Talk:South Island

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Would any native English speaker not say the South Island? I think it's normal grammar, just like North Sea, east coast, Western World etc.

I believe there are a number of South Islands around the world (I have vague memories of seeing 37 quoted somewhere), but I suspect their inhabitants (if there are any) "live on South Island," whereas we live in the South Island. Koro Neil (talk) 14:28, 1 March 2008 (UTC)

I've never heard or seen it called the South Island. It's always been South Island. -- Zoe

This raises the question of where you're from. The only time the is ever omitted from the name of either island by New Zealanders is when it is being used attributively (like an adjective)—a delegation of South Island farmers. Koro Neil (talk) 14:28, 1 March 2008 (UTC)

Hmm, maybe I'm biased because I grew up on the South Island.

Hmm, you're the first New Zealander I've come across who says on the South Island rather than in the South Island. Note robinp's last sentence just below. Koro Neil (talk) 14:28, 1 March 2008 (UTC)
  • Zoe (above) may be the victim of slight confusion: Maps, and headings or tables, and adjectival expressions use "South Island"; whereas "the South Island" is used after a preposition or verb, eg I'm visiting the South Island, my mother lives in the South Island. :robinp 01:15, 28 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Which area figure is correct, the square mile or square kilometre? They do not equate by a country mile, um, country kilometre. Moriori 23:07, 8 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Nelson (a cathedral city and with much more population) should be on that map if Greymouth is to stay.:robinp 21:06, 19 Feb 2004 (UTC)

TOWN LIST - before spending long adding to it, consider my query (of a few minutes ago) on the Talk: North Island page, partly reproduced here: "... we already have a page called List of towns in New Zealand, so maybe we should use it as the only long list, adding "SI" to the end of the (smaller number of) towns that are South Island?"

robinp 21:21, 26 Feb 2004 (UTC)
  • that idea got some support and no disagreement in several weeks. So I'm attending to it slowly. THIS article should therefore stick to the biggies. :robinp 10:02, 24 Mar 2004 (UTC)
Unofficial South Island flag
Unofficial South Island flag

Contents

[edit] What is this flag doing on Wikipedia?

I've never heard of or seen any unofficial South Island flag before. It appears to be an obscure design mentioned on FOTW and almost nowhere else. 203.109.254.49 19:50, 25 October 2005 (UTC)

It really bugs me too, It was inserted by User:Expatkiwi on October 12, so I left messages on his talk page here. I don't think his responses were compelling at all. Perhaps we should just delete the flag and see what happens, or seek further comment. The Rakiura flag in the Stewart Island/Rakiura article may be a different kettle of fish. Māori have the right by decree to "deface" the New Zealand flag by adding tribal names, but whether or not that makes the flag official, I have no idea. Note that the word Rakiura has been added to the NZ flag, but the words Te Wai Pounamu have been added to a flag which is not the NZ flag. Did you notice too that at that FOTW site, Pounamu was spelt PoEnamu. Amazing. Moriori 22:00, 25 October 2005 (UTC)

I've removed the flags from the North Island, Stewart Island/Rakiura and South Island articles. If anyone thinks they are worth having in Wikipedia, perhaps they should go in a "Unofficial flags" section of List of New Zealand flags.-gadfium 00:23, 26 October 2005 (UTC)

An unofficial flags page has been created, that has the two island flag concepts illustrated on them, so chill. FYI, Moriori, While the Blue Ensign is in the Stewart Island Flag, the Red Ensign in the North Island concept and the White Ensign in the South Island concept are also official New Zealand flags (which considering the Maritime history of New Zealand, is entirely appropriate, in my humble opinion). Expatkiwi 19:33, 24 November 2005 (UTC)
FYI the white ensign identifies a branch of our armed services (navy), and definitely not a geographic entity. Same for the air force ensign, and red ensign (merchant shipping). Moriori 21:01, 24 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] The Greenstone Water, The Greenstone Place

These are slightly awkward translations of the Māori equivalents. They really translate as 'the water(s) of greenstone' and 'the place of greenstone.' Just for the record. Kahuroa 00:15, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

Yes. I have amended Te Wai Pounamu and South Island accordingly. Moriori 01:45, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

I've removed the South Island independence reference because it has no references, no one in the South Island seeks independence, and it basically creates an unrealistic, fictional, over the top impression of something that doesn't exist.

[edit] List of companies

The list of companies seems like a problematic list. First there is no definition of what companies qualify to be noted in the list, and second the list would be absolutely huge (and incorrect) if an attempt was made to list every company either founded or operating in the south island. Propose delete list of companies. (If not delete, then at least qualify what sort of company can make the list) --Zaf(t) 12:54, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

I agree. The list should be removed unless someone is willing to put the effort into setting up a qualification. Suitable qualifications might be "South Island-based Companies in the NZX50" or "South Island-based companies with an annual turnover > NZ$100 million". The latter requires an easy way to get turnover figures for each company. If anyone knows of a good place to get these figures online I'm interested, since the List of New Zealand companies has a similar problem of needing to be qualified.-gadfium 18:46, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] South Island Contributions

It disappointments me that so many contributions to either the South Island or South Island Independence pages are scrutinised by Auckland based administrators who seem to be determined to halt any attempts by South Islanders to express their sub-national pride. Surely the purpose of Wikipedia is to provide a source of information to people? How can limiting the amount of information available be of any benefit to anyone. Yes, the List of New Zealand companies will over time grow. And as it grows then it will need to be modified and presented in a better way. Until then why not encourage people to contribute to its growth. Son of Zealandia 02:45, 10 November 2007 (UTC)

See WP:OWN.-gadfium 04:59, 10 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] South Island Virtual Presence Post

The external link to the South Island Virtual Presence Post is useful in that it provides further links, information and news relating to the South Island. As it is a government sponsored site I think it is a useful resource.Son of Zealandia 04:36, 10 November 2007 (UTC)

It's rarely updated. For South Island news, surely linking to the Otago Daily Times and The Press would be more appropriate.-gadfium 04:59, 10 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Maori Legend

The version given here is a North Island Māori one. In the south, it was "the canoe of Aoraki"—Te Waka a Aoraki, and Māui was a later visitor. In both accounts Māui stood on Kaikōura Peninsula and fished up the North Island. I'll see to this at some stage. Koro Neil (talk) 14:28, 1 March 2008 (UTC)