We don't do flags very well here in New Zealand. The one we have got still features the Union Jack, even though we have long been independent of Britain. And it looks so similar to the Australian flag that most people would be hard pressed to pick between the two in a line-up. They tried to get rid of our boring old flag a few months back, throwing open the design competition to everyone, resulting in such popular favourites as "Fire the Lazar"(sic), described by its desi

If you want to get from New Zealand to the the other side of the world, you have two main choices. You either fly for 12 hours (give or take) to Asia and, after a stopover, from there to Europe. Or you fly 12 hours to the West Coast of the USA and stop over there before getting on the plane for another slightly shorter flight (' only' 11 hours or so) to Europe. Which meant that, until a few years back, we were quite familiar with Los Angeles (or, at least, with Santa Moni