WEBVTT - Why Does New Zealand Have an Official Wizard? 0:00:03.279 --> 0:00:06.240 Welcome to Part Time Genius, the production of iHeartRadio. 0:00:11.960 --> 0:00:13.319 Guess what's that Mango? 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:16.800 So you're never gonna believe this, but I finally found 0:00:16.800 --> 0:00:20.320 a new Zealand bird that's even more endearing than the Kiwi. 0:00:22.360 --> 0:00:24.439 I actually feel weird saying this, but i know I 0:00:24.520 --> 0:00:26.960 need to congratulate you, because I'm pretty sure this has 0:00:26.960 --> 0:00:28.720 been a dream of yours for a while now. So 0:00:28.720 --> 0:00:30.160 so congratulating. 0:00:29.600 --> 0:00:32.440 Yeah, thank you. I mean Sundays, I doubted it was 0:00:32.479 --> 0:00:35.360 even possible, But this week I read about these big 0:00:35.360 --> 0:00:38.720 green parrots that live there called Chaos, and they are 0:00:38.840 --> 0:00:42.239 so mischievous and so clever that I just had to 0:00:42.280 --> 0:00:44.600 give them the top spot because I know it's a 0:00:44.640 --> 0:00:47.599 controversial pick, but I like to keep things spicy. 0:00:47.920 --> 0:00:49.920 Wait, you're saying this is actually controversial. 0:00:50.120 --> 0:00:53.760 Yeah, So i'mlike Kiwi's kaas aren't universally adored. They are 0:00:53.840 --> 0:00:56.440 kind of these one and a half foot tall mischief makers, 0:00:56.640 --> 0:00:59.840 and they will steal laces from boots or strip the 0:01:00.040 --> 0:01:03.600 rubber off your windshield wipers. But the wildest prank I've 0:01:03.600 --> 0:01:06.240 heard is that kias actually dragged traffic cones into the 0:01:06.280 --> 0:01:09.200 middle of the road and leave them there and some 0:01:09.280 --> 0:01:12.600 researchers believe this is an intentional act, like it's a 0:01:12.680 --> 0:01:15.160 crafty way to get drivers to slow down enough that 0:01:15.200 --> 0:01:16.520 the parrots can beg for food. 0:01:16.920 --> 0:01:18.680 Wow, I mean that is kind of a nee trick. 0:01:18.760 --> 0:01:20.920 It also does sound a little bit dangerous. I wonder 0:01:20.920 --> 0:01:21.840 how many of these get hit. 0:01:22.600 --> 0:01:24.640 Yeah, I mean it's become a real problem. But the 0:01:24.680 --> 0:01:26.959 good news is that there's this conservation team in New 0:01:27.040 --> 0:01:29.800 Zealand that's been testing this ingenious way to keep the 0:01:29.880 --> 0:01:33.600 kaas distracted. They've installed all these little parrot gyms by 0:01:33.640 --> 0:01:36.600 the roadside, and so it kind of looks like a 0:01:36.640 --> 0:01:40.640 miniature jungle gym with swings and spinning toys and little ladders. 0:01:40.680 --> 0:01:42.920 I guess I kind of feel like everything you've said 0:01:42.920 --> 0:01:45.360 to this point may not actually be true, but I'm 0:01:45.360 --> 0:01:48.080 gonna go with it. So are these you call them gyms? 0:01:48.160 --> 0:01:49.720 Are these gyms actually helping? 0:01:50.680 --> 0:01:53.440 Yeah? They are so far fewer birds are messing with 0:01:53.480 --> 0:01:55.920 traffic cones and the roads are a whole lot safer. 0:01:55.960 --> 0:01:58.520 But you know, these parrot gyms aren't the only out 0:01:58.520 --> 0:02:00.840 of the box solution that NEWSS come up with over 0:02:00.840 --> 0:02:04.480 the past few years. From state approved wizards to car 0:02:04.600 --> 0:02:08.160 driving dogs. The country has plenty of eccentricities to go around, 0:02:08.240 --> 0:02:10.280 so for today's show, I thought we could dive into 0:02:10.320 --> 0:02:28.160 some of that. 0:02:33.000 --> 0:02:35.520 Hey, their podcast listeners, Welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm 0:02:35.560 --> 0:02:37.720 Will Pearson and is always I'm joined by my good 0:02:37.720 --> 0:02:40.080 friend mangesh hot Ticketter on the other side of the 0:02:40.120 --> 0:02:43.399 soundproof glass, just sipping his way through what he claims 0:02:43.919 --> 0:02:47.040 is a hokey pokey milkshake. That's what That's what he says. 0:02:47.080 --> 0:02:49.440 At least that is our friend and producer loll So. 0:02:49.520 --> 0:02:51.480 I don't know what a hokey pokey milkshake is. 0:02:51.720 --> 0:02:53.880 You dip one finger in, you dip one finger out, 0:02:54.919 --> 0:02:58.320 I guess. So anytime anyone says hokey pokey, it reminds 0:02:58.360 --> 0:02:59.919 me of that shirt we made at Metal Floss. 0:03:01.080 --> 0:03:02.600 I was trying to remember it that it said hokey 0:03:02.639 --> 0:03:04.000 pokey anonymous. Is that right? 0:03:04.080 --> 0:03:07.400 Yeah? And the tagline was a place to turn yourself around, 0:03:07.480 --> 0:03:10.320 which I kind of loved. I actually saw someone in 0:03:10.320 --> 0:03:13.160 that shirt this year, which which amazs me, that's awesome. 0:03:13.560 --> 0:03:15.720 Let's keep the focus on loll here the way he 0:03:15.840 --> 0:03:19.440 likes it. Well, what exactly is a hokey poke milkshake? 0:03:19.520 --> 0:03:21.160 Yeah, so I've pulled it up here. 0:03:21.200 --> 0:03:24.919 So hokey pokey is I guess what we'd call honeycomb toffee. 0:03:24.960 --> 0:03:27.880 You know, we always call things honeycomb toffee. But it's 0:03:27.919 --> 0:03:31.080 like this light, crunchy candy made from brown sugar and 0:03:31.280 --> 0:03:34.520 corn syrup. And apparently everyone in New Zealand fell in 0:03:34.560 --> 0:03:37.000 love with the flavor way back in the nineteen forties 0:03:37.320 --> 0:03:40.360 and they have been obsessed with it ever since, especially 0:03:40.440 --> 0:03:42.800 when it takes the form of milkshake. 0:03:42.880 --> 0:03:44.920 So now I see why he just seems so happy 0:03:44.960 --> 0:03:45.360 over there. 0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:47.680 I mean, it's a great nickname. I also really like 0:03:47.720 --> 0:03:50.520 the cup he's drinking it from. I wish listeners could 0:03:50.560 --> 0:03:52.600 see it. It's a white cup with a red and 0:03:52.680 --> 0:03:55.800 blue cartoon giraffe on the side, and in big red 0:03:55.840 --> 0:03:58.920 letters it says the longest drink in town. I mean, 0:03:59.080 --> 0:04:01.400 if you're going to tell how big your beverages, it 0:04:01.440 --> 0:04:03.520 feels so much cooler than like a big goal. 0:04:03.640 --> 0:04:05.400 Yeah, A long drink. Yeah. 0:04:05.480 --> 0:04:08.480 I actually I looked this up too, and the longest 0:04:08.560 --> 0:04:11.480 drink in the world cup is actually pretty iconic. So 0:04:11.520 --> 0:04:14.480 this design debuted in the nineteen sixties and for the 0:04:14.520 --> 0:04:17.560 next several decades it was featured on just about every 0:04:17.600 --> 0:04:19.880 paper milkshake cup in the country. 0:04:20.120 --> 0:04:20.599 Oh wow. 0:04:20.680 --> 0:04:23.839 It became synonymous with summertime in New Zealand, and thanks 0:04:23.920 --> 0:04:27.720 in large part to that widespread nostalgia, the longest drink 0:04:27.760 --> 0:04:30.160 in the world is still served up at New Zealand 0:04:30.200 --> 0:04:33.479 ice cream parlors today. Also, just because I kind of 0:04:33.520 --> 0:04:35.520 fell in love with the lingo this week, I have 0:04:35.560 --> 0:04:37.960 to mention that if you're inspired to bring ice cream 0:04:38.120 --> 0:04:41.159 or cold milk to work, just like Loulda today, a 0:04:41.240 --> 0:04:43.880 cooler in New Zealand is called a chili bin. 0:04:44.279 --> 0:04:44.960 I kind of like that. 0:04:46.640 --> 0:04:49.760 I like that. So where do you want to start today? 0:04:49.800 --> 0:04:53.080 All right, well, how about we start with the country's name. Like, 0:04:53.120 --> 0:04:55.920 this is something that's always confused me, because if the 0:04:55.960 --> 0:04:58.800 country is New Zealand, that kind of implies that there 0:04:58.880 --> 0:05:02.240 is an old Zealand out there, right, so maybe just 0:05:02.400 --> 0:05:03.240 or just Zealand. 0:05:03.279 --> 0:05:04.640 I guess I was curious about this. 0:05:05.000 --> 0:05:07.279 I guess I hadn't really thought about that, Like, is 0:05:07.279 --> 0:05:10.360 there a Zealand in Europe or somewhere. 0:05:10.000 --> 0:05:11.159 There actually is? 0:05:11.279 --> 0:05:13.480 The original Zealand is all the way over in the 0:05:13.520 --> 0:05:16.719 far west of the Netherlands. And just like with the 0:05:16.800 --> 0:05:19.640 names of early American cities and states. It goes back 0:05:19.680 --> 0:05:23.640 to the era of European exploration, and in New Zealand's case, 0:05:23.680 --> 0:05:26.960 it goes back to a Dutch explorer named Abel Tasman, 0:05:27.320 --> 0:05:31.520 the namesake of Tasmania. So in sixteen forty two, Tasman 0:05:31.600 --> 0:05:34.200 was off exploring the southern Pacific Ocean. This was on 0:05:34.240 --> 0:05:37.080 behalf of the Dutch East India Company, and it was 0:05:37.160 --> 0:05:39.960 on that voyage that he stumbled upon the territories that 0:05:40.000 --> 0:05:43.960 we now know as Tonga, Fiji and New Zealand. So 0:05:44.040 --> 0:05:47.240 when Tasman got home, he told his fellow navigators what 0:05:47.320 --> 0:05:49.839 he'd found, and pretty soon the islands were added to 0:05:49.880 --> 0:05:52.800 the charts of their day. So as for the name, 0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:56.560 Dutch map makers were already calling Australia New Holland at 0:05:56.560 --> 0:05:58.720 the time, so they just decided to keep this convention 0:05:58.839 --> 0:06:03.279 going and name Tasman's territory New Zealand, after a coastal 0:06:03.320 --> 0:06:07.080 province in the southwest region of the Netherlands. So British 0:06:07.080 --> 0:06:10.000 colonists later settled on the island about one hundred years later, 0:06:10.400 --> 0:06:12.719 but by then the Dutch name was so established that 0:06:12.760 --> 0:06:15.520 they just decided to keep it and just anglicize the 0:06:15.560 --> 0:06:16.160 spelling of it. 0:06:16.320 --> 0:06:18.560 Do we know why the Dutch named it Zealand in 0:06:18.560 --> 0:06:20.599 the first place, Like, was there something about New Zealand 0:06:20.640 --> 0:06:22.440 that reminded them of this old Zealand? 0:06:22.520 --> 0:06:24.159 Yeah, I guess it was the geography. 0:06:24.240 --> 0:06:26.560 I mean, apparently the province and the Netherlands is made 0:06:26.600 --> 0:06:29.400 up of a bunch of little islands and peninsulas with 0:06:29.520 --> 0:06:32.520 rivers crossing through them. And because of that that yet 0:06:32.760 --> 0:06:34.440 it really is I've actually never been Have you ever 0:06:34.520 --> 0:06:35.040 been there before? 0:06:35.120 --> 0:06:36.479 The New Zealand? Oh I haven't. 0:06:36.520 --> 0:06:39.119 I haven't either, And so because of that, the Dutch 0:06:39.160 --> 0:06:43.720 called the region Zealand, which translates as Sealand. So it's 0:06:43.760 --> 0:06:45.479 maybe not the most creative name in the world, but 0:06:45.520 --> 0:06:47.200 certainly a fitting one for the area. 0:06:47.279 --> 0:06:50.200 Well, since you brought up geography and Matt Makers, I 0:06:50.240 --> 0:06:52.039 think it's time we addressed the fact that a lot 0:06:52.040 --> 0:06:55.360 of modern maps don't include New Zealand and the country 0:06:55.400 --> 0:06:58.239 is just straight up missing, with nothing more than ocean 0:06:58.279 --> 0:07:00.960 where it's cluster of six hundred plus US island should be. 0:07:01.240 --> 0:07:03.000 Actually, I had heard about this. I mean, this is 0:07:03.000 --> 0:07:04.960 a pretty widespread era though, right it is. 0:07:05.080 --> 0:07:08.599 Yeah, there's actually an entire maps without New Zealand subreddit, 0:07:08.720 --> 0:07:12.120 where users have cataloged hundreds of examples of places that 0:07:12.240 --> 0:07:17.720 use bad maps, including video games, magazines, textbooks, hotels, restaurants, ikea. 0:07:17.760 --> 0:07:22.520 Even for instance, did you know that giant rotating globe 0:07:22.520 --> 0:07:25.800 that sits in front of Universal Studios that is missing 0:07:25.840 --> 0:07:29.960 New ze Also the map on the risk board missing 0:07:30.000 --> 0:07:32.680 New Zealand. There are even some international airports that have 0:07:32.760 --> 0:07:35.680 maps without New Zealand hung in their terminals, even though 0:07:35.680 --> 0:07:37.480 they offer flights straight to New Zealand. 0:07:37.600 --> 0:07:39.880 Wow, I mean the country that, according to their maps 0:07:39.960 --> 0:07:43.040 doesn't exist. It gets to a point where people just 0:07:43.080 --> 0:07:44.880 feel like they should just keep going with it just 0:07:44.920 --> 0:07:46.360 to be jerks about it. 0:07:46.520 --> 0:07:49.200 Yeah, and I'm sure it's some sort of existential problem 0:07:49.280 --> 0:07:53.320 for New Zealanders, but it's pretty funny how far this goes. 0:07:53.360 --> 0:07:54.920 So Like, there's a World map in front of the 0:07:55.000 --> 0:07:58.280 United Nations office in Geneva, and apparently New Zealand isn't 0:07:58.320 --> 0:08:01.040 on that, despite the country being a found member. And 0:08:01.120 --> 0:08:04.239 if all that wasn't bad enough, New Zealand actually uses 0:08:04.320 --> 0:08:07.320 these maps themselves. Gabe pointed me to this, but it's 0:08:07.360 --> 0:08:09.680 on their four h four error page for its official 0:08:09.720 --> 0:08:12.280 government website and it shows a world map that doesn't 0:08:12.280 --> 0:08:14.680 include its own country, which is intentional. 0:08:14.840 --> 0:08:16.960 Actually, I just pulled this up and it's pretty funny. 0:08:16.960 --> 0:08:20.000 It has this four or four map and says something 0:08:20.120 --> 0:08:22.360 is missing, and you know, it's cute that they've got 0:08:22.360 --> 0:08:24.400 this sense of humor about it. But why does this 0:08:24.440 --> 0:08:27.360 phenomenon of cutting New Zealand off maps keep happening? 0:08:27.360 --> 0:08:29.640 I mean, there are definitely smaller places in the world. 0:08:29.840 --> 0:08:32.800 Yeah, I mean it's mostly because of that Mercator projection, 0:08:33.120 --> 0:08:35.720 which is the one that most world maps are based on, 0:08:36.000 --> 0:08:38.360 and as you might expect, it has a serious old 0:08:38.360 --> 0:08:41.600 World bias. This map places Europe in the dead center 0:08:41.760 --> 0:08:44.360 often while poor New Zealand is shoved way down in 0:08:44.360 --> 0:08:47.079 the bottom right hand corner. And the result is it's 0:08:47.120 --> 0:08:49.800 kind of an awkward placement and it's easy to crop, 0:08:50.000 --> 0:08:52.360 and if a designer isn't careful, they might try to 0:08:52.400 --> 0:08:54.240 turn some of the Pacific Ocean from the image and 0:08:54.280 --> 0:08:56.640 wind up blopping off an entire country in the process. 0:08:57.240 --> 0:08:59.319 But you know, judging by the number of places that 0:08:59.720 --> 0:09:02.600 these have turned up, it's apparently something that happens all 0:09:02.640 --> 0:09:04.480 the time. But New Zealand just kind of take it 0:09:04.480 --> 0:09:08.000 in stride. Actually, there's this Kiwi comedian ree Starby, and 0:09:08.160 --> 0:09:10.480 this is how he puts it, quote, we are quite 0:09:10.520 --> 0:09:13.080 a fiddly looking shaped country, a bit like a half 0:09:13.120 --> 0:09:16.000 eaten lamb chop. Perhaps people are just leaving us off, 0:09:16.040 --> 0:09:17.000 thinking we're a mistake. 0:09:17.720 --> 0:09:18.720 That's such a great line. 0:09:19.120 --> 0:09:21.480 Yeah, it's funny what you said about European bias, because 0:09:21.880 --> 0:09:24.080 I guess you could use a projection of a Mercader 0:09:24.120 --> 0:09:27.000 map that places New Zealand at the center and it 0:09:27.040 --> 0:09:28.920 wouldn't be any more inaccurate. 0:09:29.520 --> 0:09:31.480 That's true, and in fact, many maps in New Zealand 0:09:31.480 --> 0:09:34.480 classrooms actually do that. They place Middle Earth in the 0:09:34.520 --> 0:09:35.720 actual middle of the Earth. 0:09:35.840 --> 0:09:37.600 I mean, it's hard to argue with the logic on 0:09:37.600 --> 0:09:39.800 that one. But well, here's another thing I read this 0:09:39.840 --> 0:09:42.040 week and wanted to talk about. So this was in 0:09:42.040 --> 0:09:46.959 twenty sixteen, New Zealand spent over seventeen million US dollars 0:09:47.520 --> 0:09:51.320 on a contest to redesign its national flag, and then 0:09:51.320 --> 0:09:54.360 the country voted to just keep the flag they already had. 0:09:54.440 --> 0:09:56.360 I guess it turned out to be not such a 0:09:56.360 --> 0:10:00.880 bad flag, So that seventeen million dollars it's crazy. 0:10:00.960 --> 0:10:02.640 I know, it kind of makes me want to see 0:10:02.640 --> 0:10:04.679 the other designs, Like, do you know how bad they were? 0:10:04.840 --> 0:10:05.480 So well? 0:10:05.520 --> 0:10:07.800 I mean, the contest was open to the public and 0:10:07.840 --> 0:10:12.000 over ten thousand people submitted designs, many of which were 0:10:12.040 --> 0:10:14.920 actually pretty elegant and well designed. I mean, there's some 0:10:14.960 --> 0:10:17.240 really pretty ones on there, but yeah, there were also 0:10:17.280 --> 0:10:20.280 some really horrible ones. One of my favorites is this 0:10:20.400 --> 0:10:23.400 blue and red one here. It's got this very cruelly 0:10:23.559 --> 0:10:27.040 drawn sheep on the blue half because New Zealand has 0:10:27.080 --> 0:10:29.400 a lot of those, obviously, and then on the red 0:10:29.440 --> 0:10:32.400 half there's an equally crudely drawn ice cream cone. 0:10:32.440 --> 0:10:34.520 So just you know two things they like to think about. 0:10:36.040 --> 0:10:38.440 I mean, I bet I can guess what flavor that is. 0:10:38.640 --> 0:10:41.959 Oh, I know you can. It's rum raisin. No, I'm kidding. 0:10:42.000 --> 0:10:45.480 It's hokey pokey, of course. And the artist even included 0:10:45.600 --> 0:10:48.560 little flex of the candy in there, drawing to make 0:10:48.640 --> 0:10:50.040 that as clear as possible. 0:10:50.160 --> 0:10:52.000 Can you imagine this about the cand the new flag, Like, 0:10:52.040 --> 0:10:53.959 and they cleaned up the design, it'd be the most 0:10:53.960 --> 0:10:55.200 beloved flag in the world. 0:10:55.320 --> 0:10:56.319 I think you know it does. 0:10:56.360 --> 0:10:58.280 I mean, it feels like because they're able to sort 0:10:58.320 --> 0:11:00.079 of laugh at their situation, they might have gone on 0:11:00.200 --> 0:11:02.319 with something like that, but it was actually another one 0:11:02.360 --> 0:11:05.200 that has a black flag with a silver fern, which 0:11:05.240 --> 0:11:08.200 is one of the country's national symbols, which is elegant enough, 0:11:08.280 --> 0:11:11.280 but the real highlight is it's got this Kiwi bird 0:11:11.360 --> 0:11:14.400 on the other side and it's blasting this green laser 0:11:14.440 --> 0:11:17.920 beam from its eyes. So it's probably not the most 0:11:18.000 --> 0:11:20.800 scientifically accurate flag in the world, but you know, it's 0:11:20.840 --> 0:11:21.560 pretty interesting. 0:11:22.760 --> 0:11:25.840 It might be the most badass, though, I might. I 0:11:25.840 --> 0:11:28.360 can see why New Zealand kind of decide to stick 0:11:28.400 --> 0:11:30.960 with their old flag. Why was there like such a 0:11:30.960 --> 0:11:32.360 push to change it in the first place. 0:11:32.640 --> 0:11:34.640 Well, I don't know how familiar you are with the 0:11:34.679 --> 0:11:36.960 real New Zealand flag very. 0:11:36.880 --> 0:11:39.000 I said a lot of carbon San Diego as a kid. 0:11:39.080 --> 0:11:41.680 That's right, well as a refresher for anybody who's listening. 0:11:41.800 --> 0:11:44.840 It's basically a blue flag with a Union Jack symbol 0:11:44.920 --> 0:11:48.280 in the top left hand corner and four red stars 0:11:48.360 --> 0:11:52.000 on the body representing the Southern Cross constellation. So the 0:11:52.040 --> 0:11:55.040 original design is one hundred years old or so, and 0:11:55.120 --> 0:11:57.960 for a long time now people have debated whether it 0:11:58.040 --> 0:12:00.520 was appropriate to have a British symbol on the New 0:12:00.600 --> 0:12:03.400 Zealand flag, you know, since it's a sovereign country but 0:12:03.480 --> 0:12:06.160 technically still part of the British Commonwealth. 0:12:06.240 --> 0:12:08.079 So, I mean, the other thing that's always struck me 0:12:08.280 --> 0:12:11.240 as odd is like how close the flag actually looks 0:12:11.280 --> 0:12:12.240 to Australia's flag. 0:12:12.760 --> 0:12:15.000 Yeah, that was one of the other main contentions, that 0:12:15.080 --> 0:12:18.360 the flag is too derivative and not really representative of 0:12:18.480 --> 0:12:21.920 New Zealand. But despite all these complaints, when the issue 0:12:21.960 --> 0:12:25.320 was finally put to a national vote, fifty six percent 0:12:25.360 --> 0:12:28.160 of New Zealanders voted to keep the original flag versus 0:12:28.200 --> 0:12:31.000 forty three percent who voted for the new fern design. 0:12:31.080 --> 0:12:33.480 And the reason for that upset is pretty interesting. According 0:12:33.480 --> 0:12:37.040 to interviews conducted by The Guardian, many New Zealanders voted 0:12:37.040 --> 0:12:40.320 against the new flags simply because they'd grown disillusioned with 0:12:40.440 --> 0:12:42.480 how costly the campaign was. 0:12:42.960 --> 0:12:45.040 Seventeen million dollars is a lot of. 0:12:45.000 --> 0:12:47.480 Money, yeah, and you know they didn't want the country 0:12:47.520 --> 0:12:49.720 to spend more money on top of that to produce 0:12:49.760 --> 0:12:52.320 tens of thousands of new flags to replace all the 0:12:52.360 --> 0:12:54.920 old ones. So anyway, well, now that we've gotten the 0:12:54.960 --> 0:12:57.320 lay of the land, let's zoom in a little bit closer. 0:12:57.360 --> 0:13:00.000 And talk about the finer details that make New Zealand 0:13:00.160 --> 0:13:02.320 such a special place. But before we get to that, 0:13:02.440 --> 0:13:18.319 let's take a quick break. You're listening to part time 0:13:18.360 --> 0:13:20.640 Genius and we're talking about some of New Zealand's strangest 0:13:20.720 --> 0:13:23.720 claims to fame. All right, Mago, the wheel is yours. 0:13:23.760 --> 0:13:24.839 So where do you want to go first? 0:13:25.320 --> 0:13:27.840 So I really like that fact about where the new 0:13:27.840 --> 0:13:30.080 in New Zealand's name comes from. But there's actually a 0:13:30.160 --> 0:13:32.160 hill on the North Island of New Zealand with an 0:13:32.240 --> 0:13:35.440 even better story behind its name. It's this thousand foot hill. 0:13:35.520 --> 0:13:38.720 It's named after Tamata, who's a legendary explorer from New 0:13:38.800 --> 0:13:42.120 Zealand's Maori culture, part of their mythical culture there and 0:13:42.240 --> 0:13:44.920 Tamata is said to have been one of the first 0:13:45.000 --> 0:13:47.640 ever to step foot on New Zealand, long long before 0:13:47.920 --> 0:13:51.120 any European columnists came along. And the summit of the 0:13:51.200 --> 0:13:54.120 hill is where he supposedly played the nose flute for. 0:13:54.280 --> 0:13:58.280 His beloved The nose flute. Is that what I think 0:13:58.280 --> 0:13:58.560 it is? 0:13:58.960 --> 0:14:01.240 Yeah, it's exactly what it sounds like. It's a flute 0:14:01.280 --> 0:14:03.200 you play by exhaling through your nose. 0:14:03.520 --> 0:14:05.880 Wow, this you know, I know how we like to 0:14:05.920 --> 0:14:07.840 give tips to our listeners, So I feel good about 0:14:07.880 --> 0:14:09.920 this one. Like, if you ever need to charm someone 0:14:10.000 --> 0:14:13.240 with a private nose flute concert, then Tamataya Hill is 0:14:13.320 --> 0:14:14.320 that's the place to go. 0:14:14.440 --> 0:14:15.640 It seems like here's the thing. 0:14:15.679 --> 0:14:18.520 It's not actually called Tamatya Hill. The Maori people wanted 0:14:18.520 --> 0:14:22.040 to really celebrate Tamataya's exploits and not sound short, so 0:14:22.080 --> 0:14:25.520 they named the hill using an entire sense and roughly translated, 0:14:25.800 --> 0:14:28.760 it's an eighty five character name. It means the summit 0:14:28.760 --> 0:14:31.400 where Tamataya, the man with the big knees, the slider 0:14:31.720 --> 0:14:35.880 climber of mountains, the land swallower who traveled about played 0:14:35.880 --> 0:14:38.400 his nose flute to his loved one. 0:14:38.600 --> 0:14:41.000 And the name means all of that, Like wouldn't you 0:14:41.080 --> 0:14:44.160 love to be known as the man with the big knees? 0:14:44.240 --> 0:14:44.400 Like that? 0:14:44.560 --> 0:14:46.320 I feel like that's great. But it's such such a 0:14:46.360 --> 0:14:48.520 great title. I do feel like you bury the lead here? 0:14:48.600 --> 0:14:52.000 What is this eighty five character name? How do you 0:14:52.040 --> 0:14:52.400 say it? 0:14:52.880 --> 0:14:56.120 So I'm gonna apologize a little because my uh my 0:14:56.240 --> 0:14:59.480 Maori is a little rusty, but this is how it 0:14:59.520 --> 0:15:09.520 goes Tamatawaka Tonga Honga kara tom. I am butchering this right, 0:15:09.600 --> 0:15:09.920 it goes. 0:15:10.000 --> 0:15:10.560 I think. 0:15:14.000 --> 0:15:20.120 It's so long, seman nogaru Akau, it goes. 0:15:20.520 --> 0:15:21.400 You should really stop. 0:15:21.800 --> 0:15:23.840 And I'm really not trying to be disrespectful. 0:15:24.080 --> 0:15:25.320 Yeah, but it. 0:15:25.360 --> 0:15:29.600 Is amazing and it makes for a very very long 0:15:29.640 --> 0:15:31.800 street sign. It's actually the longest place name in the 0:15:31.800 --> 0:15:34.640 world according to Guinness. The wildest part, though, is that 0:15:34.680 --> 0:15:37.440 there's actually an unofficial version of the name that adds 0:15:37.480 --> 0:15:39.680 an extra twenty character. It's worth of details. 0:15:39.840 --> 0:15:40.080 Wow. 0:15:40.080 --> 0:15:43.960 So according to Atlas Obscure, the extended version translates as 0:15:44.280 --> 0:15:46.800 the Hill of the Nose flute playing by Tamatao, who 0:15:46.920 --> 0:15:50.320 was blown hither from Afar, had a split penis, raised 0:15:50.360 --> 0:15:52.920 his knees climbing mountains, fell on the earth, and encircled 0:15:52.960 --> 0:15:57.040 the land to his beloved and so good before you ask, 0:15:57.640 --> 0:15:59.760 that one part is a reference to basically what's in 0:15:59.760 --> 0:16:01.200 my version of a circumcision? 0:16:01.560 --> 0:16:04.000 Oh got it? Yeah, I was kind of curious. 0:16:04.000 --> 0:16:07.440 Well, for any geography nerds who find themselves in New Zealand, 0:16:07.840 --> 0:16:10.680 another cantonss landmark on your list should be the slightly 0:16:10.760 --> 0:16:14.840 more plainly named Baldwin Street. So it's located in the 0:16:14.840 --> 0:16:18.320 city of Dunedin, and Baldwin Street is one of the 0:16:18.400 --> 0:16:21.360 steepest streets in the world. It only runs about three 0:16:21.440 --> 0:16:23.880 hundred and fifty meters, which is less than a fourth 0:16:23.880 --> 0:16:26.960 of a mile, but for every three horizontal meters there 0:16:27.040 --> 0:16:29.840 is a rise of one meter, So the result is 0:16:29.880 --> 0:16:32.920 that it takes ten minutes or more to basically climb 0:16:33.040 --> 0:16:34.960 up this relatively short street. 0:16:35.000 --> 0:16:35.760 It's pretty crazy. 0:16:35.880 --> 0:16:37.360 What I want to know is why wouldn't anyone put 0:16:37.360 --> 0:16:39.120 a street though to begin with? It seems like if 0:16:39.120 --> 0:16:41.800 the land is that steep, it'd be easier to just 0:16:42.080 --> 0:16:43.040 kind of plan around it. 0:16:43.040 --> 0:16:44.960 Right, Yeah, I mean that's true, and I'm sure that's 0:16:45.000 --> 0:16:47.600 exactly what the city planner would have done had he 0:16:47.640 --> 0:16:50.760 actually looked at the land he was planning for. Instead 0:16:50.760 --> 0:16:53.400 that the city was planned by these London based designers 0:16:53.440 --> 0:16:57.160 who never bothered to see the topography in person. They 0:16:57.200 --> 0:16:58.920 just laid out a grid system on top of a 0:16:58.960 --> 0:17:01.360 flat map and called it a day, I guess, and 0:17:01.800 --> 0:17:05.800 that oversight resulted in a number of these incredibly steep streets, 0:17:05.800 --> 0:17:07.880 with Baldwin being the most extreme of them. 0:17:08.119 --> 0:17:10.440 Wait, so are there houses on Baldwin Street. 0:17:10.600 --> 0:17:13.119 There actually are houses, and the cool thing is they 0:17:13.119 --> 0:17:16.080 are all built into this hill at an angle. It's 0:17:16.080 --> 0:17:17.800 worth taking a look at it. So if you walk 0:17:17.920 --> 0:17:20.960 down or up Baldwin Street, you'll pass a row of 0:17:21.000 --> 0:17:23.200 these severely slanted houses. 0:17:23.320 --> 0:17:25.080 I just hould it up. This is insane. It's like 0:17:25.320 --> 0:17:27.639 you're living in like one of those old v commercials. 0:17:27.800 --> 0:17:31.520 Everything's built. It's amazing. It does feel like it would 0:17:31.520 --> 0:17:34.360 be a dream for Instagrammers, but probably a huge pain 0:17:34.400 --> 0:17:37.120 in the neck for residents. But you know what, we've 0:17:37.160 --> 0:17:40.440 talked about a couple of special places that New Zealanders 0:17:40.440 --> 0:17:42.479 can boast about. But why don't we talk about one 0:17:42.520 --> 0:17:44.399 of their exceptional citizens next? 0:17:44.680 --> 0:17:46.840 All right, so who would it be? Let me let 0:17:46.840 --> 0:17:49.080 me guess. Is it one of the Flight of the Concords? 0:17:49.480 --> 0:17:51.719 No, I mean that's a good guess. But this guy's 0:17:51.760 --> 0:17:56.000 birth name is Ian Brackenbury Channel. But today people around 0:17:56.040 --> 0:17:59.119 the world know him simply as the Wizard, and he 0:17:59.240 --> 0:18:02.600 is the Wizard, mind you, not not a wizard, because 0:18:02.640 --> 0:18:04.879 not only does he have the driver's license to prove it, 0:18:05.000 --> 0:18:08.280 he also has the backing of New Zealand's government. Back 0:18:08.320 --> 0:18:11.199 in nineteen ninety the country's Prime Minister made Channel the 0:18:11.240 --> 0:18:14.680 world's first and still only state appointed wizard. 0:18:14.840 --> 0:18:17.440 I have so many questions about this, but I guess 0:18:17.480 --> 0:18:20.439 the first one is how exactly one gets appointed the 0:18:20.480 --> 0:18:22.760 official Wizard of New Zealand. 0:18:23.119 --> 0:18:26.480 I think it starts with the wardrobe. But New Zealand's 0:18:26.480 --> 0:18:29.719 Wizard has a pretty impressive resiment. He was born in 0:18:29.720 --> 0:18:32.240 London in nineteen thirty two and later served as a 0:18:32.320 --> 0:18:35.800 navigator in the Royal Air Force. In nineteen sixty three, 0:18:35.840 --> 0:18:39.240 he earned a double BA in psychology and sociology and 0:18:39.600 --> 0:18:42.320 began teaching in the Middle East in Australia, and given 0:18:42.359 --> 0:18:44.840 his dual fields of study as a teacher, Channel was 0:18:44.920 --> 0:18:49.439 especially interested in experimental teaching and social reform techniques. But 0:18:49.840 --> 0:18:52.359 as for his wizarding career, that started to take off 0:18:52.440 --> 0:18:55.600