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Yeah I never winter well; had the flu shot this year which does seem to be helping, but I am on my second dose of snotsiekte for the season...it's late enough in winter that I have already forgotten what it is like to wear only jandals and shorts around the clock. Counting down the days to September, in my book so long as you can ride early in the morning or late in the afternoon with nothing but arm warmers and your usual kit, then the weather is just fine. In other news, at least there is a new season of Archer on Netflix to help get through those long lonely winter nights...that must have you pretty excited eh Patches?

Dave at Auckland Towbars is bloody good, comes to you and does the job 'on site' and you can watch while he works, if you're into that sort of thing. They have good tech systems underpinning the whole operation which makes it real convenient and easy. http://aucklandtowbars.co.nz/

They're not called the remarkables for nothing eh Patches

Popped up to Kawau Island this past Saturday. For those who haven't been, it is highly recommended - you don't have to have a boat either, you can grab a ferry from Sandspit for the short 8km journey across, pack a picnic basket, hike around a few of the trails and what have you, and enjoy. It's a stunning place. While we were there, the floatplane which flies out of Auckland Central showed up and taxiied around the boats, that was pretty awesome.

Kiwi boats are far better build quality (quite a bit more expensive, too). Mine is a fibreglass boat, no issues there; you want a 'NZ CPC' hull, which is a build standard which basically means the thing won't sink even if it goes @rse up. You don't need double engines, you need good maintenance and Coastguard; the theory goes that even if you did lose an engine, the CG would rescue you faster than you could get back to shore anyway. By far the majority of runabouts - that is, small trailer boats - have a single engine; even some of the bigger ones, up to 28 or 30ft, have a single engine... As for no skippers, it is a fool who ventures onto the sea with all its dangers without the right sort of preparation - so, while you don't need a skippers, sensible folk will at the least do a day skipper with the Coastguard and get a radio operator's license before venturing onto the ocean. There's a fair bit that you need to know, all of which is essential for safety: rules of the road, navigation, equipment, handling the boat (at docks, etc, not in the open). Of course, the PIs and Maori, by all accounts seafaring people, ignore all that white man's nonsense and so tend to end up with mishaps and drownings and what have you.

Also, for reasons outlined above (and more, I am pretty certain) securing finance for something like that will be at 'car' rates (~12 percent) if you can secure it at all. If you thought a 20 percent deposit for a house was rude, wait until you see what they'll want for that bad boy!

Dude, anything that lives in sea water is in need of constant maintenance and decays right there in front of your eyes. Boats don't have a reputation for being a hole in the water that you fill up with money for no reason. Boats don't appreciate in value like houses do, either - they go one way and fast, particularly those that live in the water. (Trailer boats, on the other hand, don't tend to lose much value over in these parts, unless they are American or Aussie boats, which are not in demand). Ask DawieO about living on boats, he knows ;-)

We still need to do a Coromandel mission; it is next on my list for overnighter trips. I'll likely launch out of Kawakawa Bay for a short hop across the gulf...would be good to meet up at the bottom of Waiheke and proceed from there...

Yep; kingfsh (seriola lalandi lalandi) are the 'standard' gamefish; there are also marlin of various kinds and then there are the groupers - hapuku - though not sure that counts as a gamefish. Kingies are very accessible, you can go smash those straight out of Auckland or any one of a number of places without too much of a mission. I usually confine myself to snapper (pagrus auratus) fishing though, snaps are excellent eating and easy to catch; I'm not that great a fisherman!

Kiwis are boating mad, whatever boating you like, they do here. Skiing, 'biscuiting' (that's what we call a tube - a biscuit), wakeboarding, you name it, it happens here...

I'd be up for that for sure...

So here's a few pics from our sleepover in the Bay of Islands. About a 3 hour drive from our place in Red Beach, launched out of Opua. The marina there is being quite heavily redeveloped, but being June there wasn't much traffic. Weather was amazing and - bonus - sleeping on the boat in the water wasn't at all cold. Water temp around 16 degrees; air, down to 7 or 8 overnight, max in the day of around 15/16. Night time on the water is stunning; stars like you won't believe above, and bioluminescence in the water below. Dip your hand in and it sparkles...or it just sparkles a bit less obviously if you don't want cold fingers. This is the beach in Russell - it's real nice because you can park your boat up and the shops, restaurants etc are right there on the beach. That's a wider shot of Russell This is the anchorage we found for the night.. A sailing yacht and the setting sun Kids playing on Roberton Island Roberton has an awesome lagoon The bat beached at Roberton Random shot 'fishing' somewhere (fishing with kids age 3 and 1 is impossible) Our boat parked off an island somewhere

Think I bought something off of you about 8 years ago...or sold you something, can't recall...

Make sure to buy a car that can tow your boat when you get it...

Buc is a really good boat and an excellent choice. Consider the 550 wide body, too, mate of mine has one of those and it is top notch.

ha ha in the fullness of time. Of course, I haven't even met you yet...and Wayne I've known for years although only met him at the end of last year I think. What you really want to do is buddy up to DawieO, he has a serious boat (Rayglass 2500), but bigger than mine and hard top. I'll leave that to you guys to sort out..

Buccaneer 635; made in Hamilton. If you want a cheap boat, get an American one, if you want a good boat, get a Kiwi one. I chose a fibreglass boat because while I enjoy fishing and diving (for which a tinny is generally better) a glass boat gives a far better ride, which the kids and Mrs prefer. Ours has a 'camper' setup which turns the whole boat into a tent on the water...will report back on how warm or not that is - the water's not that cold just yet and the low in BoI is around 7 or 8 degrees, so I reckon it will be OK..

Dunno the frequency, but The Coast is my favourite, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s good music. Anyways, that aside, I'm heading up to the Bay of Islands this long weekend for an overnighter on the boat with the fam. Might stay one or two nights depending on how much we feel the cold...have a good one everyone!

Jealous. I've wanted to go down that way for ages, closest I've got is Queenstown and now with our lighties being so small, travel isn't really worth it. One day, though, I shall tow our boat all the way down there and spend a few weeks exploring first the Marlborough sounds on the top end, then the Sounds at the bottom... Hope the weather's OK for you when you go - winter showing some of the 'ugly' now!

Julius Cobbett is most certainly not a cheat of any sort. The same cannot be said for the winner and if someone like that beat me, I would not be happy about it.

Fully. I ran a business in SA for 5 years, time zone was horrible. Also, when you want to Skype friends etc in SA, the time zones mean everyone's on a completely different wavelength. Lank kek.

Good old Jowetts, wore their jersey for a good few years, Wally and Ingrid big supporters of the KZN schoolboy scene back in the day.

Wait ten minutes and they will be on sale, don't worry.

SI way too cold, 'not habitable by civilized men'

Seriously, figure out how to use google maps, it's awesome. Make sure it is up to date, then you just whack in where you are going, then choose from the tabs at the top if you are walking, cycling, driving, or taking a bus. Does it all for ya. And having used AT app for a while before realising Google does it better, I have compared both. AT rarely has the buses on time or all the options available to you...