8 August 1966: a NASA team doing work for the Apollo moon mission took the astronauts near Tuba City
where the terrain of the Navajo Reservation looks very much like the Lunar surface.
Along with all the trucks and large vehicles, there were 2 figures dressed in full lunar spacesuits.
Nearby a Navajo sheep herder and his son watched the strange creatures walk about, occasionally being tended by personnel.
NASA employees noticed and approached the two Navajos.  The old man didn't know English, so the son asked for him what the strange creatures were.
NASA people told them that they were just men getting ready to go to the moon.
The old man became very excited and asked if he could send a message to the moon with the astronauts.
NASA people thought this might be a great idea so they rustled up a tape recorder.
After the man recorded his message, they asked the son to translate.  His son refused.
Later, other Navajos were asked to translate; they just chuckled.  Finally, they paid someone to translate.
The old man had said: "Watch out for these guys, they come to take your land."

- members.iquest.net
 

Source: The Evening Post Thursday 3 August 2000 Photography by Woolf

Mt Victoria is in the centre right.  This is a view just about directly opposite that shown from Mt Vic.  The stadium is to the left.

Essentially the same scene in daylight - without the romance.  Source: wellington.govt.nz Wellington City Council

Admit it folks - isn't Wellington one of the prettiest cities you've ever seen?

Auckland, Wellington, Nicer to Live in than Paris

Auckland and Wellington are among the top 12 places in the world to live, according to an annual ranking of the world's cities by quality of living.  Mercer's annual Worldwide Quality of Living Survey, covering 215 cities, helps governments and multinational companies place employees on international assignments.  Each city is ranked based on 39 criteria, including political, social, economic and environmental factors, personal safety and health, education, transport and other public services.  Cities are compared to New York as the base city, which has an index score of 100.

Switzerland's Zurich was ranked the best city to live in, while Iraqi capital Baghdad was last on the list.  Auckland and Wellington both moved up the rankings this year.  Auckland went from 8th last year to 5th this year, on a score of 107.3 and Wellington moved up from 14th to 12th with a score of 105.8.  The moves were mainly due to strong internal stability relative to other cities.

How we compare to major cities:

1.    Zurich, Switzerland
2.    Geneva, Switzerland
3.    Vancouver, Canada
4.    Vienna, Austria
5.    Auckland, New Zealand
9.    Sydney, Australia
9.    Bern, Switzerland
12.  Wellington, New Zealand
16.  Berlin, Germany
17.  Melbourne, Australia
24.  Dublin, Ireland
27.  Honolulu, United States
28.  San Francisco, United States
33.  Paris, France
35.  Tokyo, Japan
39.  London, England
46.  New York, United States
215. Baghdad, Iraq

Source: stuff.co.nz 10 April 2006

A third of the top 9 are in Switzerland?

Personally, I would have rated Wellington as #1 and Auckland as #2 - but that's just me...

For satellite photos and pictures of Wellington from several different angles and for articles about earthquakes, history, business, the Ohariu Valley, statistics, fireworks, the national anthem, the kiwi icon and more click the "Up" button below to take you to the Index for this Wellington section.