patches

Hmm... perhaps it's this? https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9067020/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 Am I getting warmer? EDIT: although this is Netflix so may not have been on DSTV

Weird, shows up on my end. Might be the fact that they're stupid Apple HEIC files I copied and posted form my Google Photos. Anyway, I hopefully fixed it!?

Fortunately I had a stud in the centre between the window and door architraves, from a wall I demolished and patched over (as you'll see form the hole in the floorboards... future project, haha). However, if there was no stud my plan was to use snap toggles. I bought some in the US years ago, but have seen them in NZ. I used them to wall mount a TV., and they seem to hold. They're also a good option if someone may need to remove the object in question, as they don't bore out the drywall but fasten against themselves.

Ordered some JB Weld. Fortunately it qualifies as an "essential item" so we can get it delivered under our NZ level 4 lockdown. Plan is to do an oilchange at the same time so I'll take the ignition cover off completely and make sure the protrusion on the inside isn't affecting the stator. I'll then degrease the hell outta it, rough up a patch around the puncture with some 400 grit, and use my finest plastering skills to try get a decent finish. ????

This what you looking for... https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4168956/

With the erratic winter weather in Auckland, one has no choice but to dry their clothes indoors. Storing a clotheshorse is a pain (when not in use) and they're fugly so I installed some neat retractable washing lines inside the laundry area. These aren't quite enough for things like work shirts etc, so I came up with an idea. I call it, the coat-hanger-hanger! (not a unique idea, but my take on it). Made from some American Hard Maple I had lying around. Made 2 for double the capacity Not too much on an eyesore when folded away.

Same voltage. Different plug. For TV's I'd rather get one here as they have FreeView Tuners built in. Those enable one to watch around 20-odd free-to-air digital TV channels and have access to On-Demand streaming content. SA TV's generally don't support this and you'll need to buy a decoder. Not sure what TV prices are like in SA now, but in NZ the key is to keep an eye out for sales. Prices fluctuate weekly. Websites like pricespy.co.nz help one track the trends and see if they are actually getting a good deal or not. Seen here as an example:

Was shifting stuff around in the garage and found an oil stain on the floor. So I started inspecting the Husky 450 and came across this A crack in the ignition cover ???? I know how it happened (sidestand gave way on slippery driveway), but I didn't notice the damage at the time. A new ignition cover will be around $200, but I see a number of KTM and Husky owners who have also befallen the fate of "gear lever vs thin magnesium casing" have opted for the JB Weld ghetto fix. Anyone here tried it before? Did it do the job?

As GrahamS2 said, avoid raw organic matter. Many processed food stuffs products (treated woods etc) are fine, however if in doubt, declare. As long as it's not illegal (drugs, etc) then the worst they can do is take it away. No fine. When I first landed in Christchurch and the biosecurity officer saw my little green book, he said with a smile "ahh, South African, hope you're not carrying any biltong". I didn't at the time, but on my last trip back from SA I tried to scoff down a 400g pack of those Woolies mini salami sticks, knowing that I'd have to turf them, or pay the $400 fine if I forgot to declare. I didn't make it through the pack (or feel so good for that matter) and ended up chucking about half of it when landing at the layover in Sydney ???? As for Border Security, this may be a controversial opinion (with the Aussie residents on here), but I genuinely believe that NZ law and border officers are generally more friendly and laid back than the Aussies. Anyone who has watched Police 10-7 in NZ will laugh at how friendly and almost considerate the police are. On the other hand, having flown into Sydney a number of times I've observed the Border Force officers(yes, even in the official name they chose to use the word "force") seem grumpy and are short and snappy with passengers.

Hahah, I did delve into my Scott Brown memory-archive and thought about getting one of those popup gazebo's but ran into 2 issues... First is that most of the ones I have found are 3m x 3m. My courtyard is only 2.5m wide. Second was the aim to prevent ANOTHER thing form cluttering the garage when not in use. So I came up with an alternate idea... A giant shower curtain! The plan is to run 2 "rails" of braided steel cable along the side of the house and fence-line. Then attach a tarp to that with carabiners making it easy to remove. But ideally I'll just pull it all back towards the back of the garage when not in use. It should cover that whole area outlined in blue. Most of the supplies are classified as essential and therefore available for delivery during our Level 4 Lockdown, so it may be a worthwhile project to keep me busy until we get back to some sort of normality.

Sure, lets see if I can remember how ???? I think I started off by watching this video... From the vid you'll see the basic principle is to add a 2nd ignition kill switch (or 3rd in the case of KTM's and huskies, assuming your bike already has one on the right and the left side of the handlebars). The advantage of this over just disconnecting the power from the battery is that someone may still kickstart (or push start) a battery-less bike. The disadvantage is that some opportunistic fool may just think your bike is struggling to start (as the starter motor still turns over), and they'll flatten your battery trying. As for the switches, I used one of these heavy duty toggles with a boot I did have aspirations to making this a DPDT toggle switch in to simultaneously take the battery offline when the hidden kills-witch is activated, but I got lazy. When it comes to hiding it, there are many options. Somewhere inconspicuous, easy to reach, but not easy to accidentally activate is the ideal. As for the functionality, as previously mentioned the starter motor will still turn over, but the ignition is grounded and therefore without "hotwiring" the bike or deactivating the kill-switch, the engine won't fire up. Hope that helps!

My Huskies are keyless AND fobless ???? I have however installed hidden kill-switches on them to prevent unwanted persons from starting them.

Would you look at that weather... *subtle topic change attempt* ???? But really, Auckland has had some really annoying weather lately. Windy, spats of rain and even hail yesterday. On Saturday and Sunday I was trying to do some woodwork. This involved wheeling a myriad of tools out of the garage into the courtyard and setting up (garage too small to setup in). I got about 15min into it before it would start drizzling. I then packed up everything, wheeled it back into the garage and waited it out. 5min later the sun was shining as if nothing had ever happened. So I set up again. Rinse and repeat 3x and eventually I gave yup in frustration. Man I need a bigger garage!

I have an addiction and should probably seek professional help... ..but only after I work my way up to a Festool Domino ????

General sentiment seems to be pretty positive. NZ has been watching what has been happening in NSW and it terrifies us. They're in their 8th/9th week of lockdown, I believe. This morning they interviewed Judith Collins (the leader of the opposition) and even she agreed with the approach. She did have a dig at the low vaccination rates and she's not entirely wrong, but the "go hard and early" approach seems to have the backing of the people (or at least the ones I speak to). There are now 5 cases in the community. One is a co-worker linked to the fist and the other 3 are linked to that one. One of the cases is a nurse at the Auckland City Hospital (my place of work). She is fully vaccinated so hopefully she was less contagious. We received an email last night notifying staff of the infected healthcare worker and some additional details. Fortunately I spend most of my time offsite and our campus is huge so I'm low risk.

Although I have little-to-no space in my garage for woodwork so most of it happens outside, I've still been pondering dust control options. As most of y tools are mobile, and I've been slowly switching out to the battery version where I can, I decided to go with one of Makita's little 15L 36V (2x 18V) L-class HEPA filter dust extractors. Managed to get a barely used DVC154L for about half of new price. What's pretty cool about the DVC154 (and newer DVC157) model is the addition of Makita's AWS (Auto-Start Wireless System). Bluetooth control that automatically turns the dust extractor on and off based on the use of the tool it's connected to. Currently I only own 1 AWS enabled too (Makita Track Saw), but this new gadget/gimmick has me eyeing out the Makita 305mm 36V AWS mitre saw ???? (although at nearly R20,000 equiv for the kit, I may just hold off for a while) In a world where money is no object I'd totally go for the Festool equivalents. I hear their dust extractors are class leading. But for now I'll give this little Makita one a go and see how it does.

Potentially just messes with our usual December Sydney trip. Didn't have any other big adventures planned. This morning on the breakfast show they were interviewing a kiwi woman on a long holiday in Italy (and other parts of Europe) who was complaining about the MIQ process to the point that she has engaged the services of a human rights lawyer to help file a case against the NZ government. She whinges on about MIQ denying her the right to return to her country of citizenship. Whilst spots are limited and the booking system does have flaws, she is not denied the right to return, and touting the phrase "violation of human rights" is a pretty serious allegation. I'm not sure what her objective was but she just came across as entitled and selfish.

When I first moved over I went all out and got a Thule setup with a Sidearm XT rack, as I liked the idea of having a rack that only makes contact with the tyres. Considering at the time I lived in the Port Hills (so trails were a 2km ride away) and was massively distracted by riding dirt bikes, it was an overkill and waste of money ???? Nowadays I don't even have a car (share my wife's little VW Polo) so I just have a simple little boot clip-on from Torpedo 7 . Mostly use it with 1 - 2 big bikes on it. Have used it with 3, but gets a bit cluttered. These are the most popular types of rack in IN for those with towbars Been on 4hr drives, 3 bikes up on one of those, simply held on with some EZ grip bungies and no problems.

Definitely growing! With the majority of riders leaning heavily towards trail riding, and having eBike categories available on enduro races for those that are competitive, there's definitely a market. Retailers have responded by making many options available. Recently Torpedo7 (large adventure sports and camping retail chain) even started selling Intense MTBs (typically considered a "boutique brand"), and they are pushing the Intense eBIke range. Many retailers couldn't keep up with eBike demand last year, with much of the incoming stock being sold/accounted for before it even arrived. Plenty of eBikes to be seen on the trails at Woodhill. I envy them as I hear that electric whirr-and whine come past me on the long winding climbs. I won't lie, I wouldn't mind a Trek Rail 9 or the like, but at over $11,000 they're still too rich for my blood.

Yeah, he has some great vids. First one I saw of his was how to make an MFT style workbench using the UJK Parf Guide setup. Went down a youtube rabit-hole and next thing I'm watching him attempting to cut dovetails in under 3min.

I'm guessing Rally bikes use upswept exhausts for a few reasons. Low slung fuel tanks being one. Ease of access for repairs, replacements, or maintenance is also a big deal on rally bikes so having an exhaust header that is out of the way makes life easier (the moto malle guys & gals I'm sure are especially thankful). Those who have worked on a Husky (or KTM) dirt bike will know the hassle of removing a rear shock, It either requires some insane contortion & jenga skills with the exhaust header partially removed, or one has to drop out the swingarm to completely remove the exhaust header so that the rear-shock can squeeze past. I recall watching a Youtube vid of a privateer showing how he was converting his Yamaha WR450 to a Dakar racing machine. An exhaust reroute was one of the mods made. I think it was to allow for larger tanks (front and rear) But then I guess Husky 701's and KTM 690's share some traits (trellis frames and rear mounted fuel tanks) with their leaner-meaner brothers, yet they run a more MX-style exhaust routing. And some of the aftermarket rally kits (like the Omega, for rally-fying Husky 701's) allow the standard exhaust to remain in place, despite the addition of low-slung front mounted fuel tanks. So yeah, I guess serviceability is the name of the game. Either way, at the price of a rally bike I'd imagine they have done all their homework and have their reasons, whether I understand them or not ps. personally I like the look of the upswept pipe on a rally bike.

I think Mucky Nutz were one of the fist companies to make these style fenders. I remember seeing them on a French Alps DH trip in 2012 for 10 Euro (which seemed ridiculous for what it was), On a subsequent Alps trip (2014) we decided to buy 1 and use it as a template to cut out some copies from cheap plastic chopping boards (almost the same material). We used them on the front and back of our DH bikes. We underestimated the mud. Rear mud guard didn't last much past day 1. got so caked up that it ripped through the cable-tie holes and flew off into the countryside. My legs 1/2 day into the trip. (me foolishly thinking that despite the water the ground underneath was settled, semi-firm, and ridable)

So this weekend was a bit of a bust. The timber shortage (particularly the pink treated framing timber) meant that despite "my apprentices" checking 3 suppliers, we couldn't get the materials needed to build the wall. However, they were amped to build something, after all, half my garage was transported all the way to "site". So we bought some treated fencing timber, sketched a quick concept for an outdoor braai area, and commenced making sawdust and noise. The appies hard at work (under supervision). Plumber butt-blurred for your protection. The Concept. Pine framing, to be clad with decking kwila (all treated). Cladding to extend up fence, and down to pavers. Left side of benchtop to be removable to reveal hidden Weber BabyQ. Right and left sides to have kwila-clad cupboard doors. Not sure how it'll turn out, as I packed up my tools and left them to carry on with a circular saw, drill, hammer and nails. I think they'll miss the framing nailer the most, haha!

Hmm that's a tough one, I'd be inclined to sell and go for a 130-140mm trail bike, but in reality if you still want to ride XCM type rides, you can find them. XC bike in the Chch Christchurch itself is flat. I mean pancake flat. And the City Council has been spending a lot of time and money into developing the cycleways. So commuting could very much be on the cards. However, I know it's unlikely you'll plan to use that Spez Epic for commuting, so consider a commuter an n+1 you may want to acquire this end. Loads of new options available, and many also find joy in reviving 20yr old hardtail MTB's (like Giant Boulders) to kit out for commuting. Hagley park is another factor. There are some awesome walking and cycling paths in the 165 hectare park. Great place to spend time with the family. A hardcore XC bike is an overkill for that too, but it is somewhere one could clock up miles if they wanted to do laps. The Outskirts The surrounds of Christchurch are less flat... as in not at all. The Port Hills, (within 5km of the CBD) have some amazing trails. There's Victoria Park and the Christchurch Adventure Park, which have the more adrenaline inducing tech trails. Then there's the Crater Rim, which is where an XC bike would probably make the most sense, although the majority of riders do this on 130 - 160mm bikes. There's also Bottle Lake Forest and McLean's Island. These too would cater well to XC bikes, but no real advantage to having one there unless you're strava hunting. Further Afield The Canterbury Plains share a similar topography to Christchurch and there are no shortage of dirt roads in the region. These are relatively featureless though and gravel/cyclocross bikes will do the job. Hamner Springs is a great day/overnight/weekend trip (approx 1hr45 from Chch). Plenty of trails in the forestry blocks there. Some big climbs, too! Another place an XC bike could shine. Some of the descending trails are rather technical though, so an extra 30-40mm travel may be appreciated there. Then there are trips to the MTB mecca's like Nelson, Rotorua and Queenstown. For these, I'd say 140mm+. Majority of riders will be on 150-160mm bikes. Multi-Day Adventures The Alps to Ocean is a very popular cycle trail a and one I regret not doing when living on the South Island. It's basically a gravel path running from Mt Cook to Oamaru. Perfect for XC bike. Paparoa track is one of the newest Great Walks, within half a days drive form Chch. This Great Walk is bike friendly and with an estimated 2day trip (one way). They do however grade it a "4: Advanced". That'll be conservative, but when I was camping in the region, all the rioders I saw completing it were on Trail/Enduro type bikes. Summary In conclusion you can ride whatever you want to ride wherever. That's the beauty of it! It's about what you enjoy and what you want to get out of it. However, there are some realities, such as: General level of trail technicality is above that of SA Market for used XC bikes here is WAY smaller than SA, so if you do decide to sell, you'll have better luck before you leave. NZ seems less event focused (or maybe I'm just not aware). But things like Nissan trail Seekers aren't a thing (or big thing) so people ride mostly for fun and ride fun bikes. Your daughter has some good insight there... do you really want to ride a bike that's different from the other kids? ???? (there's a reason the majority ride trail bikes) But hey, definitely take my ramblings with a pinch of salt. I did Sani2C on a 160mm enduro bike with flat pedals, so I'm not always the smartest ????

As previously mentioned, my move over to NZ was very light on the luggage side (but being a single lad did assist that). I also never shipped any containers etc. Here are some of my take aways... Flying with a bike... Yup! Easy as (kiwi speak for "no worries")! I had 5 bikes in SA. I planned on taking 3 to NZ, Sold the other 2. I cleaned and packed all 3 into boxes before I left, but was only taking 1 with me on the initial flight. Stored the other 2 boxed bikes at my Mom's house. Went and retrieved a 2nd one 2 years later on a visit, but decided to sell the 3rd during that trip as life in NZ made me realise I really didn't need it. Also worth considering when flying with bikes to NZ Boxes are the lightest packaging option (I tell myself that each time I'm tempted to buy a flashy Evoc bike bag ???? ) Clean bikes thoroughly beforehand, specially MTBs. Biosecurity will see a bike box/bag, ask if its an MTB, and likely want to inspect. With mine they even checked the seatpost tube. In terms of MTBs, NZ is very trail/enduro focused. So if you have to choose between an XC and a trail/enduro bike, you'll probably get more use out of the latter. My 3 boxed bikes were a downhill, Enduro, and slopestyle/4X bike. I flew with the enduro. Retrieved the 4X (as it's 1 of only 2 in existence) and sold the DH bike. Excess Luggage... As I flew with a bike and was relocating my life with what I could carry including 1 bike, I needed some excess luggage for the flight over. I flew Qantas (most direct route. JHB-SYD-CHC, 18hrs total). I priced excess luggage and ticket options and this was the outcome (keeping in mind this was in March 2016, and I booked the flights only a week out form my departure due to visa delays) 1 way flight to JHB to Christchurch = approx R10,000 (Return flight was around R12,500) 20kg Excess baggage (to allow for the bike) = approx R8,000 1 way Premium Economy ticket, which included: 2nd 23kg bag, 2nd 7kg hand luggage, better seats, business lounge access in Sydney as the SYD-CHC flight was Business class (no Premium economy on that route at the time) = approx R20,000 So I went with the Premium Economy option as I had no planned time frame to return for a visit. This was the sum total of my luggage: Side Note: Christchurch Airport has a bike assembly station with tools, pump etc, right outside the front doors, for those that fly in and want to build bikes right away to get on some trails. So in summary, yes I took 1 bike (and another later). I also left a bunch behind. No real regrets at leaving the others behind due to: Less time riding as I explored and experienced the new adventure (plus no riding buddies or "Spruit". That said, Chch has PLENTY of easily accessible trails). Limited space in my first rental The acquisition of a dirt bike (so got lazy) Acquisition of a new MTB in NZ (Many options here, so many sales too, plus MTBs are constantly evolving/improving so no use crying over the 5yr old bikes I left behind). Different focuses in life. Still love riding, but hobby-whored myself to a whole lot of new things since being here. Hope that helps