An unusual visitor

One of the latest visitors to New Zealand has had worldwide attention. Having arrived at Peka Peka Beach, near Wellington, it was hoped that the Emperor Penguin - immediately named Happy Feet by the public - would swim off again and back to his home Antartic waters.

After a few days he was seen eating sand - a poor substitute for ice - and the Department of Conservation arranged for him to be transported to Wellington Zoo, where he has undergone a number of operations to remove the sand and debris from his stomach. He is now recovering and back on a diet of fish and ice. Once back to health it is hoped he will be able to catch a ride in a ship to his native southern ocean.

Emperor penguins are the largest penguins, with adults standing over 1m tall. They were the stars of the film 'The March of the Penguins' and of course of 'Happy Feet'. They also hold the diving record of 450m and 11 minutes underwater.

Kiwigiftsonline have celebrated with a home page full of ideas for happy feet including our new addition of sheepskin baby slippers.

In response to requests from returning customers, we have also added a new category with the latest kiwigifts added to the website - a quick catch up for those who want to know what is new on the site.

Meanwhile, many thanks to DoC who do a great job in maintaining New Zealand's natural heritage.

Keep those feet happy......

Dione

Farewell Shrek the Sheep

At the particularly grand old age of 16 - nearly 17 - years, Shrek the Sheep died this week.

Surely one of the most famous sheep in the world, this merino was unique in so many ways. When he was found, he was a six year old merino 'woolly' who has missed several previous musters for shearing. That was not unusual. What was unusual was that the woman musterer who found and later caught him, up in the hills and caves of Bendigo Station, thought he was special enough to bring down. Most woollies are too woolblind to save. The rest is history, starting with a televised shearing session broadcast around the world.



John Perriam, his owner, had a great rapport with Shrek and their adventures are lengendary. His charity appearances for Cure Kids Charity, meeting the New Zealand Prime Minister, and a few years later, being flown to an iceberg to be shorn.

Shrek's story is now an integral part of the equally fascinating story of Bendigo Station, described in John Perriam's book, 'Dust to Gold'. It is written in an easy down-to-earth manner with wonderful photos by Stephen Jacqueiry. It makes a great kiwi gift - and royalties for the book go to Cure Kids.

Jo Seagar speed cooking

Some people missed this link. Here it is now. The fun of cooking

I am sure there are a few who enjoy watching the expert television cooks - Annabel Langbein, Nigella, Jo Seagar, Jaime Oliver etc. Even if  "mmmmm, it's perfect" is a bit tiresome when you know it probably won't be when you cook it.

Jo Seagar, who latest book is "It's Easier Than You Think", has a great sense of humour. Not everything goes perfectly....have a look

We now have T shirts on Kiwigiftsonline

Even Grannies and Aunts can give T shirts. Especially when Kiwigiftsonline will swap them for a different size if they are the wrong size.

T shirts - often those sold in New Zealand as 'New Zealand T Shirts' are made in China, Indonesian, Thailand, Madagascar and goodness knows where. Ours are made in New Zealand.

I sourcing our T shirts, I learnt a lot. Surely even a T shirts factory must, in some small way, help the New Zealand economy and employment better than using an overseas factory. But there is quite a lot more to it all. The few companies in New Zealand making T shirts are Survivors, and they are survivors because they make really good quality products and use the best material.

100% cotton from sustainable sources (like the one above), kids' T shirts in merino - soft thin and magnificent to wear. Or the best kept secret for winter warmth - thermadry. We are anticipating that Auntie may be buying for herself, not just her relations. More T shirts will be coming online in the next few months.

Keep looking
Dione
Kiwigiftsonline.co.nz

Is the Royal Wedding killing bees in New Zealand?

NZ Herald reported yesterday that Kate Middleton may be using the latest in beauty therapy, a Bee Venom Mask. Touted as an alternative to botox, the cream has supposedly been used by Camilla, and celebrities such as Dannii Minogue and Michelle Pfeiffer. The beauty therapist whose cream they use sources the bee venom from organic hives in New Zealand. To collect the venom, a pane of glass is placed alongside the hive and an electrical curent encourages the bees to sting the glass. The venom is then diluted to just 1 per cent of the cream, but the recipient still feels a tingling, stinging sensation which stimulates the production of collagen and elastin.

But wait! Don't bees die after they sting? This is well known.

It's OK. Relax. Nowadays the bees who contribute their venom by stinging the pane of glass do not die. In fact it is important that they don't as it can affect the quality of the venom. They only die if they lose their 'stinger' which is what happens when they sting, say, a person. But this doesn't happen when they sting the glass.

So the royal guests, if not Kate herself, can rest assured the cream is OK to use. We don't list it on Kiwigiftsonline, but maybe we should. A 50ml jar evidently costs over $100.

Enjoy the Royal Wedding.

Dione

Safe online shopping

There was an article in the NZ Herlad this morning about how popular internet shopping is becoming. Customers tend to shop around before they visit the shops, and often return empty handed because they know they can get what they want online.

One of the biggest discentives, particularly with the older generation, is giving your credit card number over the interest. How many hackers will be able to access your card?

Safety precautions to prevent this are now pretty solid. For instance, at Kiwigiftsonline, we cannot ever get access to a customer's credit card number. This part is all done by another specialist company linked to the Bank. So in fact this is safer than handing over your credit card in a shop. One word of warning however - make sure that when you type in your credit card online, the website address has changed from 'http' to 'https'. The 's' shows the site is safe, and the address normally changes when you go the checkout.

Happy online shopping

Dione

Kiwigiftsonline.co.nz