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

[patches]

I'm sure most of you have seen this, but I thought it was quite funny.

 

https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/122981053/superkiwisocialisticempireofjacinda-jacinda-ardern-puppet-appears-as-mary-poppins-fighting-covid19-on-uk-satire-spitting-image

 

Spitting Image back after a 24 year hiatus. They have some funny Trump and BoJo Covid sketches too.

 

I guess with the state of the world at the moment, there is just WAY too much comedic/satirical content for them to ignore, and hence the return after such a long time.

 

First sketch I ever saw of theirs was the "I have never met a nice South African" song, shown to me by a British colleague. 

Edited October 6, 2020 by patches

[davetapson]

Living Murrays Bay, working Newmarket... what do we say?  Do able?

Current commute MB to Oteha Valley Rd... which is pretty sweet.

[Kranswurm]

haha, or outside like the majority of kiwis do.

 

It would be interesting to know what percentage of garages in NZ actually get used for housing cars.

 

My garage... nope

3 sets of close friends... all nope.

 

In NZ "off street parking" is considered almost as good as a garage. And even then, it doesn't necessarily mean that the car is parked within a gated property.

 

Such is the case in my instance. No front gate to my property. Will only look at putting on in one day when pets or mini-humans on the cards and I need to corral those suckers in.

So yeah... garages are for bikes and fun stuff. Driveways and verges are for cars

 

Parking a car outside stuffs it up.

I have always kept my bikes and cars in a garage

Bicycles live in the house

[patches]

Living Murrays Bay, working Newmarket... what do we say?  Do able?

 

Current commute MB to Oteha Valley Rd... which is pretty sweet.

 

Yup, totally do able!

 

I have a friend who lived in Mairangi Bay and commuted to Newmarket via car.

Another who lives in Long Bay, also commuted to Newmarket (drive to Albeany Station, then catch the 866 bus). He's also cycled (Long Bay to Bayswater Ferry along East Coast rd, then cycle up through the Domain).

 

And I live in Milford and commute to Grafton (a little shorter, but same general route). I mostly bus (842 from Milford to Smales, then 866 from Smales to Grafton).

 

What mode of transport you planning on using?

[patches]

Parking a car outside stuffs it up.

I have always kept my bikes and cars in a garage

Bicycles live in the house

 

True.

 

Which raises a notable point of difference. In general Kiwis care a lot less about what car they drive and what condition it is in, than we Saffers do.

 

So many rusty bonnets in NZ. So many skadonks, driven by people in $1m+ houses. Add duty-free 2nd hand Japanese imports into the market, and one sees all sorts on the roads.

 

Fortunately though NZ does require an annual warrant of fitness (roadworthy), which does mean 95% of cars on the road are passable.

[Kranswurm]

True.

 

Which raises a notable point of difference. In general Kiwis care a lot less about what car they drive and what condition it is in, than we Saffers do.

 

So many rusty bonnets in NZ. So many skadonks, driven by people in $1m+ houses. Add duty-free 2nd hand Japanese imports into the market, and one sees all sorts on the roads.

 

Fortunately though NZ does require an annual warrant of fitness (roadworthy), which does mean 95% of cars on the road are passable.

There are just as many Skorra korra in SA

I have always looked after my possessions so they work properly,last,and give pleasure.Sure it takes time but going through my cameras once a month,cleaning the lenses and checking everything is working is part and parcel of the hobby

My car is polished once a month

[patches]

There are just as many Skorra korra in SA

I have always looked after my possessions so they work properly,last,and give pleasure.Sure it takes time but going through my cameras once a month,cleaning the lenses and checking everything is working is part and parcel of the hobby

My car is polished once a month

 

True, although those skorra korra generally aren't owned and driven by people earning R750,000pa plus. 

 

It would be interesting to take a specific group, lets say young professionals (25 - 35yrs old) earning around $110k/R1.2m in NZ terms, and approx. R750k in SA terms. Then compare what percentage of their annual income they spend on their motor vehicles.

 

I know cost of living in NZ is generally higher (especially housing in Auckland), but still, I don't know ANY young professionals in NZ with brand new Beemers, Mercs, or even Golf GTi's.

 

In SA though, there are heaps of people earning that kinda money (or less) that will happily finance a car for 40-50% (or even higher) of their annual income.

 

Here that same group would generally hover around the 5-15% mark.

 

Interesting difference in perception and culture.

[Kranswurm]

True, although those skorra korra generally aren't owned and driven by people earning R750,000pa plus. 

 

It would be interesting to take a specific group, lets say young professionals (25 - 35yrs old) earning around $110k/R1.2m in NZ terms, and approx. R750k in SA terms. Then compare what percentage of their annual income they spend on their motor vehicles.

 

I know cost of living in NZ is generally higher (especially housing in Auckland), but still, I don't know ANY young professionals in NZ with brand new Beemers, Mercs, or even Golf GTi's.

 

In SA though, there are heaps of people earning that kinda money (or less) that will happily finance a car for 40-50% (or even higher) of their annual income.

 

Here that same group would generally hover around the 5-15% mark.

 

Interesting difference in perception and culture.

Depends where

We had a houses in Scarborough and Fish Hoek for many years and the cars are just toast and certainly not 40 to 50%.Glencairn and Kom not far off.Must be the sea air.My ex farms in Mcgregor and my sister has a B&B in Greyton and lots of the cars there are also generally vrot.I suppose its the type of people who live there.

Anyway looking after a car has nothing to do with its value.

[patches]

Depends where

We had a houses in Scarborough and Fish Hoek for many years and the cars are just toast and certainly not 40 to 50%.Glencairn and Kom not far off.Must be the sea air.My ex farms in Mcgregor and my sister has a B&B in Greyton and lots of the cars there are also generally vrot.I suppose its the type of people who live there.

Anyway looking after a car has nothing to do with its value.

Oh I definitely agree. My point of reverence was city folk working corporate jobs. JHB vs Auckland.

 

Those unblemished by the JHB smog are definitely more sensible.

 

And yes, frugality in car choice does not excuse poor stewardship.

[CAAD4]

 

 

In a few weeks I will own this land. And then I can build our first NZ home.

 

#wanaka

Congrats Wayne. I wish you many happy memories with your family and the new chapter of COFBA.

[hayleyearth]

That really depends.

I watched a doccie on a couple building one in Christchurch.

The project got away from them very quickly. They budgeted $650K and it ballooned to over $1mil. Also took 2 years.

 

It is definitely capable of being a lot cheaper and modular to adding later is easy.

My favourite is the all all inclusive container pool. Drop it in a hole or on a slab and it is good to go.

Modpools-Shipping-Container-Pools-.jpg

That is quite a difficult design to get past the council. The report alone will cost you at least $5k to proof to council it can withstand that water pressure and mounting conditions etc.

[MTBeer]

True, although those skorra korra generally aren't owned and driven by people earning R750,000pa plus. 

 

It would be interesting to take a specific group, lets say young professionals (25 - 35yrs old) earning around $110k/R1.2m in NZ terms, and approx. R750k in SA terms. Then compare what percentage of their annual income they spend on their motor vehicles.

 

I know cost of living in NZ is generally higher (especially housing in Auckland), but still, I don't know ANY young professionals in NZ with brand new Beemers, Mercs, or even Golf GTi's.

 

In SA though, there are heaps of people earning that kinda money (or less) that will happily finance a car for 40-50% (or even higher) of their annual income.

 

Here that same group would generally hover around the 5-15% mark.

 

Interesting difference in perception and culture.

true. People in SA spend a stupid portion of their salary on cars

[patches]

That really depends.

I watched a doccie on a couple building one in Christchurch.

The project got away from them very quickly. They budgeted $650K and it ballooned to over $1mil. Also took 2 years.

 

It is definitely capable of being a lot cheaper and modular to adding later is easy.

My favourite is the all all inclusive container pool. Drop it in a hole or on a slab and it is good to go.

Modpools-Shipping-Container-Pools-.jpg

 

If you're referring to the episode of Grand Designs NZ where they built one out West Melton way (just out side of Christchurch)... that was pretty hideous!

 

 

 

It seemed like there was little architectural design and input into it, and looked like a grown-up was playing with wooden blocks to build a giant shed.

 

And as you say, both programme and budget were blown out.

 

The Grand Designs UK one was a far better execution. It also met budget and programme (as far as I can remember)

 

 

I think the fact that the owner is an architect (and not an engineer) helped in the far more refined result.

 

Ironically though, the architect's house (UK) was better run from a project perspective than the engineer's (NZ) house (even though the engineer claims to have construction project management credentials).

 

I also think about the future resale, and the Christchurch home will likely deter potential buyers, whereas the other would attract.

 

That is quite a difficult design to get past the council. The report alone will cost you at least $5k to proof to council it can withstand that water pressure and mounting conditions etc.

 

Yup, the council consenting processes in NZ can turn any "simple" project into a big deal. Government has realised that some of the requirements are OTT, and relaxed certain ones around sheds, sleep outs, car ports, etc.

 

But based on the plague of leaky homes in NZ, they are only getting tougher on primary dwellings.

 

In the above examples I think the one key difference in design was that the UK architect used the containers primarily as a simple, low effort, structure, not so much as the building envelope itself (as the NZ engineer intended).

[davetapson]

Yup, totally do able!

 

What mode of transport you planning on using?

Telling the missus that the only answer is a motorcycle   

 

Bus would make sense as the bus stop is at the end of our driveway on Beach Road.  Daughter tells me 866 is the one...

[davetapson]

True, although those skorra korra generally aren't owned and driven by people earning R750,000pa plus. 

 

It would be interesting to take a specific group, lets say young professionals (25 - 35yrs old) earning around $110k/R1.2m in NZ terms, and approx. R750k in SA terms. Then compare what percentage of their annual income they spend on their motor vehicles.

 

Interesting difference in perception and culture.

I think that SA is a general exception when it comes to cars - no-where do people spend as much of their income on a car as Jhbger will happily do.

 

The interesting thing is that although NZ (Auckland?) is a maritime environment, no body cares for their cars but they don't seem to rust.  Get hammered by the UV and and have paint damage, but you don't see much rust.  Although that might be a WOF thing.

 

However, I've seen lichen growing on cars here (pretty regularly), which goes to show how often they are washed...!!

 

You even look at company execs here, and they're driving nothing like what I used to see in SA.  Worked for Discovery for a while, "bring your play car to work on Fridays" used to be a bit of an eye-opener.

 

That said, there are more supercars on the suburban roads here than I ever saw in SA - Lambos, McLarens the lot.  Mustangs are like ticks...  I wonder how they raised the capital - I'm assuming riding the property market...

[Wayne Potgieter]

I think that SA is a general exception when it comes to cars - no-where do people spend as much of their income on a car as Jhbger will happily do.

 

The interesting thing is that although NZ (Auckland?) is a maritime environment, no body cares for their cars but they don't seem to rust.  Get hammered by the UV and and have paint damage, but you don't see much rust.  Although that might be a WOF thing.

 

However, I've seen lichen growing on cars here (pretty regularly), which goes to show how often they are washed...!!

 

You even look at company execs here, and they're driving nothing like what I used to see in SA.  Worked for Discovery for a while, "bring your play car to work on Fridays" used to be a bit of an eye-opener.

 

That said, there are more supercars on the suburban roads here than I ever saw in SA - Lambos, McLarens the lot.  Mustangs are like ticks...  I wonder how they raised the capital - I'm assuming riding the property market...

My car is frequently hijacked by spiders and gets covered in spiderwebs.

 

Kids have resorted to naming them. Fred lives in the left wing mirror.

Edited October 7, 2020 by Wayne Potgieter