Tag Archives: oceania

headline

Cook Islands traveller flies to Perth in breach of NZ travel bubble

Air New Zealand has reported another breach of the trans-Tasman bubble to the New Zealand government, Stuff has learned.

It is understood the traveller flew yesterday from Rarotonga in the Cook Islands to Auckland.

They caught NZ175, an Air New Zealand flight from Auckland to Perth this morning, which took off about 10.30am.

The one-way bubble between the Cook Islands and New Zealand doesn't require isolation on arrival but does require a stay of at least 14 days before transiting to another country.

READ MORE: India travel loophole shut down

However, that 14-day stay in New Zealand hasn't happened.

About an hour into the flight, as the plane flew across the Tasman, the airline realised the man had breached the bubble and reported it to authorities.

Air New Zealand confirmed the incident in a statement this afternoon following Stuff breaking the news of the breach.

"We have been made aware of a passenger onboard NZ175 Auckland – Perth today who is ineligible for quarantine-free travel to Australia.

READ MORE: Man tests positive for COVID-19 after entering green zone at airport

"We are working with the relevant authorities on both sides of the Tasman and will follow their guidance.

"The next steps for this passenger will be determined by the Western Australia authorities."

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, which encompasses both Immigration NZ and the managed isolation and quarantine system, has been approached for comment.

More to come.

headline

World's largest aircraft by wingspan takes off

An American aerospace company has conducted a second successful test flight of the world's largest aircraft by wingspan, named the "Roc".

Stratolaunch conducted the test from the Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, California.

After cancelling a flight on April 24 due to unfavourable weather, the test took place today.

LIVE UPDATES: Clive Palmer ordered to pay $1.5 million for copyright breach

https://twitter.com/Stratolaunch/status/1387811871944712194?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Once the plane was airborne, the Roc performed various flight test maneuvers.

"Touchdown!" Stratolaunch tweeted as the aircraft landed.

"Successful flight tests to round out the day. What a beautiful sight".

The 117-metre wingspan aircraft flew for three hours and 14 minutes over the Mojave Desert and reached an altitude of 4267.2 metres.

READ MORE: US moves to total ban on flavoured cigarettes and cigars

As part of this latest flight, pilots further prepared the carrier aircraft to support launches of its upcoming hypersonic testbed vehicle, Talon-A.

Talon-A is a fully reusable, autonomous, liquid rocket-powered Mach 6-class hypersonic vehicle.

"We're focused on safely and securely releasing operational hypersonic vehicles from our carrier aircraft," Stratolaunch chief operating officer Dr Zachary Krevor said.

READ MORE: Dozens killed in stampede at big Israeli religious festival

"The test flight today provided valuable insights and data to help us continue this journey."

Stratolaunch is working to advance high-speed technology through design, manufacturing, and operation of aerospace vehicles.

headline

Drive's Car of the Year revealed

Blistering heat. Driving rain. Thousands of dollars' worth of coffee and Gatorade. More than $7 million worth of vehicles and just as many opinions.

Finding the best car in the country is no mean feat.

Now in its fifteenth year, Drive's Car of the Year award is a logistical exercise more akin to herding cats (and keeping them cool) than a leisurely drive in the countryside.

Awarded to the family-friendly KIA Sorento – which brought to the table surprising driving dynamics, segment-leading value and enough features to distract even the most iPad-beholden kids – the 2021 edition proved to be one of the most brutal on the judges.

A full list of this year's winners can be found below.

After whittling down a bowser-bursting selection of 600 vehicles, the dedicated team of seven Drive judges took to a week at Luddenham Raceway in Sydney to have the cream of the crop battle it out.

Despite having the track to themselves, it wasn't a case of fanging each car around the circuit and giving the gold medallion to the quickest.

Each vehicle was marked against a set of criteria that are most relevant to the consumer including driver technology, comfort, safety, ongoing running costs, plus all the fun stuff including performance and handling.

As Drive Managing Editor and judge Trent Nikolic tells 9News.com.au, while a German-bred rocket that slots a 0-100 time of 2.2 seconds may be the frontrunner to tickle any petrolhead's fancy, you're going to struggle to fit a baby seat in it.

"The only thing I tell the judges is to keep in mind what moves the game forward the most, for the most Australian buyers," Nikolic says.

"A Porsche 911 Turbo S? Awesome car. But at half a million dollars, how many Australians are going yeah I'll have one of them to run the kids to school?"

Following almost 12 months of testing, the team assembled 89 segment-leading vehicles to try and split hairs and scratchy plastics to find the overall winner.

In total there were $7.1 million vehicles in the fight, with the cheapest being a plucky Kia Picanto at $18,240 and the most expensive being a $484,880 Ferrari.

If you parked each of the cars end-to-end, you'd just about fill up an athletics track and the total weight of the vehicles tipped the scales at more than 144 tonnes.

The cars were ready, the track was clean and all the team needed was the forecast to play ball.

"We had every single weather condition you can possibly imagine. It went from pouring rain and wind to forty-degree heat," said Drive's Director of Content James Ward.

"We had the problem on the last couple of days where the Drive numberplates on the front of the cars for the video shoots was simply melting off."

"We had people go down with heatstroke. And awful hamburgers," interjected Nikolic.

Cars that had been sitting on track waiting for their review boasted internal temperatures of more than 70 degrees.

"We were all pretty taxed by the end of it," added Ward.

Despite the trials and tribulations of driving Australia's best cars – and taking unlikely track heroes such as minivans through slaloms – the team came through after non-stop 12-hour days to award their winners.

As it turned out, fastest is not always greatest.

"It's really interesting to do those tests like the slalom with cars from all segments. You don't always come away and say the Ferrari is the most fun because it's really stupidly fast," said Nikolic.

"It is stupidly fast but it's also intimidating for a lot of people and you can't access that last bit of the performance envelope like you can in something like a Ford Puma."

Other diamonds in the rough also shone through despite not boasting track-ready capability.

"The car that surprised us the most and was right up there in the final standings was the KIA Carnival, a people mover," said Ward.

"If you had said to us this time last year that one of the frontrunners for Car of The Year would be a van, we would have laughed.

"The winner could have been a dual-cab ute, it could have been a hatchback, it could've been an SUV."

After a litre of sunscreen, six cans of fly spray and several heated debates – pitched as "banter" between the crew – the winners were found.

"At that point when you're trying to get to the winner you're looking at knee room in the second row, USB charging ports or which one has better graphics," says Nikolic.

"We had to get down to that level because in some categories, everywhere else you just could not split the contenders."

2021 Drive Car of the Year: The full list of winners

Car of the Year: KIA Sorento

Best Upper Large SUV: Nissan Patrol

Best Medium SUV: Toyota RAV4 Hybrid

Best Small Luxury SUV: Mercedes-Benz GLS

Best Large Luxury Car: Audi A6

Best Medium Luxury SUV: Volvo XC60

Best Large Luxury SUV: Volkswagen Touareg

Best Medium to Large Car: Toyota Camry Hybrid

Best Small SUV: Skoda Kamiq

Best Sports Performance SUV: Audi RSQ8

Best Off-Road SUV: Land Rover Defender

Best People Mover: Kia Carnival

Best Large SUV: Kia Sorento

Best Electric Vehicle: Audi e-Tron

Best Light SUV: Ford Puma

Best Dual Cab Ute: Isuzu D-Max

Best Van: Toyota Hiace

Best Small Car: Toyota Corolla Hybrid Hatch

Best Sports Car Under $100k: Mercedes-AMG A45 S

Best Sports Car Over $100k: Porsche 911 Turbo S

Best Small Luxury Car: Audi A3

Best Innovation: Hyundai Nexo

Best Overall Value: MG ZS Range

Best City Car: Volkswagen Polo

Best Medium Luxury Car: BMW 3 Series

For more information and detailed analysis of each winner, visit www.drive.com.au.