Better Life
ContentThe mid-to-uptempo song is driven by a chugging banjo part set against a distinctive drum pattern. The message of an optimistic future prevailing over current struggles pervades the lyrics, summarized by the chorus:
Someday baby, You and I are gonna be the ones Good luck's gonna shine on Ooh, someday baby, You and I are gonna be the ones So hold on, we're headed for a better life! Urban's electric guitar playing further decorates the song, especially in its outro.
Music videoThe music video for "Better Life" portrayed Urban and his band playing the song in a Los Angeles culvert, intercut with scenes of a struggling young pair of lovers having their ups and downs, and finally ending up in the culvert to watch Urban
. In April 2006 Urban won the CMT Music Awards Video of the Year for it. Urban closed that awards show with a live performance of the song, featuring a long interpolation of Bruce Springsteen's "The Rising" and backing vocals from a large choir consisting of displaced persons from the previous summer's Hurricane KatrinaWhangarei, pronounced is the northernmost city in New Zealand and the regional capital of Northland Region. Although commonly classified as a city, it is officially part of the Whangarei District Council, a local body created in 1989 to administer both the city proper and its hinterland. The population was estimated to be 51,100 at the June 2008 es
timate, up from 47,400 in 2001.
The Whangarei urban area includes the suburbs of Kamo, Tikipunga, Otangarei, Mairtown, Riverside, Sherwood Rise, Onerahi, Morningside, Raumanga, Parihaka, Maunu, Horahora, Woodhill, Vinetown, The Regent, Kensington, and Whau Valley.
Contents History 2 Geography 2.1 Mount Parihaka 2.2 Hatea River 2.3 Climate 3 Education 4 People from Whangarei 5 References 6 External links
HistoryCaptain James Cook and the crew of the Endeavour were the first Europeans to contemplate the Whangarei Harbour entrance. On 15 November 1769 they caught about one hundred fish there which they classified as 'bream' (probably snapper) prompting Cook to name the area Bream Bay.[2]
The Māori iwi Ngāpuhi occupied Whangarei from the early 19th century, and the Te Parawhau hapū lived at the head of the harbour. In the 1820s the area was repeatedly attacked by Waikato and Ngāti Paoa raiders during the Musket Wars.[3]
The first European settler was William Carruth, a Scotsman and trader who arrived in 1839 and was joined, six years later, by Gilbert Mair and his family. For the most part, relations between the settlers and local Māori were friendly, but in February 1842, all settler farms were plundered in revenge for transgressions of tapu. In April 1845, during the Flagstaff War, all settlers fled from Whangarei.[4] Most of the original settlers never returned, but by the mid 1850s there were a number of farmers and orchardists in the area. From 1855, a small town developed, driven by the kauri gum trade. Today's 'Town Basin' on the Hatea River was the original port and early exports included kauri gum and native timber followed later by coal from Whau Valley, Kamo and Hikurangi. Coal from the Kiripaka field was exported via the Ngunguru River. By 1864, the nucleus of the present city was established.[5]
Fire bricks made from fire clay deposits near the Kamo mines supported a brick works over several decades. Good quality limestone was quarried at Hikurangi, Portland, and Limestone Island, and initially sold as agricultural lime and later combined with local coal to produce Portland cement at the settlement of Portland on the south side of the harbour. Local limestone is still used in cement manufacture but the coal is now imported from the West Coast of the South Island.
Whangarei was the most urbanised area in Northland towards the end of the 19th century, but grew slowly in the 20th century. The district slowly exhausted most of its natural resources but was sustained by agriculture, especially dairying. Shipping was the main transport link until the North Auckland railway line reached the town in 1925, and the road from Auckland was not suitable for travel in poor weather until 1934.[6] These terrestrial travel routes forced a rapid decline in coastal shipping but stimulated Whangarei to become the service centre for Northland. The population was 14,000 in 1945, but grew rapidly in the 1960s, incorporating Kamo and other outlying areas. In 1965, Whangarei was declared a city. Its population the following year was 31,000.[7]
The second half of the twentieth century brought the establishment and expansion of the oil refinery at Marsden Point on Bream Bay and the adjacent development of timber processing. A container port could follow, linked by rail to Auckland.[8]
Geography Panorama of Whangarei from Parihaka Mount Parihaka Whangarei FallsMt Parihaka is a volcanic dome rising 241 m to the northeast of the city centre. It is about 20 million years old, and part of the Harbour Fault which also includes Parakiore near Kamo, and Hikurangi near the town of the same name.[9] The dome is surrounded by the Parihaka Scenic Reserve. There is road access to the summit of Parihaka, and walking tracks through the reserve.[10]
The dome is frequently called Mount Parahaki, but the original Māori spelling of Parihaka was confirmed by the government in 2005.[11]
Hatea RiverMain article: Hatea RiverThe Hatea River flows south through the city and empties into Whangarei Harbour. The river has a spectacular 26 m waterfall in Tikipunga, 6 km north of the city.[12]
ClimateWhangarei has a subtropical climate and very few frosts. Summers rarely exceed 30°C, and there is plentiful rainfall, spread relatively evenly over the year.
Urban met Australian actress Nicole Kidman at G'Day LA, a Hollywood event honoring Australians, in January 2005 but they didn't begin dating until 6 months later. They were emailing each other back and forth, addressing each other as Hank (Keith) and Evie (Nicole). Kidman and Urban were married on Sunday, June 25, 2006, at the Cardinal Cerretti Memorial Chapel in the grounds of St Patrick's Estate, Manly in Sydney. "Hank & Evie" is now on the tag on the back of the shirts Urban sells at his concerts.
On Oct. 19, 2006, Urban checked himself into the Betty Ford Center in California. On Oct. 20, Urban issued a statement saying: "I deeply regret the hurt this has caused Nicole and the ones who love and support me. One can never let one's guard down on recovery, and I'm afraid that I have." On Jan. 18, 2007, Urban announced his completion of rehab and his plans to go on tour to promote his new album, Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing.[6].
On Feb. 2, 2007, Urban filed a lawsuit against a New Jersey painter by the same name, who has a web site The singer wants to acquire the rights to the URL[7]. Keith Urban the singer's URL is The painter has countersued.[8]
On 1 October 2007, while headed to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, Urban skid off of his motorbike when a paparazzo followed him near his home in Sydney; Urban was not hurt. In a statement released by his publicists, Urban says the incident was "the result of one person's desire to do his job and my desire to maintain my privacy." Urban says he tried to avoid an oncoming car and dropped his bike. He says the photographer came to his assistance without taking photos.
On 7 January 2008, Nicole Kidman confirmed that she and Urban were expecting their first child together. Kidman's publicist said that "the couple are thrilled and can not wait." A July due date was announced. Kidman gave birth to their first child, a daughter, Sunday Rose Kidman Urban, on July 7, 2008, in Nashville, Tennessee. She weighed 2.93 kg (6 lbs. 7.5 oz). On his website Keith stated,
"Earlier this morning Nic gave birth to our beautiful baby girl, Sunday Rose Kidman Urban. We want to thank everybody that has kept us in their thoughts and prayers. We feel very blessed and grateful that we can share this joy with all of you today.
Someday baby, You and I are gonna be the ones Good luck's gonna shine on Ooh, someday baby, You and I are gonna be the ones So hold on, we're headed for a better life! Urban's electric guitar playing further decorates the song, especially in its outro.
Music videoThe music video for "Better Life" portrayed Urban and his band playing the song in a Los Angeles culvert, intercut with scenes of a struggling young pair of lovers having their ups and downs, and finally ending up in the culvert to watch Urban
. In April 2006 Urban won the CMT Music Awards Video of the Year for it. Urban closed that awards show with a live performance of the song, featuring a long interpolation of Bruce Springsteen's "The Rising" and backing vocals from a large choir consisting of displaced persons from the previous summer's Hurricane KatrinaWhangarei, pronounced is the northernmost city in New Zealand and the regional capital of Northland Region. Although commonly classified as a city, it is officially part of the Whangarei District Council, a local body created in 1989 to administer both the city proper and its hinterland. The population was estimated to be 51,100 at the June 2008 es
timate, up from 47,400 in 2001.The Whangarei urban area includes the suburbs of Kamo, Tikipunga, Otangarei, Mairtown, Riverside, Sherwood Rise, Onerahi, Morningside, Raumanga, Parihaka, Maunu, Horahora, Woodhill, Vinetown, The Regent, Kensington, and Whau Valley.
Contents History 2 Geography 2.1 Mount Parihaka 2.2 Hatea River 2.3 Climate 3 Education 4 People from Whangarei 5 References 6 External links
HistoryCaptain James Cook and the crew of the Endeavour were the first Europeans to contemplate the Whangarei Harbour entrance. On 15 November 1769 they caught about one hundred fish there which they classified as 'bream' (probably snapper) prompting Cook to name the area Bream Bay.[2]
The Māori iwi Ngāpuhi occupied Whangarei from the early 19th century, and the Te Parawhau hapū lived at the head of the harbour. In the 1820s the area was repeatedly attacked by Waikato and Ngāti Paoa raiders during the Musket Wars.[3]
The first European settler was William Carruth, a Scotsman and trader who arrived in 1839 and was joined, six years later, by Gilbert Mair and his family. For the most part, relations between the settlers and local Māori were friendly, but in February 1842, all settler farms were plundered in revenge for transgressions of tapu. In April 1845, during the Flagstaff War, all settlers fled from Whangarei.[4] Most of the original settlers never returned, but by the mid 1850s there were a number of farmers and orchardists in the area. From 1855, a small town developed, driven by the kauri gum trade. Today's 'Town Basin' on the Hatea River was the original port and early exports included kauri gum and native timber followed later by coal from Whau Valley, Kamo and Hikurangi. Coal from the Kiripaka field was exported via the Ngunguru River. By 1864, the nucleus of the present city was established.[5]
Fire bricks made from fire clay deposits near the Kamo mines supported a brick works over several decades. Good quality limestone was quarried at Hikurangi, Portland, and Limestone Island, and initially sold as agricultural lime and later combined with local coal to produce Portland cement at the settlement of Portland on the south side of the harbour. Local limestone is still used in cement manufacture but the coal is now imported from the West Coast of the South Island.
Whangarei was the most urbanised area in Northland towards the end of the 19th century, but grew slowly in the 20th century. The district slowly exhausted most of its natural resources but was sustained by agriculture, especially dairying. Shipping was the main transport link until the North Auckland railway line reached the town in 1925, and the road from Auckland was not suitable for travel in poor weather until 1934.[6] These terrestrial travel routes forced a rapid decline in coastal shipping but stimulated Whangarei to become the service centre for Northland. The population was 14,000 in 1945, but grew rapidly in the 1960s, incorporating Kamo and other outlying areas. In 1965, Whangarei was declared a city. Its population the following year was 31,000.[7]
The second half of the twentieth century brought the establishment and expansion of the oil refinery at Marsden Point on Bream Bay and the adjacent development of timber processing. A container port could follow, linked by rail to Auckland.[8]
Geography Panorama of Whangarei from Parihaka Mount Parihaka Whangarei FallsMt Parihaka is a volcanic dome rising 241 m to the northeast of the city centre. It is about 20 million years old, and part of the Harbour Fault which also includes Parakiore near Kamo, and Hikurangi near the town of the same name.[9] The dome is surrounded by the Parihaka Scenic Reserve. There is road access to the summit of Parihaka, and walking tracks through the reserve.[10]
The dome is frequently called Mount Parahaki, but the original Māori spelling of Parihaka was confirmed by the government in 2005.[11]
Hatea RiverMain article: Hatea RiverThe Hatea River flows south through the city and empties into Whangarei Harbour. The river has a spectacular 26 m waterfall in Tikipunga, 6 km north of the city.[12]
ClimateWhangarei has a subtropical climate and very few frosts. Summers rarely exceed 30°C, and there is plentiful rainfall, spread relatively evenly over the year.
Urban met Australian actress Nicole Kidman at G'Day LA, a Hollywood event honoring Australians, in January 2005 but they didn't begin dating until 6 months later. They were emailing each other back and forth, addressing each other as Hank (Keith) and Evie (Nicole). Kidman and Urban were married on Sunday, June 25, 2006, at the Cardinal Cerretti Memorial Chapel in the grounds of St Patrick's Estate, Manly in Sydney. "Hank & Evie" is now on the tag on the back of the shirts Urban sells at his concerts.
On Oct. 19, 2006, Urban checked himself into the Betty Ford Center in California. On Oct. 20, Urban issued a statement saying: "I deeply regret the hurt this has caused Nicole and the ones who love and support me. One can never let one's guard down on recovery, and I'm afraid that I have." On Jan. 18, 2007, Urban announced his completion of rehab and his plans to go on tour to promote his new album, Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing.[6].
On Feb. 2, 2007, Urban filed a lawsuit against a New Jersey painter by the same name, who has a web site The singer wants to acquire the rights to the URL[7]. Keith Urban the singer's URL is The painter has countersued.[8]
On 1 October 2007, while headed to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, Urban skid off of his motorbike when a paparazzo followed him near his home in Sydney; Urban was not hurt. In a statement released by his publicists, Urban says the incident was "the result of one person's desire to do his job and my desire to maintain my privacy." Urban says he tried to avoid an oncoming car and dropped his bike. He says the photographer came to his assistance without taking photos.
On 7 January 2008, Nicole Kidman confirmed that she and Urban were expecting their first child together. Kidman's publicist said that "the couple are thrilled and can not wait." A July due date was announced. Kidman gave birth to their first child, a daughter, Sunday Rose Kidman Urban, on July 7, 2008, in Nashville, Tennessee. She weighed 2.93 kg (6 lbs. 7.5 oz). On his website Keith stated,
"Earlier this morning Nic gave birth to our beautiful baby girl, Sunday Rose Kidman Urban. We want to thank everybody that has kept us in their thoughts and prayers. We feel very blessed and grateful that we can share this joy with all of you today.
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