Kiwibloke » australia http://www.kiwibloke.org News and Views from New Zealand Sat, 24 Dec 2011 18:13:48 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Air NZ’s Rico Australia Day message http://www.kiwibloke.org/kiwi-stuff/air-nzs-rico-australia-day-message/1938/ http://www.kiwibloke.org/kiwi-stuff/air-nzs-rico-australia-day-message/1938/#comments Wed, 02 Feb 2011 16:19:14 +0000 GregR http://www.citytv.co.nz/?p=1938

Air New Zealand Mascot Rico, offers Australian’s a happy Australia Day

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07xTZfPwFM4

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]]> http://www.kiwibloke.org/kiwi-stuff/air-nzs-rico-australia-day-message/1938/feed/ 6 Kiwis Annex Aussie New York Bathroom http://www.kiwibloke.org/kiwi-stuff/kiwis-annex-aussie-new-york-bathroom/1318/ http://www.kiwibloke.org/kiwi-stuff/kiwis-annex-aussie-new-york-bathroom/1318/#comments Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:07:02 +0000 GregR http://www.kiwibloke.org/?p=1318

The New Zealand contingency in New York this week annex Aussie Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s bathroom after the hotel they were staying at lost it’s water supply:

“I woke up this morning at the appropriate hour … only to encounter a queue, a line of people outside my bathroom, led by the Prime Minister of New Zealand, the Foreign Minister of NZ and most of our diplomatic staff,” Mr Rudd told a lunch in New York.

NZ Herald

After the beating the Aussies got at last weekends Tri Nations, it is only fitting…..

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]]> http://www.kiwibloke.org/kiwi-stuff/kiwis-annex-aussie-new-york-bathroom/1318/feed/ 35 I’m very proud to be half Kiwi – Jessica Tovey http://www.kiwibloke.org/kiwi-stuff/im-very-proud-to-be-half-kiwi/1037/ http://www.kiwibloke.org/kiwi-stuff/im-very-proud-to-be-half-kiwi/1037/#comments Sun, 05 Apr 2009 12:02:37 +0000 GregR http://www.kiwibloke.org/?p=1037

TV star Jessica Tovey stars in Australia’s top soap “Home and Away” but when she’s away in New Zealand she feels right at home.

Tovey, whose father is a Kiwi and mother is author Libby Gleeson, spoke to Sunday News:

And the 21-year-old admitted she would even leave New South Wales to settle in the South Island.

“I’m very proud to be half Kiwi,” Tovey told Sunday News. “I could definitely live in New Zealand.

“I do love Sydney and the city noise but I think New Zealand has this incredible calming effect on me and a much bigger appreciation for nature.

“Most of the family I have on my dad’s side live in Christchurch, including his mum and sister, (so) I’d probably live near Christchurch near my family.”

Other Australians of New Zealand descent include actor Russel Crowe and musician Keith Urban

This is an interview with Jessica and co-star Drew Curtis discussing “Home and Way“.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXYXshlqI2E

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]]> http://www.kiwibloke.org/kiwi-stuff/im-very-proud-to-be-half-kiwi/1037/feed/ 31 Kiwi Shoe Polish to Get New Owners http://www.kiwibloke.org/kiwi-stuff/kiwi-shoe-polish-to-get-new-owners/998/ http://www.kiwibloke.org/kiwi-stuff/kiwi-shoe-polish-to-get-new-owners/998/#comments Thu, 02 Apr 2009 12:25:58 +0000 GregR http://www.kiwibloke.org/?p=998

Uploaded on Flickr by minnetonkafelix

Uploaded on Flickr by minnetonkafelix

The iconic kiwi shoe polish is to get new owners as Sara Lee is preparing to divest itself of it’s household products division.

Kiwi shoe polish was first made in Melbourne Australia in 1906  by Scottish expatriates William Ramsay and Hamilton McKellan. Their formula was a major improvement on previous formulas. It preserved shoe leather, made it shine, and restored color. By the time Kiwi Dark Tan was released in 1908, it incorporated agents that added suppleness and water resistance. Australian-made boot polish was then considered the world’s best.

As of 2005 it is sold in almost 180 countries. It is the dominant shoe polish in some countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States, Australia and New Zealand, where it has about two-thirds of the market.

This shoe polish was named by William Ramsay, who named it Kiwi as a homage to his wife, Annie Elizabeth Meek Ramsay, a New Zealander, (otherwise known as a Kiwi). Its success in Australia expanded overseas when it was adopted by both the British and American armies in World War I.

Another story was that the kiwi shoe polish was because the ANZAC (Australia New Zealand Army Corp) troops in World War I used this polish on their boots. The allied troops then nicked named the polish Kiwi, however it was clear the brand was used before the war.

Shoe polish was to be found just about everywhere Allied troops ventured. American war correspondent Walter Graeber wrote for TIME magazine from the Tobruk trenches in 1942 that “old tins of British-made Kiwi polish lay side by side with empty bottles of Chianti.” A story indicative of the rise in global significance of shoe polish is told by Jean (Gertrude) Williams, a New Zealander who lived in Japan during the Allied occupation straight after World War II. American soldiers were then finding the dullness of their boots and shoes to be a handicap when trying to win the affections of Japanese women.

When the British Commonwealth Occupation Forces arrived in Japan—all with boots polished to a degree not known in the U.S. forces—the G.I.s were more conscious than ever of their feet. The secret was found to rest not only in spit and polish, but in the superior Australian boot polish, a commodity which was soon exchanged with the Americans on a fluctuating basis of so many packets of cigarettes for one can of Kiwi boot polish.

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]]> http://www.kiwibloke.org/kiwi-stuff/kiwi-shoe-polish-to-get-new-owners/998/feed/ 17 Aussie Crocodiles Invade New Zealand (Video) http://www.kiwibloke.org/kiwi-stuff/aussie-crocodiles-invade-new-zealand-video/974/ http://www.kiwibloke.org/kiwi-stuff/aussie-crocodiles-invade-new-zealand-video/974/#comments Sun, 29 Mar 2009 14:47:21 +0000 GregR http://www.kiwibloke.org/?p=974

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOcqskCPG9o

After 3 years and hundreds of hours of bureaucratic wrangling, Butterfly Creek is allowed to bring into New Zealand two Aussie crocodiles.  In the video you will notice typical Aussie humor…”If you get caught, you need to shout very loudly..so that we can get out of the way”.

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]]> http://www.kiwibloke.org/kiwi-stuff/aussie-crocodiles-invade-new-zealand-video/974/feed/ 11 Kiwi Students Campaign for Aussie Fire Victims (Video) http://www.kiwibloke.org/kiwi-stuff/kiwi-students-campaign-for-aussie-fire-victims-video/749/ http://www.kiwibloke.org/kiwi-stuff/kiwi-students-campaign-for-aussie-fire-victims-video/749/#comments Wed, 04 Mar 2009 12:33:11 +0000 Steve http://www.kiwibloke.org/?p=749

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UX5qhkR0-Dk

KiwiKoalaConnection, a group of Riccarton High School (Christchurch) students begin fundraising campaign to support the communities that suffered under Australia’s worst bushfires ever. This 3 1/2 minute video chronicles the events surrounding the disaster.

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]]> http://www.kiwibloke.org/kiwi-stuff/kiwi-students-campaign-for-aussie-fire-victims-video/749/feed/ 4 Aussie Bushfires – Kiwis fly over to help fight fires (Video) http://www.kiwibloke.org/kiwi-stuff/aussie-bushfires-kiwis-fly-over-to-help-fight-fires/494/ http://www.kiwibloke.org/kiwi-stuff/aussie-bushfires-kiwis-fly-over-to-help-fight-fires/494/#comments Fri, 13 Feb 2009 19:49:32 +0000 Kiwi Bloke http://www.kiwibloke.org/?p=494

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd0XviEQM8Y

New Zealand firefighters left to help fight the Bushfires raging in Australia. New Zealand Prime Minister John Key bid them farewell from Auckland today

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]]> http://www.kiwibloke.org/kiwi-stuff/aussie-bushfires-kiwis-fly-over-to-help-fight-fires/494/feed/ 0 Jeremy Clarkson has One Eyed Scottish Idiots Up in Arms (Video) http://www.kiwibloke.org/top-gear/jeremy-clarkson-has-one-eyed-scottish-idiots-up-in-arms-video/466/ http://www.kiwibloke.org/top-gear/jeremy-clarkson-has-one-eyed-scottish-idiots-up-in-arms-video/466/#comments Fri, 06 Feb 2009 18:03:56 +0000 Kiwi Bloke http://www.kiwibloke.org/?p=466

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1lG1nxAvkI

Jeremy Clarkson calls Gordon Brown a one-eyed Scottish idiot has a Charity for the Blind up in arms over being grouped with Gordon Brown…

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]]> http://www.kiwibloke.org/top-gear/jeremy-clarkson-has-one-eyed-scottish-idiots-up-in-arms-video/466/feed/ 2 Breakfast: The Best Job In The World (Video) http://www.kiwibloke.org/australia/breakfast-the-best-job-in-the-world-video/406/ http://www.kiwibloke.org/australia/breakfast-the-best-job-in-the-world-video/406/#comments Fri, 30 Jan 2009 11:00:53 +0000 Kiwi Bloke http://www.kiwibloke.org/?p=406

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2b3NSmGltLk

Breakfast reporter Matty McLean’s quest to find the perfect job has lead him to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

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]]> http://www.kiwibloke.org/australia/breakfast-the-best-job-in-the-world-video/406/feed/ 0