新西兰英语 625 Men’s Health Week

This week is mens health week. Why do we need to think especially about mens health? Perhaps its because men do not go to the doctor very often. Some men feel it is a sign of weakness to say they are not well so they do not tell anyone if they have h

新西兰英语 624 Avalanche survivors

Two men who were climbing Mt Taranaki on Sunday, were caught in an avalanche but survived. They saw the snow above them racing towards them. The snow caught them and carried them about 500m down the mountain, stopping on the edge of a cliff. They wer

新西兰英语 623 Award for Disabled Dancer

Last night, Melissa Fox won a Big A Artistic Achievement Award for her achievement as a dancer. Melissa has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. She dances in the Jolt Dance Company which last night had a performance in Christchurch with 70 dancers

新西兰英语 622 Matariki

Today is the beginning of Matariki, the Maori New Year. It is the time of year when the group of stars, The Pleiades, first appears in the sky. When the new moon appears after this, it is the time to celebrate Matariki. It has two meanings: Mata Riki

新西兰英语 620 Fonterra Trading Scheme

The milk company, Fonterra, is a co-operative of farmers. The dairy farmers who send their milk to Fonterra for processing, all own the company. Big farms have more shares than small farms. Two years ago, Fonterra introduced the idea of a Farmers Tra

新西兰英语 619 Earthquake Inquiry

First listen to September 15th 2011 to hear about the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Canterbury Earthquakes. The Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Canterbury Earthquakes started hearings today to find out why the CTV building collapsed. CTV

新西兰英语 618 Baby milk powder shortage

New Zealand mothers are having difficulty finding cans of baby formula in the supermarkets. Some supermarkets are limiting the number of cans to two per customer. The shortage may be because Chinese in New Zealand are buying cans of formula to send b

新西兰英语 617 New Zealand Olympic uniform

The Olympic uniform was shown to John Key and other guests at a dinner on Thursday evening. It is based on the uniform which was worn by the New Zealand athletes at the London Olympics in 1948. The black blazer has white piping around the edge, and o

新西兰英语 616 Student loans

The government is going to change the repayment rate for student loans. At the moment, when graduates earn a minimum of $19,084 a year (that is $367 a week), they have to start repaying the loan at a rate of 10% of their pay until the full loan is pa

新西兰英语 615 Super Moon

Tonight the moon looks bigger and brighter than usual. It is a Super Moon. Actually it is a full moon but also a perigree moon when it is the closest to the Earth during its orbit. These two events are happening together tonight. It last happened Mar

新西兰英语 614 Affco Lockouts and Strikes

Affco is a meat company with seven processing plants (or factories) in the North Island. At the processing plants, animals are killed for meat and the meat is prepared for sale in New Zealand or overseas. Frozen or chilled meat is our second largest

新西兰英语 613 Mother’s Day or Parents’ Day

This coming Sunday the second Sunday in May is Mothers Day, a day when children do something special for their mother. One tradition is to give their mother breakfast in bed. Shops try to make Mothers Day a commercial event and encourage people to bu

新西兰英语 621 Queenstown Winter Festival

If you have never been to Queenstown, you are missing one of the most beautiful towns in New Zealand. It is situated on a lake Lake Wakatipu and is surrounded by mountains. Two good ski fields are very close to the town the Remarkables on one side of

新西兰英语 635 Famous writer dies

Margaret Mahy, the famous writer of books for children and teenagers, died yesterday in Christchurch at the age of 76. Her first stories appeared in the School Journals in the 1960s. Then overseas publishers became interested in her writing. The firs

新西兰英语 642 Tongan wedding

A royal wedding was held today in Tonga. The crown prince, Prince Tukuaho, is the oldest son of the king. He married his second cousin, Princess Sinaitakala, who is a teacher. Queen Salote was the great-grandmother of both the bride and groom. This w

新西兰英语 641 Bull on a piano

The artist Michael Parekowhai, was chosen to represent New Zealand at the Venice Biennale last year. This month, his sculptures are on show in Christchurch. In Venice, his bull on a piano was set in a garden. In Christchurch it is on an empty section

新西兰英语 640 Storms at weekend

Strong wind and heavy rain hit Wellington in the weekend. The rain which began on the West Coast of the South Island, travelled up the North Island, making driving difficult for families travelling home at the end of the school holidays. The rain is

新西兰英语 639 Fire in gold mine

A fire started in the engine of a truck, 100m deep in a gold mine in Waihi at 5am this morning. Twenty-eight men were working in the mine at the time, some of them 300m underground. They immediately went to a safety chamber which is a large metal she

新西兰英语 638 Ramadan in New Zealand

Ramadan begins tomorrow and ends August 18th in New Zealand. Actually it begins after sunset tonight when the new moon is seen. Islam uses the Lunar calendar so each year it is about 11 days earlier on the Gregorian calendar than the previous year. D

新西兰英语 637 First Asset Sales in September

For background to asset sales, listen to January 30th 2011. At the National Party annual conference in Auckland today, the Prime Minister, John Key, gave more details of the asset sales. The minimum sale will be a $1000 parcel of shares and all New Z