patches

Hahaha, I wonder what a traffic cop will say if you get pulled over while cruising the suburbs like Spongebob in his driving test, Those boats also remind me of the Rachel Hunter/Northland Air New Zealand Safety video. There was a snippet in that where they head from the beach into the water on one of those.

Spiderwebs right! No shortage of spiderwebs in NZ. Fortunately though, no really nasty spiders (like in Aus). Speaking of invertebrates (and while trying to exercise willpower not to scratch my ankle)... SAND FLIES!!! One of the definite bads in NZ. Mozzie bites are one thing. Sand flies (especially down on the South Island) are another. The itchiness can last for a month!

Yeah, I too wonder when one sees $100k+ cars cruising around Auckland like they're Mr Delivery. There could be a few factors to this: 1. I think that Auckland is definitely a little more image focused than the rest of NZ. Much like Sydney is in Aus (some super flashy cars cruising around there). One tends to see just as many (if not more) new S and RS Audis than new base models. 2. As you mention, property ownership could have a big influence on this. Between us and our close group of friends (all young professional couples, between 30 and 35), all only have 1 car per household, and none of those cars were purchased for over $15k. We are all paying mortgages, however if we were 5-10yrs older and purchased said properties around 2012 or earlier, then the mortgages would be a fraction (or even paid off) and it would be a lot easier to redirect disposable income into a $100k+ car. And that's just accounting for owners of single properties. Auckland would have a number of people with multiple investment properties, purchased a decade ago (or more) and have heaps of excess cash to buy luxury vehicles (and boats). That said, compared to SA, even the flashy Jaffas are still unlikely t spend more than 10% of the value of their house on a car, whereas a showy Joburger wouldn't flinch at spending north of 25% on a luxury vehicle. (yes, I know one has to factor in that houses here considerably more expensive). 3. Spoilt kids. Auckland has no shortage of sub-30yr olds cruising around in super flashy cars (from AMG Mercs, to McLarens and Bentleys), purchased with mommy & daddy's money. Whilst it's not as extreme as portrayed by the Singapoean set movie, the term "Crazy Rich Asians" is definitely applicable in many of these cases. All the above factors considered though, the income-to-car-value ratio in Auckland (of the purchaser, not the driver... damn trust fund kids), is still far below that of the middle-to-upper class in JHB.

If you're referring to the episode of Grand Designs NZ where they built one out West Melton way (just out side of Christchurch)... that was pretty hideous! It seemed like there was little architectural design and input into it, and looked like a grown-up was playing with wooden blocks to build a giant shed. And as you say, both programme and budget were blown out. The Grand Designs UK one was a far better execution. It also met budget and programme (as far as I can remember) I think the fact that the owner is an architect (and not an engineer) helped in the far more refined result. Ironically though, the architect's house (UK) was better run from a project perspective than the engineer's (NZ) house (even though the engineer claims to have construction project management credentials). I also think about the future resale, and the Christchurch home will likely deter potential buyers, whereas the other would attract. Yup, the council consenting processes in NZ can turn any "simple" project into a big deal. Government has realised that some of the requirements are OTT, and relaxed certain ones around sheds, sleep outs, car ports, etc. But based on the plague of leaky homes in NZ, they are only getting tougher on primary dwellings. In the above examples I think the one key difference in design was that the UK architect used the containers primarily as a simple, low effort, structure, not so much as the building envelope itself (as the NZ engineer intended).

Oh I definitely agree. My point of reverence was city folk working corporate jobs. JHB vs Auckland. Those unblemished by the JHB smog are definitely more sensible. And yes, frugality in car choice does not excuse poor stewardship.

True, although those skorra korra generally aren't owned and driven by people earning R750,000pa plus. It would be interesting to take a specific group, lets say young professionals (25 - 35yrs old) earning around $110k/R1.2m in NZ terms, and approx. R750k in SA terms. Then compare what percentage of their annual income they spend on their motor vehicles. I know cost of living in NZ is generally higher (especially housing in Auckland), but still, I don't know ANY young professionals in NZ with brand new Beemers, Mercs, or even Golf GTi's. In SA though, there are heaps of people earning that kinda money (or less) that will happily finance a car for 40-50% (or even higher) of their annual income. Here that same group would generally hover around the 5-15% mark. Interesting difference in perception and culture.

True. Which raises a notable point of difference. In general Kiwis care a lot less about what car they drive and what condition it is in, than we Saffers do. So many rusty bonnets in NZ. So many skadonks, driven by people in $1m+ houses. Add duty-free 2nd hand Japanese imports into the market, and one sees all sorts on the roads. Fortunately though NZ does require an annual warrant of fitness (roadworthy), which does mean 95% of cars on the road are passable.

Yup, totally do able! I have a friend who lived in Mairangi Bay and commuted to Newmarket via car. Another who lives in Long Bay, also commuted to Newmarket (drive to Albeany Station, then catch the 866 bus). He's also cycled (Long Bay to Bayswater Ferry along East Coast rd, then cycle up through the Domain). And I live in Milford and commute to Grafton (a little shorter, but same general route). I mostly bus (842 from Milford to Smales, then 866 from Smales to Grafton). What mode of transport you planning on using?

I'm sure most of you have seen this, but I thought it was quite funny. https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/122981053/superkiwisocialisticempireofjacinda-jacinda-ardern-puppet-appears-as-mary-poppins-fighting-covid19-on-uk-satire-spitting-image Spitting Image back after a 24 year hiatus. They have some funny Trump and BoJo Covid sketches too. I guess with the state of the world at the moment, there is just WAY too much comedic/satirical content for them to ignore, and hence the return after such a long time. First sketch I ever saw of theirs was the "I have never met a nice South African" song, shown to me by a British colleague.

haha, or outside like the majority of kiwis do. It would be interesting to know what percentage of garages in NZ actually get used for housing cars. My garage... nope 3 sets of close friends... all nope. In NZ "off street parking" is considered almost as good as a garage. And even then, it doesn't necessarily mean that the car is parked within a gated property. Such is the case in my instance. No front gate to my property. Will only look at putting on in one day when pets or mini-humans on the cards and I need to corral those suckers in. So yeah... garages are for bikes and fun stuff. Driveways and verges are for cars

Looks like the Auckland crazy prices are travelling fairly far north https://www.oneroof.co.nz/news/cvs-blown-out-the-water-as-buyers-look-to-escape-corporate-north-shore-38497

Sorry Dave. That part of house hunting really sucks! Even looking isn't "free"! I was lucky in a sense and only "wasted" $600, on a building inspection for a house in Castor Bay that looked AMAZING! 1960's California style ranch, heaps of space including a workshop, separate double garage, AND a rumpus room. Freehold land, and and and. It looked WAY outta budget, but turns out the $600 I spent on a builders report potentially saved me over $100k. The house had some consenting and structural issues that were not an easy fix. The buider said "DO NOT BUY!". The auction results reflected this (went for $150k under CV). Had I not spent the $600, I may have gone in guns blazing and been stuck with some serious regret. As for the conveyancer, I used one that was happy to look at a handful of properties and only charge for the one that was purchased. So all up, I think the house hunting exercise cost us about $2700 ($1500 conveyancer, and 2x buidlers reports). Fortunately that was all offset by the $7500 odd from the bank's cashback offer.

hahaha! Don't tempt me. Once that Tarras airport is built, I may look at moving my South Island "foothold", a little further south than Christchurch

As a compromise (for being stuck in Auckland for the next few years), I am seriously thinking about sending one of my Huskies and adventure gear (panniers, tent, etc) down to a self-storage unit in Christchurch, to have a small base-of-operations for future adventures. Currently I only ride the darn thing to work (once or twice a month) and I really miss riding on the South Island. So if the self-storage costs aren't too high, I reckon I could fly down every 5-6 weeks (mostly on airpoints), grab the bike & camping gear, and head off on one of many possible offroad adventures.

Damn! That is amazing! Seriously, living the dream! I was down in Christchurch and Hanmer over the weekend and was working hard on trying to convince my better half that we need to move down south. I'll have to show her these floor plans and your view. That may be the winning argument! 5-8 more years living in Auckland and trying to pay back the bank at a 15yr rate, then hopefully I can sell up and buy a decent house on the South Island (Central Otago preferable) and have half the mortgage. But 5-8yrs seems so far away, especially when I see posts like yours

I cannot like this enough! ...and I also cannot express how insanely jealous I am You are literally living my dream! Speaking of container homes (as Steven did), this is one of the best ones if seen built. https://youtu.be/eN1QxOBf-UM

I use a super cheap and simple one called a stud-buddy. It's basically just a strong magnet which I use to find the drywall screws beneath the tape and mud. And almost all the time, the screws are centre-ish on the stud. Almost.

Do they have "Men's Sheds" in your area, or some other form of community membership workshop? I'm a member at one in my area. They have an awesome workshop with all the woodwork tools I could ever need, including a nice new R100,000 Sawstop cabinet saw. For about R1000/yr and a 5min drive, it keeps me from buying expensive tools I really don't need to own. That said, I still want to get the jobsite saw for home

Did you modify the fence on your Makita (I've seen some great looking DIY dual clamp mods), or did you find a good aftermarket one?

Hahaha, so he must have seen Cameron's van setup. It's like a mobile Festool showroom

In my previous and overly lengthy post, I forgot to mention that one could find an interim solution by thinking out of he box. The versatile track (or plunge) saw. Not sure how popular they are in SA, but here in NZ they're considered essential by most carpenters. In fact I've seen a number of carpentry and woodwork "celebrities" (Ron Paulk, Peter Millard etc) on YouTube that hardly bother with a table saw and mostly use their trusty track saws in stead. Just as accurate as a table saw when used correctly. Great for large sheet goods. It's main drawback is repetitive cuts aren't as "automatic", but when using spacing jigs/blocks precise repetition can be achieved with relative ease. The Makita SP6000J is the industry workhorse in this category. It's pretty pricey new, but there may be 2nd hands one out there. Alternatively, there are options form other brands like Bosch, Dewalt, Triton, Festool & Mafell (Festool and Mafell being the Bentley and Rolls Royce options though, so kidney sales required). Triton would likely be the most affordable option new. If you haven't ever tried one before, don't be fooled into thinking they're "just an overpriced circular saw". Some key differences are: Minimized tear-out due to trackAbility to plunge into workpieceAbility to preset plunge depthEdge of track (splinter guard) is EXACLTY where the blade will cut (so more accurate).Dead straight cuts every time.Tracks available in up to 3m lengthsVariable speed (for different material types)More accurate bevelingUndercut (-1deg) bevelScoring function. This vid may give some insight into the pro's and cons of all the options. And here's some insight into track saws Anyway, just thinking out of the box, based on your space constraint.

If you fasten to the studs you'll be fine. Typical drywall has studs running vertically on 450 - 600mm centres (depending on the building code used). You could also fasten to the knogging (fire blocks) if your wall has them. However it may depend on what type of framing your wall has. If it's steel framed, I'm not too sure how the flanges of the channel will hold up under load, as they're usually pretty flimsy. Best bet, borrow a stud finder (or even a strong magnet), find the framing. Poke a sole in to investigate.

So bearing in mind that I know the SA market is different from here in NZ, and I'm also not sure what type of table saw you're looking for (jobsite, cabinet, hybrid, etc), my input may not be very helpful, but here are some of the things I looked at when deciding which saw to save for (yes, I have yet to buy). Type: I have a single garage housing 2 dirt bikes, 2 bicycles, and a fair amount of tools, parts, and building materials. So space is VERY limited. This meant that a jobsite saw is about my only viable option. Something compact that can be wheeled out of the confined space, and be folded up and packed away after.Power supply: While I am a big fan of cordless tools, and slightly regret not getting the cordless versions of my router, track saw, and mitre saw, the number of battery platforms one needs to subscribe to in order to get the best value-for-money and variety of tool is prohibitive. So because I'm not taking the jobsite saw to actual job sites with limited power supply etc, and because I didn't want to invest in ANOTHER battery platform, I decided corded.Specifications: These are largely limited by the type of table saw chosen. But even then and considering jobsite saws), things like cut depth, extendable tables, and power differs from brand to brand and model to model. Having a track saw means I don't need a huge cutting capacity on the table saw for ripping down sheet goods. The plan for these is to rip down on the track saw then do finishing cuts on the table saw. However, track saws have a fairly limited plunge depth, so this is something I may consider. Overall though, the specs between the different options weren't wildly different, so these weren't a deciding factor.Accuracy & Precision: This is is a hard one to gauge without trying all of them, but there was one main area I considered. The fence. I looked at a few of the Makita models (MLT100N mainly), and the thing I didn't like is that the fence doesn't clamp at both ends. So if one pushes a work piece firmly against the fence it may shift the outfeed end of the fence around 5mm. This will compromise accuracy also lead to imprecise results. I then looked at a few others that either clamp the fence at both ends, thus increasing precision, but not necessarily accuracy, as there is still play between the front and back end. Then there were the rack-and-pinion type fences which ensure that the front and back of the fence move and clamp uniformly. These should give the most accurate and precise results, as can be expected from a jobsite table saw.Features: These were the things I considered over and above the saws ability to chop wood. The 2 main ones I looked at were: the ability to accept a dado-stack (as mentioned not all jobsite saws do), and the type/dimensions of the mitre slots. The mitre slot details are important if one wants to make/buy/use jigs. Some saws (like the Makita) have mitre slots specific to them, whereas others have universal standard slots, opening up the aftermarket jig possibilities.So considering all the above, and the budget I had in mind, this is what I'm saving towards: Dewalt DW7491-XE Jobsite, compact, robust and portable (27kg)250mm blade and 2000W motor, so decent cutting capacity.Rack-and-pinion fenceAccepts dado stacksUniversal mitre slotsWell known brand with loads of aftermarket accessories available (from wheelie stands to bespoke jigs).So yeah, hopefully there are some helpful insights from my decision considerations that may help you find a saw that suits your needs. Let us know what you settle on!

That darn bridge again So glad I was lazy this morning and hadn't got out of bed when I saw the news about NZTA closing the bridge. I feel for all the people heading north and above Fanshawe (aka Featherstonhough) or heading south and below Onewa. They're pretty stucked!

Are those the developments out towards where the new New World are? (nicest New World in the country). It would be interesting to see how the property prices have tracked over this year. Last I looked, Wanaka was only slightly more affordable than Queenstown (which in turn was about on par with Auckland). Covid may have remedied that. The future Tarras airport will make Wanaka even more popular as international tourists can fly straight in. Damn I need to move! hahaha