New Zealand - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

[hayleyearth]

Just a bit of jelly for thread...

 

Had a mini getaway to Queenstown this weekend. That place never ceases to deliver!

 

Here are just a few of the pics.

 

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Mt Cook spotted on the flight down

 

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View from the AirBNB

 

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Despite the nippy weather, still loads of DH and enduro riders out and about. And it seems I found the bar that most of them hang out at!

My company is going to do the upgrade for the Queenstown Skyline, so soon I'll be riding there too Edited June 15, 2020 by hayleyearth

[patches]

Had a little taste of Africa while down in Queenstown.

 

Went out for dinner to Botswana Butchery and one of the evening's specials was a "Biltong Spiced Scotch Fillet" (bottom left). The Head Chef there is a Saffer, and it was his creation.

 

 

It was insanely good! mmmm... I've just made myself hungry again.

[arabsandals]

Just checking in to see how intern feels about the NZ lockdown being lifted... 

Vewy vewy quiet...

[DJR]

Had a little taste of Africa while down in Queenstown.

 

Went out for dinner to Botswana Butchery and one of the evening's specials was a "Biltong Spiced Scotch Fillet" (bottom left). The Head Chef there is a Saffer, and it was his creation.

 

20200614_193328.jpg

 

It was insanely good! mmmm... I've just made myself hungry again.

Little light on the veggies huh?  

[intern]

Vewy vewy quiet...

 

You got a problem bro?

[intern]

Vewy vewy quiet...

 

The answer is, of course, that I am thrilled to be released from a petty/illegal dictatorship. I'll stand by and wait for my 'I told you so'; that one will take a little more working through the final analysis of all that's gone on. In the fullness of time, and all that.

[Kranswurm]

Had a little taste of Africa while down in Queenstown.

 

Went out for dinner to Botswana Butchery and one of the evening's specials was a "Biltong Spiced Scotch Fillet" (bottom left). The Head Chef there is a Saffer, and it was his creation.

 

20200614_193328.jpg

 

It was insanely good! mmmm... I've just made myself hungry again.

Healthy portion of veggies there

[Rocket-Boy]

Im very much over the C-19 discussions but Im also interested in what NZ's plans are around it.

Its all well and good that there are no new infections with borders being closed up, but how long can it stay like that?

Surely as soon as those borders open again the infections will go through the roof with so few of the population having developed immunity?

 

Or am I missing something?

[sawystertrance]

I see NZ has new infections now. Allowed 2 people in and allowed them to bypass quarantine rules because they were going to a funeral. Turns out they were infected...

 

Amazing how much religious gatherings and funerals have globally contributed to spreading infections. Talk about irony..

[patches]

Little light on the veggies huh?  

 

 

Healthy portion of veggies there

 

Mac 'n cheese is a veggie, isn't it?!   

 

But yeah, my theory was that one doesn't go a restaurant with "butchery" in its name, to eat veggies.

 

...plus my unsophisticated butt thought that when one is paying $60 (nearly R700) per steak (and I got the cheapskate ones ), veggies would be included...

 

...I was wrong!

[patches]

Im very much over the C-19 discussions but Im also interested in what NZ's plans are around it.

Its all well and good that there are no new infections with borders being closed up, but how long can it stay like that?

Surely as soon as those borders open again the infections will go through the roof with so few of the population having developed immunity?

 

Or am I missing something?

 

The idea NZ has is to create "travel bubbles" with countries that are also winning the Covid battle. Australia is the main one in discussion at the moment.

 

Whilst they haven't quite achieved the zero active cases that NZ had (up until yesterday  ), only 5% of their total cases are still active, and their testing has been pretty thorough (over 3x that of SA and almost on par with the US and Italy, despite not having uncontrollable outbreaks like the aforementioned). Their curve has effectively been flattened.

 

Yes, Australia is only 1 country, and there aren't many more in the same position to join a safe travel bubble, especially considering that travel to NZ often involves transiting through the US or Asia. But just that 1 country will have a great impact on both economies.

 

Many Kiwis have friends and family in Aus. Many Aussies travel to places like Queenstown to ski etc. I heard a report that said Aussies make up something like 30% of Queenstown's winter tourism.

 

And I think Australia realises we're also the most likely international tourists in the near future, so we're seeing ads on TV promoting tourism to places like South Australia (where case numbers are really low).

 

I think the key will be when Australia feels confident enough with interstate travel. States like Victoria and New South Wales are their own biggest threat at the moment, and others like Queensland are not even keen to receive domestic travellers from those states, just yet. Once that opens up, then I think the likelihood of a trans-tasman bubble is pretty high.

 

As for the rest of the world... I guess we'll have to wait and see! Either way, Covid era life here is pretty good, even with border closures. And when looking at the rest of the world, what country doesn't have closed borders and has managed to control the spread of the virus?

Edited June 16, 2020 by patches

[patches]

I see NZ has new infections now. Allowed 2 people in and allowed them to bypass quarantine rules because they were going to a funeral. Turns out they were infected...

 

Amazing how much religious gatherings and funerals have globally contributed to spreading infections. Talk about irony..

 

Yeah, the people here aren't happy about this.

 

Last night I saw an interview with a professor of epidemiology and he was appalled at the way the officials handled it. Letting these 2 women out of managed isolation after 5 days and no testing.

 

When asked if kiwis had become complacent and dropped the ball, he said no and that the population had done well, it's the officials that had dropped the ball and let everyone down.

[davetapson]

From Scott Pape - based in Aus, but NZ not to dissimilar.  Most of what he has to say is pretty sensible, so if he says this, I'm inclined not to dismiss it.  We started using his money management plan (look for Barefoot Investor) and it's been a game-changer for us.

"In early March, as we prepared for lockdown on the farm, the first of our fluffy little lambs was born.

There are always one or two who are rejected by their mother and need to be bottle-fed multiple times a day.

Liz puts the lambs in cute little knitted coats, and the kids feed them colostrum formula with baby bottles.

Instagram: #sooocute #farmlife #furbabies!

It takes a few goes for the lambs to get used to the bottle, but when they get a taste for it they’re hooked.

Soon they’re so excited to get the bottle that they literally knock the kids over. Terrified, the kids hold out the bottle and brace for impact. The lambs charge at them, suck it down as fast as they can, and then wander around ‘milk drunk’.

There’s a time limit to how long we’ll trudge up to the yards twice a day in the dead of winter, of course.

Yet the lambs don’t know that.

Can you see where I’m going with this?

I’m really talking about JobKeeper, the boosted JobSeeker, your caring bank who’s let you pause your mortgage payments (but not your interest and charges), and the landlord who’s discounted your rent.

You’re sucking on that milk. Tasty, ain’t it?

Well, don’t get too comfortable.

Soon September will roll around on our farm.

The season will change, the flowers will begin to bloom, the air will start to get warm.

And our cute, fat, hand-raised lambs will be … hanging out with the butcher.

One day they’re frollicking in the warm glow of sunlight, the next they’re simmering in a roadside BP bain-marie.

At this point my editor stopped reading and wisely advised me to spike this column: “You will get hate mail.”

Well, I’m trying to make a point.

See, I’ve lived through natural disasters and seen the outpouring of emotion and generous offers of support.

And I’ve also seen just how quickly people move on — banks, politicians, the media, the general public.

They always do, and quicker than you think.

Case in point: the banks have painted themselves as the ‘financial doctors’ of this pandemic, pausing repayments (but, again, not the interest) on $220 billion worth of loans.

And having won praise for giving customers ‘up to’ six-month payment holds, the NAB has already begun ringing its COVID-affected customers just to check in (“How you doin’, lil buddy? You got some money for us?”).

Similarly, politicians have bestowed on renters a six-month ‘eviction ban’ and, in many cases, the option of negotiating reduced rent, i.e. landlords cop it in the neck. Yet, with 1.3 million landlords negatively gearing (aka losing money), this can’t last forever.

And, while the Government has unveiled the biggest welfare response in history (though slightly revised down!), they’re now under pressure to restart the economy and begin cutting back the gravy.

The bottom line?

Right now we’re in the early stages of reopening the economy, and we’re riding a wave of optimism after being locked down for so long.

But just remember that for many people things will change in September. That’s when the economic season changes and we’ll find ourselves smack bang in the deepest recession in living memory."

[davetapson]

May as well paste the rest...

"What does that mean for you?

It means you have 90 days (at the most).

You need to cobble together a plan that gets you on the front foot. It’s time to reinvent yourself. It’s time to radically cut your costs. It’s time to have a hard conversation with your bank. It’s time to sell something, or many things. Do whatever it takes.

The time to act is right now, while the milk of human kindness is still flowing."

[intern]

May as well paste the rest...

 

"What does that mean for you?

 

It means you have 90 days (at the most).

You need to cobble together a plan that gets you on the front foot. It’s time to reinvent yourself. It’s time to radically cut your costs. It’s time to have a hard conversation with your bank. It’s time to sell something, or many things. Do whatever it takes.

The time to act is right now, while the milk of human kindness is still flowing."

 

Right on the money. My house is sold, my boat might be this weekend. When that milk of human kindness, or more accurately when government largesse, runs out, that's when we really find out about Covid-19's impact. We can pat ourselves on the back as much as we like, but the current government has had luck, timing and isolation as essential factors in its 'success'. Winter is settling in. And the government's staggering incompetence is being laid bare.

Doesn't hep, though, that the new Nats leader and his deputy are absolute political car crashes. I mean, Ngati Goldsmith WTF and then the upside down tino rangatirotanga flag...yeesh. Thank goodness for David Seymour, that's all I'm gonna say about that!

[intern]

And read this, even if you find it insulting or as if something bit me on the as (more like, I don't drink Kool Aid, but anyway).

https://theemperorsrobes.blogspot.com/2020/06/both-of-new-zealands-futures-are-bad.html