davetapson

Quiet on this thread, ay? Agree with we don't enjoy the gulf as much as we should. Had a meeting with self last weekend and did a circumnavigation of Rangitoto/Motatapu in an inflatable that I don't use enough. Did some fishing in the Rakino channel and that looks like it's going to become one of my new favourite spots. I see that trailer sailers go for effectively free - it would make more than a little sense to buy one and go 'camping' in the Gulf. A slight (not) altercation with the tax man means that I'll not be doing this for the next year or two. Speaking of investment properties - I've always hankered after a mini-commercial unit. Doing a bit of W.A.B the other day, I investigated the really really nice units around the corner from work in Orbit Dr. The last one that was sold went for $770k in 2023 and there are adverts to rent it from the normal estate agencies for $36k / yr. So an immediate, real return of over 4%. Not that I'd want to rent it, because I want to build boats / cars / motorcycles in it. If I was a young single bloke, I'd buy one and live in it! PXL_20250308_234809529.TS.mp4

Weather... My step-daughter has just started a job with Daily Mail in Sydney - $24/day bus fare and current hour and a half commute from Frenchs Forrest where she is staying with family friends. Seems a decent single room will cost close on $500/wk. Can't say I'm not slightly jealous tho!

Damn. I, I don't know how, managed not to include my middle name when filling in our application... doing five people's worth of application can do that - you pay more attention to their's than yours. I emailed them to point this out - I hope like hell it doesn't kick it from 'automated' to 'manual'. What are the chances of that not happening. Aargh.

Also the weather can be k4k.

Yeah, I've wondered about this too. My go to thought is that doing races in SA was about the safest way of getting out on a bike, so that's what you did. Also, there wasn't much else to do (if you see what I mean?) Also, it was mostly flat - compared to NZ. Here, you can cycle wherever you want, with little concern about safety - so you get the 'well, I can do it any time, so why bother now' kind of thing going on, plus there is a lot of other stuff to do on the doorstep - sea fishing, fly fishing, kayak fishing, hunting, hiking, going places and drinking coffee. My free time that would have been cycling time (races etc) in SA tend to be trout fishing / kayak fishing / hunting at the moment, with the second two a far second from the first. Plus finishing off a sailing dinghy, which will become sailing a sailing dinghy when it's done. And starting a new one. Hard as it may to believe, it's just that there are other things that are better or have a better return to time/effort than MTB'ing. That said, I'm going go do Sani next year with my brother, so it looks like I'm going to be eating my words. And speaking of which... There used to be a race Colville / Port Charles / Port Jackson / Colville on the Coromandel. It would be all kinds of awesome. I'm thinking of trying to organise some ad-hoc kind of raid there - 'hey, a bunch of us will doing this route, leaving 8 am on xx//xx/xxxx. First one back gets a chocolate bunny." or somesuch. I'd do it for sure. Mostly gravel and hills, some track between Port Charles and Port Jackson...

Ha, just applied for our citizenship - it's only been two weeks but I'm checking every day... I renewed my UK passport at the same time - 5 mins on an app, one selfie, and 'send your old passport to us at xxx with this reference number..." Started renewing the kids Saffa passports: - certified copies of unabridged birth certs (why? they have the originals - they gave them to us? - pp photos of kids, endorsed by a JP who has to see kids - certified copies of everyone's passports, kids and parents (why?, they issued the damn things in the first place?! - certified copies of parents UK naturalisation certs. Why, we gonna lie about being citizens of another country when you make it so hard for us to dual citizens? If I didn't think I'd like to be keeping my kids passports valid 'just because' I'd chuck it in as a pointless exercise. JP's all over must be getting carpal tunnel / tendonitis / tennis elbow / stamping exhaustion just due to SA govt lameness.

Ha - Congratulations!! Best thing ever...

Hi Byron Try this as a start? https://www.strava.com/activities/5070686274 Braam does a lot of riding on the shore - have a look at some of his tracks...? https://www.strava.com/athletes/39332328?oq=bra

Kids being let off school early because of weather. Don't these schools know why we send the kids there..?! Now, when I was a child, I had to swim 7 miles to school, holding my breath the whole way... Garage is flooding again (in rental house, thank goodness.) It's like these 1:100 year events aren't.

And that's my quarterly catch up... 🙂 Current situation as per video below... cell phone camera making it look way more cheerful than it feels. My daughter, who now works for NZ Herald tells me that weather warnings have been phoned in, looks like we have some interesting times ahead of us (again)... And in other news, we have joined the property market (Rothesay Bay, around the corner from British Isles should you like a quick pint), so like a bunch of you guys, now own some of the most over-priced real estate in the world. Long may it stay that way... Wrap up, stay dry, Dave 20230509_113057.mp4

We were camping at Blue Lake just outside Rotorua when they had their last big shake. If you want a visceral experience, that is one. Ironically, because we had no roof beams or mortar to fall on our heads, it was quite a fun experience.

You can also hit the valleys around Puhoi. You can park in Waiwera and pretty much ride to the other side of the country and back in 80km. I'd offer, but I'm fat and unfit, and too scared of the spiders on my bike to chase them off.

I'm quite impressed by NZ school uniforms - the 'golf' shirt style. They last better than you'd have any reason to expect, and the kids love their school fleeces - they'd wear them before any of their civvie fleeces - long and warm. Those get washed just about every week and after a year and half of that treatment are beginning to sun-fade on the backs, but otherwise still in good nick. School shoes (sneakers), now that's another story. Best plan is to make friends with a kid leaving the school and take over that kit, or else the second hand shop. Also school socks - they evaporate. What's up with that?

Following on from this - had the suspension set, first by Dave Moss, then by Adrian at Restorace (Dave suggested I go to Adrian for a new rear spring, Adrian said the stock one is fine for my purposes.) Also made a huge diffs. Between the torquier motor and suspension, it's night and day compared to stock. Trying to decide if I should replace the header (which has catalytic converter) for a straight through. Very tempted.

Yeah, agree with all. We were in PA over Christmas. All those three story mansions that should be full of vaalies causing grief with their big 4x4s, sk boats, quad-bikes and jets ski's..? Empty. Nada. Like a ghost town.

I chucked a Fuelx Pro onto it. Riches up the fuelng at low revs - transforms it. Still not a 500 tho. Dave Moss was in town and had a suspension tuning session after a Shiny Side Up event. That also transformed it. It's now a lot of fun - but still not a 500. In any case, it's perfect for what I use it for (commuting), as opposed to what I'd like to think I'd use it for (touring). I did some riding around the Waitak's the other day, and North of Albany another day. The damage to the roads is extensive, and all over the place. Typically slips on the down hill sides of the road, talking part of the road with it and reducing roads to one lane all over the place. There is s lot of fixing to be done, with a lot of shoring up work needed where the slips have occurred. I think it's way worse than is immediately obvious, certainly in terms of cost to repair.

Would you like a hipster boost by taking a ride of the Svartpiel? I'd be interested in your opinion. I'm slightly underwhelmed, but I think I'm used to 'old-timey' thumpers with long strokes and massive torque. Maybe I should see if they have a diesel version. I've added a ecu override chip (Fuelx Pro) which has made it much more rideable around town (is underfuelled, esp at idle, to meet emissions standards.) Maybe I expect too much of a 373cc. But all the fancy stuff, ABS etc is just AWESOME!!

Yeah - my one abiding memory of our visit to SA is dark malls. A dark mall is an unpleasant place.

Yeah, I think that's exactly it. Here, if you are not academic, there are other options - trades, police, army, stuff that is no longer an option in SA. And, as they say, chicks dig Tradies... 🙂

Kiwi education is just different. They seem to absorb knowledge rather than have it 'beaten' into them. I was beginning to despair about times tables etc. but know at beginning year 8, they know their times tables well enough. When and how they learned them, I do not know. I think Kiwis think that the kid will do as well as the kid will do. They do have quite a lot of extra support in the classrooms (that as long as they are not overwhelmed, depending on who's in the class) that helps your kid where they are struggling. They don't do pressurizing thing, which is what drives Saffa's mad. We feel kids should be driven to exceed and when the schools here don't do that, get all upset. Personally I'm not completely convinced the Kiwi's are wrong. Which is not a popular opinion.

Same for us - not much damage, just a puddle in the back of the garage where water seeps through the cinderblock wall which is set into the hillside. No drains or waterproofing, because why would you in a country that turns to mud for six months of the year...?

Interesting. Our kids moved from Mairangi Bay Primary (38) to Murrays Bay Intermediate (139), within walking distance of each other, and I can't say that I've noticed much of a difference. Also you never hear much of Takapuna Grammar, but it looks like it could be awesome, if that sort of thing is your cup of tea. Heh - last time she was globe-trotting with her entourage, she was show having a meeting with some international body (WHO, UN? Can't remember) and somebody, maybe Barry Soper, commented "yeh, she's organizing her next job, she'll resign before the next election and take this job." So watch this space...

It kind of kills the helping the budget thing, but if you turn the transfer into a layover, then the longer flights become more pleasant. And assuming the layover is somewhere pleasant. When we were looking for flights to SA over Christmas, I found cheap flights via the US(!) which would have given us the advantage to visit my brother - I was told that it would be a step too far, probably correctly so... 🙂

Ha - the old schooling debate. Saffas are really wound up by this - us included. Kiwis, not so much. Bottom line, if you live in a decent area, the schools are likely to be just fine. I work with a guy who has 5 kids, who have just about all gone to different schools and he has no real feeling for any of those schools - they were all 'fine'. You will pay a premium to live in a 'desirable' school zone, particularly if the Chinese community find the schools desirable - they will pay over the odds for any pile of junk just to ensure they have an address in the school zone. It seems more important to choose a school that suits your kids character e.g regimented for kids who need structure (Westlake Boys) more flexible for those who don't (Rangitoto College) smaller for kids who are not mainstream (Rosmini College) There are private schools (Kristin College) that are allegedly a cut above the rest. We would probably send our kids there if we're had the means, but I'm not sure it would really make a difference. If you have aspirations, you'd probably want to find an address in Auckland Grammar zone... 🙂 Edit: and it's actually about the teacher, not the school - good school, bad child/teacher fit and it's a misery. And that combination is just a roll of the dice...

Yeah - in SA you hardly even notice if the light is on or not, just react appropriately. In NZ they are clueless when the traffic lights are off. Everyone stops, Then somebody makes a dash for it - and the three people behind him see his bravery and make a dash for it too. Then somebody else has a go... 😂