Island Life by David Slack

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Island Life: So, what do you think of New Zealand so far?

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  • Sacha,

    High five!

    you guys make me feel.. talkative

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    If these passengers arrived by air they would pay a facilities charge at whatever airport they arrived at, is the cruise industry expecting to be treated differently from the Airlines?

    Be interesting to hear Auckland Airport's view on massive taxpayer subsidies to the cruise industry

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Campbell,

    I think most people's first impression of NZ is being forced to wend their way through the duty free shop maze to get to immigration - "how tacky" may not be the impression we really want to make

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 2623 posts Report Reply

  • Amy Gale,

    [Paul] I think most people's first impression of NZ is being forced to wend their way through the duty free shop maze to get to immigration - "how tacky" may not be the impression we really want to make

    I must confess that I find this aspect of AKL oddly soothing, and much preferable to being disgorged into a maze of barren corridors leading to a cavernous passport control hall, which is what you get in the other international airports I spend much time in. After all, if there's ever a time for an unfeasibly large bottle of gin...

    [Stephen] JFK is a shithole. La Guardia is a pain in the butt. The ferry terminals are shitholes.

    I fear you have a calibration problem now. What terms do you have left for describing the Port Authority?

    tha Ith • Since May 2007 • 471 posts Report Reply

  • David Hood,

    I have just looked at my watch and it is now almost March, 2010

    why am I not surprised yours tells time in months and years :)

    My calendar is saying it is 12 . 19 . 17 . 2 . 6, among various other nomenclatures. Getting slightly more off-topic, Iʻve found that the best thing to say to those who claim the world will end in 2012 is this sentence:
    Mayan scribes marked out the date of the anniversary of the accession of K'inich Janaab' Pakal for the first anniversary to occur in the next piktun, which is a calendar step higher than a b'ak'tun.
    To which I add:
    If you donʻt understand what that means, you probably shouldnʻt be trying to interpret the Mayan calendar, but the short explanation is Mayans were leaving notes for people more than 2500 years in the future from today.
    Now, I donʻt know if this changes their mind, but the people certainly stop talking to me about this.

    Dunedin • Since May 2007 • 1445 posts Report Reply

  • Alien Lizard (anag),

    12 . 19 . 17 . 2 . 6

    Bingo!! House!!
    I got a line on this....
    ...1034 days to go...
    and the Cosmic Lottery continues!

    as for K'inich Janaab' Pakal - I think his nickname of Sun Shield may be very apt - especially if we get the kind of massive solar maximum predicted between 2011 and 2013 - we didn't have a full-on electromagnetic culture when the last really big one occurred...
    and solar output cycles seem to be approx 1300 years which seems to fit well with the Mayan propensity for 13, 26, 52 and larger sequences with zeros after them - those clever Mayans had Zero before Columbus arrived (and Zero afterwards as well!) - if only Columbus and those that followed hadn't made such a Mess o' America
    and burnt all the books!

    PS: I love Pakal's sarcophagus lid - which is usually shown in portrait (or the classic Von Daniken astronaut pose) but when shown in landscape it reveals a hog riding dude astride his "Long Cycle" - or is that Solar Cycle 24 (bring on the 6th world or the 13th b'ak'tun... or is it just another cycle of the precession of the equinoxes? - approx 26,000 years.... )

    the House of the Rising Sun anyone?

    The Arrrgh Complex • Since Jan 2010 • 158 posts Report Reply

  • David Slack,

    No kidding. McCully says they're pressing on and putting up a party central on the site, no cruise terminal and "even without help from the city."

    Sorry son, this isn't Farce. Farce is ten miles back up the road. You must have come through it to get here.

    Devonport • Since Nov 2006 • 599 posts Report Reply

  • Andre,

    Why does the government have such a burning desire to party at Queens Wharf when there are many existing party places already paid for and constructed and ready to go for the RWC?
    Haven't we got better things to do with our money?
    I wonder if they'll build a fake beach on the end requiring us to pay for more Pakiri sand every few years a la Mission Bay.

    New Zealand • Since May 2009 • 371 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Litterick,

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1000 posts Report Reply

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