quality of Great Rides Fund, which aims to ensure New Zealand’s premier rides are maintained to their current world class standard.
Further information and funding details can be found on the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment website.
Tourism Infrastructure Fund: http://www.mbie.govt.nz/info-services/sectors-industries/tourism/tourism-infrastructure-fund/round-one-funding-recipients
Maintaining the Quality of Great Rides Fund: http://www.mbie.govt.nz/info-services/sectors-industries/tourism/nga-haerenga-new-zealand-cycle-trail/maintaining-the-quality-of-great-rides-fund/round-seven-funding-recipients
| A Beehive release || December 18, 2017 |||
Dec 18, 2017 - The Hub will house a dedicated Emergency Operations Centre EOC. Queenstown Airport has opened the doors to ‘The Hub’, the airport’s first dedicated operations centre, marking a new era in the organisation’s growth.
The modular-style building, named The Hub via an airport staff competition, houses a new dedicated Operations Centre, Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), Operations Control room, training room, offices and houses all the Queenstown Airport Operations team in one fit for purpose office.
The Hub has been designed to accommodate the airport’s continued growth and is an adaptable, sustainable and affordable building solution in line with the company’s guiding principles. The movement of essential operations services into The Hub will also free up much-needed space in-terminal for use by border agencies, who are also expanding as part of the airport’s continued growth.
The new building is accessed via the rental car park landside with secure access on the airside frontage. The landside location ensures easy access for non-security cleared personnel to the EOC should this be activated and will also now be the check-in point for all contractors and suppliers working at the airport.
GM Operations and Safety Mike Clay said: “As Queenstown Airport continues to grow, the airport Operations team has adapted and expanded to accommodate growth within the current footprint.”
“Currently the Operations team have operated from five different office locations across the terminal, including the Info Desk which acts as a control room and administration point. The time has come for a dedicated location to better house the team and associated operational services and facilities”.
Careful consideration has been given to the design of the exterior paneling to ensure each module can be repurposed if and when needed without affecting the overall appearance. The interior has been designed fit-for-purpose, ensuring the team has the best vantage points to monitor activity. The airport team has been integral to the design of the facility, contributing extensively to its functionality and layout.
“The Hub will be the nerve centre of the airport’s operations function,” said Mr Clay.
The Operations Centre provides the following under a single roof:
The centre also has additional facilities for use by all QAC staff including:
| A Queenstown Airpport release || December 15, 2017 |||
Dec 18, 2017 - Air New Zealand is set to grow the number of seats available on the Wellington-Queenstown route by around 50 percent from April next year.
The airline will operate an extra five A320 direct services a week between Wellington and Queenstown, the equivalent of 38,000 extra one-way seats compared with the previous year.
The five new services are in addition to the airline’s existing daily direct jet service and will operate between Thursday and Monday, taking the total number of jet services per week to 12. In addition to this, a number of other Wellington-Queenstown services are operated by the airline’s ATR turboprop aircraft.
Air New Zealand’s Chief Revenue Officer Cam Wallace says the airline is delighted to be able to offer more direct services between Wellington and Queenstown, particularly over the weekend.
"Queenstown is a hugely popular destination on our domestic network so it’s great to be able to match growing demand with these extra jet flights."
Air New Zealand’s Wellington - Queenstown schedule from April 2018 is as follows:
Flight Number / Departs / Arrives / Days of week
NZ603 / Wellington 9:15am / Queenstown 10:35am / Monday - Sunday
NZ605 / Wellington 12:15pm / Queenstown 1:35pm / Thursday - Monday
NZ604 / Queenstown 11:10am / Wellington 12:30pm / Monday - Sunday
NZ606 / Queenstown 2:10pm / Wellington 3:30pm / Thursday - Monday
The additional services will be available to purchase at www.airnewzealand.co.nz
| An Air New Zealand release || December 15, 2017 |||
Dec 18, 2017 - Travellers from France, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands now have the green light to use the Customs eGates (formerly known as SmartGate) from today.
“We extended eGate to ePassport holders from China last month, and with a significant number of visitors coming to New Zealand from Europe, it makes sense to extend the facilities to eligible passport holders from these European countries,” says Group Manager Border Operations, Anne Marie Taggart. “Expanding eGate to more countries will help to manage the increasing number of travellers arriving and departing New Zealand.
“The e-Gates allow eligible passengers to complete their customs and immigration checks quickly and easily, so they can get on their way. It also means that Customs officers can focus on travellers that may present a risk,” More than 24 million people have used Customs’ eGates since they were introduced at New Zealand airports in 2009, and the additional nations will take the number of countries eligible to use the eGates from six to 10.
“We expect this number will continue to grow, with plans underway to enable ePassport holders from more countries to have access to eGates in the near future.”
There are eGate facilities in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown available to ePassport holders aged 12 years and over from New Zealand, Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, China and from today, France, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands.
| A New Zealand Customs Service release || December 18, 2017 |||
Dec 15, 2017 - Emirates is spreading the festive joy with treats across all cabin classes this December. Customers travelling through Dubai on the airline’s four daily New Zealand services will enjoy several Christmas specials both on the ground and on board from food to entertainment.
In addition to the regionally inspired cuisine served on board, Emirates has brought back its Christmas menu with a more extensive offering of holiday favourites. Emirates’ seasonal menus are a key component of its dining offering and the Christmas menu is one of the main highlights.
The festive meals are available throughout December for customers travelling from Dubai to Australia and New Zealand, Europe, the United States or the United Kingdom,and those travelling from the UK to Dubai.
Customers travelling in Economy Class can enjoy rolled turkey buffé served with cranberry jus lié, mashed potatoes, Vienna chicken sausages and seasonal vegetables. For desserts, customers will be served festive sweets such as a lemon cranberry cake with cream cheese frosting or a cocoa cake with white chocolate chips and raspberry coulis.
Those travelling in First and Business Class will start with king prawns marinated with lemon and herb and served with cocktail sauce and a fennel salad, and enjoy a main course of rolled turkey buffé served with chestnut and apricot stuffing, cranberry jus lié, pumpkin mash and creamy brussels sprouts with turkey bacon. A variety of desserts is available on the different routes including Ginger bread roulade, Chocolate Mint dome and Yule log.
As a special treat, First Class customers, can look out for Santa-inspired macaroons and hot chocolate served with marshmallows and gingerbread. Young fliers in First Class will be surprised with snowman-inspired marshmallow biscuits.
Besides Dom Pérignon , Veuve Cliquot and Moët & Chandon champagnes available on board to celebrate the holidays, those travelling to Europe or Africa can pair their meals with the premium vintage Château Ducru-Beaucaillou 1985 – a rare treat available in December in First class.
Premium customers can also get into the holiday spirit before the flight departs at the seven Emirates lounges found in Dubai International Airport and over 30 Emirates lounges worldwide, including Auckland. Traditional sweets such as Basler Leckerli gingerbread cookies, Christmas cake and Stollen cake are being served as well as roasted turkey in the First Class lounges.
Holiday gifts for all
Emirates is also making sure customers’ Christmas stockings are filled with special goodies. Across all classes, newly designed amenity kits are being introduced for December.
A new range of Bulgari amenity kits are being rolled out in First and Business Class. There are 16 brand new designs for men and women which can be re-used to keep electronics or make-up. The laser-cut pattern is inspired by Bulgari’s design archives with a touch of Middle Eastern influence inspired by Dubai, Emirates’ hub.
The exclusive designer kit bags include new signature Bulgari fragrances and lotions, along with other pampering essentials. The latest kits feature Bulgari’s White Tea fragrance and are available on long-haul night flights and on flights over 10 hours.
The Economy Class amenity kit bags are also getting a refresh in time for the holiday season. The six new designs are inspired by EXPO 2020 which will be hosted by Dubai. Emirates is the Official Airline Partner of Expo 2020 Dubai. The collectable bags feature the key subthemes of EXPO 2020 – Mobility, Sustainability and Opportunity. When arranged together, the kit bags form an image that represent the collaborative spirit of Expo 2020 and the key theme of connecting minds and creating the future.
The kit bags are given out on ultra-long haul flights and feature travel essentials such as socks, matching eye mask and a toothbrush.
In addition, parents travelling with infants will receive an amenity kit especially for baby. The newly designed pouch features Emirates’ iconic Little Traveller characters and contains essentials such as a bib, spoon, baby wipes, changing mat, diaper rash cream and small diaper bag for a comfortable journey.
Special treats for young flyers
Young flyers are given special attention when travelling on Emirates. Kids will enjoy a specially created festive menu with roast turkey, sweet potato mash, carrots and peas, as well as a moist chocolate brownie with cream cheese frosting and a white chocolate lollipop.
As part of the Emirates Fly With Me Animals range, a special limited edition character will greet young travellers. Noel the polar bear, decked out in a festive red scarf, will be introduced on board to coincide with the Christmas season and will only be available in December.
Noel will be available as a Travel Buddy which comes with a plastic toggle allowing the toy to be hung in the car, on a pram or in the cot and the Carry Buddy, a dual purpose toy and blanket.
Christmas classics on ice
To get travellers into the spirit of the holidays, Emirates’ award-winning inflight entertainment system, ice, features Christmas classics for the month of December. These include movies such as It’s a Wonderful Life, White Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street, Home Alone and Scrooged, as well as TV specials including The Office and Family Guy Christmas shows. Customers can enjoy over 2,500 channels of entertainment including Christmas number 1s music playlist for the first time this year and dedicated kids’ TV channels. Special programmes for kids include The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom and The Snowman.
Emirates offers customers across all classes 20MB of free Wi-Fi data to keep connected with friends and family, and Emirates Skywards members enjoy special benefits depending on membership tier and class of travel.
For those looking to brush up on a new language in the New Year, the airline has added 10 new uTalk language channels including Japanese, Swedish, Brazilian, Portuguese, and Turkish.
Last minute holiday shopping
The Emirates Official Store has a range of new Christmas inspired products for those still looking for gifts. These include a limited edition red First Class blanket, and Christmas sweaters and festive pyjamas for the whole family. Other gifts include Santa teddies, tree decorations and greeting cards. These are also available in stores and online at www.emirates.store.
Last minute shoppers can also get gifts on board with brand new products and special offers in the Emirates duty free collection. Shoppers will find over 100 new items in the collection as well as Emirates official merchandise. Special deals include discounts when purchasing 2 or more fragrances.
Dec 15, 2017 - Japan Airlines (JAL) and Boom Supersonic have announced a strategic partnership to help to bring back commercial supersonic travel. JAL has made a strategic investment of $10 million in Boom and is collaborating with the company to refine the aircraft design and help define the passenger experience for supersonic travel.
The Japanese airline also has the option to purchase up to 20 Boom aircraft through a pre-order arrangement.
Boom is developing a new-generation supersonic aircraft, which will fly at Mach 2.2 and will significantly cut flight times. A flight between London and New York, for example, could be cut from 7 hours to just 3 hours and 15 minutes.
“We’ve been working with Japan Airlines behind the scenes for over a year now,” said Blake Scholl, Founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic. “JAL’s passionate, visionary team offers decades of practical knowledge and wisdom on everything from the passenger experience to technical operations. We’re thrilled to be working with JAL to develop a reliable, easily-maintained aircraft that will provide revolutionary speed to passengers. Our goal is to develop an airliner that will be a great addition to any international airline’s fleet.”
Yoshiharu Ueki, President of Japan Airlines, added: “We are very proud to be working with Boom on the advancement in the commercial aviation industry. Through this partnership, we hope to contribute to the future of supersonic travel with the intent of providing more time to our valued passengers while emphasising flight safety.”
The joint announcement by Boom and JAL follows an announcement last year that Virgin Group has agreed an option to purchase 10 Boom Supersonic aircraft.
| An FTE release || December 15, 2017 |||
Dec 15, 2017 - Air New Zealand has become the first airline in Australasia to launch on the Google Assistant, offering customers a convenient, hands-free way to talk to the airline on the go. The airline’s customers are now able to ask Air New Zealand about a range of topics via the Google Assistant, including check-in and baggage limits, using a range of devices. Air New Zealand Chief Digital Officer Avi Golan says launching with the Google Assistant opens up more options for customers to interact with the airline. “Voice is a growing channel and therefore it’s important that we offer this as an option for customers to interact with us. We see voice as playing a particularly useful role on the day of travel, giving customers who may have their hands full with last minute travel preparations, the ability to check travel information without having to manually look it up on a device.” The airline has been increasingly experimenting with Artificial Intelligence. Its chatbot Oscar has been assisting customers with commonly asked flight, baggage, lounge and Airpoints™ queries since his introduction in February. His performance has steadily improved with every interaction and today he as an average of 900 conversations per day with customers and boasts a conversation success rate of more than 70 percent. “Our Google Assistant app is backed by the same in-house developed Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology that powers our chatbot Oscar and we’ve applied learnings and insights gleaned from Oscar’s introduction to build our Google Assistant offering,” says Mr Golan. Air New Zealand will look to further develop its Google Assistant capability in the future, including introducing the ability to sign into a booking or Airpoints™ account to enable even more personalised responses. The Google Assistant is available across devices, including on eligible Android 6.0+ and iPhones, Android TVs and smart speakers like Google Home (in Australia).
| An Air New Zealand release || December 15, 2017 |||
Palace of the Alhambra, Spain
By: Charles Nathaniel Worsley (1862-1923)
From the collection of Sir Heaton Rhodes
Oil on canvas - 118cm x 162cm
Valued $12,000 - $18,000
Offers invited over $9,000
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242
Mount Egmont with Lake
By: John Philemon Backhouse (1845-1908)
Oil on Sea Shell - 13cm x 14cm
Valued $2,000-$3,000
Offers invited over $1,500
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242
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