Opinion

Some of the most beautiful places imaginable are to be found in New Zealand's 14 national parks. Mountains, diverse landscapes and places of interest extend from the bush and hills of Te Urewera through the golden sands of Abel Tasman and to the fiords and wilderness of Fiordland.

So it's goodbye Mr Smile and Wave, and hello Mr Grumpy. Or so the Prime Minister's critics would have you believe.

"I have endeavoured, more than once, to understand why the world is so slow to realise the amazing potentialities of flight: and I have come to the conclusion that we are deadened to the significance of new things by the wonders which we have already been called upon to recognise."