Kia Ora My name's Todd Spencer. I'm the project coordinator for New Zealand. Many of you probably know very little about New Zealand. So here are some quick facts so you can understand more about us:

• We're a small country made up of 2 main islands, about 2000km south east of Australia
• Most New Zealanders are of European descent. However, the indigenous Maori make up the biggest minority
• The Maori name for New Zealand is Aotearoa - or land of the long white cloud
• We speak English
• We are a democracy and have a Prime Minister (John Key) but the Queen of England is still our head of state
• We're about the same size as Japan but have only 4 million people
• Our highest mountain is Aoraki or Mount Cook 3754m - we have lots of mountains and lakes - and active volcanoes
• Agriculture and tourism are our biggest export earners
• We're mostly famous for the All Blacks (rugby team), Lord of the Rings movies and our butter! Sir Edmund Hillary, the first person to climb Mount Everest, was a New Zealander
• We have about the 11th highest carbon emissions per person in the world - mainly due to our agricultural emissions

I'm really pleased to be involved in the hotstuffchillout project! I hope you all really enjoy this unique opportunity! Todd