Daily Archives: November 7, 2021

OPINION: In talking with Asian New Zealanders over the past 18 months, one of the fears expressed is that when borders start to reopen, an unconscious bias may mean Asian countries are some of the last New Zealanders are able to travel to.

Here at the Asia New Zealand Foundation, weve recently undertaken an exercise to see where we could travel in Asia. And it is a very complex jigsaw puzzle with few matching pieces.

Amid border controls, Covid apps, vaccination passports, airline requirements, transit conditions, testing regimes, quarantine and isolation requirements, it is simply too hard to get to Asia right now. (Pro tip: the APEC travel card looks like the most useful document to have at present.)

While some green lanes are opening up, theyre subject to bilateral agreements that New Zealand isnt yet part of.

READ MORE:* Fostering personal business links key to South Island's Asia trade * Our island nation's place in the newly-coined 'Indo-Pacific'* Interest in Asian culture and diversity will put New Zealand in good economic stead for the future

Some of us will have experienced travelling with yellow fever vaccination books in the past, but amid a climate of distrust, the WHO and other multilateral institutions face challenges in establishing international standards for Covid vaccination certificates.

IATA the International Air Transport Association is working on a system, with its travel pass still being trialled (including by Air New Zealand).

Its clear governments and airlines have work to do. Im sure progress is being made, but it is hard to see normal business travel to Asia happening anytime soon. Thats a problem, obviously, for New Zealand when you consider that most of our top 10 trading partners are in Asia.

And its even harder to see when young New Zealanders will be able to venture out into the world on their OEs again.

As I was grappling with the practicalities of getting a staff member to Asia, my sister sent me an old photo of me wandering down a Hong Kong alley as a nave, unencumbered and curious 21-year-old on my OE. It reminded me of the value of these experiences for young New Zealanders.

The OE is one of those great New Zealand traditions that has been, in my view, such a key part of New Zealands cultural trajectory for much of the last 100 years.

The opportunity to get out and see the world is one of the most rewarding and valuable experiences and helps build bridges between countries. Young New Zealanders have been lucky enough to benefit from an array of working holiday opportunities overseas, enabling them to be immersed in new cultures.

SUPPLIED

Simon Draper is the executive director of the Asia New Zealand Foundation Te Whtau Thono.

We all know that travel broadens ones perspectives on the world and can foster independence and self-reliance. Working holidays add something more they provide tangible skills that employers are looking for. They benefit not only the individual but New Zealand as a whole.

As executive director at the Asia New Zealand Foundation, perhaps my inclination to guide young graduates in the direction of Asia will seem an obvious one. But biases aside, there are few more marketable soft skills in todays work environment than an understanding of Asia and Asian cultures.

New Zealand has 10 reciprocal working holiday agreements in place with Asia, including Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam and Thailand, and other visa categories have also enabled our young people to live, work and study in the region.

In my last column, I wrote about how research the Asia New Zealand Foundation conducted recently showed how important personal connections are to the success of business relationships between New Zealand and Asia. It found that lack of language skills and market knowledge were the biggest challenges facing businesses looking to enter the region bigger than regulatory barriers.

To grow these critical Asia capabilities, each year the Foundation supports young graduates to undertake business internships in Asia. While this years cohort will be undertaking their paid internships online, we are looking forward to the day when our interns can once again experience life in Asian countries.

From conversations we have on their return, its clear these are transformational experiences that provide them with incredible insights, skills and knowledge.

Most New Zealanders will be familiar with the JET programme, which annually supports some 250 Kiwis to work in Japan, mostly as English teachers. Over the last 18 months, when the world has been largely cut off to New Zealanders, the Japanese-government-run programme has continued to operate and has been one of the few avenues, unless you are an Olympian, through which New Zealanders have been able to travel to Japan.

Teaching is, of course, just one, if perhaps the most popular, job young Kiwis turn their hands to in Asia. Increasingly, there have been opportunities to work in any number of fields and sectors.

While the advice of one generation to the next has a habit of falling on deaf ears, travel is not something that young Kiwis need too much encouragement to embrace. Its in our genes. Which brings us back to the challenge at hand, namely Covid.

At some point New Zealand will reopen to the world. We will again start inviting overseas visitors to these shores and start venturing out ourselves. Asia has to be part of the mix New Zealand will be all the poorer if it isnt.

Simon Draper is the executive director of the Asia New Zealand Foundation Te Whtau Thono

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Why Asia must be invited when New Zealand reopens - Stuff.co.nz

There have been 113 new community cases reported in New Zealand today, after more than 200 were reported yesterday.

Photo: AFP

There was no media conference today. In a statement, the Ministry of Health said 78 of today's cases are yet to be linked, and there are 645 unlinked cases from the past 14 days.

It said 109 of today's cases were in Auckland, with three in Waikato and one in Northland.

There are 74 people in hospital, including five in intensive care. All are in Auckland and the average age is 51.

Today's figures are almost half the record 206 cases recorded yesterday.

There was also one new case detected at the border.

One of today's three cases in Waikato was reported yesterday but was confirmed after the cut off time, so is today officially being added to the case numbers.

The other two new cases confirmed in Waikato overnight are from Hamilton and torohanga. One was a known contact of previous cases and was already in isolation.

Both Covid-19 patients in Waikato Hospital yesterday have now been discharged.

The Ministry said the one new case in Northland is a contact of a case in Kaitaia and has been isolating at home. There have now been 18 cases in the region in the current outbreak.

There have now been 4352 cases in the current community outbreak and 7095 since the pandemic began.

There were 33,867 vaccine doses administered yesterday, including 7401 first doses and 26,466 second doses.

The Ministry said 89 percent of eligible New Zealanders have had their first dose and 78 percent are fully vaccinated.

Official testing sites can be found here.

Vaccination sites can be found here.

Continue reading here:

Covid-19 update: 113 new community cases in New Zealand today - RNZ

WELLINGTON, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Authorities planned to seal off the northern tip of New Zealand with police cordons on Tuesday, as they enforce a lockdown in the region over fears of an undetected community transmission of COVID-19 there.

Part of the Northland region, about 270 km (168 miles) from the biggest city of Auckland, is to begin a level 3 lockdown from midnight, said Chris Hipkins, the minister coordinating the response to coronavirus.

The move follows two cases in the region that lacked a link to any known cases.

"It's unclear how they could have possibly picked up the virus," Hipkins told a news conference. "There could be undetected community transmission in Northland right now."

The cabinet will review on Monday the decision to seal off the area, where vaccination rates are among the lowest in the country, with just 64% of North Island's eligible population fully vaccinated.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who was visiting Northland on Tuesday, had to abruptly halt a media conference after being continuously interrupted and heckled by at least two people, who appeared to be anti-vaxxers.

One could be heard singing during the event, while another asked Ardern to identify a person who died in August after receiving the Pfizer vaccine, and accused her of lying to the public.

New Zealand won global praise last year for its response that stamped out the coronavirus.

But it has been tougher to quash the current outbreak of the Delta variant around Auckland, forcing authorities to decide to live with the virus rather than an earlier strategy of elimination.

Virus curbs in Auckland were extended by a week on Monday. read more

Reporting by Praveen Menon; Editing by Clarence Fernandez

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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New Zealand seals off northern region over suspected spread of COVID-19 - Reuters

From today, medically assisted dying is legal in Aotearoa but doctors are warning people may not be able to use it straight away.

Photo: 123RF

The End of Life Choice Act has come into effect one year after nearly two-thirds of New Zealanders voted in favour of it in a referendum.

The legislation was originally put forward by the Act leader David Seymour, and his deputy, Brooke van Velden, said its requirements will be strict.

"I'm just pleased that after decades of work from human rights campaigners up and down New Zealand people suffering terribly at the end of their lives will finally have choice, compassion and dignity in their last few days.

"We expect that at the beginning only a few people will ask to access assisted dying and only a few doctors will be willing to be part of the process.

"But like all laws, over time more people will know that this choice is available and more people will access it and more doctors will provide it," van Velden said.

To be able to ask for assisted dying, a person must have a terminal illness that is likely to end their life within six months, and must be competent to make an informed decision.

Dr Bryan Betty Photo: RNZ / Karen Brown

The medical director of the College of General Practitioners, Bryan Betty, said while assisted dying is now legal, patients wanting to undergo it may not be able to take advantage of the new legislation right away.

He said it will take time for the legislation to establish itself and one year is a short space of time in which to get everything in order.

"My concern is that patients may have expectations about the accessibility of end of life care or euthanasia at this point and how quickly it can be turned around.

"There's a very small amount of clinicians that are involved in it at this point so access to end of life may be an issue in the first few months as this rolls out."

A palliative care doctor who opposes euthanasia says robust information must be collected about why terminally ill people choose to end their lives under the new law.

Care Alliance deputy chair Sinead Donnelly said health officials should be asking people who meet the act's criteria whether they're choosing euthanasia because of pain, a lack of palliative care options or other reasons.

It needs to be asked "if people are choosing euthanasia because, for example, there's lack of access to palliative care for specific groups in specific regions," she said.

"We're very concerned about equity at the moment, and Mori and Pasifika, for example, are they choosing euthanasia? ... We need to identify if it is due to a lack of access to services."

Donnelly said failing to collect meaningful information could make it harder to recognise issues of access to healthcare.

Dr Betty said only about 60 clinicians are currently willing to help facilitate assisted dying.

"Look I think it's been a very short process to get this up and running - 12 months - so my expectation is it will be a bit of a slow burn I think as this unfolds over the next year or two until it becomes embedded in practice."

He said palliative care remains underfunded and under-resourced, creating an unlevel playing-field when it comes to assisted dying.

If more money and support went into palliative care, patients could make fully informed decisions.

Last month the government announced the appointment of three experts to monitor assisted dying.

They are: medical ethicist Dr Dana Wensley, nursing executive Brenda Close and palliative care consultant Dr Jane Grenville.

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End of Life Choice Act takes effect in New Zealand - RNZ

From wind strong enough to toss two train carriages, to seven-storey waves ripping buoys out of the Southern Ocean, New Zealand's weather is wildly changeable. And as a new book shows, it's only going to get wilder.

Wellington once had a spell of seven scorching days, clocking in at 25 degrees C or more.

The Department of Health published a column in The Evening Post recommending tepid baths and eating tomatoes and oranges to keep cool.

But good luck finding anyone who remembers that sweltering stretch it happened in 1934.

Thats one of the fun facts in a new book by New Zealands MetService, New Zealands Wild Weather, which explores the history and science behind our worst weather.

Mark Gee

Heavy rain falling from cumulonimbus cloud over Lyall Bay in Wellington.

READ MORE:* Residents leave homes, state of emergency declared in Gisborne amid flooding and rising river levels* Super tides tear up concrete and damage homes on South Coast* On a hot streak: Warming climate a wake up call

A week of warmth hardly seems wild, but as MetService meteorologist and weather communicator, Lisa Murray, points out, it does illustrate why Kiwis are so obsessed with the weather.

The thing I love about the weather, is how much it changes and how interesting it is... Its very rare in New Zealand that youd have a week of the same weather.

Thats unless you live in Hamilton, which in 1978 had 32 days straight of 25C or warmer.

On an international scale, our weather is mostly middling, with a chance of extremes. We get tornadoes, but not as destructive as Americas; we get hail, but not as big as Indias cricket ball-sized smashers; we get droughts, but not as badly as Australias sunbaked earth.

Cameron Burnell/Stuff

The changeability of New Zealands weather is what makes it interesting for meteorologist Lisa Murray. (File photo)

A long, skinny landmass, our weather is shaped by the ocean swirling around us, the breath of Antarctica blowing north, cyclones spinning down from the tropics and the mountainous seams that stitch together the wet west and drought-prone east coasts.

We get all sorts in New Zealand, Murray says. As a forecaster, if you can forecast in New Zealand, you can forecast anywhere. Its that kind of challenging environment. We get big snow dumps, along with heavy rain events, really strong wind events, and we have such a different terrain.

And when wild weather hits, it hits hard.

CIVIL DEFENCE

The Waiho Bridge taken out by the flooded Waiho River, in March 2019.

We started crossing over and people were looking at us as if we were crazy. We got over the other side and I said: That doesnt look too good. We parked up in the middle of the road so people couldnt go past, and we saw bits of the bridge hanging off... It was pretty dramatic. Within 20 minutes it was all gone. DOC operations manager for South Westland, Wayne Costello, on crossing the Waiho Bridge just before it was taken out by flood waters , in March 2019.

In Murrays 15 years at MetService, standout wild weather includes ex-cyclones Gita and Fehi, which slammed into New Zealand within weeks of each other, in 2018. She was working to get road workers in before the mayhem, so they could manage any damage.

We have to be on our top game. So you have the adrenaline running through you constantly, because this is really important. These forecasts are life and death.

Kent Blechynden/Stuff

Severe weather forecaster Erick Brenstrum on the job in 2006.

Retired severe weather forecaster, Erick Brenstrum, spent 43 years in the job, starting in 1974. He remembers ex-tropical Cyclone Bola stalling over Gisborne and Hawkes Bay in 1988, dumping rain for three days and causing catastrophic flooding and landslides.

That was one of the most damaging storms to have battered New Zealand in the 20th century, alongside the 1968 storm that wrecked the Wahine ferry and an unnamed howler in 1936.

Cropp River on the West Coast holds the record for the heaviest 12 months of rainfall, at 18,413 millimetres, from October 29, 1997, to October 29, 1998.

Grant Gillingham, 5, admires the view while his dad Roger surveys the damage after floodwaters submerged a cottage on their Waerenga-o-kuri farm, south of Gisborne, during Cyclone Bola.

Theres a weird atmosphere in the forecasting room when a massive event hits both relief and regret at the forecast proving accurate, Brenstrum says.

There's that funny, sad mixture, that it's awful that the weather is doing damage and destruction, but how wonderful that, with the technology we have, we've been able to tell people that this is the place it was going to happen with a day or two's warning.

In his four decades as a forecaster, Brenstrum noticed temperatures creeping up. That means wetter weather is coming. Warmer air can carry more water vapour, but its worse than that. Imagine a pot boiling on the stove. Turning water to steam takes heat, so when that vapour is turned back to water droplets, in clouds, that heat is released. That increases the upward motions in the storm, which increases the rate of rainfall.

It doubles the effect, basically. So thats why, around the world, and in New Zealand, rainfall records are being broken.

Ryan Anderson/Stuff

A house in Papatoetoe was destroyed by a tornado in June.

Something picked me up and landed me 150 metres away in another paddock and totally wrecked the bike...The thing went through so fast I didnt have time to think. By the time I came to my senses it was gone, it took the hay shed with it and then disappeared. Took part of the roof off the farm cottage and left the young couple inside looking at the blue sky above them. Manukau Heads farmer Lawrie Coe, on being tossed by a tornado in September 1990.

However you slice the numbers, the capital is New Zealands windiest city. From 2011 to 2020, Wellington airport recorded the strongest gust (146kmh), the highest number of days with gusts of 90kmh or more (22) and the longest distance wind travels past a point during a day, called the wind run (602km).

It also holds the unofficial record for the countrys worst wind ever a 267kmh gust measured during the Wahine storm, at an uncertified site on Wellingtons South Coast.

The highest official reading was 250kmh, at Mt John in Canterbury, on April 18, 1970. Thats about as fast as a Porsche Cayenne at full throttle.

The nations biggest wind trap, however, is Fiordlands Puysegur Point, where lighthouse keepers apparently gave up farming sheep because they kept being blown onto the rocks below.

Angry air has claimed lives in New Zealand, including four children who died in 1880, when a mighty gust blew two train carriages off the Remutaka Incline north of Wellington, on an exposed stretch appropriately known as Siberia.

While New Zealand doesnt have tornadoes of the magnitude whipped up by Americas great plains, they can still be fatal. The worst happened in 1948, cutting a 180-metre swath of devastation through the Hamilton suburb of Frankton, killing three people, injuring 80 and damaging 150 houses.

Murray Clarkson

New Zealand gets about 47,000 lightning strikes on land every year.

I was enveloped by the brightest light I have ever seen I felt an instant of heat all over my body, similar to when you open up a very hot oven and get blasted by the hot air. Then the loudest explosive crack of thunder that literally vibrated my entire body. Fisheries officer Martin Williams, on being struck by lightning at Sponge Bay near Gisborne, in 2013.

The heat inside a lightning bolt is about 30,000C five times the temperature of the suns surface.

New Zealand gets about 47,000 strikes on land every year, but more than double that if you include our coastal waters. The South Islands west coast is the most frequently lightning-lit, but most strikes actually fire from cloud to cloud, rather than cloud to ground.

Supplied

The stages of thunderstorm formation. Stage 1 (left): the Cumulus stage is when warm, moist air rises forming cloud. Stage 2 (middle): the updraft strengthens and the cloud becomes a towering cumulus. When the updraft rises to the top of the troposphere, the top of the cloud freezes and spreads out into an anvil shape. This is the Mature stage. The cloud is now a cumulonimbus. A strong downdraft has formed with heavy rain, and moving air builds up electric charges, bringing thunder and lightning. Stage 3 (right): the Dissipating stage is when the downdraft dominates the updraft. The storm weakens, and the rain and electrical activity dissipate.

For a forecaster, thunderstorms are a bit of a nightmare. As New Zealands Wild Weather puts it, its like making popcorn. You know those kernels are going to burst, but you dont know in which order.

The accuracy of forecasting leapt ahead in Brenstrums 43 years. A few years before he started, someone in Christchurch would put the one daily satellite photo on a plane to Wellington airport, from where it would be sent in a taxi to the national office in Kelburn.

Temperature readings only came from land-based observation stations where weather balloons were sent up and you might get one ships observation a week from the ocean between Antarctica and Australia, where a lot of New Zealands weather comes from.

Now, high-resolution satellite images arrive at least every hour. Technology can estimate temperature anywhere, including over the ocean, and estimate wind strength from tiny waves on the sea surface.

Forecasters can even see inside thunderstorms. While theyre amazing creatures, with their ability to birth tornadoes, lightning and hail, thats about as close to them as Brenstrum cares to get.

Ive seen enough of what they can do that I really dont want to get anywhere near them.

While floods dominate the headlines, droughts generally hurt more. Between mid-2007 and mid-2017, droughts caused about $720 million of economic loss, compared with $120 million for flood damage.

Long dries and parched forests also make for fire weather and that will increase with a warming climate. High fire risk days are expected to double in some fire-prone areas.

New Zealands hottest day ever was February 7, 1973, when the North Canterbury town of Rangiora hit 42.4 C.

Barry Harcourt/Stuff

A heavy Southland snowfall making life difficult for new lambs. (File photo)

There was no sun, and any water on the roof would come down and form icicles right round the house. Anything steel like a waratah, if you tried to bend it, it would just snap off, thats how cold it was. It went on for four or five days; we were in a deepfreeze situation. I remember going to Omakau in the tractor for diesel and we ran into a warm wind which was actually blowing at about 2 C and we just thought it was summertime. Ophir farmer Sam Leask on the July 1995 freezing spell.

When Brenstrum was forecasting in Christchurch in about 1976, he opened the curtains to a world of white.

My heart leapt. Id grown up where it didnt snow and I was just overjoyed it snowed. It was a foot deep. Then after about 2 seconds of joy, my brain said That wasnt in the forecast yesterday... In terms of me experiencing weather that was not what I said it would be the day before, Ive never had a more dramatic example than that.

New Zealands coldest temperature was often cited as the -21.6C recorded in the Central Otago town of Ophir, on July 3, 1995. However, a forgotten record sheet revealed the chilliest day a bracing -25.6C actually occurred in Eweburn, Ranfurly, on July 17, 1903.

That unexpected Christchurch dump wasnt the biggest snow of Brenstrums career, though. That happened in Canterbury in 1992, when two storms hit within weeks, in July and August. More than a million lambs died.

While that was unusual in his time, incredible snows were not uncommon in the 1800s and early 1900s. One in 1895, with snow 1-2m deep in inland Canterbury and Otago, particularly stood out.

The real thing that made me fall off my chair when I read it, was this snow stayed on the ground continuously for more than four months, and that's just absolutely unheard of. To me, that's the mark of climate change, without a shadow of a doubt.

Although its been fun doing weather forecasting all these years, Im now almost crushed and appalled by the magnitude of the problem were facing with global warming... The world is staring down the barrel of really, really bad things, and we need action really fast.

New Zealands Wild Weather, by MetService (Penguin, RRP $45, Publishing 9 Nov)

Read more here:

Wet and wild the story of New Zealand's extreme weather - Stuff.co.nz

Billie Taylor/Stuff

A marble memorial near the East Coast town of Tikitiki commemorates soldiers who served from the district.

Most Kiwis have probably never heard of Tikitiki, nor could they imagine the impact World War I had on the tiny East Coast town.

The town about 145km from Gisborne once had a thriving population, counted in the thousands, but today it numbers only a few hundred.

Between 1914 and 1918, 435 men, many of them Mori, signed up to fight for King and Country, with 85 paying the ultimate price.

The story of St Marys Memorial Church and the Tikitiki memorial is just one of many highlighted in Billie Taylors book The Shape of Grief, 1914-1918.

READ MORE:* Letters from the trenches return to Passchendaele for a very personal Anzac tribute * Tom O'Connor: We should at least remember them* The Battle of Passchendaele: New Zealand's military's darkest day* Nelson College teacher remembered in World War I exhibition* War memorial recalls those who served

Billie Taylor/Stuff

The Rev Canon Matanuku Kaa rededicated the St Marys Memorial Church in Tikitiki earlier this year. The East Coast church serves as a memorial to Mori who served and died in World War I.

Taylor travelled the length and breadth of New Zealand to photograph and record the stories behind the memorials that pay tribute to those, who served in the war, from small town New Zealand.

Wherever possible, Taylor recorded how many served from each area and how many died.

The stats make for sobering reading. ptiki, with a population in 1916 of 1073, recorded 100 deaths.

Billie Taylor/Stuff

St Marys has an honours board recording the names of all Mori who served from the region.

In Waipukurau, with a population of 1167, 75 died from 66 families.

Such statistics, she says, tell the story of the human cost of the war, help explain the on-going grief associated with the war, and its impact on local economies.

The Tikitiki war memorial commemorates Mori men from the East Coast between Parit (south of Gisborne) and Tarakeha/Torere (east of ptiki) who served.

Billie Taylor/Stuff

The Horowhenua Pipe Band commemorates Anzac Day in Foxton, in 2015.

Tikitiki, she says, was typical of what happened throughout New Zealand and its memorial is a reminder of the often overlooked impact the war had on Mori.

Initiated by Ngti Porou leader Sir Apirana Ngata the memorial recorded the names of all East Coast Mori who died in the war. The foundation stone was laid on Anzac Day 1924.

Paramount chiefs from all over the North Island attended the 1926 consecration by the Bishop of Waipau, the right reverend William Walmsley.

Billie Taylor/Stuff

The 2nd Combat Service Support Battalion NZ Army on Anzac Day, at the Foxton memorial in 2105.

With up to 5000 people attending, including Cabinet Minister Sir Maui Pomare and Prime Minister Gordon Coates, it was one of the biggest gatherings ever held on the East Coast at that time.

Governor-General Sir Charles Fergusson acknowledged the East Coasts great loss during the war, and unveiled a marble memorial depicting a Mori soldier with rifle and lemon-squeezer hat.

The nearby St Marys Church has an honours board recording the names of all Mori who served from the region. Taylor notes that Ngata oversaw the preparation of the memorial component of the church.

Billie Taylor/Stuff

Author Billie Taylor travelled widely to record the impact of World War 1 on small town New Zealand.

Local women worked daily to complete complex tukutuku panels and school children helped with the many tasks, required to complete the project. Hone Ngatoto, a local tohunga whakiro, was responsible for much of the carving.

The Shape of Grief, 1914-1918 is available from writenow@xtra.co.nz

November 11 is Armistice Day, commemorating the end of World War 1 in 1918.

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Small town New Zealand's contribution to World War 1 explored in new book - Stuff.co.nz

These came both at the APEC summit itself and at three state visits held immediately afterwards for the Chinese, South Korean and US presidents.

It is difficult to overstate the significance of these visits.

Jiang Zemin's visit was the first to New Zealand by a Chinese president.

His presence undoubtedly helped Wellington to forge closer ties with Beijing.

New Zealand was a strong supporter of China's bid to join the WTO, which was finally approved in 2001.

The growing ties culminated in the signing of a free trade agreement between China and New Zealand in 2008.

Meanwhile, Bill Clinton's visit was the first by a sitting US President to New Zealand since Lyndon Johnson's brief visit to Wellington in 1966.

More broadly, APEC 1999 marked the beginnings of a more confident, free trade-focused pathway for New Zealand's foreign policy that continues to this day.

For Wellington, one of the biggest legacies of APEC 1999 was the agreement on the sidelines by Prime Minister Jenny Shipley and her Singaporean counterpart Goh Chok Tong to launch free trade negotiations between the two countries.

Talks began soon after APEC and an agreement was signed in 2000.

It was Singapore's very first bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) and only New Zealand's second, after a long-standing deal with Australia.

At the time, the negotiations seemed to be a way for New Zealand to hedge its bets.

Much of the APEC 1999 leaders' declaration focused on supporting the World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations that were set to begin later that year.

Essentially, by testing the waters and taking the FTA route with Singapore, New Zealand was giving itself a back-up option a prudent move given later WTO failures.

APEC meetings continued to play a pivotal role in New Zealand's strategy.

At the 2002 APEC summit in Mexico, New Zealand and Singapore began talks with Chile to expand the agreement into a three-way deal.

Brunei, another APEC member, subsequently joined the agreement which became the P4.

In turn, the P4 became the genesis for what turned into the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership or CPTPP.

Fast-forward to 2021 and the APEC story is very different.

A spirit of post-Cold War optimism and cooperation has long since dissipated.

The US-China tensions that were amicably resolved at APEC in 1999 seem minor by today's standards.

The virtual format for this year's meetings is also having an impact.

New Zealand took the decision to shift all APEC events online in June 2020.

Given the uncertainties over COVID-19 and the scale of APEC, this was the right decision.

It brings both opportunities and costs.

Around 1000 hours of virtual meetings have been held since the beginning of New Zealand's APEC year in December 2020.

These meetings included July's surprise extra APEC leaders' summit arranged at short-notice and focused on the COVID-19 response as well as many other events for ministers and officials.

Some useful outcomes have resulted from these, such as undertakings among APEC economies to speed up vaccine distribution by reducing tariff and other barriers for designated medical supplies such as syringes.

But the lack of in-person meetings means that it is difficult if not impossible for leaders to forge or develop any real rapport with one another.

Providing such a varied group of leaders with a venue to build relationships has always been APEC's strong suit.

Follow this link:

New Zealand's APEC moment is virtually here - Newshub

Cook Islands Tourism general manager Graeme West said the Cook Islands was very fortunate to have remained Covid-19 free so far. The Cook Island and NZ travel bubble will resume next year. Photo / 123rf

The Cook Islands government has announced two-way quarantine-free travel between New Zealand and the Cook Islands will resume in January 2022.

This announcement means the Cook Islands will be the only country that people in New Zealand can travel to and from for a holiday, without any quarantine or isolation from 14 January 2022.

However, some families will be unable to make the trip altogether: children under 12 are not permitted to travel until the New Zealand Government receives approval to vaccinate children aged 5 to 11.

Travellers will be required to take a Covid-19 test no more than 72 hours before departing and provide evidence of negative test results both on departure and arrival in New Zealand. No test will be required upon arrival in the Cook Islands.

New Zealanders will be able to travel from the main island of Rarotonga to the island of Aitutaki, with the only requirement being that travellers undergo a Rapid Antigen Test before boarding their flight to Aitutaki. A further test may be required on Aitutaki.

Cook Islands Tourism general manager Graeme West said the Cook Islands was very fortunate to have remained Covid-19 free so far.

He said the Cook Islands government had prioritised the health and wellbeing of its residents and visitors throughout the pandemic. More than 96 per cent of its eligible population are fully vaccinated.

"We were open for just three months from May to August this year until the current Delta outbreak in New Zealand meant that the border had to be closed. We are absolutely delighted that we can safely welcome fully vaccinated visitors from New Zealand back again very soon."

To assist with contact tracing in the Cook Islands, Travellers will be required to complete a Cook Islands contact form 72 hours before departing New Zealand and also use the Pacific nation's own app-based contact tracing system.

The travel corridor is exclusively open between New Zealand and the Cook Islands, and the Cook Islands maritime border will remain closed.

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The Cook Islands government said full details would become available on their tourism website over the next few weeks.

Follow this link:

Covid 19 Delta outbreak: Cook Islands, New Zealand travel bubble to resume in January - New Zealand Herald

New Zealand continue their autumn campaign as they head to Rome on Saturday.

They take on Italy a week after dismantling a depleted Wales in Cardiff.

Here's everything you need to know about the match this weekend.

Italy welcome New Zealand to the Stadium Olimpico in Rome on Saturday, November 6. Kick-off is at 1pm UK time/2pm local time .

Italy v New Zealand is being shown exclusively on Amazon Prime Video. Coverage starts at 12.30pm.

New members can sign up for just 7.99 a month, and are eligible sign-up to a free 30-day trial.

While the streaming giant is behind a paywall, you can actually watch all the autumn rugby on Amazon for free if you time it right with a free trial. You can sign up for an Amazon Prime free trial here.

Coverage will also be available to live stream online or via Amazon Prime Video's app.

Read more: How to watch autumn rugby on Amazon Prime Video through your TV

Italy: Matteo Minozzi; Federico Mori, Juan Ignacio Brex, Marco Zanon, Monty Ioane; Paolo Garbisi, Stephen Varney; Danilo Fischetti, Gianmarco Lucchesi, Marco Riccioni, Marco Fuser, David Sisi, Sebastian Negri, Michele Lamaro (captain), Renato Giammariolo.

Replacements : Luca Bigi, Ivan Nemer, Pietro Ceccarelli, Niccolo Cannone, Federico Ruzza, Braam Steyn, Callum Braley, Carlo Canna.

New Zealand: Damian McKenzie; Sevu Reece, Braydon Ennor, Quinn Tupaea, George Bridge; Richie Mounga, Brad Weber; George Bower, Dane Coles, Tyrel Lomax, Tupou Vaai, Josh Lord, Luke Jacobson, Sam Cane (captain), Hoskins Sotutu.

Replacements : Asafo Aumua, Ethan de Groot, Ofa Tuungafasi, Samuel Whitelock, Shannon Frizell, Finlay Christie, David Havili, Jordie Barrett.

Link:

Italy v New Zealand kick-off time, TV channel, live stream info and team news - Wales Online

Nothing says Kiwi summer like a giant ice cream.

But with countless dairies and parlours offering cones in every flavour under the sun, its easy to become frozen with indecision.

Thats why weve put together this list of our favourite ice cream spots. Whether youre after the wackiest flavours, the best plant-based alternatives, or the biggest scoops, here are some top shops to seek out on your travels.

READ MORE:* New Zealand's tiny towns with amazing treats* Our state pieways: New Zealand's best small town bakeries to stop at* Travel Bites: Lick your way through the countrys best ice cream at Duck Island

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For experimental ice cream flavours, you cant go past Duck Island.

Since launching in an old underwear factory in 2015, these Hamilton-based ice cream makers have become known for their Willy Wonka-like creativity when it comes to flavours, whether theyre taking inspiration from childhood favourites like fairy bread and lolly cake, or experimenting with unconventional ingredients and combinations think black sticky rice, and roasted white chocolate miso.

Price for a single scoop: $6

One to try: Toasted marshmallow

ANDY JACKSON/Stuff

Little Liberty Creamerys plant-based ice creams are so good youll think theyre the real deal.

If you want an ice cream without the belly ache, Little Liberty Creamery could have the frozen treat for you. This Taranaki scoop shop uses a special recipe consisting of cashew nuts, cacao butter and coconut milk, which becomes a base for beloved flavours like caramel swirl, double espresso, and raspberry ripple. Even the most diehard dairy fans have been tricked into thinking these ice creams are the real deal.

Price for a single scoop: $5

One to try: Almond Mocha

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Little Lato serves up traditional Italian-style gelato.

Little Lato founder Hannah Wood studied at the famed Carpigiani Gelato University in Bologna, Italy, before returning to Aotearoa to share her newfound skills with Kiwis so you can be assured this lato is legit. Whether you opt for a trusty favourite like salted butterscotch, or branch out on something a little more unexpected like massaman curry, youll find every cone filled with rich, velvety goodness. Its truly *Italian chef kiss*.

Price for a single scoop: $6

One to try: Speculoos

MARION VAN DIJK/Stuff

Toad Hall is a one-stop shop for delicious treats, including real fruit ice creams.

Theres something about being surrounded by orchards that just makes a real fruit ice cream taste better, which is why Motueka the fruit bowl of the Nelson Tasman region is the perfect destination for those craving a fruity hit. Toad Hall is a go-to spot, twirling ice creams (or frozen yoghurt) filled with every fruit you can think of, with berries sourced locally. Pop by for a quick cone, or make a leisurely afternoon out of it theres also a cafe, juicery, brewery and taproom on site.

Price for a single scoop: $5.50

One to try: Mixed berry

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Rush Munro's historic ice cream gardens in Hastings.

Slurp up some history on a visit to New Zealands oldest ice cream producer. To this day, the iconic Hawkes Bay ice cream makers use the same basic recipe pioneered by Rush Munro himself back in 1926. Flavours are dependable favourites hokey pokey, boysenberry, cookies & cream and made using the finest ingredients. They even have a pretty little garden area where you can enjoy them.

Price for a single scoop: $6.65

One to try: Maple & Walnut

DunedinNZ

Youll find Pattis & Cream parked up at St Clair Beach on the weekends.

Whatever the weather, most weekends youll find hardy Dunedinites queuing up for handmade ice creams from Pattis & Cream at St Clair Beach. While the retro Bedford truck might hark back to an old-school Mr Whippy experience, the flavours are anything but traditional think plum balsamic, olive oil, and pumpkin dulce de leche. If you miss the truck, you can head to their scoop shop in Mornington.

Price for a single scoop: $6

One to try: Donut Raspberry Ripple

John Kirk-Anderson/Stuff

Darfield Dairy owner Errol Barnes and his version of a single scoop.

Size matters when it comes to ice creams. And while many dairies offer multi-scoop monstrosities in an attempt to lure in ice cream lovers, Darfield Dairy in Canterbury knows the real generosity test comes down to the single scoop. They really have to be seen in person (ideally using a small child for scale) to be believed, but they're at least twice the size of other dairies. All flavours on offer come from the Kiwi brands Tip Top and Chateau when theyre that big, you want something tried and true.

Price for a single scoop: $5 (or $3 for a small one)

One to try: Gold Rush

Do you have a favourite ice cream shop? Email us at travel@stuff.co.nz or let us know in the comments.

The rest is here:

Where to find New Zealand's best ice creams - Stuff.co.nz