Wayne Potgieter

Good question. Veganism is a lifestyle that avoids use of animal derived products where possible. So no leather car interior, no leather belts, no honey, some extreme vegans wont eat Avocados as bees are used in the fertilisation process thus making them an "animal product". Plant based is a diet. You eat veggies while wearing a woolen jumper. You use animal products, but don't eat anything from an animal. Veganism is becoming a synonym (especially from a marketing POV) for plant based, but they are actually quite different.

Id like to probe this a little more. And at the risk of turning this into a religious discussion, what makes you feel that we were "given" anything? The reason I ask is this is fundamental to my argument that we are not more important than others. We need to coexist. The notion that animals are "given" to us for consumption goes against veganism. I am genuinely not trolling. I am trying to evaluate the perspective that you are approaching this from and I hope this does not offend.

You should see the biltong drying machines I used to build. I used to convert double door old school office cupboards (the beige and brown ones) into huge biltong driers. Life is a journey!

you da man!

Hi Jurgens. First of all, can I just say that I am grateful for your contributions to this thread. While I may disagree with some of your points, I am pleased that we can engage in a civil debate and compare ideologies and thoughts in a constructive way. We don't always have to agree, and the world will be a better place if we debate things with critical thought more often. I think what you may be leaning towards is more a plant based diet as opposed to Veganism. The two or fundamentally different. In my own journey, I started with being plant based and slowly came to become vegan through ongoing education and investigation. (although admittedly I dont always get this right - but I try) Now, my personal belief here is even reducing your meat intake is a great idea, and the world is not binary. There is always this push by opposing sides to see things in absolutes. The world actually does not work that way, and even a step or two in the (subjectively speaking) "right direction" is a good thing. From a vegan point of view, hunting and veganism are simply not compatible. Regardless of anyone's love for animals, killing one is simply not in line with doing no harm to other animals. With respects to "humane" methods of killing. One needs to consider what that word actually means. It is defined as having compassion. The only perceivable situation I can fathom for a human ending of an animals life is to end terminal suffering. Beyond that, it is simply consumption. There is this "whataboutism" argument about plants having feelings and sentiency and that Vegans should not be eating plants either, but again, the world is not binary. Humans need to eat something. And until such time as we can resolve that, we will need to pick our evils I suppose. Remember that veganism is about doing no harm where possible. Again, I think this debate is healthy and constructive, we may never agree. That's ok. But at least we make every effort to understand each others point of view. I truly commend you for including more veg in your diet and trying to be part of the solution.

I have started getting ads for Bike Hub Pay on the screen. A banner at the top and a block on the side. Is this supposed to happen for BikeHub Plus memberships?

Tongariro crossing is pretty cool. It's a hard day on the feet but quite an experience. The area is quite surreal. The kids did really well, but they were pretty knackered at the end. Interesting alpine terrain with a nice bush walk to finish it off. The hardest parts are the climb to the summit along a narrow ridgeline with loose gravel and then the subsequant descent on scree. The descent is the area with the most injuries and while we were there a Westpac chopper needed to rescue some dude that twisted his ankle rather badly on the way down. I highly recommend. Costs were not bad at all, we stayed at The Parks hotel (okayish 3 star) and we paid $199 per person for 2 nights accomodation, breakfasts each day, shuttle to and from the hike and a packed lunch on the day of the hike. Prepare for photo spam...

This line taken from her wiki is incredible On 27 July 2009, with only 5 weeks' training and no significant prior running experience, Izzard began seven weeks of back-to-back marathon runs (with Sundays off) across the UK to raise money for Sport Relief.[39

I was today years old.

Totally don't care what someone's preferred pronouns are. I am happy to oblige. If my life ever gets to a point that someone's choice of pronoun makes me angry or uncomfortable, then I am not living my best life. The most interesting part of your post is the 32 Marathons! Holy Toledo, mad respect for her achieving this.

Heading out this weekend to hike the Tongariro Crossing. Anyone done it before? (I think Hayley has done it)

This really surprised me when we moved here. The sun chows you if you are not careful.

Thanks for all the advice peeps. I have decided to run int he Nike Pegasus 36 Trails until i get a feel for trail running a little more. I am also interested to discover what type of trails i start spending more of my time on and when the Nikes are finished, Ill buy a new shoe according to the terrain. I pushed the button on the Salomon Adv Skin 12 hydration pack - it came up tops in several reviews and on many local trail running groups. I went out to a local hotspot for trail running on Saturday, but did a nice long walk with the kids to check it out, think I will go run it this weekend.

In the last 20 years, 13 people have been killed in NZ by cows. In the last 70 years, 11 people have been killed in NZ by sharks. On average 1,300 people die from Suicide in NZ per year. In fact, suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death in non Maori men in NZ beaten only by heart disease. The last statistic is totally frightening.

I heard somewhere a while ago that you are more likely to die in NZ froma dog bite than a shark bite

You made me go looking and I found this page rather interesting https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/shark-attacks/yearly-worldwide-summary/

The Nikes are a bit tired now. Also, they are pretty hard when I run. So I am thinking of a slightly softer shoe? Also because I bought the Nikes as a walking shoe, I did not size up. It’s unlikely they will be good for anything over 10km distances when my chubby hobbit feet start swelling. Plus...new running shoes are like new bikes. Always a good idea. There is a local shop here that seems to be well regarded in trail running circles. I might head out that way for a chat and some fittings. But always keen for unbiased hub advice. Have also been looking into hydration vests. On the road, I normally only need water at about 14km which is at about the 80minute Mark. I guess the trail would be the same? This seems to get pretty good reviews. https://salomon.co.nz/products/adv-skin-12-set-unisex?variant=34487388799127

Thanks chaps. Now, an even more difficult question...shoes. I currently run in Nike Zoom Fly 3s on the road and LOVE them. I have a set of Nike zoom pegasus trail vortex that I use for longer walks. Any suggestions? Have been reading some good reviews about Hokas.

Some advice please from ma running peeps. I have been taking my road running a little more seriously the last while. I have a goal of 1,000km this calendar year. This may not be much for some of you, but for my short arse its huge. I am averaging about 20-30km a week at a pace around 5m15seconds per km. I am at a point of running a 21km on 2 hours. The reason for the post is that I live in a beautiful part of the world with so many trails and am contemplating adding trail running to my regime. I will still focus mostly on road running for the convenience of just putting on my shoes and heading out the door, but maybe two or three times a month doing a longer trail run. Any advice? I am nervous that the trail running will have an adverse effect on my pace for road running. Also, I have always considered the 5m30/km mark to be a good pace for a social runner, what is a good pace to work towards for trail running?

LOL. I am the butler!

Curried courgette fritters with basmati, raita, sweet mango pickle, tomato and coriander salad

yeah tofu. It’s all about how you prepare it. It totally sucks if prepared improperly.

Mushroom, bean and spinach quesadillas. Tiny bit of angel food cheese(vegan cheese). The cheese is totally not necessary. Basically cook up mushrooms, garlic, spinach and beans and shove it in a tortilla and toast the tortilla. On the side are some roast potatoes in a taco spice. Cover the quesadilla with smashed avocado and garnish with some homemade pink onion pickles. I have also lashed the potatoes with a chipotle and Carolina reaper salsa (also homemade)

Disclaimer * I am still souther hemisphere so our seasons won’t line up. Seasonal shopping is the key to reducing costs. For example, a 700gram bag of tomatoes costs $10 in winter but $2 in summer. Avos are currently two for $4 but can hit highs of $11 each out of season.

yep. That’s exactly what I am saying. [emoji4] I am a huge fan of Indian, Mexican and Mediterranean style dishes. Last night was a crispy tofu laksa bowl. How about I post my dinner every night and if you dig it, I’ll post the recipe? If you think it’s rubbish, lie to me and tell me it looks awesome anyway.