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

[intern]

On that note...I heard that there aren't organised sport in primary schools. Is this true?

 We take our boys to athletics and cricket which is after school but not part of school. There's a bike track at the school though, which the kids use often. So a bit different, to be sure! Back in our day, cycling wasn't a thing (though tons of kids biked to school). Now it is a thing...and very few kids bike to school. Weird huh.

[l4y3rcake]

 We take our boys to athletics and cricket which is after school but not part of school. There's a bike track at the school though, which the kids use often. So a bit different, to be sure! Back in our day, cycling wasn't a thing (though tons of kids biked to school). Now it is a thing...and very few kids bike to school. Weird huh.

 

 

I'm more interested in Rugby and BMX racing. I understand that BMX is a club sport. That's the way it is all over the world. 

[eibmoZ]

Just on the “bad”... xc riding... think long 50 to 100km routes like a extended cradle and lanseria route or a quick 60km spuit does not seem to exist in Auckland.

 

I am on the shore and there seems to be no option to do a quick 50 or so from my house.

 

In Joburg i would have a 2 to 8 km tar and then be free on a variety of trails leading various directions. Granted some where i would pass a super dodgey area.

 

Seems north island is enduro.

 

Some suggest i do one or two of the short 6or 10 km rides in loops, but i hate loops. Whole reason i ride is to be free to gou out for a hour or two and just ride.

 

Not sure what next step is in terms of riding..

[Saag]

Just on the “bad”... xc riding... think long 50 to 100km routes like a extended cradle and lanseria route or a quick 60km spuit does not seem to exist in Auckland.

 

I am on the shore and there seems to be no option to do a quick 50 or so from my house.

 

In Joburg i would have a 2 to 8 km tar and then be free on a variety of trails leading various directions. Granted some where i would pass a super dodgey area.

 

Seems north island is enduro.

 

Some suggest i do one or two of the short 6or 10 km rides in loops, but i hate loops. Whole reason i ride is to be free to gou out for a hour or two and just ride.

 

Not sure what next step is in terms of riding..

You learn to make a plan. I regularly ride out from Whangaparaoa to Puhoi, Riverhead etc. You can avoid a lot of tar, and once I hit Orewa, mostly gravel.

 

But I agree, no mtb specific trails available with any distance.

[WrightJnr]

Just on the “bad”... xc riding... think long 50 to 100km routes like a extended cradle and lanseria route or a quick 60km spuit does not seem to exist in Auckland.

 

I am on the shore and there seems to be no option to do a quick 50 or so from my house.

 

In Joburg i would have a 2 to 8 km tar and then be free on a variety of trails leading various directions. Granted some where i would pass a super dodgey area.

 

Seems north island is enduro.

 

Some suggest i do one or two of the short 6or 10 km rides in loops, but i hate loops. Whole reason i ride is to be free to gou out for a hour or two and just ride.

 

Not sure what next step is in terms of riding..

Same but different issue here in Dubai for me. I’ve got to drive an hour to get to Hatta if I want to have a good MTB. There’s about 160km of dedicated road cycling track close to me but I’m not a roadie fan to be honest. Totally miss my riding in the Cradle and all the MTB tracks back in SA. Miss my cycling mates too.

[patches]

I hope all had a great Waitangi weekend!

We were lucky enough to do a bit of a South Island road trip.

 

 

 

Flew down to Christchurch. Spent half a day in the city, then down to Fairlie through Raikaia Gorge. 1 night there. Then onwards to Lake Tekapo for a short hike, Lake Pukaki for a picture of Mt Cook, and down into Central Otago to stay just outside of Cromwell on Lake Dunstan. After that a morning in Wanaka and some exploring the countryside around Alexandra. Finally we drove meandered our way through small Central Otago towns (like Roxburgh and Lawrence) to end up in Dunedin for a bit before we flew back to Auckland.

We were quite proud of ourselves for exploring regional NZ and not just gravitating towards Queenstown (as awesome as it can be, it's been overdone).

 

 

So here's the rough route the road trip took us on:

 

 

Here are selected snaps (I wasn't the official photographer, so apologies for the slim pickings).

 

Lake Tekapo (from the western side)

 

Lake Pukaki looking out at Mt Cook

 

Wanaka

 

Dunedin Train Station

 

Edited February 9, 2020 by patches

[davetapson]

Visa woes - as in 'whoas' not 'voos'.  Although woes as well.

My folks have been having a bit of a tough time of it in Grahamstown so decided to haul them out here for a bit of R&R.

 

They applied for visas through vfs early Dec, sent in passports, got them back etc.  Mean time I'd booked flights for 25 Jan.

 

23 Jan they get a email from INZ "We need more docs." (Including my birth cert. Which they have, we've just emigrated?!)

Change flights to 16 Feb.  Three weeks, how long can it take?
 

INZ: "Oh, and this is the Beijing office of INZ and it's Chinese New Year so we'll be closed for a week and then I'm taking leave so I'll only be back on 7 Feb but send the forms by the due date (generally all responses to INZ have to be done within a week) or else."

 

Then Corona virus.   Office closed. Phone INZ "What's up?" "Office closed until Feb 17 - are picking up family and medical emergency visa's and processing them elsewhere."

 

Me: "Office unlikely to be open 17 Feb. What then? "  INZ: "Dunno, haven't been told."

Time to change flights again.  Changes are probably going to cost half again what the flights cost.

Lesson learned: Get visa, book flights.

 

Edited February 10, 2020 by davetapson

[Dubber]

Visa woes - as in 'whoas' not 'voos'.  Although woes as well.

 

My folks have been having a bit of a tough time of it in Grahamstown so decided to haul them out here for a bit of R&R.

 

They applied for visas through vfs early Dec, sent in passports, got them back etc.  Mean time I'd booked flights for 25 Jan.

 

23 Jan they get a email from INZ "We need more docs." (Including my birth cert. Which they have, we've just emigrated?!)

 

Change flights to 16 Feb.  Three weeks, how long can it take?

 

INZ: "Oh, and this is the Beijing office of INZ and it's Chinese New Year so we'll be closed for a week and then I'm taking leave so I'll only be back on 7 Feb but send the forms by the due date (generally all responses to INZ have to be done within a week) or else."

 

Then Corona virus.   Office closed. Phone INZ "What's up?" "Office closed until Feb 17 - are picking up family and medical emergency visa's and processing them elsewhere."

 

Me: "Office unlikely to be open 17 Feb. What then? "  INZ: "Dunno, haven't been told."

 

Time to change flights again.  Changes are probably going to cost half again what the flights cost.

 

Lesson learned: Get visa, book flights.

 

 

That is a real bummer.  Will be worth it when the folks eventually make it out.  Might not seem like it at the moment though.

[WrightJnr]

Visa woes - as in 'whoas' not 'voos'. Although woes as well.

 

My folks have been having a bit of a tough time of it in Grahamstown so decided to haul them out here for a bit of R&R.

 

They applied for visas through vfs early Dec, sent in passports, got them back etc. Mean time I'd booked flights for 25 Jan.

 

23 Jan they get a email from INZ "We need more docs." (Including my birth cert. Which they have, we've just emigrated?!)

 

Change flights to 16 Feb. Three weeks, how long can it take?

 

INZ: "Oh, and this is the Beijing office of INZ and it's Chinese New Year so we'll be closed for a week and then I'm taking leave so I'll only be back on 7 Feb but send the forms by the due date (generally all responses to INZ have to be done within a week) or else."

 

Then Corona virus. Office closed. Phone INZ "What's up?" "Office closed until Feb 17 - are picking up family and medical emergency visa's and processing them elsewhere."

 

Me: "Office unlikely to be open 17 Feb. What then? " INZ: "Dunno, haven't been told."

 

Time to change flights again. Changes are probably going to cost half again what the flights cost.

 

Lesson learned: Get visa, book flights.

 

 

Frustrating for sure. However I’m not sure you can get a Visa without flights booked. Think it’s a requirement in the Visa application. Also, for future, when booking tickets check which class of economy. It’s those cheap and nasty ones that don’t allow changes. Sometimes for a few bob more you can book a better economy class ticket that will allow changes for free or minimal fee.

 

Anyways, hope this story has a happy ending for you and the folks. Cheers.

[patches]

Visa woes - as in 'whoas' not 'voos'.  Although woes as well.

 

My folks have been having a bit of a tough time of it in Grahamstown so decided to haul them out here for a bit of R&R.

 

They applied for visas through vfs early Dec, sent in passports, got them back etc.  Mean time I'd booked flights for 25 Jan.

 

23 Jan they get a email from INZ "We need more docs." (Including my birth cert. Which they have, we've just emigrated?!)

 

Change flights to 16 Feb.  Three weeks, how long can it take?

 

INZ: "Oh, and this is the Beijing office of INZ and it's Chinese New Year so we'll be closed for a week and then I'm taking leave so I'll only be back on 7 Feb but send the forms by the due date (generally all responses to INZ have to be done within a week) or else."

 

Then Corona virus.   Office closed. Phone INZ "What's up?" "Office closed until Feb 17 - are picking up family and medical emergency visa's and processing them elsewhere."

 

Me: "Office unlikely to be open 17 Feb. What then? "  INZ: "Dunno, haven't been told."

 

Time to change flights again.  Changes are probably going to cost half again what the flights cost.

 

Lesson learned: Get visa, book flights.

 

 

 

Sorry man, that is Kay-aye-kay!

 

I expected more from INZ!

 

What sort of visa have you applied for? The Parental Visitors Visa (which allows stays of 6 months/year and is valid for 3yrs), or juts a regular visitors visa?

 

If it's the parental one, perhaps that's why the process is so arduous. Would it then be possible to apply for a normal visitors visa and if your parents plan on staying for more than 3 months, then hopefully the parental one will come through during that time?!

[davetapson]

 

What sort of visa have you applied for? The Parental Visitors Visa (which allows stays of 6 months/year and is valid for 3yrs), or juts a regular visitors visa?

 

If it's the parental one, perhaps that's why the process is so arduous. Would it then be possible to apply for a normal visitors visa and if your parents plan on staying for more than 3 months, then hopefully the parental one will come through during that time?!

 

Just normal visitors visa - just wanted a quick trip where they could fly out, sit for 6 weeks drinking tea on the deck and then back. 

 

They were kind of stressed and tired so I thought that doing all the Parental visa stuff (medicals etc) would be too much and the visitor visa would be fine.

 

Getting a mail from INZ on 23 Jan when they were expecting to be getting on a plane on the 25th really knocked the stuffing out of them.  They seem to have got over it tho, now it's just a waiting game...

 

Edit: I'm going to suggest to them that they start the Parental Visa thing when they get back so that any time they feel like getting on a plane in the next three years they can.  Depends on how they cope with this trip - my father is in his mid-80's.

Edited February 12, 2020 by davetapson

[davetapson]

One of my buddies is trying to entice me to do this - given that 'Wh' is pronounced 'F' I'm wondering about the name...

 

https://www.whaka100.co.nz/index.html

 

100km (that doesn't worry me), 3200m ascent (given what I've seen of NZ, that worries me...)

[Wayne Potgieter]

One of my buddies is trying to entice me to do this - given that 'Wh' is pronounced 'F' I'm wondering about the name...

 

https://www.whaka100.co.nz/index.html

 

100km (that doesn't worry me), 3200m ascent (given what I've seen of NZ, that worries me...)

 

Do it.

 

Do it for fun - dont race it just complete it and have a laugh. 

 

Or do the 50km now and the 100 next year.

[Saag]

One of my buddies is trying to entice me to do this - given that 'Wh' is pronounced 'F' I'm wondering about the name...

 

https://www.whaka100.co.nz/index.html

 

100km (that doesn't worry me), 3200m ascent (given what I've seen of NZ, that worries me...)

I have done all the ultra marathon stuff back in SA, and I am really scared of this thing[emoji3064]. Do it and let us know if you survived [emoji16].

 

I look at it every year, and then my courage runs out....

[canfan]

I have done all the ultra marathon stuff back in SA, and I am really scared of this thing[emoji3064]. Do it and let us know if you survived [emoji16].

 

I look at it every year, and then my courage runs out....

Same here. This thing is a beast. I know a couple of really strong riders that have ended up taking 7-9 hours to complete the Whaka 100. The 50 definitely seems more like it could be fun but still challenging. 

[davetapson]

Do it.

 

Do it for fun - dont race it just complete it and have a laugh. 

 

Or do the 50km now and the 100 next year.

 

I have done all the ultra marathon stuff back in SA, and I am really scared of this thing[emoji3064]. Do it and let us know if you survived [emoji16].

 

I look at it every year, and then my courage runs out....

 

Same here. This thing is a beast. I know a couple of really strong riders that have ended up taking 7-9 hours to complete the Whaka 100. The 50 definitely seems more like it could be fun but still challenging. 

 

Deal.  Let's do it then... 

Edited February 13, 2020 by davetapson