Letters: Lions fan had whale of a time in Rotorua

Fans amuse themselves at Rotorua International Stadium. Photo / Stephen Parker

Tommy Wilson's opinion piece on the Lions Maori game (Rotorua Daily Post, June 19) entirely misses the mark.

The game was a great physical encounter but even more importantly, everyone in the stadium had a whale of a time. My friend Louis and I (the guys in lion suits in the centre of your picture) were surrounded by Lions and Kiwis, all of whom enjoyed the day immensely.

After the game, we sampled several of your local taverns and the party atmosphere was off the charts. We ended up in Ruck and Maul, with mostly locals, who welcomed us with open arms.

We struggled to buy a drink, as many guys sporting the silver fern kept us suitably lubricated! Every local I have met in my travels so far from the southern tip of the South Island up to here have been so friendly and welcoming, which enhances the natural beauty of your country hugely!

The rugby was great, the party was even better, Tommy missed the mood entirely.

I have a new headline for you: 'the most miserable man in New Zealand somehow keeps his job as a local journalist'.

Onwards to Hamilton.

All the best

KEITH GORMAN
'Happy Lion'

Creation v evolution

Referring to recent correspondence on creation vs evolution.

Proponents of evolution postulate an Earth history of 4.5 billion years, but the following don't support this:

1. Insufficient depth of ocean sediment, less than 400m.
2. Not enough sodium in the oceans.
3. Earth's current magnetic field (half-life 1475 years) is too strong.
4. Too few human skeletons found from an estimated stone age population of five billion extending over 100,000 years.
5. Levels of carbon - 14 (half-life 5730 years) in coal and diamonds indicate ages less than 100,000 years.
6. Remains of blood vessels, red blood cells and other tissues in dinosaur bones mean that dinosaurs disappeared some thousands of years ago, not 65 million.
7. Rate of deleterious mutations in human mitochondrial DNA and other biological material is too high for mankind to have been around for more than a few thousand years.
8. Lack of evidence of weathering between geological strata supposedly exposed during extensive periods of uplift.
9. Presence of multi-strate fossils (eg upright tree trunks) spanning geological strata claimed to represent 1000s of years.

These, and many other facts relating to Earth, our solar system, its planets, moons and the comets and the universe at large, are much more in accord with Earth's age and the history as outlined in the Bible than the events and time scales promoted by secular evolutionists.

DAVID PREEST
Rotorua