The Wanderer

"I went out walkin', through streets paved with gold,
 lifted some stones, saw the skin and bones of a city without a soul..."

The title and words above are taken from a U2 track from their Zooropa album featuring the legendary 'Man In Black' on vocals - Johnny Cash.
If anyone ever epitomised faith and spirit better than Mr Cash, then I'd love to meet them.
Throughout his troubled life, dealing with his demons, his unquestionable faith always shone through.
As mentioned in a previous blog, I take take great inspiration and draw great strength from people who truimph over adversity in their lives. This is very relevant to all the people striving to bring some normality back into their lives in Japan and in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Also, the title 'The Wanderer' seems entirely appropriate to my own spiritual journey and my quest continues...

I would like to dedicate my blog this week to the blog4nz campaign, and I attach recent correspondence below detailing this initiative.
I would also like to stress that Christchurch city definitely does have a soul, and that my heart will always beat for New Zealand.

'Blog4NZ is almost upon us ... in just on hour it'll be midnight in New Zealand, and the fun and madness officially kicks off. It'll probably start gathering speed as kiwis begin to log on about 8 hours later.

Here's what we're after.

From March 21 (when the sun rises over Gisborne) until March 23 (when it slides past Tonga to look at New Zealand again) we want to fill the internet with talk about New Zealand as a tourism destination.

The key message: New Zealand is open for business.

Christchurch was hit hard by the recent quake, but 100% of the country is still here and 99% is accessible, even a lot of Canterbury -- Hamner Springs, Arthurs Pass, all your favourite outdoor and adventure tourism spots are open.

Although it seems natural to write a post on the Christchurch Earthquake itself, this isn't the goal. It's not an elephant in the room -- to be seen and not discussed -- but it isn't the focus of the event. We're after positive stories and reasons to visit.

If you use the term "blog4nz" or "#blog4nz" in the body of your post, we'll be able to find it in Google searches. Feel free to include the logo too. 

The focus of the campaign is going to be the #blog4nz hashtag on Twitter, and the Facebook page, http://facebook.com/blog4nz. Feel free to post all new content there, share it with friends and family, and -- if you want -- repost articles during the event. 

Some sites are posting 6-10 stories. We'd like to encourage you to post at least once a day (that's three posts) for #blog4nz.

We have some more good news: New Zealand wants to say thank you. 

The tourism industry here was surprised by the warmth and enthusiasm shown by the international blogging community and wanted to say thanks. They've put together three amazing packages with a combined value that's simply staggering. Flights, an all-expenses trip to New Zealand, packages for independent travel in the North and South Islands ... Amazing.

If you'd like to compete for these prizes, there are special conditions. Please carefully read the post on http://blog4nz.indietravelmedia.com about "goodies" and the PDF Terms and Conditions to make sure you've got a chance at the main prize.

So, get writing, get collaborating, and get excited ... #blog4nz is so close!

Yours,

Craig, Dan, Jim and John

Blog4NZ

PO Box 5531, Auckland, North Island 1141, NEW ZEALAND'.

I have recently published my own blog onto their website specifically mentioning the three sections directly relating to my love of New Zealand:
'A Dream Realised', 'A Kiwi At Heart', and 'Canterbury Tales'.
Any further support to the NZ tourism industry would be greatly appreciated, so please feel free to add your blogs too!

New Zealand remains my spiritual home, and although I know it's going to take a long time before I revisit this wonderful land, I also know that it will happen some day.

Nomadic Steve