Although the title of my post is not actually true as Kiribati, and
Samoa just beat us for that honour, this is my big chance to be the
first to wish you all a happy New Year!
My New
Year sketch is a view from above St Heliers bay, from a point called
Te Pane O Horoiwi, through flowering pohutukawa towards central
Auckland city. The Pou Whenua in the foreground are Hoturoa, Taikehu and
Horoiwi, Maori ancestors who arrived here on the Tainui waka over 600
years ago. I think these guys really were the first - the first to see
in a New Year - Auckland style.