symondrake » New Zealand

New Zealand, the uttermost?

Symon — Fri, 21 May 2010 22:51:56 +0000

All my life I’ve heard that New Zealand is the farther-most country from Israel. This is rather exciting in the light of scriptures like:

Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. (Psalm 2:8)

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

Recently however I’ve been hearing an interesting update on the fact: Not only is New Zealand the ‘uttermost part of the earth’ concerning Israel, but that if one would dig a hole in Jerusalem, bore through the center of the earth, and keep digging, that they would come out almost in Whangarei, Northland, New Zealand. Exciting stuff to say the least, especially if you live there and are aware of the awesome revival prophecies regarding NZ’s North.

Perhaps I’m getting a bit too cynical in my old age (and have received one too many well meaning but absurd viral emails), but I figured there must be some tool available out there that could prove or disprove this fact once and for all.

Antipodr (“Find the other side of the world!”)

It just so happens that the exact opposite of Jerusalem is about the middle of the South Pacific Ocean (see here).

The exact opposite of Whangarei, New Zealand happens to be the town of Tangier, Morocco (see here).

Mythbusted.

Hidden tunnels under Albert Park

Symon — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 23:11:28 +0000

I have always been fascinated by World War 2 history and especially old gun emplacements, tunnels and stuff. A dream I have is to visit France and explore the Axis fortifications along the coast (including the sub-pens). In future posts I will be writing about some of New Zealand’s historic WW2 sites, but first I want to write about the Holy Grail of such sites… Albert Park.

Albert Park is a beautiful and serene park situated in the centre of downtown Auckland, a reprieve from busy city life and frequented by many suit-and-tie guys and students on their lunch-breaks each day.

Albert Park was originally the site of the Albert Barracks, one of Auckland’s early European military fortifications, which was converted into a public park in the 1880s. But it is not Albert Park itself that exudes intrigue… but what lies beneath.What most people don’t know is that underneath Albert Park is over 3.5 kilometres of man-made tunnels built during the war to shelter over 20,000 people in the event of an air-raid. The tunnels consist of a network of shelters, sanitation facilities and first aid posts, all ventilated by air shafts, with a total of nine entrances. Fortunately, the expected air raids did not eventuate, but with the tunnels unused, by the end of 1943 the timber supports were beginning to fail. By February 1945, the tunnels were filled in with unfired clay bricks, the entrances buried and the air shafts and other shafts in-filled.

And so the tunnels remain to this day…

This, my friends is the stuff adventure is made of. I don’t know about you, but the Indiana-Jones-alter-ego in me screams out to throw caution to the wind… to look for an entrance, rediscover long-forgotten places and flee from giant boulders (okay perhaps not flee from giant boulders ). As this site shows, there have been exposed entrances in recent years and intrepid (or insane depending on how you look at it) explorers have ventured inside.

What I am dying to know is:

Are they still accessible today? (One article written in march 2009 said they still are.)
Will my wife let me? (Happy wife happy life.)
If the answer to the above questions is “Yes”, who’s keen for a roadtrip to Albert Park (and beneath)?

Further Albert Park tunnel info: to whet your adventurer’s appetite:

Large image of the Tunnel Plans
Google earth image of Albert Park with with the tunnel system superimposed over top.
Wikipedia’s Albert Park Tunnels entry
The best Albert Park tunnel site in existence.

Please leave a comment if you have any further information, know of exposed entrances… think I’m crazy, etc.

The Mair Park Bigfoot pays off

Symon — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 04:01:00 +0000

Many moons ago while surfing Amazon’s Listmanias I came across an author by the name of Jeremy Robinson. To cut a long story short, he was running a viral video contest to promote his new book, Pulse. I bribed my good buddy Lesmondj into spending a Saturday afternoon in the bush and what eventuated was two versions of the now infamous Bigfoot attack video (over 10,000 hits now on Metacafe and YouTube).

We won by a landslide, the closest (and only) opponent trailing by 9000ish hits (but who’s counting) and I was delighted to recieve the promised books last week.

A massive THANKYOU to Jeremy Robinson for the very generous prize (and for forking out mega moolah for the postage). Please check out his site here.

And for all those dying to know how the movie magic was created, here is some Bigfoot Attack Footage trivia…

1. No, the Bigfoot wasn’t real. There was more than one concerned person thinking the footage was authentic. Lesmondj and I must have the mean acting skills (and girls dig guys who have skills…).

2. The entire attack scene was done on the first take… with an imagined Bigfoot, yes imagined, not real.

3. Jon Dylan used his computer hacking skills to overlay the Bigfoot sound effects (purchased from Itunes for $1.79).

4. Apparently, the Bigfoot growls sound identical to a real Bigfoot, as one reader commented (as she deals with them on a daily basis – seriously).

5. The Mair Park Ghost legend is mostly true.

6. On the short version, Yes, the blood was real… from my nose. Don’t ask.

7. The rotting bone at the cave’s entrance (tedious version) was stolen from my dog.

8. Lesmondj spent the majority of the attack scene voluntarily lying in a puddle of water. The mark of a true friend.

9. There was no script.

View the short (and exhilirating) version below:

Footage of Bigfoot Attack? – Click here for more blooper videos

View the long (but informative) version below:

Mair Park Ghost Footage

Symon — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 06:52:00 +0000

About this time last year, I wrote of the time when my parents had a close encounter with the urban legend known as ‘The Mair Park Ghost. The original post created quite a stir, and you can read the subsequent shenanigans here:

The Mair Park Ghost

Haunted houses, ghosts and demons

Ghost mystery solved… or is it?

Symon Drake… Ghostbuster (heh)

Revenge of the Mair Park Ghost

On Saturday, my good buddy Lesmond and I decided to make a small video diary/doco about the ghost legend. What ensued was far from expected, or rehearsed. Disturbing footage follows.

Revenge of the Weta!

Symon — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 06:46:00 +0000

New Zealand Giant Weta

A year ago I confessed to blogosphere that I was scared of spiders. Over the space of three months, I willed myself to tolerate them, and now actually like them in a warped kind of way. You can read my journey from considering spiders eight legged freaks, to eight legged furry friends here, here, and here.

Confession time again… I’m not fond of Wetas either.

When I was five, a lone Weta terrorized my primary school. I, being the bravest of them all, climbed up the tree where it was scaring us witless with its pure horror and crushed it with a rock. I faced my fears, saved the day, and then faced Weta pulp. Problem was I felt ashamed for what I’d done and my fear for Wetas only grew.

Last night a discovered a Weta on my back doorstep (perhaps a descendant of the one I murdered seeking vengeance?). As I am ‘not of those who shrink back’ I picked it up, got Paisleyjade to get photo proof and have now begun a new journey… overcoming my fear of Wetas.

The plan:

1. Make a Weta Motel
2. Pray hard that I don’t get bitten by Wetas
3. Handle Wetas
4. ~~Kiss a Weta~~
5. Overcome fear of Wetas

Dad, will you join me?

My not-so-giant New Zealand Tree Weta

Flipper… shark repeller!

Symon — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 06:47:00 +0000

Q: What do you get when you cross Flipper with Jaws?
A: A fish that will bite you in half then save you from drowning.

But seriously folks, as a follow up to my Surfing With Jaws story, I would like to retell the events which happened at a local beach (about 45 minute’s drive from here) in 2004.

Four people were doing lifeguard training about 100 metres off Ocean Beach, Whangarei when they were menaced by a 3 metre great white. Frightening stuff indeed (I wonder if it was the same shark that menaced me?

Incredibly, a pod of dolphins came to their rescue and surrounded them until they could get to safety. The dolphins ‘herded’ the swimmers to shore, continuously swimming tight circles around them and slapping the water with their tails to scare the predator away, which at times was only a couple of metres from them. The ordeal lasted a lenghty 40 minutes and the group were in no doubt that the dolphins were trying to protect them.

It sounds almost too good to be true doesn’t? Lovable Flipper and his friends protecting man from certain death by Jaws… At the time it made global headlines. What is more startling, is that it isn’t the only time this senario has played out.

In November 2007, Surfer Todd Endris was badly mauled (sharks maul?), by a 12-15 foot shark and was in desperate need of a miracle. I wonder if he prayed, because miraculously a pod of dolphins surrounded him and safely got him to shore, where he was air-lifted to hospital (read the story here).

I have always had a bad attitude towards dolphins. Mainly due to the fact that so many people love them more than unborn children. I guess it’s not the dolphins fault that mankind is so badly misguided.

So in conclusion, I say hooray for Flipper… shark repeller!

Surfing with jaws

Symon — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 07:57:00 +0000

It was the summer of 99… oooo yeah (in my best Bryan Adams voice). Me and my good buddy Les were surfing at Elliots’ beach, Far North, New Zealand. It was a brilliant summer’s day, the waves were small but clean, and I was out the back by myself waiting for the next set (Les was grovelling further in due to his board being too short).

While waiting for the next set I saw a huge form cruise slowly past me, about 10′ away and about 4′ from the water’s surface. It took a couple of seconds for my mind to register what it was… a huge shark, longer than my 9′ longboard (10′-12′ would not be an exaggeration). For a brief moment I was in awe of the creature, until I realised that it looked remarkably like a Great White, and that my legs were in very close proximity to it’s jaws.

Anyone else ever had a terror-rush? It’s something you never forget.

I prayed silently while trying to gently catch a wave in using only my fingers to paddle with. Somehow, I managed to ride in (an angel must have pushed my board . I came up beside Les, who was in wastedeep water, and pointed to the water out yonder. We both saw the shark’s silouette in the oncoming wave… it was a truly awesome sight, albiet for only seconds. Wonder had overtaken fear.

Needless to say, we didn’t go surfing again… that is, at least for a couple of hours.

I’ve read recently that it is not the shark you do see that is dangerous. It is the shark that you don’t see that is dangerous, as sharks use the element of surprise and attack their intended morsel unseen from underneath. So, next time you are out surfing or swimming, remember… if you don’t see a shark, be afraid… be very afraid.