It's called the Jesus pin, when that pin comes out, you see Jesus

A New Zealand mechanic has created a machine that can be used on land, on water and in the air. Rudy Heeman took the model of a hovercraft and created a floating machine that could also take to the skies.

The W.I.G. or "wing in ground effective vehicle" rides like a normal hovercraft but once it reaches a speed of 70 kilometres an hour, it becomes air-bourne.

It took Heeman 11 years to create this machine and over those years, he taught himself to laminate fibreglass, modify car engines and gain an understanding in basic aeronautics in order to drive the vehicle himself, according to media reports.

Some of the parts used to create his flying hovercraft are household items. "This is an old gas bottle of a barbecue," he said. The wings are removable -- a handy feature for transporting the W.I.G, but deadly if they are not secured properly.

"That's called the Jesus pin, when that pin comes out, you see Jesus," he says jokingly as he is attaching the wings before a flight.

Heeman is now trying to sell his "flying boat" on a website called trademe.co.nz and the current highest bid is 20,000 New Zealand Dollars (13,982 U.S. Dollars). He says the vehicle is an efficient way of transport and could be used for people like farmers.

"You can land on your paddocks and you wouldn't have to worry about opening or closing your gates, you just go over them," he told a Network Nine reporter. The flying hovercraft doesn't need a flying license, according to media reports, as New Zealand aviation and maritime authorities have agreed to classify the vehicle as a "marine craft".

Australia Tourism - Where the bloody hell are you?

This one is from the Government Tourist office

The one below.......a little more reality based from the locals.



And we don't want to leave the Kiwi's out......

Drunken Santa's run Amuck

As if we needed another reason to hate Santa Claus, he still hasn't owned up to his alcohol problem. I used to think the red nose was cute; now I see it as a sign of a deeper problem. STORY

Warm Beer to Cold Beer, in Seconds

New Zealand’s third Nobel Prize for Chemistry seems guaranteed after Kent Hodgson, a 22 year old student from Albany, New Zealand has revolutionized the way mankind will cool beer after inventing a gadget that can chill a can of warm beer in a matter of seconds. Since I can barely change the batteries in my remote control, I’ll let Kent explain:
"You have plastic cooling cells which are pressed down into the dock which houses the liquid carbon dioxide. The liquid CO2 expands and is pressurized into dry ice in the base of the cooling cells ... in a moment. You then pop it into your drink and then proceed from there as you normally would."

Don’t feel bad, I didn’t get it either. This is big news Down Under as this is the start of their summer season, and it seems that warm beer is a blight on their culture.

Damn Kiwi’s probably think they're pretty smart. Well up here, in Minnesota, we also have a device that can chill warm beer in seconds, we call it a snowbank.

No chubbies in New Zealand

Maybe if we start lobbying now, we could get this put in the next comprehensive immigration reform bill.

New Zealand immigration officials are keeping a U.K. wife from joining her husband "down under" because they say she is too fat, the Daily Mail reports.

The regulations were supposedly put into place for budget reasons. The country's health care system cannot afford to open its doors to overweight immigrants, a spokesman for New Zealand's Fight the Obesity Epidemic.

Now we know why Michael Moore never went to New Zealand for medical treatment in "Sicko."

Who in the world is entrepreneurial?

The top four - New Zealand, the U.S., Canada, and Australia - place relatively few hurdles in the path of business owners. In each nation it takes between two and five days to start a business and requires five or fewer steps to do so. Those nations impose relatively low marginal tax rates too.

Not that it's a big surprise.....but Belgium is not your smartest choice if you want to start a business, and comes in a lowly 23rd.

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