Replacement sought for New Zealand's official wizard
New Zealand's official wizard is retiring as he approaches his 70th birthday.
Ian Brackenbury Channell was made Wizard of Christchurch in 1980 and appointed the country's first wizard a decade later by then prime minister Mike Moore.
He was born in London, England, and gained honours degrees in sociology and psychology from Leeds University in West Yorkshire before teaching sociology at the University of New South Wales.
ABC reports he's famous for his rain dances and upside-down world map, where New Zealand is found at the top of the planet instead of 'down under'.
He also expounds radical theories on cosmological and other matters to locals and tourists while sporting a beard, black gown, pointy hat, and carrying a crooked wooden staff.
He said: "I will be happy to have a successor. I think it's a wonderful job. It's not commercial. You are not left-wing or right-wing. It's not like it's an athletic job. I do the odd rain dance, but that's about it."
