21st January 2009. So is the world a safer place?

With the inauguration of President Barack Obama we live in hope of a better world than that which George W. Bush has churned up for us during his reign.

Here in Wellington the Obama ascension was greeted with a super summer day and an early morning power cut.

Feeling that I should ignore the US world influence, however, and make deeper investigation of this promised land I headed down Mount Vic and into the famous Te Papa museum. But there's something wrong here...no turnstiles, no security guards to pass, no entrance ticket needed. Nobody

even wants to check my transparent backpack for guns or explosives like in all the other museums in the world that I've visited in recent years. Was it like this here before Obama, I ask myself?

But although I only manage to investigate the 2nd floor of Te Papa, on my first visit to this most casual of national museums, I'm left in no doubt as to why the dangers imposed by global terrorism are not necessarily considered as the main threat here. If you're a Kiwi or a kiwi this land is fraught with natural danger and the natural danger is further intensified for both populations by dubious driving attitudes of the Kiwi on wheels.

Wellington itself is crossed by 5 natural land faults I've learned. On average there is one 'earthquake' here per week but, luckily, a bad one far less frequently. Exhibits on Te Papa's 2nd floor included a small wooden house in which visitors are subjected to the forces of a real quake, intensified by video of real events in recent, local history. The cumulative effect of the multimedia presentations of New Zealand's ever-evolving crust infers that it is only a matter of time before a massive heaving of the earth once again reaps havoc with a community or two here.

And as for the safety of

the national bird, the iconic but sadly threatened kiwi...I'm happy to be a member of the human race threatened by terrorism, boy road racers and local volcanic activity.

Good luck to the new president, but I wonder will he make a big difference for the kiwi... or the Kiwis for that matter. The world here remains a dangerous place.