Taking a look at recent, positive, uplifting, news stories and yarns, from New Zealand and all around the world, to bring a smile and a bit of cheer.

Bug of the year is an ancient handful

From the ‘I never knew we had a bug of the year competition’ files comes the story of this year’s impressive winner, which is, ironically an insect I had never heard of. This year’s champion – the NZ velvet worm – is millions of years old, with some rather impressive skills.

“The NZ velvet worm won this year’s New Zealand Bug of the Year competition, a less than scientific social experiment held every year by the Entomological Society of New Zealand to test the vagaries of bug fans worldwide. Almost 25,000 votes were cast by almost 10,000 people worldwide, who were asked to choose just three favorites from a list of 21 nominees including maggots, ants, crickets and flies.

“The creatures are known as velvet worms because they’re soft to touch, but they’re also voracious predators who feast at night on the innards of other unsuspecting invertebrates. During the day they hide in rotting logs, waiting for darkness to shoot jets of sticky fluid to catch their prey before using saliva to dissolve their insides into a nutritious soup.” (Source: “New Zealand’s bug of the year is an ancient worm that spits poison goo,” by Hilary Whiteman, February 12, www.edition.cnn.com).

You have to feel for the insect awarded second place  – the New Zealand praying mantis – who lost out on the top gong by just 100 votes.

5 stars – the awards were established to create awareness of our insect friends, both here and around the world. A worthy venture!

Last metal road on state highways sealed

For many Kiwis, driving on metal surfaced roads was part and parcel of the experience of driving. In my opinion it made us better drivers, even if it was a little bit challenging. This week the very last part of our state highways system was tarsealed, creating a substantial milestone.

The stretch of road in question was theTāngarākau Gorge on State Highway 43 in East Taranaki, part of the very impressive Forgotten World Highway. If you haven’t driven it, I heartily recommend that you do. It’s unique and awe inspiring.

“Project manager Sree Nutulapati was in charge of tarsealing the gorge. It was not without its challenges. ‘It is a remote and as you can also see because we’ve just driven through here, it’s a constrained work environment and it’s only 4m wide at certain sections. So, if you put a grader and a digger in you can hardly get past one another. So, it has been challenging, slow work.'” (Source: “Tarsealing of Tāngarākau Gorge marks end of an era,” by Robin Martin, February 25, www.rnz.co.nz).

5 stars – while nostalgia for the old days is all well and good, it’s fantastic to establish safer road surfaces that make driving easier and more enjoyable.

Christchurch airport is a cracker

For the past few months I’ve been flying quite a bit and spent a lot of time at the domestic airports in our main centres. While I know that work has begun on a new domestic terminal at Auckland, it is well overdue and as it stands, the terminal now is decidedly average. However, I’m focusing on the good here, so I will share my views on Christchurch’s domestic terminal.

For good food, with lots of choices, as well as beverages, Christchurch has it covered. New restaurants and cafes with generous seating and fantastic runway views make killing time before a flight a breeze. The area around the domestic gates is roomy as well – with further eating and drinking options. It’s not crowded and this all reduces the stress of other airport experiences. I look forward to spending time there, rather than dreading it.

5 stars – well done to the architects, planners, engineers, and contractors who have created a pleasing, traveller friendly experience. Total upside!

Image credit: The New Zealand velvet worm – Department of Conservation.