patches

McKenzie District, one of my favourite areas in the country! Did you have decent weather on the Hooker valley track? I remember the first time I did it. Sunshine and unicorns and stuff for the first little bit. Then we turned a corner and suddenly BAM! gale force winds with horizontal rain. Nearly got blown off the track a few times. Still awesome though. The adjacent valley (Tasman valley) has an offroad bike track. I've always wanted to ride it, but last time I was there I had a dodgy front wheel which was losing air and I needed to get back to Tekapo. But yeah, glad you guys are having an amazing trip. Maybe hold off on so many awesome pictures, or I'll end up quitting my job and moving south

It's been a while since I have made a bike related purchase. Last weekend I splashed out and got this little purple device. It wasn't cheap. Cost me $179 (nearly R2000 in SA money) But if I use it correctly it's GUARANTEED to make me fitter, faster, improve balance, and skills. It's pretty much like a Power Balance Band... except in stead of holograms this one is PROVEN to work. Many of the top pros have devices like this. It uses revolutionary technology called PRAK-TIS. What is this miraculous little device? ... It's a 6 month pass to my local bike park.

<a data-ipb="nomediaparse" data-cke-saved-href="https://hellenisteukontos.opoudjis.net/2016-12-09-how-did-the-surname-featherstonhaugh-get-its-completely-unintuitive-pronunciation/#:~:text=It" href="https://hellenisteukontos.opoudjis.net/2016-12-09-how-did-the-surname-featherstonhaugh-get-its-completely-unintuitive-pronunciation/#:~:text=It" s%20just%20a%20hint%20in,a%20small%20wood%20or%20grove'."="">https://hellenisteukontos.opoudjis.net/2016-12-09-how-did-the-surname-featherstonhaugh-get-its-completely-unintuitive-pronunciation/#:~:text=It's%20just%20a%20hint%20in,a%20small%20wood%20or%20grove'. <a data-ipb="nomediaparse" data-cke-saved-href="https://hellenisteukontos.opoudjis.net/2016-12-09-how-did-the-surname-featherstonhaugh-get-its-completely-unintuitive-pronunciation/#:~:text=It" href="https://hellenisteukontos.opoudjis.net/2016-12-09-how-did-the-surname-featherstonhaugh-get-its-completely-unintuitive-pronunciation/#:~:text=It" s%20just%20a%20hint%20in,a%20small%20wood%20or%20grove'."=""> Crazy the evolution of that. At first glance the only similarities are that they start with an "F" and end with an "awww" sound. Is it a name that appears in your family tree? or did you just happen upon the connection?

haha I have no idea what that is. Is that a street in Sydney?

Oh nearly forgot... Kudos to the motorcycle police officer I encountered yesterday at the Fanshawe Street onramp. I saw him pointing at me then to the side. I thought he was pulling me over for lane-splitting (although technically it is legal in NZ). However, he was actually instructing me to use the Bus Only lane to bypass the queue of cars backed up at the onramp signals.

Aaaaand that was where the good ended. My 15km commute home took me about 1hr15. Yes, even on the bike. I got caught in the Curran Street debacle Well done AT (Auckland Transport), for defending the title of most reviled government agency!

That old harbour bridge right?! I bet Intern is laughing at all the Jaffas, especially those poor sods (like me) on the north shore who have been shafted by some bendy metal on the harbour bridge. The bad... it took my 2hrs to get home on Friday. The ugly... reports say that repair may take up to 6 weeks. The good... it gave me a reason to just off the motorbike. Commute in this morning, 30min. Only 10min longer than a usual motorcycle commute.

The difference between cafes in commercial and semi-industrial areas, haha. Also that I'm boycotting that VTNZ after they failed my bike's WOF . Apparently 6000 lumens of LED goodness was more than I was legally permitted. Oh and they couldn't figure out how start and turn-off the bike, I had to do it for them But congrats on having another motorist/gofer in the house! hahaha, the difference between cafes in commercial and semi-industrial areas.

I reckon now more than ever employers will be open minded to onboarding new staff into a remote working situation. Whilst it isn't ideal, just about every NZ employer has had good practice at getting their current workforce operational in a remote environment (maybe with the exception of INZ themselves. They fall over in a light breeze). So yeah, best of luck with the application, and hopefully not too long for now you can embark on the journey to Middle-earth!

Can't like this one enough! I'm envious! You'll have a great time! 4 of us did a very similar trip back in Feb (Christchurch, Tekapo, Fairly, Cromwell, Wanaka, Dunedin). February seems like a lifetime ago. I'm overdue some South Island!

hahaha, I have spent plenty of time wading through the majestic South Island braided rivers (mostly to get my bike though). I have also stood next to the giant salmon statue in the town of Rakaia. But sadly I have never dropped a line in the water on the South Island. It is a crime though. A colleague spent nearly 3 months travelling and fly-fishing across the South Island and it sounded amazing.

Longbay though... can't go wrong with that. Sure it seems far, but the busway is being upgraded. And the suburb is nice, new, thought out, the regional park is awesome, and one's money goes a LOT further out that way. I have some really good friends that bought there a few years back and they love it. And waiwera... well you should see what 1 -1.25 bar out Puhoi way will get ya! Beautuful houses on amazing hilltops with vast blocks of land! But yeah... may take a LOT of convincing

Sure as heck is 1.5km walk to the girls school. 1.9km walk to the boys school! As for Orewa and Silverdale etc... I drove out that way to fetch the track saw I bought off a builder on TradeMe... Such a nice clean neat area. I'm a big fan! My work commute would be torturous, but there's plenty of series to watch on the bus (also nearly-married life and all that, hahaha)

Maybe now is a good time for me to implement my 5-8yr plan. Sell up in Auckland. Buy down on the South Island for half the price. Have a fraction of the mortgage. ...Wanna buy a house?

Yup! pretty much the exact area referred to in my previous post. In fact the house used as an example is 750m walk to Westlake Boys and 850m to Westlake Girls. (I'm just over double that, but still pretty close). One of the guys I work with just bought a house in Forest Hill and listed his house in Glenfield, purely because of the Westlake zoning, and his son going to highschool next year. I think he's still in shock by how much the price jumps just based on that imaginary zoning line.

As someone with very limited economic or property investment knowledge, but by virtue of the fact that I have facebook and instagram and therefore find myself fully qualified to answer this... Just kidding... I'm crap with instagram But yeah, first time buyer (in any country) about 18months ago. I thought the prices were pretty much peaked, as as the Auckland 2012-16 boom had already taken its toll. Managed to get the house for $5000 under CV (which I thought wasn't bad considering CV's were 2yrs old at the time). Watched eagerly around the area as houses were listed and sold. One was sold twice within that 18 month period, and it was done up before the first sale. The second seller sold for 10% more than they paid. Then just last week I saw an article on a house 3 streets over. Simple little 3 bed, 1 bath, 600sqm freehold. Decent condition, but nothing fancy... BOOM! over $1.565m. That's $265k (20%+) over CV. So despite very real economic challenges, Auckland property seems to be on the up-and-up (at least for now). Factors like an increase in returning professionals and a supply shortage could have bearing on this. I'm no expert. All I know is that 18 months ago I thought I bought at the worst time ever, and now looking back I feel lucky.

The model itself is probably more disappointing than the lack thereof. But hey, here it is. 15min in AutoCAD aaaaand BAM! Underwhelming model!

I used Sharesies to capitalise on Air NZ's lockdown crash

Congrats Wayne! When are we going for a ride?!

Oh no doubt! With the Pilens one is paying for the Scandinavian design and modern-retro aesthetics. The 390cc in the 401's is mass produced in India, predominantly for Duke 390's, of which there is a cult following over there. The 693cc in the 701 version has been used all over in some shape or form, from Duke 690's to the current KTM 690 Enduro. It's a workhorse not an Arabian thoroughbred. And for the general bike design, my guess is that the Austrians sell the Duke versions for those that want to leather up and get adrenaline pumping (and even then, the Japanese probably do a better job), and the Pilens are for those that spend thousands on fade haircuts, beard oils, and use the bike to ride to overpriced coffee shops I would never consider a Pilen for anything more than a commuter. If people only bought bikes because they rode well, Harley Davidsons wouldn't exist

If I recall anything from the Ride Forever course I went on a couple of years back... it was something about leathers being the best protection, but not the most practical. Kevlar reinforced jeans are pretty decent and will save some skin. Adventure pants are kinda the bare minimum, but ensure the knee protection is installed. And regular jeans are only marginally better than PT broeke, hahaha I'm slack and a bad example though. If I commute I do so in my work pants (unless it's raining) then I wear my adventure pants over the top. If I go to hangout socially, I'll wear jeans. If I go on technical rides I'll wear MX pants with knee guards underneath. If I go on an adventure I wear adventure pants with aftermarket knee guards (the built in ones are not the best). (I only wear boots with the last 2 activities). These are my adventure pants: https://www.alpinestars.com/products/andes-drystar-pant They're no Klim with GoreTex but for the price they're decently waterproof and comfy. I've had 1 off on a gravel road and they held up well. And I have the matching jacket, which I hacked by replacing the built in protection with Leatt D30 stuff. But for the commuting/casual look, I think reinforced jeans are probably the best happy medium. Those with some of those Alpinestars or TCX "tekkies". Finding a decent cut on the jeans seems to be the hard part though.

Yeah, I think you made the right call. For a "temporary bike" one wants to spend as little as possible and recoup as much as one can on resale for the transition over to the big bike. Saving $4k on the initial outlay is a plus, and also if you did go for the MT-07 LAMS, you may find it hard to spend another $1000 plus resale losses, to get a few more HP, so you'll end up settling on the LAMS version making the whole full license exercise less relevant.

ooh, is it the matching Pilen helmet?

As Wayne said, the "rego" as they call it is pretty heavy on motorbikes. It also increases with engine size. At current exchange rates... Mopeds: about R1871/yr 0 - 60cc: about R4500/yr 61 - 600cc: about R4622/yr 601cc and up: about R5935/yr The reasoning behind this is ACC (kinda like NZ's version of the Road Accident Fund). Whilst ACC covers ANY accidental injury (from twisting ankles to major car crashes), they deem motorcycles as a higher risk so the registration fees are increased. However as Wayne said, one can easily get by in NZ with no medical aid (as long as they are eligible for universal healthcare). One does have the option to pay in 1 month increments, but this ends up a little more expensive overall. I do 3 months at at time. Also one can put their rego "on hold" for 3 months or more, meaning no charges accumulate, but legally the bike is not allowed to be ridden on public roads. Lots of people (including myself) put their rego on hold during the rainy season. Some of those people (not including myself) chance it and still ride, but if you get caught it can be big trouble. Additionally, in order to reduce the risk, the ACC has a programme called Ride Forever which involves various day-long courses in small groups with professional instruction. Kinda like a "defensive driving" class. The motorcycle registration offsets the costs of the courses and in most cases they're about R220 for the day (and sometimes free). Each motorcycle license holder (from learners license up) is entitled to 2 subsidised courses/yr. And as an additional benefit, and to encourage the seasoned riders to brush up on some skills and kick bad habits, if a rider who has had their full license for 5yrs or more completes 2 Ride Forever courses, they get about R2200 back on their registration fees. So ultimately the whole system is designed to promote safe riding.

Dammit Wayne! You got me looking at the Husky website for a "commuter bike" once I too get a full license, and they have a sale on the Husky 701 Supermoto https://www.cyclespot.co.nz/bike/Husqvarna/FS701/999595672 The 2020 Pilens are also rather purdy... However I will be drawn & quartered if I end up with a 3rd Husky in the garage when I'm supposed to be going down to just 1