: It took 10 year old Keiran Meagher from Sydney to open the tag and release account for the season with a striped marlin in the Bay of Islands it was a 90 minute battle his fish was estimated at 105 kilograms and the marlin was played on 24 kg tackle
: solar activity in december made a strong finish for the first year of the new decade previous months had flux readings as low as 122 but the december low which came on the first day was 176 all the other days reached 182 or higher the december peak 239 was the highest since august
: It was reported in the local rag today that the 40 tonne Salyut 7 space station will reenter the atmosphere on 8 February give or take 10 days somewhere between 51 degrees North and 51 degrees South this is what you call pin point accuracy
: The Earths atmosphere consists of 78 percent Nitrogen 21 percent Oxygen 1 percent Argon up to 1 percent water vapour and trace amounts of other gases this protective 5 layersed blanket extends upward to an altitude of about 120 miles sheilding us from much Solar Radiation
: With an equatorial diameter of 7926 miles our planet Earth is not quite a perfect sphere since it spins on an axis it bulges slightly at the equator infact the equator diameter is 27 miles more than the dia taken at the poles
: If you wrapped a tape measure around the Earth at the equator it would stretch some 24900 miles then if you drove a car at a speed of 55 miles per hour without stopping it would take 19 days to travel around the glode just the once
: The mass of 81 moons would be required to equal that of the Earth the moons surface temp on the sun lit side reaches 279 faron 137 celcius degrees and on the dark side exposed to the cold space moonrocks freeze to a temp of minus 310 degrees faron equal to 154 celcius degrees
: It is in the Suns Core that the nuclear processes which power the Sun actually take place Hydrogen Nuclei which are Protons are fused into Helium at temps of 25 million degree faron it is here under a trillion pound per square inches of pressure 4 and a half million tons of Solar mass is converted each second into energy
: The diameter of the Sun is 865 thousand miles it is nearly a perfect sphere in everyday terms and if you drove a car at 55 mph it would take more than five and a half years to drive around the circumference without stopping
: So massive is the Sun that it contains 99 point 86 percent of all the matter in the Solar System weighing two point two billion billion tons it possesses a mass equal to 332270 Earths and the Photosphere gases are so thin we would consider them a vacuum
: So strong is the Suns gravity that if you weighed 100 lbs on Earth then on the Sun you would weigh 2780 lbs which is almost one and a half tons this immense gravity requires an escape velocity of 1 point 4 million miles per hour
: From 80 km off Heard Island in the Antartica the team will lower a sonic transmitter 3 hundred metres into the water and send 219 decibel pulses at a frequency of 57 hertz measuring of the travelling time of the pulses to listening devices around the World should allow an accurate thermal mapping of the deep oceans
: After 23 of their 50 overs Australia were 107 on 1 wicket in hot pursuit of the modest NZ total of 199 for 7 with ideal batting conditions and a flying start from Richard Reid and Martin Crowe they should have reached at least 220 and possibly 250 in their first innings
: Kamo began promisingly but then lost 3 wickets 2 of them to the pace of Paul Cunis at 26 and another 4 while struggling to 87 it was left to promoted wicketkeeper Eddie Whatt with 37 and hardhitting David Russell 24 to give the innings some respectability
: An Australian won NZs most highly prized Fullbore Shooting trophy the Ballinger Belt at Trentham on Saturday the modest 59 year old scored 71 of a possible 75 from the 15 counting shots over 900 yds taking his aggregate score in the Belt Series to 563
: The confidence charged 27 year old Turner collected 276 and a half thousand dollars after destroying a World Class Field this week shooting 74 then 62 followed by 67 and a 68 to blitz World number one Greg Norman by 4 shots with a 17 under par total 271
: as of 26 december the minimum solar flux this month was 176 and that came on the first december drop that first day and the december minimum so far would be 182 an exceptionally high figure the apppearance of the sun in recent days has shown little change
: The abandoned Soviet space station Salyut 7 is losing altitude rapidly and is expected to reenter the Earths atmosphere shortly Salyut 7 was launched on 19 Apr 82 from the USSR and its orbit has dropped 125 kilometers in altitude in the past year
: Salyut 7 carries an object number of 13138 and has been heard transmitting telemetry on a frequency of 19 point 954 MHz also COSMOS 1686 object 16095 is also in a similar orbit and is expected to decay at the same time the reentrance date is around 01 Feb 91
: In Hobart Kirsty Bond offered the Kiwis there only hope of reaching the 183 target sharing partnership of 30 a 36 and 50 before she was well caught by Goss at square leg for 54 the remaining 2 matches will be played tomorrow
: The British entrepreneur Mr Richard Branson 40 and his Swedish co pilot lifted off from south western Japan to attempt the first crossing of the Pacific the crossing was expected to take 48 hours once the 6 tonne balloon entered the core of a fast moving jetstream
: Play did not begin on a drying pitch after the rain until 2 pm Northern Districts captain David White declaring at the overnight score of 359 for 4 Central Districts was left requiring 261 to win off a minimum of sixty overs
: The sale begins tomorrow at seven pm when 70 Yearlings are catalogued to be auctioned with the remaining 191 lots of the total 262 going under the hammer on Sunday from 11 am at tomorrows Magic Million Classic for horses
: It was 10 wins for MASTER MUSICIAN from just 12 starts and his career earnings including the five hundred thousand dollars in bonuses last season now stand at 1074914 dollars for owners Dunn Ken McDonald and Eugene Storck
: The Gulf War has created a brief gold bonanza as people eagerly departed with their Bullion in the morning the price climbed to 409 US dollars an ounce but by the close of the days trading it had dropped to between 389 and 398 dollars an ounce
: With tendon trouble it was decided to put STROLLWAY out of training rather than risk serious injury with 7 wins and 16 other placings in 28 starts since he began racing as a 3 year old this makes him one of the most consistent gallopers
: Before his spell SUPER IMPOSE had won 10 races and 2211230 Aust dollars in stakes and finished second to stablemate TAWRRIFIC in the 1989 Melbourne Cup and may resume racing racing in the Rubiton Stakes 1 thousand metres at Sandown on Saturday
: The Soviet Scud missile guidance system can guide the missile to within 800 metres of its designated target 273 km away up to 453 kg of chemical agent can explode on impact or over the target area or release a cloud as the missile flies overhead
: There were enough gaps in the clouds to allow regulular glimpes of the solar eclipse between 1030 hrs and 2 pm and at 1215 hrs the eclipse was at its maximun with 77 percent of the sun obscured the next such event in this country will be in the year 2028
: ZIC ZAC BLITZ was backed as unbeatable to complete a hat trick of wins in the Whau Welter at Avondale but could finish only 2 beaten narrowly by baraz who in a 6 horse field paid 13 dollars 45 cents such was the betting on the favourite
: baraz failed the previous time at Thames early this month but won 2 starts back at Te Awamutu from 63 attempts he has managed just 3 wins but he also claims 23 minor placings nowadays he is trained at Putaruru by trainer Gary Nickalls
: The lure of big fish and big prizes is expected to attract about 150 boats Anglers from Bay of Plenty Waikato and Auckland will also be on hand to try and hook their share of the 60 thousand dollars on offer in prizes this will be number 3 for the annual Fitzroy one base game fishing tournament at the Great Barrier Island
: The tournament the only one in NZ to be based solely on an island has grown in popularity with 65 boats competing in the inaugural event in 1989 climbing to 96 boats last year there is expected to be on average 4 anglers per boat
: Only 1 marlin was caught during the contest last year but it was one to savour the 137 kg striped marlin was caught by Aucklander Judy Barlow in her first attempt at game fishing but there were alot of Tuna Kingfish and Sharks caught on the day fishing started at 8 am each day
: 3 of the 77 starters in the annual biathlon between Ngunguru and Tutukaka were pictured in the Weekend Sport paper the winner was Neil Secker of Whangarei from Mike McCartney of Whangarei a 25 km cycle race held in conjunction went to Lee Johnstone of Whg
: Some events and oddities from 130 yrs of manned lighthouse history the DOG ISLAND is the tallest lighthouse in NZ it is 36 metres black and white striped tower that claimed the life of its keeper in 1833 when he fell down the centre of the stairway
: STEPHENS ISLAND is the brightest lighthouse with a range of 51 kms it has the highest altitude of 180 metres above sea level while the NAPIER BLUFF HILL lighthouse was built on a prison and the prison officers were hired as its keeper they continued this role for 75 years
: moko hinau island the 14 metre stone light tower is one of the countrys most remote in 1940 the ss niagara carrying a cargo of gold bullion hit a German sea mine near the light station and sank while the tiri tiri island lighthouse is the oldest between 1965 to 83 the tower housed an 11 million candle power xenon lamp
: The first lighthouse began operating at Pencarrow Head in 1859 near the entrance to the Wellington Harbour by 1881 another 20 lighthouses had been shipped from England and errected by 1911 there were 78 keepers tending some 42 lighthouses around the coast from Cape Maria Van Diemen in the North to the centre island in the South
: ENTERPRISE NZ was designed by Bruce Farr and associates constructed of Kevlar she has a LOA of 80 feet and a LWL of 19 point 45 metres its sail area is approx 2743 square feet she can be sailed hard as the bulb on the bottom of the keel adds both stability and efficiency of an endplate
: LION NZ was one of the favourites for the 85 to 86 Whitbread as she survived seas and 60 knot squalls to finish first in the Sydney Hobart Race while 106 starters failed to finish the Ron Holland design yacht has a seasoned 22 man crew
: Steve ONeill can document a resident keepers involvement in 52 search and rescues during the past 12 years during such incidents the keeper coordinated on the spot with eyes and ears but he claims the MOT has downplayed that role for their destaff campaign
: At baring head Steve ONeill is packing up and getting ready to leave the 54 year old light house station being the last to be constructed in NZ and the first to be electrified instead of a turning lenses the bulb turns on and off to show a 9 second flash every 15 seconds
: The Hubble space telescope project was scaled down NASA design had called for a 305 cm mirror shaped like a doughnut light falling on its dished face would bounce to a smaller mirror then to a TV camera the primary mirror was trimmed a crucial 36 percent to 239 cm
: Cornelis Van Rietschoten explained the first FLYER built for the 76 to 78 Whitbread was a 65 foot designed Ketch developed from the lines of the Swan 65 SAYULA 2 while the second FLYER the 76 foot maxi FRERS design was built with line honours in mind
: Although FLYER was a dry ship Cornelis said he kept an emergency supply under his bunk for special occasions and with Ceramco on his tail the incentive was for a 280 mile run in 24 hours they broke the Whitbread record with 327 miles so then it was double tots all around
: The BALMAIN plant comprises two high pressure boiler units each of 56 thousand kg per hour maximum continuous rating the steam pressure and temperature at the superheater outlet being 8620 kpa and 490 degrees celcius respectively
: The back pressure turbo alternator is of 9375 kilo watts maximum continuous rating the steam conditions at the turbine stop valve being approx 8274 kilo pascals and 482 degrees celcius when operating at maximum continuous rating
: The BLUE Whale a brontosaurus can grow to 30 metres and weigh more than 2500 people its tongue is 3 metres thick and heavier than an Elephant its half tonne heart has walls half a metre thick and pumps 8 tonnes of blood at 15 knots its body generates 1000 hp
: 60 million years ago ancestors of modern Whales were 4 legged wolf size animals living on the shores of estuaries and lagoons where an abundance of fish and shrimp enticed them to try wading and over 10 to 15 million years their forelegs shanks grew into flippers and and their hind legs disappeared
: Crocodiles can attack at any time of the year but they are more dangerous in the warmer months when in search of mates and in 4 to 6 weeks after coupling the female scrapes up a metre high oval nest of vegetation and mud she lays about 50 duck sized eggs the incubation period is 10 to 12 weeks
: In 1974 an enormous rogue Crocodile nicknamed Sweetheart began attacking fishing boats on SWEETS BILLABONG in the FINNISS RIVER west of Darwin now the monster can be seen stuffed in the Darwin Museum 5 point 1 metres long at 780 kg apparently the outboard motors used to annoy him so he would tip over the boats on the river leaving the men alone
: The adult Humpback Whale is between 12 to 15 metres 25 to 40 tonnes it is the best talker which cousteau calls the carnsos of the deep these frisky free spirits sing hauntingly beautiful songs for up to 22 hours at a time seemingly just for the joy of it though probably to attract a mate
: Not long ago rescuing whales would have seemed absurd in 1966 over 17 Nations slaughtered nearly 70 thousand whales today the whaling industry has almost disappeared only Japan Ireland and Norway participate in the name of research and last year fewer than 600 were harvested
: Other clubs in the northern region especially Waikato were dealt cruelly by wet weather last year 3 meetings at Te Rapa were affected at one meeting 9 races worth 387 thousand dollars were scrapped because of a slippery track
: The long running and expensive fiasco of the CLYDE DAM surfaced again in March last year it was announced that land stabilisation work behind the dam had risen from 11 million dollars to 337 then in September the goverment paid Electricorp 340 million for land stabilisation work
: His successor Gary Whetton came unstuck in test 3 when his side was beaten 21 to 9 ending 50 game winning streak dating back to the World Cup season the All Blacks then had their end of year tour to France where they lost 2 of their matches against selection sides
: A Tauranga angler Mr Brett Wakerly fishing off the charter boat MA CHERIE pulled in a 26 point 3 kg Short Bill speciman on a 15 kg line on Tuesday it is not a common fish in these waters and Mr Krom recorded a record Albacore weighing 7 point 25 kgs
: Reinsman Tony Herlihy is on course to challenge Maurice McKendrys record for the number of winning drives in a season mainly through his association with the powerful Blanchard and Simpson Stable Herlihy has posted 84 wins and has a chance to claim McKendrys mark of 161 established in the 1988 to 89 season
: Herlihy has driven a century of winners in 5 of the past 6 seasons his best figure being one hundred and twenty one when second to McKendrys 139 last season this season he has had 424 starts for 84 wins 46 seconds and 39 thirds
: Museums had been the big losers in the art boom a tax change that came into effect in 1987 helping to dry up American philanthropy in a hurry the panel that advises Americas taxman on the valuation of such museum gifts had 598 significant object to review in 1989 compared with 2081 the previous year
: Electrostatic Precipitors at Huntley and other Coalfired Stations prevent 99 point 5 per cent of all ash released into the atmosphere Electrocorp is committed to the enviroment infact 75 percent of the countrys need for electricity is generated from hydro power using water to drive turbines
: A 5 bag by Lance OSullivan at Avondale makes him odds on to win his bet with Breweries Chief Richard Holden he has to ride a hundred winners by 18 April to beat his own seasons tally of 147 yesterdays haul took him to 71 he has 10 winners a month to collect
: While the Skoglund 4 was well beaten 10 to 31 one could perhaps look back to the eleventh end and simply say Sid Giddys name was always on the cup Leading 15 to 6 he was 5 down on the lead he drove and hit the head well the jack ended up in the ditch
: Batting first TAWA managed 217 with Kevin OMeara topping the batting with 56 KILBIRNIE made a reasonable start but lost its way in the middle stages of the innings from a position of 136 for 5 it was finally dismissed for 178
: Derek Stirling hammered the bowling his innings included 5 fours and 6 sixes and his century came in 156 minutes off only 103 balls Karori was finally dismissed for 218 converting a possible rout to a defeat of only 45 runs
: Geoff Laws took a strong grip on the World Cherub Yacht Racing Series when he gained his third victory out of 4 races in rough conditions on the Waitemata Harbour 12 of the 39 crews opted not to go out for the fourth race while 8 did not finish with gear damage in 23 knot winds
: Alvin Kallicharran the former test star is 98 not out in Papatoetoes 155 to 4 reply to Howick Pakurangas total of 161 in the ASB Premier South division match he hit 18 fours in his 3 and a half hour knock while Tom Helaby got 37
: The 12 Metre Challenge Yachting contest endured a slow and soggy day on Sydney Harbour with only one of 2 scheduled rounds completed Davis and Dickson drifted about hoping the required 8 knots of wind would materialise but by 5 pm the race committee gave up and sent everybody home
: In 1801 Symington built the charlotte dundas she was 55 feet long 18 ft wide and had a 8 foot draft then in March of 1802 this steamship with only a 10 hp engine successfully towed two 70 ton vessels on the canal for 6 hours against a brisk wind
: Not exactly in hot pursuit of Wellingtons total of 295 Sri Lanka recovered from 116 for 7 to 240 for 9 wickets declared leaving time for Wellington to score 46 for no wickets in their second innings with the pitch so docile
: Holwell swept home 40 to 8 over Carrie Arneil Whitham dealt with Pat Severinsen 25 to 7 Wilson reversed the reult of his clash with Ian McMurchy in section play when he raced away to score 28 to 12 and Cathcart outgunned Tom Jellick 25 to 6 in the local Bowling Clubs annual Lion Clubs open fours tournament
: Hill began well enough scoring a 3 on the first end and a 2 on the second but he scored only one further point during the first 12 ends while Cathcart rattled on 22 including a 6 on the tenth but Hill hit back with a six on the thirteenth and crept up 25 to 19 and 27 to 21
: More Americans are quitting smoking and more are dying now there are more than 400 thousand people a year as the habits of the 1950 and sixties take an increasing toll the National Centres for Disease Control reported 434175 died in 1988 up 11 percent from 390 thousand deaths attributed to smoking in the 1985 study
: The largest oil spill in history is moving south along the coast opposite Ra az Zawr a small peninsula south of the Kuwait Saudi border and about 27 kms seperated the tip of the slick from Saud Arabias largest desalination plant at Jubail which processes 136 million litres of sea water a day into drinking water for Riyadh
: SCOTT ELLICK a 5 year old 11 to 11 in the betting paid 9 dollars for a place and completed a whopping trifecta of 5685 dollars with the winner GREAT HELMSMAN and the second placegetter being BLUE RULER at the Ruakaka race day trots
: Auckland the leader in the trophy series reached 138 for 2 against Central Districts on a rain shortened day in the match at New Plymouth Dipak Patel 72 not out and Jeff Crow 46 not out shared an unbroken third wicket stand of 106
: The NZ attack right through the day pitched the ball short allowing Aravinda De Silva to cut hook and pull his way to 203 not out at stumps Sri Lanka had amassed 359 for 3 putting themselves in the boxseat for the remainder of this test
: Latham ended the day 237 not out and Kennedy 159 not out as they rewrote the record book by stumps Canterbury had reached 430 for 2 wickets off 87 overs after 36 for 2 at one stage Lathams 237 came off just 221 deliveries and at one stage he took 23 off one over
: Colin Skudder for example landed a 61 point 5 kg Yellowfin Tuna last 25 January then less than a month later went out to bag a 96 kg Striped Marlin clubmates Trevor Callender and Reg Shaw respectively managed a 140 kg Hammerhead and a 48 kg Hapuka in between
: At its shallowest part the Penguins are around 12 metres the fishing can be good from any part of the reef about 8 kms directly east a unnamed formation rises from a depth of 180 metres to within 53 metres of the surface a pinnacle that can produce outstanding Hapuka fishing
: Last year 1866 anglers entered the pool the winners each received 622 dollars they were Stuart Wilson with a Blue Cod of 3 point 26 kgs being 7 pounds and Lester Randell with the biggest Snapper of 12 point 47 kgs just over 27 lbs
: There was only 15 mins of Berleying during which time 3 small Kingfish were landed and released then John Mead had solid runs of up to 23 metres and a 35 minute fight to land a 34 pound Snapper he was fishing in the outer Hauraki Gulf near the David Rocks an area known for big red
: Spirits Bay has started producing plenty of Kings in the 15 to 24 kgs Bracket and Tope can be taken off the beach at night while Kings in excess of 100 lbs 45 kgs and 7 feet or 2 metres long have been reported around Cape Reinga
: Great Barrier has been fishing extremely well with plenty of 9 kg plus snapper and good Kings around the 25 kg 55 pound mark the commercial fisherman have also taken Hammerheads and a Thresher Shark very close to the shore
: Besides Snapper other fish such as Trevally Tarakihi Gurnard John Dory and Hapuka rate highly amongst Bay of Plenty anglers Kingfish are highly sought as well and in late November Tom Hetherington took his 33 foot cat to the Penguin Shoal and ripped into nearly 30 Kingies up to 15 kgs in a single day
: The Meteorological Servive receives reports from Satelites Ships and Aircraft from about 150 Weather Stations all around New Zealand and others in Antarctica Australia and the Pacific the instruments in the Climate Station are checked daily between 9 and 10 am direct readings are taken of rainfall evaporation air grass and ground temps and windrun over the previous 24 hours
: The Ministry of Transport stopped 153 vehicles after the trotting meet at Ruakaka on Friday and on Saturday 282 vehicles were randomly stopped around the Whangarei district and 23 breathe screening tests were done 4 people were charged with drink driving offences
: The womens slalom water ski record holder Sarah Adams of Northland won the Open Womens Slalom in the Don McKay 3 event tournament at Kai Iwi Lakes at the weekend 2 NZ records were broken during competition with Suzanne Broadbent of Waikato bettering the record of 3720 points in the open womens event scoring 4080 points
: Patel a man the Kiwi selectors no longer want hit 182 not out in Aucklands first innings of 283 for 4 wickets declared he slammed 2 sixes and 29 fours while topping his previous best Shell Trophy innings of 174 he also finished with bowling figures of six for 102 in the match
: Set to score 205 off 43 overs Kamo was 139 for 9 at stumps during the last five overs the school fieldsmen clustered around the Kamo batsmen in an effort to pick up the catch that would have produced the victory for Whangarei Boys High
: Tim Caldwell was Onerahi Central hero when it held out to deny Marist an outright win he scored 37 of the teams 91 for 8 wickets Onerahi resumed at 19 for 4 in reply to Marists 244 and recovered well to total 179 thanks in the main to Chick Wilson who hit 42 and John Hepi who contributed 40
: Northland Cricket Association chairman Trevor Kelly topscored in the presidents grade his 81 helped Hora Hora beat Marist who collapsed for 54 in reply to Hora Horas 225 the only other game played in the grade saw City Centurions easily outscore Rovers
: When the Kiwis finished at 369 for 2 at stumps with Martin Crowe on 126 and Andrew Jones on 82 the pitch had realised 1042 runs in just 4 days of the first test between NZ and Sri Lanka and it showed little if any sign of deterioration at stumps
: Skipper Barry Cooper declared at the overnight score and yesterday morning Midlands aided by a fine 105 not out by Craig McGuire reached 176 for 7 to avoid the follow on and then declared with an unbroken third wicket stand of 80 in 41 minutes by Alex Tait 36 and Bert Horner 43 not out
: Galileo is now about 22 point 7 million miles from Earth Its speed in solar orbit is 82880 mph the spacecraft has flown nearly 736 million miles since it was launched last October and has an one point 6 billion miles to go before reaching Jupiter in Dec 1995
: Crowe was caught behind when he attempted to run the ball through gully on 299 he lived up to his potential with his first double test century and also broke the highest recorded individual score of 259 set by Glenn Turner against the West Indies in Georgetown back in 71
: When Crowe and fellow batsman Andrew Jones went to tea having equalled the 451 mark set by Bill Ponsford and Donald Bradman in 1934 at the Oval and Mudassar Nazar and Javed Miandad for Pakistan against India in Hyderabad in 82
: Jones was finally dismissed for 186 with the Kiwi total at 615 when he drove in the air to substitute fielder Ranjith Madurusinghe at cover off the bowling of Ranatunga he scored only 15 fours in his innings of 454 balls which lasted 561 mins
: Waipus Margaret Aston and Northlands Colleen Atchison led the way in the first of the womens golf trials at Sherwood Park last weekend Astons had rounds of 76 and 79 and also scored a matchplay win over Ann Butler of Kerikeri while Atchison returned 78 and 81 and toppled Rita Hicks
