Although overseas tourists are returning, New Zealand continues to be affected by the new coronavirus and abnormal weather.
In the midst of this, there is a growing movement for local people to come together and support facilities and stores that are in distress. This time, we will bring you news about such mutual help.
Protect the ski resort!
Tongariro National Park is located in the center of the North Island. At the center of the park is a volcano called Mount Ruapehu , and the ski resort that spreads across its slopes is known as a popular winter tourist spot.
However, due to a deterioration in business performance caused by the lockdown implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as bad weather, the ski resort management company, which has been in business for nearly 70 years, went into voluntary administration. Voluntary administration is a procedure taken in New Zealand and Australia toward corporate reorganization or bankruptcy.
At present, initial funding has been invested and the details of new season passes have been announced for the upcoming ski season, but it is still unclear how the resort will be run in the future.
In order to protect the ski resort, a plan has been floated to raise 6 to 10 million dollars (approximately 500 to 900 million yen) through crowdfunding, and shareholders and people with lifetime passes to the ski resort have begun making appeals.
The idea for this crowdfunding campaign to protect the ski resort was inspired by a success story from seven years ago, and the planning was carried out based on that.
With donations totalling approximately 200 million yen from 40,000 people and support of approximately 40 million yen from the government, the beach at the northern tip of the South Island, which had been owned by a corporation, was made public and successfully managed as part of a national park.
The number of tourists from overseas is expected to increase this year's ski season, so this is the time to hang in there. Local businesses and retailers are also looking forward to the revival of the ski resorts.
The movement to protect New Zealand's beautiful natural environment, where people can enjoy activities and sports, by local people is likely to continue to grow.
New Zealand's smallest bird
New Zealand's smallest bird, known as "Titipounamu" in Maori and "Rifleman" in English, has made the news after moving to a protected forest about a two-hour drive from Taranaki, a town on the west coast of the North Island.
The Titipounamu is a bird belonging to the order Passeriformes and family Parulidae, and has ancient roots, said to be a survivor from the Gondwana continent that is thought to have existed in the Southern Hemisphere long ago.
To protect the forest from harmful insects, the power of birds that eat them is essential. This relocation of Titipounamu was planned from 2021 not only to protect the birds themselves, but also to restore the forest to its previous healthy state.
The 60 Titipounamu birds that moved in this time weighed only 4.5g to 7g. A ceremony was held by the local people, and they were given a grand welcome (although they spoke quietly so as not to scare the birds).
It would be great if these birds, together with the other birds already living in the forest, could thrive while protecting the forest and increasing in numbers.
60 restaurant reservations canceled
A restaurant in Hawke's Bay, which was severely damaged by the cyclone, had to cancel reservations for 60 people.
This restaurant had been booked for a party on Saturday night, and we were planning to have it all to ourselves. However, when the time came, no one showed up.
So the restaurant posted a picture of the empty restaurant on Facebook and quickly announced an all-you-can-eat option for 4,000 yen per person, and many locals showed up.
This incident was also featured on national television news.
Even now, two months after the cyclone, the damage caused by the cyclone is still being felt. However, local people continue to help each other by cleaning up after the cyclone, offering their homes as evacuation shelters, and providing meals. This time, our family happened to be in trouble, and they responded to our request right away. I felt the bond between the local community.
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→ Community rallies to help restaurant after 60-person no-show
