An aside

As an interesting aside, the New Zealand currency is approximately 75% the value of the Canadian currency, but on average you would find that prices were equivalent; hence travelers from Canada enjoy a 25% discount. What I love however, is that there are no pennies, or or nickels. The smallest measure of currency here is 10 cents and prices are simply rounded to the nearest “dime”. The amount of money that is spent so that we can donate all those pennies and nickels to the container at Tim Horton’s is absurd. There must be a good reason Canada still uses these, but I am hard pressed to understand it.

Those of you who know me, also know that I love to stay abreast of news. I have read the newspaper everyday since I was 10, and when I travel the addiction does not subside, therefore, I part of me judges a country, or city that I visit based on the newspapers that I can read. Here on the north island it seems the New Zealand Herald has a near monopoly, it is really the only newspaper, so by default it is the view that mot Kiwi’s read every day unless they now get their news online. The paper is left leaning, almost falling over, perhaps due to my righter wing views, or the countries politic themselves. Today there was one article that caught my attention: a marketing company sent a letter to thousands of people, including the prime minister. This letter was mailed with a small bag of sugar, telling all the recipients to try the drug “P”, known as Meth in Canada. The company is taking a lot of flack for the stunt, but everyone in this county is now talking about the effects of meth, and the surge in addiction, for this reason I love the stunt! The business section is mediocre at best considering the “share-exchange” is peanuts in the world financial system. At least we have NHL scores – Go Flames.