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

[intern]

That must take some getting used to. I think us Saffers left here have just resigned ourselves to avoiding anything public wherever possible.

Weirdly enough it does take some getting used to. I remember getting psyched up to deal with an IRD query (our tax okes). Call was answered on the second ring and the person who answered had everything they needed to resolve my GST query first time. I was left a bit flabbergasted because the fight I'd prepared for just never happened...and the whole 'ordeal' was over in less than 5 minutes.

[Rocket-Boy]

Weirdly enough it does take some getting used to. I remember getting psyched up to deal with an IRD query (our tax okes). Call was answered on the second ring and the person who answered had everything they needed to resolve my GST query first time. I was left a bit flabbergasted because the fight I'd prepared for just never happened...and the whole 'ordeal' was over in less than 5 minutes.

It's such a foreign concept in my mind that it doesnt seem real. Here most government services are designed to be difficult to get resolutions, its often not worth the frustration.

[patches]

That must take some getting used to. I think us Saffers left here have just resigned ourselves to avoiding anything public wherever possible.

 

 

It's such a foreign concept in my mind that it doesnt seem real. Here most government services are designed to be difficult to get resolutions, its often not worth the frustration.

 

Not to mention that certain processes require very little effort on the public's part.

 

Driver's License renewals (or conversions from Saffer licences) - Can be done at many locations (including AA branches) and they post the license to you. Yes, it's posted and arrives within 5 days. No queuing 2hrs to apply, waiting 6 weeks, then queuing another 2hrs just to collect.

 

Police Clearance - Apply online. No fingerprints required. Gets posted within a month. (and yes, a 1 month wait is considered excessive here)

 

Tax returns - literally do nothing. Yes, that's correct. The average Joe with simple finances does not need to file a tax return as the IRD (NZ SARS) does it for them and automatically calculates processes and pays/notifies any return/required payments.

 

Like intern said, us Saffers gear up for the struggle and 9x out of 10 are met with no resistance, helpful and prompt service.

 

It also helps that the government has seen the benefit in allowing the private sector to help out with certain things (eg. vehicle and license related admin for instance can be done at multiple service providers).

[Wayne Potgieter]

Not to mention that certain processes require very little effort on the public's part.

 

Driver's License renewals (or conversions from Saffer licences) - Can be done at many locations (including AA branches) and they post the license to you. Yes, it's posted and arrives within 5 days. No queuing 2hrs to apply, waiting 6 weeks, then queuing another 2hrs just to collect.

 

Police Clearance - Apply online. No fingerprints required. Gets posted within a month. (and yes, a 1 month wait is considered excessive here)

 

Tax returns - literally do nothing. Yes, that's correct. The average Joe with simple finances does not need to file a tax return as the IRD (NZ SARS) does it for them and automatically calculates processes and pays/notifies any return/required payments.

 

Like intern said, us Saffers gear up for the struggle and 9x out of 10 are met with no resistance, helpful and prompt service.

 

It also helps that the government has seen the benefit in allowing the private sector to help out with certain things (eg. vehicle and license related admin for instance can be done at multiple service providers).

I just sold a car privately and it was so easy.

 

Once i found a willing buyer, he went online and could see ALL the history of the car including any outstanding financed amounts. He paid me for the car and when he collected it we both filled out an online form on his phone and immediately the vehicle was transferred into his name.

 

Easy Peasy.

[patches]

I just sold a car privately and it was so easy.

 

Once i found a willing buyer, he went online and could see ALL the history of the car including any outstanding financed amounts. He paid me for the car and when he collected it we both filled out an online form on his phone and immediately the vehicle was transferred into his name.

 

Easy Peasy.

 

Oh yeah, I forgot about how easy that was. Did the same when I sold my car a few years back.

[DawieO]

Oh yeah, I forgot about how easy that was. Did the same when I sold my car a few years back.

Oh that’s great to hear! Going to be selling my Jeep towards the end of the year.

[intern]

Sneak peek boys (and girls). Fetched this bad boy on Sunday night. As others have noted, so easy to buy and sell vehicles, takes minutes. And the dude I bought it from brought it down to Rotorua from Whangarei for me, too.

It was only in my garage for one night then off to Tony Rees Motorcycles to have the road kit fitted and WOF. As I'm moving house, didn't want the distraction of a gnarly 450 this week. Hopefully I'll be done Friday and so will the bike...yeehaa, gonna be a mean weekend.

 

[patches]

Sneak peek boys (and girls). Fetched this bad boy on Sunday night. As others have noted, so easy to buy and sell vehicles, takes minutes. And the dude I bought it from brought it down to Rotorua from Whangarei for me, too.

It was only in my garage for one night then off to Tony Rees Motorcycles to have the road kit fitted and WOF. As I'm moving house, didn't want the distraction of a gnarly 450 this week. Hopefully I'll be done Friday and so will the bike...yeehaa, gonna be a mean weekend.

 

Very nice indeed! Congrats!

 

I think I'm heading down to Rotorua with some friends for the marathon in September (weekend of the 26th I think). They are running, I definitively am not. However, it may be a sneaky opportunity for me to ride the bike down and hit up some trails in the BOP. So I'll keep you posted.

[intern]

Very nice indeed! Congrats!

 

I think I'm heading down to Rotorua with some friends for the marathon in September (weekend of the 26th I think). They are running, I definitively am not. However, it may be a sneaky opportunity for me to ride the bike down and hit up some trails in the BOP. So I'll keep you posted.

Thanks Patches!

And PLEASE come ride down here, it's too good not to share! You won't regret it. If the weather's been dry for a bit, we can have a crack in Manawahe, too, which is quite technical. Last time I went on my own and realised I need a couple things before I go again:

* Recovery straps and a grab handle on my seat

* Basic tool kit

* Water

* A riding buddy.

There were a few occasions where I got stuck, including one where my WR250 was upside down in a narrow donga/deep rut on a slope, and another where it was nose-in on a sharp downhill into a stream. Both required some ingenuity for recovery! Would have been way easier with at least two of the above listed items (the water and the tool kit, OBVS).

You can look on Gmaps at Manawahe, alongside Lake Rotoma. Then also check out Coastlands to Thornton and on to Pikowai if you want to see what else we regularly ride...

[intern]

BTW, and this is how bicycle shops should work too. I dropped the 250 off at Tony Rees on Saturday, with only the mechanic in the store. Monday morning 9am I had the 450 in. Tony was there and already knew my other bike was in, and exactly what work it needs (new rear fender...wheelie practice is hell on your fender  ) and valve adjustment).

That's a sign of a tightly run ship...

[patches]

Thanks Patches!

And PLEASE come ride down here, it's too good not to share! You won't regret it. If the weather's been dry for a bit, we can have a crack in Manawahe, too, which is quite technical. Last time I went on my own and realised I need a couple things before I go again:

* Recovery straps and a grab handle on my seat

* Basic tool kit

* Water

* A riding buddy.

There were a few occasions where I got stuck, including one where my WR250 was upside down in a narrow donga/deep rut on a slope, and another where it was nose-in on a sharp downhill into a stream. Both required some ingenuity for recovery! Would have been way easier with at least two of the above listed items (the water and the tool kit, OBVS).

You can look on Gmaps at Manawahe, alongside Lake Rotoma. Then also check out Coastlands to Thornton and on to Pikowai if you want to see what else we regularly ride...

 

Yeah, I would like to say I have learnt those lessons on a few occasions, but the fact that there has been more than one occasion indicates that perhaps I did not learn.

 

First occasion - Exploring the back-country between Lakes Tekapo and Pukaki, I decided to ride through a flooded section of trail. Turns out it was not trail, but the floodplain itself. 45min of wrestling a bike stuck in a swamp, then getting a pinch flat racing to get to my destination.

 

Lesson: don't just follow the trail blindly, and moving a bike stuck in the mud can be a 2-person job.

 

Second occasion - Solo exploring some South Island wilderness (Wilberforce Valley). I loaded the wrong GPS track by accident and followed it up a very unforgiving valley, crossing cold, deep fast flowing braided rivers. By the time I realised I was off course, I was low on fuel and only had 1 banana for food, and had no way of contacting the outside world. Luckily I had just enough fuel to get out before sundown, and I managed to channel my inner Chris Birch and probably rode the best I ever have and will.

 

Lesson: Tell someone where you'll be going. Double check your maps. Read the trail descriptions (Remotemoto said not to ride solo and to take 3 days worth of food incase one gets flooded in), and ensure one has a means of signalling for help (EPIRB or Garmin Inreach etc).

 

Third occasion: Solo exploring forestry area west of Warkworth. Rode through a "puddle" on the trail that happened to be saddle-high. Bike drowned and I could have too (tipped off the bike when it went down and luckily managed to push it off me as only my head was sticking out of the "puddle".  After strip-down of my cold & wet gear, I had to drag the bike out and tip it upside down and to try "pump" the water out by rotating the rear wheel whilst in gear.

 

Lesson: AGAIN, Tell someone where you'll be going. AGAIN, don't trust all "puddles" on trail unless you can see the bottom, and even then walk it. Wet boots are far better than drowned bike.

 

So yeah, I don't learn too good, but as your list says, having the right supplies, and riding with someone makes it a hell of a lot less risky!

[intern]

Yeah, I would like to say I have learnt those lessons on a few occasions, but the fact that there has been more than one occasion indicates that perhaps I did not learn.

 

First occasion - Exploring the back-country between Lakes Tekapo and Pukaki, I decided to ride through a flooded section of trail. Turns out it was not trail, but the floodplain itself. 45min of wrestling a bike stuck in a swamp, then getting a pinch flat racing to get to my destination.

 

Lesson: don't just follow the trail blindly, and moving a bike stuck in the mud can be a 2-person job.

 

Second occasion - Solo exploring some South Island wilderness (Wilberforce Valley). I loaded the wrong GPS track by accident and followed it up a very unforgiving valley, crossing cold, deep fast flowing braided rivers. By the time I realised I was off course, I was low on fuel and only had 1 banana for food, and had no way of contacting the outside world. Luckily I had just enough fuel to get out before sundown, and I managed to channel my inner Chris Birch and probably rode the best I ever have and will.

 

Lesson: Tell someone where you'll be going. Double check your maps. Read the trail descriptions (Remotemoto said not to ride solo and to take 3 days worth of food incase one gets flooded in), and ensure one has a means of signalling for help (EPIRB or Garmin Inreach etc).

 

Third occasion: Solo exploring forestry area west of Warkworth. Rode through a "puddle" on the trail that happened to be saddle-high. Bike drowned and I could have too (tipped off the bike when it went down and luckily managed to push it off me as only my head was sticking out of the "puddle".  After strip-down of my cold & wet gear, I had to drag the bike out and tip it upside down and to try "pump" the water out by rotating the rear wheel whilst in gear.

 

Lesson: AGAIN, Tell someone where you'll be going. AGAIN, don't trust all "puddles" on trail unless you can see the bottom, and even then walk it. Wet boots are far better than drowned bike.

 

So yeah, I don't learn too good, but as your list says, having the right supplies, and riding with someone makes it a hell of a lot less risky!

 

I need to adventure with you. And your one banana haha

[patches]

The bad and ugly...

 

douchebags are universal, and living in such a relaxed and peaceful country doesn't exempt one from encountering them now and again.

 

The incident - My brother-in-law (Wellington) tried to dispose of 1x cardboard box and mistakenly was not aware that he couldn't use the big green dumpsters placed in an shared area between their townhouse complex and a small commercial park.

 

He was met by an extremely confrontational  employee from one of the businesses who proceeded to shout, swear and threaten him. My brother-in didn't get a chance to get a word in edgewise, let alone explain that he's only been living in NZ for 7 months and was genuinely unaware.

 

Anyway, if it had stopped there, it would have been bad enough of an encounter. But then yesterday he returns home from work to find this piled up in front of the front door.

 

 

It seems the vitriolic individual he encountered the day before had gone through the effort to empty half a dumpster load of cardboard and polystyrene as "payback" for mistakenly trying to dispose of 1 box in the wrong dumpster.

 

To make matters worse, my sister and nephew (18 month old) were stuck inside, unable to exit the house due to the obstruction. My sister has severe rheumatoid arthritis, a shoulder replacement, and cardiac arrhythmia. In the event of a medical emergency or fire she would have been trapped.

 

So yeah, my brother-in-law is now fuming and in a bit of disbelief that someone can be such a tjop and do such a thing.

 

Douchebags are universal!

[davetapson]

I just sold a car privately and it was so easy.

 

Bought our first car from Turners when we arrived.  Paid cash (it wasn't much), the lady behind the counter went clickity-clickity click and said "Ok, done."  

 

I asked where the cert of reg was and she said "What?"

 

I kept feeling like I was being ripped-off - it was too easy and too non-bureaucratic - something must be wrong... 

 

 

[davetapson]

It seems the vitriolic individual he encountered the day before had gone through the effort to empty half a dumpster load of cardboard and polystyrene as "payback" for mistakenly trying to dispose of 1 box in the wrong dumpster.

 

There is a yellow recyclers bin near one of the local garages, between the garage and public parking. 

Was chucking a fiew boxes in it once when the forecourt jockey came out and gave me lecture about how he didn't mind me using 'his' recycle bin as long as I broke the boxes down flat.  Given that it has recycling company branding on it, and that he is the pomp-jockey, I had some internal opinions about how much it was 'his'. 

 

That he was a long-term ex-saffa made it a bit strange.  Garage was then bust for doing dodgy WOF's, so there is that.

Edited August 5, 2020 by davetapson

[Wayne Potgieter]

The bad and ugly...

 

douchebags are universal, and living in such a relaxed and peaceful country doesn't exempt one from encountering them now and again.

 

The incident - My brother-in-law (Wellington) tried to dispose of 1x cardboard box and mistakenly was not aware that he couldn't use the big green dumpsters placed in an shared area between their townhouse complex and a small commercial park.

 

He was met by an extremely confrontational  employee from one of the businesses who proceeded to shout, swear and threaten him. My brother-in didn't get a chance to get a word in edgewise, let alone explain that he's only been living in NZ for 7 months and was genuinely unaware.

 

Anyway, if it had stopped there, it would have been bad enough of an encounter. But then yesterday he returns home from work to find this piled up in front of the front door.

 

IMG-20200805-WA0002.jpg

 

It seems the vitriolic individual he encountered the day before had gone through the effort to empty half a dumpster load of cardboard and polystyrene as "payback" for mistakenly trying to dispose of 1 box in the wrong dumpster.

 

To make matters worse, my sister and nephew (18 month old) were stuck inside, unable to exit the house due to the obstruction. My sister has severe rheumatoid arthritis, a shoulder replacement, and cardiac arrhythmia. In the event of a medical emergency or fire she would have been trapped.

 

So yeah, my brother-in-law is now fuming and in a bit of disbelief that someone can be such a tjop and do such a thing.

 

Douchebags are universal!

At the risk of sounding like an old man - i would totally report that dude. 

 

Your Bro's mistake does not warrant such a response.