Wellington - the World’s Most Southern Capital
Wellington, situated on the southern tip of New Zealand’s Northern Island is the southernmost capital city in the world. The hefty winds that blow non-stop off Cook Straight have earned it the epithet “Windy City”.
Wedged between steep hills, Wellington’s limited space for expansion has forced the city to build high in order to accommodate increased demand for commercial and residential space. Victorian structures fell victim to new construction and modernization, giving Wellington the most modern skyline in the country.
The Maori people called the area around Wellington “the Head of Maui’s fish”, a reference to an incident in the Polynesian Maui Cycle when the hero, Maui, fought his brothers over a great fish, leading to the land being cut up both by the fish’s thrashing tail and by their knives.
When James Cook made a side trip here in 1773, the rough landscape of the bay was densely settled. Maori tribes fought one another constantly for the best coastal locations. This, along with the strong, unfavourable winds, may explain why Cook did not drop anchor and go ashore.
European settlement began with the landing of the warship Tory on 20 September 1839. In January of the following year, William Wakefield, commander of the first expedition of the New Zealand Company, “bought” the area from the Maoris for one hundred muskets. Wakefield thus became the founder of Wellington. The city was named in honour of Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington and England’s national hero in the Napoleonic Wars. Wellington was named New Zealand’s capital on 26 July 1865.
Wellington is more than the political centre of the country; it has also made a name for itself as a city of culture. Wellington is the home of Te Papa, New Zealand’s pioneering, interactive national museum, as well as to the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and such national treasures as the original Treaty of Waitangi.
New Zealand’s most famous writer, Katherine Mansfield, was born in Wellington and published her first short stories in a local literary magazine. New Zealand’s capital is remarkably diverse topographically, with mountains and hills embracing the compact city and its beautiful harbour.
At the summit of Mount Victoria, which can be scaled by a cable tramway built in 1902, visitors can enjoy the beauties of Kelburn Hill and the Botanic Gardens. The gardens, established in 1869, now cover 26 hectares.
Beware the penguins
Wellington is almost certainly the only capital city in the world where penguins freely roam the streets. This encourages visitors to walk alongside them; the city centre is best experienced on foot. Visitors (and penguins) can wander through its shopping arcades, lovely cafes and, less happily, constant traffic.
Nowhere else in the country is urban life lived as intensely as in Wellington. Unique adventure tours are available along the Kapiti coast and hiking trails run all along the craggy coastline, just off the coast, the world famous bird sanctuary of Kapiti Island attracts visitors from afar.
The environs of Wellington are known for their luxurious country lifestyle. Many great estates lie inland, just over the hills. Directly north of Wellington is Hutt Valley, where visitors can arrange bush and coastal hikes, SUV trips, golfing, mountain biking and angling.
For cheap flights and great deals from Melbourne airport, Sydney airport or Brisbane airport, contact Flight Centre today.
Diet and Weight Loss Tips
Weight loss is of interest to almost everyone. Doctors constantly complain that people are far too fat for their health, but simply being told that fat is not healthy is different than actually losing weight. Given that losing weight is largely the result of burning more calories than you consume on a regular basis, it makes good sense to have an array of weight loss tips and tricks at your command as you slim down.
- Take the air fifteen moments in one direction outside from your home and then turn around and walk back. Walking around the neighborhood is another easy way to get some good exercise. Whenever you have a pet, bring them with you.
- Alter your agenda. If you work out in the afternoon, but binge while viewing television at nighttime, attempt physical exercise at night.
- Change your mindset to think about selecting foods that will help your body’s health rather than worrying about foods that will affect your weight.
- If you don’t feel like you have energy to exercise now, start out with some physical activity that will get you moving, but will not require a lot energy.
Dieting motivation is all about self-control and a belief in your power to really slim down. It is very arduous to succeed in dieting without motivation. Among the most beneficial diet and weight loss tips is to understand the food pyramid. It offers a basic outline of the types and amounts of food you should eat each day to give your body the nutrients it needs for optimal health. Eat protein and carbohydrate meals every 3 hours so you are having 5 to 6 small meals per day. Studies show that your metabolism increases if you eat little and often. Dining in practically the same pattern day in day out can become boring. Consuming food slowly is encouraging in this regard. You afford your organic structure a probability to accredit that you’ve had enough to consume.
Calorie limitation delivers the foundation of obesity treatment. The acceptable dietary recommendations for losing weight include diminishing calorie intake by 500 to 1000 calories a day and having a fat intake of no more than 30 percent of total calories. Eating slowly is helpful in this regard. You give your body a chance to recognize that you’ve had enough to eat.
Exercising actually makes you feel more energetic once you make a habit of it. Exercise is probably the most important key to increasing your metabolism and burning off excess fat. Research shows that you burn more stored fat for energy when you do aerobic exercises on an empty stomach than on a full stomach. Choose fun easy to do exercises and then do them regularly. For example, walking, dancing in the living room, and working out on a treadmill or other machine or with your favorite video or DVD at home can be fun and healthy.
If you seriously apply these rapid weight loss ideas and believe in the advantages associated with being thinner, you will lose weight, look better, feel better, and live a healthier life.
San Jose Sharks
The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California, United States. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). They play their home games at the HP Pavilion at San Jose.
Although Northern California was not considered a particularly fertile hockey market, the NHL’s 1967 expansion included a Bay Area team, primarily because the terms of a new television agreement with CBS called for two of the new teams to be located in California. Thus, the Oakland Seals were one of the six expansion teams added, but were a failure both on the ice and at the gate. In 1976, after nine money-losing seasons and continued low attendance, the Seals (renamed the California Golden Seals in 1970), partly owned by Cleveland businessmen George and Gordon Gund, were moved to Cleveland, where they became the Barons. After two more years of losses, the Gunds were permitted to merge the Barons with the financially struggling Minnesota North Stars (now the Dallas Stars). The Gunds emerged as the owners of the North Stars as part of the deal.
For their first two seasons, the Sharks played at the Cow Palace in Daly City, just outside San Francisco, a facility that the NHL and the Seals had rejected in 1967. Pat Falloon was their first draft choice, and led the team in points during their first season. George Kingston was their first coach during their first two seasons. Though the 1991-92 roster was primarily comprised of NHL journeymen, minor leaguers, and rookies, the Sharks had at least one notable player when they acquired 14-year veteran and former Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Doug Wilson from the Chicago Blackhawks on September 6, 1991. Wilson was named the team’s first captain and All-Star representative in the inaugural season.