Our usual mentions of the New Zealand city of Christchurch are about half-naked women riding motorbikes through the streets. Since that sounds somehow inviting, at least for male travelers, we're a little distressed to hear the latest news of out of Christchurch: Tourists with accents sometimes get picked on.

Last weekend, a group of Danish and English tourists got more than heckled--a bunch of local men beat them up, after teasing them by saying "They speak funny, they sound funny." Given how amusing the New Zealand accent itself sounds, it's a real pot calling the kettle black situation here, but tell that to the poor tourists who ended up in hospital.

In the otherwise peaceful town of Christchurch, it was definitely a surprise event, and the locals are definitely worried that their reputation as a safe place to travel is getting tarnished. If it gets worse we'll all need to learn Kiwi English before our next trip.

Related Stories:
· Tourists' Alleged Attackers Bailed [stuff.co.nz]
· Mixed Reviews on Bike Boobs [Jaunted]
· New Zealand Travel Stories [Jaunted]

[Photo: superciliousness]

A group of over 30 drunken hooligans in Santa outfits bumrushed a theater in Christchurch, New Zealand on Saturday. The shitfaced Santas made a 40 second dash through the building while "causing chaos, kicking over signs, and a Christmas tree." Over 200 people were evacuated from the theater as the merry mayhem spiraled out of control. Cinema spokespeople have appealed to "anyone who knows anything about who the Santas are" to contact them with information. The hilarious security camera footage is online, but sadly along with not knowing how to take a joke, New Zealanders are apparently unable to include embeddable code with their video clips, so you'll have click the link to check it out. [TVNZ]

Towards the end of last week I gave a shout-out on the blog, looking for hyperbolic travel tales of mirth, ingenuity and everyday wonder. Emily was kind enough to share this tale of derring-do – cb

There’s something about throwing yourself off a bridge for sport that really sticks with you. I could say that it was my spirit of adventure, but I don’t think I would ever have gone bungee jumping in Queenstown, New Zealand, if it wasn’t for the alcohol.

Our story begins with a 9 a.m. wine tasting. Who goes wine tasting at 9 a.m.? Well, my family. We call it “getting a start on the day.” It was soon after that I found myself on the Kawarau Bridge overlooking a humongous body of water. So, I decided to stretch. But why would I stretch before bungee jumping? I mean there’s no athletic prowess necessary; stretching before bungee jumping is as beneficial as telling the truth on your internet dating profile. But that’s what you do when you want to look productive, not terrified.

I wanted to turn back, but my father had decided to join me. Meanwhile, my mother thought we were both crazy and was finalizing my father’s will.

My father volunteered to go first. With a little whoop he took off, falling in a perfect arch. It was truly a thing of beauty. And 3.5 seconds later, it was my turn.

I started to sweat. And my knees got weak. And I really wished I had gotten my wine in a to-go flask. But I mustered up what was left of my pride and jumped. And it was amazing: at least for the first two seconds. Then the rational side of my brain started to fight the booze and the adrenaline. You do realize that you’re attached to a glorified rubber band, right? My brain said. And at almost exactly the same moment, my bulky sweater and my loose jeans started trying to escape from my body in different directions. How had this turned into a Girls Gone Wild video?

All I knew was that in the videos I had seen, (the bungee jumping, not the Girls Gone Wild) everyone always had their hands up in the air. So I used one hand to try and hold my clothes together, and the other one to pump the air, all while screaming my head off.

And in another 1.5 seconds, it was over. I was none the worse for wear and I kind of wanted to go again. But not before having a drink to calm my nerves, of course.

- Emily Epstein of b’scuse me? fame.

The wild New Zealand theme continues, only this time, the food strikes back. One of the most common truisms about NZ is that there are more sheep than people: around 40 million woolly residents, and 4 million humans. After being outnumbered for so many years, it looks like the kiwis have finally cracked. Black Sheep, a new local B-movie, features rampaging herds of mutant sheep attacking their keepers and taking over the country that’s rightfully theirs. You can see the trailer here, and never fear, it’s light on gore and heavy on slapstick. The effects for the movie were designed by local hero Peter Jackson’s WETA workshop; before he was legitimized by the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Jackson directed some pretty schlocky horror-comedy flicks of his own. Somehow I don’t think flesh-eating sheep are going to do as much for regional tourism as those adorable hobbits did. (via Transbuddha)

– Tagged: Movies

This weekend, the tiny town of Hokitika, New Zealand, population 4,500, will be flooded by 17,000 foodies, who are flying, driving and bussing in from all over to sample the oddest delicacies they can get their mitts on. The town’s 18th annual Wildfoods Festival takes place March 10 and 11, celebrating local produce and specialties from NZ and Australia. The menu includes everything from toffee grasshoppers to ostrich, crocodile and kangaroo, but the main attraction is the wide variety of prepared bugs and beetles. One stand, operating under the moniker “Freaky Native Sushi,” is even pickling them and rolling them into insect maki.

If that doesn’t sate your appetite for locally raised or foraged foods, look into an article from last week’s Globe and Mail travel section about the Maori take on Slow Food, which is bringing lots of near-forgotten flavors to the region’s contemporary cuisine.

– Wildfoods Festival (Official Site)
– “Maori munchies” (Globe and Mail)
– Tagged: Food
– Tagged: Bug Eating

(image via Mielitabeetle’s photostream)

The fallout from the weekend's Boobs on Bikes parade in Christchurch, New Zealand, is all over the local papers there. And most of it's bad news.

First off, there are the school boys who skipped school to catch a glimpse of some nice breasts but got caught when they wound up in a photo on the front page of the local paper. One student eloquently said "It was worth it," while a grandmother of one of the boys added "They were not taking drugs or robbing banks." True.

But sadly the word on the streets is that the boys didn't really get to see much, anyway. Said several Christchurch men: "There were not enough girls and it was all over too soon." Apparently there were a few topless men, too, but the thousands of male onlookers weren't interested. Come on, Christchurch: if you're going to give us Boobs on Bikes, give us plenty of 'em.

[Photo: David Hallett/The Press]

Related Stories:
· Truants Caught at Boobs on Bikes [MSN]
· Crowds Less Than Titillated by Boobs on Bikes [Newstalk Auckland]
· Boobs on Bikes hit Christchurch [The Press]
· Boobs on Bikes Ride Again [Jaunted]

Seems like those Kiwis just can't get enough of a good thing. It was only last August that the first Boobs on Bikes parade had some 30 porn stars (naked, of course) riding motorbikes around Auckland's city center, all to promote the Erotica Lifestyles Expo.

Now it's Christchurch's turn and Cathedral Square is the location for Friday's Boobs on Bikes. There have (again) been a number of complaints, but it seems that riding naked on a motorcycle is not illegal, and the parade needs no council approval because it's labeled "promotional" rather than "official." Police can only intervene if there's a "breach of the peace." That's possible if around 100,000 onlookers--the number who watched the breasts roll by in Auckland--get too excited.

[Photo: wonderferret]

Related Stories:
· Christchurch Police Urged to Stop Boobs on Bikes [Stuff NZ]
· NZ Appreciates the Human Form [Jaunted]

Less than 100%, say some critics. Why? “One advertisement shows an idyllic scene of two kayakers with dolphins swimming around their canoes,” reports TVNZ. “But the image is not a single photo. Instead it is a digital adjustment which blends two different photos—one of dolphins and the other of kayakers—together.” Tourism New Zealand spokesperson George Hickton defends the image as representative of what goes on in the country every day, “and therefore it’s a 100% pure New Zealand experience.” Hmmm. It’s not as misleading as the recent Nepal-Peru mix-up, but when you’re promoting your country as 100% pure you might want to avoid doctoring photos. Via Jaunted.

Related on World Hum:
* Nation Branding: What the World Can Learn From Spain, India and New Zealand

In May 2004, Jono Lewarne and a childhood friend set out from the UK for a 12-month round-the-world trip. Little did he know, then, that it would turn into an odyssey that would run through April 2006. Starting in San Francisco, they headed across the Pacific, splitting a month between the Cook Islands and Fiji. A three-month roadtrip of New Zealand followed, and then Australia, where a free place to stay and a pressing need for cash led them both to eventually apply for work visas – which they got in a snap. Instead of a trip, Jono got a new home base, living and working first in Brisbane, then Perth, and using Oz as a launchpad to travel through Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam during the next year. His camera, of course, went with him everywhere, and so far he’s uploaded fantastic footage from Australia, Fiji, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and New Zealand to Travelistic:



Now back in the UK, living in Bristol, Jono says the most important part of the journey was the confidence that comes from living successfully on the road. “I’ve found I almost never worry,” he writes “I know, no matter what, I will always have a bed to sleep in and food to eat. Even if they are not my own!” His favorite stops along his extended route? The Cook Islands; Wanaka, New Zealand (“a village that reminded me of my hometown. But with a mountain perimeter and a serene lake, instead of imposing cliffs and Atlantic coast”); and Koh Phi Phi in Thailand (“a lot of people say how commercial it is but I looked past all of that and really got into the vibe of the place. I really got the most out of my camera on Phi Phi and would say the footage I got there was some of the best I have ever shot.”) In his spare time, he can be found working on graphic design and video projects, and says that more clips– from the US, Canada, the Cook Islands, and various European destinations–are coming soon.

Beppe Severgnini returns to the top, and so does the Playboy Club. Travelers and armchair travelers have an eye on both this week as the Zeitgeist ventures to Oaxaca, New Zealand, Italy, Colorado and the 52nd floor of the Palms in Las Vegas.

Best Selling Travel Book
Amazon.com (current)
La Bella Figura: A Field Guide to the Italian Mind by Beppe Severgnini

Most Popular Page Tagged Travel
Del.icio.us (current)
Farecast

Most E-Mailed Travel Story
New York Times (current)
Where the Moon Stood Still, and the Ancients Watched (Chimney Rock, Colorado)
* The current most e-mailed story overall at the New York Times, however, is our kind of travel story: Kazakhs Shrug at ‘Borat’ While the State Fumes