The week in good news: Dunedin, birds and laughter

OPINION: A racist president, a warming planet, a weird cricket result ... yes, the world can be a very dark place. But there is good news, too, if you know where to look. 

They used to roll Jaffas down the steepest street in the world. Now there are no more Jaffas, not made locally anyway, and the steepest street is in Wales, not Dunedin. This week's news that Ffordd Pen Llech​ in the coastal Welsh town of Harlech, is actually steeper than Dunedin's legendary Baldwin St hit the southern city like a ton of bricks but there are still some achievements to hold onto. As well as being the city with the amazing stadium and the birthplace of the Dunedin Sound, RNZ reported that "Dunedin is still in the record books and holds records for the most people sprayed with paint simultaneously – 4171 back in 2013 – the most southerly vineyard and the fastest person to type a text message on a mobile phone while blindfolded". Which is good, although we hear that obscure cities in Belgium, Chile and Kazakhstan are planning to steal those trophies. 

Good news for migratory birds. UNESCO's World Heritage Committee has agreed that parts of China's Yellow Sea and the sanctuaries it provides for migratory birds will become a World Heritage site, which is important because it's a rest stop for the 12,000km journey undertaken from New Zealand to the Arctic by the tiny godwits and red knots. "This recognises the importance of retaining mudflats," Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage explained. "We've seen the loss of about two thirds of mudflats in that area, but now China is committing to their protection." Equally, the recent purchase of the Robert Findlay Reserve near Thames is "a significant local contribution to the conservation of migratory shorebird habitat in New Zealand". 

Milk mega-producer Fonterra is one of New Zealand's largest users of coal, burning around 500,000 tonnes of coal per year to power its factories, resulting in emissions of 873,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually. So it is very positive indeed that Fonterra will stop burning coal. The dairy giant had previously committed to building no new coal boilers after 2030 but that commitment has been moved forward by 11 years, as part of a suite of measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent by 2030 and hitting net zero by 2050. Other measures include reducing water use by 20 per cent at factories by 2020, creating farm environment plans for every Fonterra farmer by 2025, 100 per cent recyclable, reusable and compostable packaging by 2025 and powering its Stirling site in Otago with electricity rather than coal.

The Christchurch Arts Festival is nearly upon us and one of its innovations in 2019 is to project vast images of performers and artworks on the side of the quake-damaged Rydges Hotel in the central city. The 20,000 lumen laser projector, said to be the only one of its type in the South Island, was bought by Development Christchurch with funds gifted by the Canterbury Business Recovery Trust via the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce. "It's a chance to start creating spectacle at a level where it's engaging, immersive and gets people excited about what's happening in the city and allows artists to have fun and show what's possible," the festival's artistic director, Dr George Parker , explained. 

You may or may not have noticed that we are living in a golden age of New Zealand comedy. Flight of the Conchords​, Taika Waititi, Rose Matafeo: these are global names. Their achievements and those of many others before them are recorded for posterity in the excellent new TVNZ series Funny As that launches on Sunday night. There is also an accompanying book co-written by the author of this column (sorry about the brazen plug but it really couldn't be avoided). If you needed any further evidence that comedy is booming right now in New Zealand, you should have looked at TV3 on Tuesday night when two new local sitcoms launched: Mean Mums and (better still) Golden Boy. The talent on screen was obvious, thanks to names like Hayley Sproull, Morgana O'Reilly, Anna Jullienne, Madeleine Sami, Chris Parker and the brilliant Rima Te Wiata, and the writing and directing was world class. 

Source: Stuff.co.nz

Powered by NewsAPI.org

Keywords:

Dunedin • Racism • Cricket (insect) • Jaffas • Jaffas • Wales • Dunedin • Ffordd Pen Llech • Wales • Harlech • Dunedin • Dunedin Sound • Vineyard • Text messaging • Mobile phone • Belgium • Chile • Kazakhstan • UNESCO • World Heritage Committee • China • Yellow Sea • Bird migration • World Heritage Site • New Zealand • Arctic • Eugenie Sage • Mudflat • China • Robert Findlay • Bird migration • Wader • Habitat • New Zealand • Goat • Fonterra • New Zealand • Coal • Tonne • Coal • Electricity • Air pollution • Tonne • Carbon dioxide • Fonterra • Coal • Dairy • Coal • Greenhouse gas • Zero-energy building • Water use • Factory • Farm • Natural environment • Fonterra • Farm • Recycling • Reuse • Biodegradation • Packaging and labeling • Stirling • Otago • Electricity • Coal • Christchurch • Quake (video game) • Christchurch Central City • Lumen (unit) • Laser projector • South Island • Christchurch • Canterbury, New Zealand • Insolvency • Canterbury • What's Happening!! • George Parker (New Zealand politician) • New Zealand • Flight of the Conchords • Taika Waititi • Rose Matafeo • Television New Zealand • New Zealand • Three (New Zealand) • Golden Boy Promotions • Morgana O'Reilly • Anna Jullienne • Madeleine Sami • Chris Parker (musician) •