Christchurch, New Zealand

New Zealand's Cursed Wizard


GYM
New Zealand sorcerer Ian Channel prays from a ladder.
Christchurch Statue
Bronze statue lends some mystery to the tormented city of Christchurch.
"These Are Parts of His Ways"
Residents pass by one of the facades affected by the earthquake in February 2011.
esoteric lecture
Viewers try to follow the unworldly premises of the wizard Ian Channel.
street chess
Inhabitants of Christchurch play chess on a board in Cathedral Square.
cathedral tower
Tower of Christchurch Cathedral, damaged in the February 2011 earthquake.
Disgruntled Officer
A historical extra on a canal in Christchurch.
In the Heart of Christchurch
Indications point to some of the areas of Christchurch where the sorcerer Ian Channel used to move before the devastating earthquake of 2011.
Cosmological clairvoyance
Ian Channel enforces one of his theories and leans towards his audience.
Kiwi gondola
Punter leads a punting tour on the River Avon, one of Christchurch's most famous pastimes.
Bridge of Remembrance
The Bridge of Memory that honors New Zealanders who died in the two world wars.
checkered morning
Players play chess in Christchurch's Cathedral Square.
on the ladder
Ian Channel, New Zealand sorcerer during one of his street dissertations.
City Tour
Typical tram runs along Christchurch Avenue, part of the city tour of the main city of New Zealand's province of Canterbury
Richard, on board
Driver of one of the trams that travels through Christchurch departing from Cathedral Square
Despite his notoriety in the antipodes, Ian Channell, the New Zealand sorcerer, failed to predict or prevent several earthquakes that struck Christchurch. At the age of 88, after 23 years of contract with the city, he made very controversial statements and ended up fired.

The New Zealand province of Canterbury experienced its usual bucolic peace when we first encountered Wizard.

Ian Channell's already long life had taken him through various corners of the English-speaking world, from old Albion to the confines of the downunder.

It was in Christchurch's Cathedral Square that the most he felt at home. The sunny morning favored the impact of his preaching.

chess board, cathedral square, wizard of new zealand, Christchurch, new zealand

Inhabitants of Christchurch play chess on a board in Cathedral Square.

In the square, two colored trailers competed for the first customers of the day. One promoted Chinese food. the other, yours wraps of kebab.

At the opposite end, casual spectators followed the moves decided by clashing street chess players, all gathered around a huge painted board on the floor.

Meanwhile, several colored 18 trams arrived and departed from the terminal station.

electric, city tour, wizard of new zealand, Christchurch, New Zealand

Typical tram runs along Christchurch Avenue, part of the city tour of the main city of New Zealand's province of Canterbury

The Elevated Presence of Ian Channell, Wizard of New Zealand

Ian no longer even needed to reach the last steps of his ladder to stand out in the square. The sorcerer was dressed in a white tunic on which a long gray beard and hair rested.

He leaned on the last board of the improvised stage and enunciated his most recent theories to a small crowd of curious people: “And ladies and gents … this is the eternal truth ... ".

It insists on how time intersects with space and both project themselves into an Intentional Universe of Will that converges to the supreme identity of each Self that reflects, in each person, the Cosmos.

now from above ladder, audience, wizard of new zealand, Christchurch, new zealand

New Zealand sorcerer Ian Channel prays from a ladder.

In light of its esoteric existence, the conjecture seems to make sense.

Wizard's Vast International Curriculum

The sorcerer was born in London in 1932. Ten years later, he graduated from the University of Leeds in Psychology and Sociology. Later, he accepted to be part of the Adult Education Board of the University of Western Australia where he managed the community arts program.

He would also be part of the team of professors that endowed the newly created School of Sociology at the University of New South Wales, in Sydney.

At that time, a student protest movement gained dimension that, among other problems, challenged the conservatism of education. Ian Channell felt the vibrations and intervened. He created a direct action movement that he called ALF (Action for Love and Freedom).

His implementation, in turn, went through what he called “The Fun Revolution”.

And the two reforms resulted in a strong revitalization, in such a way that the renowned Sydney Morning Herald started to call the former institution "the university that swings".

on ladder, dissertation, wizard of new zealand, Christchurch, new zealand

Ian Channel, New Zealand sorcerer during one of his street dissertations.

Both the movement and its mentor faced negative reactions and unexpected support.

The director of the department to which Channell belonged, convinced that he was crazy, fired him under the pretext of not seeing progress in his thesis in the field of Sociology of Art.

But the Vice Chancellor had become sympathetic and supported the continuation of his social experimentations. The teacher took advantage. He persuaded him to name him a University Sorcerer and to pay him a small fee.

Thus began his long career.

And the construction of a fictional character to which he gave himself body and soul and who insisted on sacrificing his driving license, social security identification, passport and other documents.

Finally, Full Time Sorcerer

Taking over as a full-time Wizard, Ian Channell promoted himself and his ideals like never before and landed new positions: cosmologist, Work of Living Art and Shaman at the University of Melbourne and also Professor of Synthetic Cosmology.

Channell also used the fame gained in ideological, political and even economic struggles. Something worn out by the permanent confrontation of academic conservatism aussie and in need of new challenges, in the mid-70s, he moved to the kiwi city of Christchurch.

There he began an enduring series of lectures on ladders, which we were fortunate to attend.

Cathedral Square's Privileged Popular Stage

Back in Cathedral Square, seagulls invade the airspace and even the ground. Like winged forces of evil, they thrash and shriek.

They disturb the speaker's cadence of thoughts and the clarity of his words that the wind nor'wester it was spreading through the square, calling in more and more curious people.

The presence of the audience was not always taken for granted.

nominations, new zealand wizard, Christchurch, new zealand

Indications point to some of the areas of Christchurch where the sorcerer Ian Channel used to move before the devastating earthquake of 2011.

In the early days of his kiwi experiment, authorities tried to arrest him. But the sorcerer managed to avoid them. He returned at different times in the costume of a Church of England false prophet and a pointed hat.

He won the support of the public who got used to watching his dissertations.

It soon became an attraction of the city, mentioned in tourist guides and entitled to opine and act on the relevant themes first of Christchurch.

Then from the province of Canterbury, from across the country and even from the downunder. 

The New Zealand Sorcerer to Sorcerer Promotion

In 1990, Mike Moore, an old friend, then Prime Minister, named him the Official Wizard of New Zealand, entitled to a modest fee.

Five years later, with the support of the Mayor, Christchurch hosted a Conclave of Sorcerers attended by several colleagues who helped build a nest of sorcerers atop the university's library tower.

statue, bronze, New Zealand sorcerer, Christchurch, New Zealand

Bronze statue lends some mystery to the tormented city of Christchurch.

Ian Channell would come out of a giant egg laid in a local art gallery.

He also sang a spell dedicated to one of the main rugby matches of the time, while free-falling and, accompanied by 42 assistants, he went down the river from the city in a gondola, an eccentric trip that he took advantage of to display the URL of his new website on several tablets.

Despite all the promotional actions, Wizard provided most of the services for free and its income was meager.

The fees awarded by the City Council were never enough, but the financial support provided by the love of her life, Alice Flett, allowed her to continue with her conceptually bold and fearless lifestyle.

Eventually, the Christchurch authorities hired him to promote the city, allegedly through witchcraft and related service. Entitled to an already more serious salary, of around 13.500 euros a year.

Despite this strong financial stimulus in his life, new evil spells would weaken the New Zealand wizard.

When the New Zealand Wizard Was Cursed

In 2003, the wooden house he lived in was razed to the ground by a fire that Christchurch police considered arson.

Wizard, his partner and two tenants managed to escape unscathed but Ian Channell lost his video and book collection.

The WizardMobile – built with two Volkswagen Carochas fronts – was also vandalized. Far superior forces would still come into play.

The Damage of Successive Earthquakes That Shaken New Zealand

New Zealand is located on the Fire ring and tectonic activity around the country and province of Canterbury is energetic.

In the year after we found the Wizard, Christchurch received constant threats from the depths of the Earth.

cathedral tower, damaged earthquake February 2011, sorcerer of new zealand, Christchurch, New Zealand

Tower of Christchurch Cathedral, damaged in the February 2011 earthquake.

Several high-intensity earthquakes – including one of 7.1 – shook the region. They did not cause casualties but the damage was considerable. We continued to travel across the Pacific. Several months later, we returned to Portugal.

In February of the following year, we were on our way to New Zealand again when a shock much closer to the city than the previous ones devastated it.

It caused 185 deaths and one of the biggest catastrophes the Kiwi nation had suffered. We followed the dramatic events and, since then, we learned about their consequences in the Wizard's life with renewed interest.

The earthquake and its frequent aftershocks left Christchurch Cathedral and several other buildings around it in ruins.

As if Not Enough, the Demolition Order of the Old Cathedral Square

The Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority ordered its demolition and provoked opposition from various entities including the UNESCO World Heritage Center, from groups of architects and, as expected, from the Wizard.

spectators, lecture, wizard of new zealand, Christchurch, New Zealand

Viewers try to follow the unworldly premises of New Zealand sorcerer Ian Channel.

Speaking to TV, in the midst of the wreckage, the sorcerer expressed concern that it is doubtful that the people of Christchurch can continue to live safely in the rebuilt city.

Ian Channell also revealed his particular anguish: “If Cathedral Square is destroyed, I lose my emblematic space, my spiritual home, my exhibition space, my installation.

The people who follow me can stay, but without my square I don't think it makes much sense.”

He also advised the people of Canterbury not to become tearful or romantic like the Italians or the Greeks who give hugs and kisses for everything and for nothing and appealed for the reinforcement of the famous stiff upper lip British, of their solidarity and bravery.

facades affected earthquake february 2011, new zealand wizard, Christchurch, new zealand

Residents pass by one of the facades affected by the earthquake in February 2011.

More recently, the sorcerer decided to withdraw and abandon Christchurch for good. moved south to oamaru, to the mother's house.

He later returned to the capital of Canterbury to protest again against the demolition of his cathedral.

Christchurch's Recovery and Back to Business

Some time later, the wizard returned to the charge. In recent years, his interventions have become too provocative and controversial.

At a time of rising prominence for feminism and movements such as Metoo and the like, Ian Channell aroused the ire of a large section of his audience.

During one of his New Zealand Today appearances, he stated that he "liked to irritate women by telling them that they were bitchy and that they use cunning to attract stupid men."

Another of his tirades proved even more damaging: “I love women and forgave them all the time. I've never hit any… Never hit a woman because they get marks on their bodies easily, they'll tell neighbors and friends and create problems for you”, he dared to add in the same program.

The Dismissal Already Planned 

After twenty-three years of contractual relationship, eighty-eight of Ian Channell's life and €350.000 earned, the New Zealand state has had enough of the sorcerer's sexist or idiotic jokes.

Fired him.

The press asked him if he would curse the authorities who dismissed him. The witcher said no, that he preferred to bless them.

Napier, New Zealand

Back to the 30s

Devastated by an earthquake, Napier was rebuilt in an almost ground-floor Art Deco and lives pretending to stop in the Thirties. Its visitors surrender to the Great Gatsby atmosphere that the city enacts.
Nelson to Wharariki, Abel Tasman NP, New Zealand

The Maori coastline on which Europeans landed

Abel Janszoon Tasman explored more of the newly mapped and mythical "Terra australis" when a mistake soured the contact with natives of an unknown island. The episode inaugurated the colonial history of the New Zealand. Today, both the divine coast on which the episode took place and the surrounding seas evoke the Dutch navigator.
PN Tayrona, Colombia

Who Protects the Guardians of the World?

The natives of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta believe that their mission is to save the Cosmos from the “Younger Brothers”, which are us. But the real question seems to be, "Who protects them?"
Samarkand, Uzbekistan

The Astronomer Sultan

The grandson of one of the great conquerors of Central Asia, Ulugh Beg, preferred the sciences. In 1428, he built a space observatory in Samarkand. His studies of the stars led him to name a crater on the Moon.
Wanaka, New Zealand

The Antipodes Great Outdoors

If New Zealand is known for its tranquility and intimacy with Nature, Wanaka exceeds any imagination. Located in an idyllic setting between the homonymous lake and the mystic Mount Aspiring, it became a place of worship. Many kiwis aspire to change their lives there.
North Island, New Zealand

Journey along the Path of Maority

New Zealand is one of the countries where the descendants of settlers and natives most respect each other. As we explored its northern island, we became aware of the interethnic maturation of this very old nation. Commonwealth as Maori and Polynesia.
Banks Peninsula, New Zealand

The Divine Earth Shard of the Banks Peninsula

Seen from the air, the most obvious bulge on the South Island's east coast appears to have imploded again and again. Volcanic but verdant and bucolic, the Banks Peninsula confines in its almost cogwheel geomorphology the essence of the ever enviable New Zealand life.
napier, New Zealand

Back to the 30s - Calhambeque Tour

In a city rebuilt in Art Deco and with an atmosphere of the "crazy years" and beyond, the adequate means of transportation are the elegant classic automobiles of that era. In Napier, they are everywhere.
Mount cook, New Zealand

The Cloud Piercer Mountain

Aoraki/Mount Cook may fall far short of the world's roof but it is New Zealand's highest and most imposing mountain.
Fiordland, New Zealand

The Fjords of the Antipodes

A geological quirk made the Fiordland region the rawest and most imposing in New Zealand. Year after year, many thousands of visitors worship the sub-domain slashed between Te Anau and Milford Sound.
Aoraki / Mount Cook, New Zealand

The Aeronautical Conquest of the Southern Alps

In 1955, pilot Harry Wigley created a system for taking off and landing on asphalt or snow. Since then, his company has unveiled, from the air, some of the greatest scenery in Oceania.
Yucatan, Mexico

The End of the End of the World

The announced day passed but the End of the World insisted on not arriving. In Central America, today's Mayans watched and put up with incredulity all the hysteria surrounding their calendar.
Jabula Beach, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa
Safari
Saint Lucia, South Africa

An Africa as Wild as Zulu

On the eminence of the coast of Mozambique, the province of KwaZulu-Natal is home to an unexpected South Africa. Deserted beaches full of dunes, vast estuarine swamps and hills covered with fog fill this wild land also bathed by the Indian Ocean. It is shared by the subjects of the always proud Zulu nation and one of the most prolific and diverse fauna on the African continent.
Young people walk the main street in Chame, Nepal
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 1th - Pokhara a Chame, Nepal

Finally, on the way

After several days of preparation in Pokhara, we left towards the Himalayas. The walking route only starts in Chame, at 2670 meters of altitude, with the snowy peaks of the Annapurna mountain range already in sight. Until then, we complete a painful but necessary road preamble to its subtropical base.
Traditional houses, Bergen, Norway.
Architecture & Design
Bergen, Norway

The Great Hanseatic Port of Norway

Already populated in the early 1830th century, Bergen became the capital, monopolized northern Norwegian commerce and, until XNUMX, remained one of the largest cities in Scandinavia. Today, Oslo leads the nation. Bergen continues to stand out for its architectural, urban and historical exuberance.
The small lighthouse at Kallur, highlighted in the capricious northern relief of the island of Kalsoy.
Adventure
Kalsoy, Faroe Islands

A Lighthouse at the End of the Faroese World

Kalsoy is one of the most isolated islands in the Faroe archipelago. Also known as “the flute” due to its long shape and the many tunnels that serve it, a mere 75 inhabitants inhabit it. Much less than the outsiders who visit it every year, attracted by the boreal wonder of its Kallur lighthouse.
orthodox procession
Ceremonies and Festivities
Suzdal, Russia

Centuries of Devotion to a Devoted Monk

Euthymius was a fourteenth-century Russian ascetic who gave himself body and soul to God. His faith inspired Suzdal's religiosity. The city's believers worship him as the saint he has become.
Santo Domingo, Colonial City, Dominican Republic, Diego Colombo
Cities
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

The Longest Colonial Elder in the Americas

Santo Domingo is the longest-inhabited colony in the New World. Founded in 1498 by Bartholomew Colombo, the capital of the Dominican Republic preserves intact a true treasure of historical resilience.
Tsukiji fish market, Tokyo, Japan
Meal
Tokyo, Japan

The Fish Market That Lost its Freshness

In a year, each Japanese eats more than their weight in fish and shellfish. Since 1935, a considerable part was processed and sold in the largest fish market in the world. Tsukiji was terminated in October 2018, and replaced by Toyosu's.
capillary helmet
Culture
Viti levu, Fiji

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For 2500 years, anthropophagy has been part of everyday life in Fiji. In more recent centuries, the practice has been adorned by a fascinating hair cult. Luckily, only vestiges of the latest fashion remain.
Spectator, Melbourne Cricket Ground-Rules footbal, Melbourne, Australia
Sport
Melbourne, Australia

The Football the Australians Rule

Although played since 1841, Australian Football has only conquered part of the big island. Internationalization has never gone beyond paper, held back by competition from rugby and classical football.
Ross Bridge, Tasmania, Australia
Traveling
Discovering tassie, Part 3, Tasmania, Australia

Tasmania from Top to Bottom

The favorite victim of Australian anecdotes has long been the Tasmania never lost the pride in the way aussie ruder to be. Tassie remains shrouded in mystery and mysticism in a kind of hindquarters of the antipodes. In this article, we narrate the peculiar route from Hobart, the capital located in the unlikely south of the island to the north coast, the turn to the Australian continent.
Tatooine on Earth
Ethnic
Matmata Tataouine:  Tunisia

Star Wars Earth Base

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ice tunnel, black gold route, Valdez, Alaska, USA
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Got2Globe Portfolio

Sensations vs Impressions

Amboseli National Park, Mount Kilimanjaro, Normatior Hill
History
Amboseli National Park, Kenya

A Gift from the Kilimanjaro

The first European to venture into these Masai haunts was stunned by what he found. And even today, large herds of elephants and other herbivores roam the pastures irrigated by the snow of Africa's biggest mountain.
Camiguin, Philippines, Katungan mangrove.
Islands
Camiguin, Philippines

An Island of Fire Surrended to Water

With more than twenty cones above 100 meters, the abrupt and lush, Camiguin has the highest concentration of volcanoes of any other of the 7641 islands in the Philippines or on the planet. But, in recent times, not even the fact that one of these volcanoes is active has disturbed the peace of its rural, fishing and, to the delight of outsiders, heavily bathed life.
Correspondence verification
Winter White
Rovaniemi, Finland

From the Finnish Lapland to the Arctic. A Visit to the Land of Santa

Fed up with waiting for the bearded old man to descend down the chimney, we reverse the story. We took advantage of a trip to Finnish Lapland and passed through its furtive home.
View from the top of Mount Vaea and the tomb, Vailima village, Robert Louis Stevenson, Upolu, Samoa
Literature
Upolu, Samoa

Stevenson's Treasure Island

At age 30, the Scottish writer began looking for a place to save him from his cursed body. In Upolu and the Samoans, he found a welcoming refuge to which he gave his heart and soul.
Era Susi towed by dog, Oulanka, Finland
Nature
PN Oulanka, Finland

A Slightly Lonesome Wolf

Jukka “Era-Susi” Nordman has created one of the largest packs of sled dogs in the world. He became one of Finland's most iconic characters but remains faithful to his nickname: Wilderness Wolf.
Sheki, Autumn in the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, Autumn Homes
Autumn
Sheki, Azerbaijan

autumn in the caucasus

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Atacama woman, Life on the edge, Atacama Desert, Chile
Natural Parks
Atacama Desert, Chile

Life on the Edges of the Atacama Desert

When you least expect it, the driest place in the world reveals new extraterrestrial scenarios on a frontier between the inhospitable and the welcoming, the sterile and the fertile that the natives are used to crossing.
Selfie, Wall of China, Badaling, China
UNESCO World Heritage
Badaling, China

The Sino Invasion of the Great Wall of China

With the arrival of the hot days, hordes of Han visitors take over the Great Wall of China, the largest man-made structure. They go back to the era of imperial dynasties and celebrate the nation's newfound prominence.
Characters
Look-alikes, Actors and Extras

Make-believe stars

They are the protagonists of events or are street entrepreneurs. They embody unavoidable characters, represent social classes or epochs. Even miles from Hollywood, without them, the world would be more dull.
Promise?
Beaches
Goa, India

To Goa, Quickly and in Strength

A sudden longing for Indo-Portuguese tropical heritage makes us travel in various transports but almost non-stop, from Lisbon to the famous Anjuna beach. Only there, at great cost, were we able to rest.
Faithful light candles, Milarepa Grotto temple, Annapurna Circuit, Nepal
Religion
Annapurna Circuit: 9th Manang to Milarepa Cave, Nepal

A Walk between Acclimatization and Pilgrimage

In full Annapurna Circuit, we finally arrived in Manang (3519m). we still need acclimatize to the higher stretches that followed, we inaugurated an equally spiritual journey to a Nepalese cave of Milarepa (4000m), the refuge of a siddha (sage) and Buddhist saint.
The Toy Train story
On Rails
Siliguri a Darjeeling, India

The Himalayan Toy Train Still Running

Neither the steep slope of some stretches nor the modernity stop it. From Siliguri, in the tropical foothills of the great Asian mountain range, the Darjeeling, with its peaks in sight, the most famous of the Indian Toy Trains has ensured for 117 years, day after day, an arduous dream journey. Traveling through the area, we climb aboard and let ourselves be enchanted.
U Bein Bridge, Amarapura, Myanmar
Society
u-bein BridgeMyanmar

The Twilight of the Bridge of Life

At 1.2 km, the oldest and longest wooden bridge in the world allows the Burmese of Amarapura to experience Lake Taungthaman. But 160 years after its construction, U Bein is in its twilight.
Saksun, Faroe Islands, Streymoy, warning
Daily life
Saksun, StreymoyFaroe Islands

The Faroese Village That Doesn't Want to be Disneyland

Saksun is one of several stunning small villages in the Faroe Islands that more and more outsiders visit. It is distinguished by the aversion to tourists of its main rural owner, author of repeated antipathies and attacks against the invaders of his land.
Howler Monkey, PN Tortuguero, Costa Rica
Wildlife
PN Tortuguero, Costa Rica

Tortuguero: From the Flooded Jungle to the Caribbean Sea

After two days of impasse due to torrential rain, we set out to discover the Tortuguero National Park. Channel after channel, we marvel at the natural richness and exuberance of this Costa Rican fluvial marine ecosystem.
Bungee jumping, Queenstown, New Zealand
Scenic Flights
Queenstown, New Zealand

Queenstown, the Queen of Extreme Sports

In the century. XVIII, the Kiwi government proclaimed a mining village on the South Island "fit for a queen".Today's extreme scenery and activities reinforce the majestic status of ever-challenging Queenstown.
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