That seems to be very late - it feels like ages since your election results were announced. I hope we don't have to wait that long for the results over on the other side of the planet!
Piglet, in most cases this was affirming what we already knew. We have a lot of votes cast from New Zealanders overseas and special votes too, these needed to be added before the results were finalised. The one Green MP in an electorate seat doubled her majority with these votes included and one National candidate lost his seat, but is asking for a recount because it was by a very narrow margin. Special votes include those who registered on the day too. The bloke who came into the school hall where I was voting after me wasn't sure if he was on the roll at all, so he would sign up on the day and cast a Special vote. The extra couple of weeks would allow them to check his eligibility.
Votes cast from New Zealanders overseas tend to favour the Greens and Labour.
The Labour Party ended up with 50% of votes cast. This happened a couple of times in the past with the First Past the Post system,(when there were also fewer parties) but has never happened under the current Mixed Member Proportional system.
OK, now that the NZ elections are over it's time to turn our attention to a much more important poll taking place this weekend
Candidates will not be dropping leaflets in your letterboxes, though some may drop gifts on your head, and, though they are not on Twitter, will make the occasional tweet -- It's the New Zealand Bird of the Year!
My favourite this year is the papango - the blackscaup. Smaller than mallards, they can dive 5 ft down in the water when they are only a few days old (and look like fat sparrows). One of te joys of living near a river is looking out on a seemingly empty stretch of water and seeing them pop up.
I will not be voting for the Hihi, which is being supported by a sex shop chain due to the males having a large organ of reproduction.
Both their eyes are yellow. the females are darker but I'm not sure of the colour- they dive too quickly.
I think the Papango numbers are increasing again. After the quakes the bed of the river at then end of my street was raised so had to be dredged, which brought them back - there was also a botulism which cut their population. I saw two different groups, numbering about 12 in total the other day.
Athrawes, I like the Kakapo too. Sirocco, their spokesbird, is not interested in the breeding programme (something to do with being hand-reared) and is taken around the country fund-raising for the rest of them. I met him in Wellington once.
I think the organisers of the competition try to have different birds each time so people get to know (and support breeding programmes for) a wide range of birds).
Tui has been so significant in keeping me sane this year. A friend sent me vids from his phone of Wellington tui-song. It won't win but it means a lot of to me this year so I voted for it anyway
I used to seek out tins of Tui beer as gifts for my father, as Tui was his nickname in the family. (it means "chief" in Fijian, where he was born, but was also a big-sister rendition of his real name.)
As for Scottish football teams (as read out on the BBC) I rather liked "Hearts of Midlothian" , though I had no idea where they came from (presumably somewhere called midlothian?) .
Heart of Midlothian (single heart, but known as "Hearts") - they're from Edinburgh. Midlothian is the county to the south of Edinburgh; I'd always thought the team's name came from the novel by Sir Walter Scott, but in fact it's just from the same source as the novel - a mosaic in Edinburgh on the site of the old Tollbooth prison.
Galilit, one of the shovel ready projects to get people employed and money circulating is to eradicate predatory animals on Banks Peninsular and allow tui to breed more freely - as has happened in Wellington. lo some farmers have offered to sell a block of their land to a conservation group to allow more planting of native trees. Hugh Wilson who pioneered the planting of Ohinewai with the (then) radical idea of planting gorse to shelter the growing natives is acting as a consultant. so I have great hopes for the future of tui in Christchurch in 20 years or so - it is one of the few things that I regret I probably won't be around to see. In the meantime I'm planting kowhai trees.
I just got a wee video of kaka in Central Park, Wellington - a super-spreader event from Zealandia. Confirmed by another frined who said "Yes, they are everywhere in Welly now". Way ahead of the 500 year forecast, ae
That was Sirocco, and explains why he is not part of the breeding programme.
Total panic today. Most of my recipes have disappeared off my computer including the easiest rum and raisin Christmas cake one. A Bing search of the internet failed to find it, but Google discovered it in a Southland Times article from 2007. YaY for the Southland Times.
Total panic today. Most of my recipes have disappeared off my computer including the easiest rum and raisin Christmas cake one. A Bing search of the internet failed to find it, but Google discovered it in a Southland Times article from 2007. YaY for the Southland Times.
And yay for Google. I sometimes look for old friends or even old pupils who might have made their mark. The former, alas, often come labelled 'late', but one classmate from the 40s who turned up thus was shown as the father of a now respected and highly qualified staff member at Victoria Uni, whom I met once when his parents visited and he was a toddler who played in our sand-pit.
@Galloping Granny I'm glad to discover I'm not the only one occasionally Googling past friends and acquaintances, not to mention my own past self. I even "stalked'" a woman with the same first name and rare surname as myself as if she were a younger me in a different world that might have been mine if I had made alternative choices in life.
I was speaker at a drop in centre the other night and (apropos of where your treasure is there your heart will be also) told the Sad Old Man story of googling an ex girlfriend (XGF) from uni days … no hits for a while until I coincidentally bumped into a real estate agent who had sold her deceased mother's house … that gave me her younger sister's details, and she, when I contacted her, gave me XGF's email address. "She'd love to hear from you ... she's a very successful businesswoman now."
So I emailed her, but, understandably, no reply. I mean nostalgic Sad Old Exes [insert roll eyes emoji]. But googling her email address did bring up a hit on the sale of luxury items from a mansion in a wealthy Pacific Island community.
That seemed to be the end of the trail.
But as luck would have it, it was almost that very moment that XGF's business took a colourful turn and XGF was probably not so keen to hear from me or anyone else.
As I discovered a couple of years later. Frustrated by my earlier lack of success Sad Old man Me found an article that mentioned that the couple who were selling the goods had been victims of a heist from their wine cellar, conducted by their gardener while they were "on an extended absence" from their home. The gardener was charged and found guilty. His heist though was unimportant: the extended absence of the house-owners is more significant. This extended absence, the writer noted, was as a result of their "having been subjected to real and significant threats to their lives because of other business dealings.” The plot thickened.
The "business dealings," presumably in part what the sister described as "very successful" (though the ramifications were unknown when she spoke to me), involved a well-publicized bounty hunting sting that removed some $60million (US) from the pockets of a consortium of Japanese bankers. Apparently the businessmen were a wee bit upset, and some rather pointed threats were made about the players longevity prospects: “I don't think that the Japanese will sleep until they get their money back. They are very thorough, very patient. One day, somehow and somewhere, they will get it.” Threats were recorded in the Australian and Pacific media suggesting that the perpetrators' life-expectancy was limited: a well-known Australian underworld figure was quoted as saying, referring to a third conspirator, "I'll cut his f*ing head off." It was in fact his threats that created the first wave of repercussions, as he had just been found to be in possession of rather a lot of contraband and was facing a stint the local authorities' pleasure. He had been captured when on his way to visit the sting-perpetrators.
The bounty had involved not only a whole heap of sunken treasure (apparently this sort of thing still goes on) that may or may not have existed (though the sunken ships involved are well-gazetted), but was connected, vertently or inadvertently, with an operation smuggling a large cache of guns and ammunition. The head-hunting gentleman (well known to Australian and other police), certainly existed. The jewelry-retrieval operation was entwined with the gun- and personnel-running operation (apparently this too still happens); the alleged perpetrator of the weapon-running was allegedly he who was suggesting a degree of surgical removal of quite useful body parts. It was beginning to appear as if the movement of stock and cash around the Pacific was becoming an unsuccessful investment for most of those concerned.
Reading between the lines it is probable that the gun- and personnel-running was not a part of the operation XGF and Husband were planning, but the very close association with someone who was running both scams was a cause for some concern. XGF and Husband had already left the country somewhat hastily when the surgical threat was made, having learned that the issuer of the threat had arrived in their 'hood. Media reports added laconically, naming XGF's husband, that he "could not be reached for comment."
Understandably my trail went cold again … though funnily enough XGF and Husband did somewhat riskily pop their heads up briefly when a horse they owned won a Significant Race™ a few years later. Certainly XGF was unlikely to be answering emails from snooping former boyfriends.
To the best of my knowledge XGF and Husband still have their heads. A variation on the story that emerged in the media suggests they were the victims of the scam - that they were conned into financing the bullion hunt. Either way the gentleman who made the threats to kill (and who seems to have different identities depending which account you read) spent some time languishing in a Pacific Island gaol, while XGF and Husband have spent their lives since pretty much on the run, even contacting family only through intermediaries. "I'm just exhausted, physically and emotionally, right now," XGF said in the one further media coverage I've found. "It's all-consuming … it's all we deal with, this problem."
I was the one supporting kakapo, and I only voted once! I promise!
My apologies. Of course I accept your statement, but did you persuade others of the rightness (?) of you opinion? I shan't ask how, if your answer's yes.
Just the once, but Papango - blackscaup didn't even make the top 10
We waz robbed. I demand a recount with scrutineers. I'm sure some dead people voted.
---
However I'm not really surprised. Kakapo have a lot going for them, that videoclip of Sirocco is so funny, I suspect they may be quite intelligent too, as many parrots are. It's a pity they haven't evolved to the stage where they can attack predators. Their best defence is to sit still on the ground and pretend to be vegetation.
Kea, the mountain parrots are one of the most intelligent animals it to world. ( I always thought the kea at Arthur's Pass were more intelligent than the idiots feeding them injurious human food on the ground of the carpark with buses, trucks and cars coming and going). One of the greatest dangers for kea seems to be the poison dropped to kill possums. I read of a researcher who thinks it may be possible to teach them not to eat it, I do hope so.
Mr WitG and I spent a very pleasant afternoon yesterday indulging in the very mid-twentieth century activity of going for a drive in the country. We went to Braidwood and Araluen, and then returning via various backroads through Captains Flat and Hoskinstown. Our excuse for this un-green behaviour is that we have a new car, and needed a chance to try and comprehend all its smart new tricks. Country-side is amazingly green. Glimpses of burnt country from the Black Summer fires at various points, but we didn’t drive through any burnt-out areas.
I heard of a couple of teenage boys who went on bicycles to look at some caves. When they emerged from their exploration they found that kea had eaten the saddles on both their bikes. Not a comfortable ride home!
Headline on my newsfeed - World's fattest parrot wins Bird of the Year. Maybe Weightwatchers will sponsor them next time.
I also read that NZ rugby now ranks third in the world. Oh the Shame of it! I will rend my garments - but not too much in case I'm charged with indecency.
Today I'm off to buy plants and seeds for my newly cleared raised garden. I think I'll buy parsley plants as my last year's plants did re-seed but the resulting plants are only 2 cm high and have stopped growing. I'm also going to grow mizuma which, once established will grow all year round, and has the advantage of being able to be harvested leaf by leaf. With a bit of luck I will get them in the ground in time for the rain forecast for this afternoon.
All coming together nicely, thank you. Met with the organist and soloist last week and will meet with minister again for more paperwork on Thursday. We had a trial walk/march down the aisle and got a fit of the giggles coming down the three steps from the sanctuary. K doesn't know left foot from right! I guess I had too much practice when I was a funeral director!! Yesterday we organised our favourite cafe to cater for the kneesup afterwards for our family and a few friends. Roll on 7th Dec
My week's excitement was a brief spin in excited son's new acquisition - a Holden Plug-in Hybrid Electric (hope I got that right) car. Wow! The silent gliding, the power up the hill and the battery charging as we ran down the hill. Looking forward to a run Up the Coast on Saturday to a Cuzzies' Lunch. Wish I could have an electric car - though my new bright green 2008 Sirion is beginning to fit like a glove. I had rented Sirions several times and said if I had to get another car I'd like one.
DtM - all coming along well, then. A hire car to get you to church?
GG - an electric car would be just what you need to get you to shops, visits and church. I bought a diesel car nearly 10 years ago to be a car for the retirement I was looking towards. It's had a few decent runs, but these days most of the journeys are pretty short. At the present rate, it will be good for another 10 years at least. Madame's in much the same position and if things go in that direction we'll be over 80 before we're looking for a final car. Friends bought a Honda Jazz a decade or so ago, and now that H is on her own, she's very pleased to have the extra height both from the ground and then in the body. She says it's just so easy to get in and out of. Mind you, she's more than 20 years older than we are.
Gee D I bought the Sireon just in time for my 88th birthday. It's just right for getting me around , and alas, I won't be driving myself to our Coromandel place again. Too far, and if I break it up as I did the last time it meant several motels each way - too expensive.
Good luck with the final wedding plans Dennis the Menace, though it sounds like you have it all organised.
If we have any South Australians on the thread, thinking of you all in hard lock down and sorry to hear people are panic buying again. I'm not sure why people still seem to think supermarkets will not be open during lock downs. Hopefully 6 days will be enough for things to get under control.
Also what do people think of the plans of the new New Zealand tourism minister, Stuart Nash? https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/news/300161375/tourism-minister-to-ban-tourists-from-hiring-vans-that-are-not-selfcontained Have there really been a whole lot of backpackers who can't wait until the next town or public toilets to go? What about all the non-rich tourists that stay in accommodation or use public toilets? Although I can sympathise with the goal of making sure tourism is environmentally sustainable, will more money really be made by only focusing on rich tourists and making them pay a lot more for the experience? Day tours are already more expensive than in Australia and even rich tourists might choose somewhere cheaper if prices are too high. If infrastructure is a problem, campers and those in caravans could pay higher camping fees or a fee to visit a national park that is not charged to locals. I still plan to go next year, hopefully, and will be staying in hostels. Hostels that would go out of business if there were no economy tourists. Cheaper hotels and restaurants and shops that cater for tourists on a budget would also not benefit from rich tourists. The environment would be better protected, but I am not convinced that NZ would make more tourist dollars with these plans. I wonder if locals will also be discouraged or banned from camping or using a van or caravan without a self-contained toilet.
Gee D I bought the Sireon just in time for my 88th birthday. It's just right for getting me around , and alas, I won't be driving myself to our Coromandel place again. Too far, and if I break it up as I did the last time it meant several motels each way - too expensive.
If we keep our existing cars another 10 years - and the way they're going there's no reason to doubt that they'll last that long* - we'd be looking at replacing with one electric car, and with easy height and ground clearance. We'll have sold DBeach by then, and really be limiting ourselves to local driving. Instead of driving to my cousin's, we'd catch the train, taking something like War and Peace to read on the journey.
Talking about trips to my cousin, has anyone heard from Vulpior?
Hey Dennis, any openings for (an elderly) flowergirl?
Mili - I hate the idea of only rich tourists, which would also have an impact on domestic tourism, but the problem of people pooing in inappropriate places really is a valid one ( and not just tourists from overseas - New Zealanders too). Some people (Freedom Campers) don't stay in camping grounds or backpacker accommodation but park up overnight or for days on end off the road in beauty spots or near beaches and befoul the area. Some will freedom camp close to camping grounds and sneak in to use their showers and toilets, which is better for the environment, but rips off the owners of the camping grounds.
I am aware of some of the problems - just not sure of what the answers are.
That certainly is a problem that needs dealing with, but there are plenty of non-wealthy potential tourists between inconsiderate and unhygenic freedom campers and the 1%.
Hey Dennis, any openings for (an elderly) flowergirl?
Alas, no flower girls or any attendants. We are both close to 70 it is just us walking down the aisle. We are having both our sisters as witnesses and gt niece and gt nephew as ring bearers. Neither of us can wait, you would think that not possible after being together for 40 years
That certainly is a problem that needs dealing with, but there are plenty of non-wealthy potential tourists between inconsiderate and unhygenic freedom campers and the 1%.
There must be many of us who have been non-wealthy tourists when we did our OE. In the fifties I was one who hitch-hiked and stayed in Youth Hostels. But I can't imagine that any of the hitch-hikers went behind a bush (or just on the roadside) to relieve themselves. And hitch-hiking around the UK (alone) or Europe (with a friend) is not something I would want my grandchildren to do these days.
Free camping is popular in Australia and even encouraged in many legal campsites, as long as people are responsible and don't camp where it is illegal. However this article was on the ABC today which suggests we desperately need some more education around campfires. The photos also show lots of rubbish left behind . Responsible campers know the campfire rules and leave campsites as if they hadn't been there. Can't believe that after January, people are so irresponsible. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11-19/victoria-bushfire-fears-over-campfires/12894632
Love that area … a jewel in the crown of southern NSW
I love that area too. My Gt grandfather came out from China to the goldfields in the 1850's, he was government interpreter and ran a store
DtM:
Was your ancestor the famous Quong Tart? He married a "white girl" (scandalous in those days!) , moved on from Araluen to become a respected businessman in Sydney around the turn of the last century. An Araluen local once wrote recorded a song about him, of which I have since lost the record.
Love that area … a jewel in the crown of southern NSW
I love that area too. My Gt grandfather came out from China to the goldfields in the 1850's, he was government interpreter and ran a store
DtM:
Was your ancestor the famous Quong Tart? He married a "white girl" (scandalous in those days!) , moved on from Araluen to become a respected businessman in Sydney around the turn of the last century. An Araluen local once wrote recorded a song about him, of which I have since lost the record.
The family story is that Quong Tart was a cousin of my gt grandfathers. My grandfather also married a white girl in 1912
The first "late afternoon or early evening thunderstorm" of the season. The temp here has dropped from the mid-30s less than an hour ago, to just on 20. We've opened some well sheltered folding doors and are enjoying it.
I was in a backpackers' on the West Coast one night and at 2 am the sky opened and there was a thunderous down pour. It was truly awesome watching the rain hit hard surfaces and bounce back up. Wellington has that kind of rain, but it is more rare in Christchurch and I miss it (although when it does here there is more likely to be flooding, and knowing that detracts from my enjoyment.)
We've had a very stormy three weeks here in the Valley. Last Monday night's was a cracker - wind gust of 146km/h recorded at Nobbys Head in Newcastle. Trees down, fences blown over and, as it was garbage night, many wheelie-bins strewn over footpaths and roads. Yesterday we had a lunchtime storm and then two thunder-and-lightning shows late last night, with heavyish rain but not as much wind.
Comments
Votes cast from New Zealanders overseas tend to favour the Greens and Labour.
The Labour Party ended up with 50% of votes cast. This happened a couple of times in the past with the First Past the Post system,(when there were also fewer parties) but has never happened under the current Mixed Member Proportional system.
Candidates will not be dropping leaflets in your letterboxes, though some may drop gifts on your head, and, though they are not on Twitter, will make the occasional tweet -- It's the New Zealand Bird of the Year!
My favourite this year is the papango - the blackscaup. Smaller than mallards, they can dive 5 ft down in the water when they are only a few days old (and look like fat sparrows). One of te joys of living near a river is looking out on a seemingly empty stretch of water and seeing them pop up.
I will not be voting for the Hihi, which is being supported by a sex shop chain due to the males having a large organ of reproduction.
I think the Papango numbers are increasing again. After the quakes the bed of the river at then end of my street was raised so had to be dredged, which brought them back - there was also a botulism which cut their population. I saw two different groups, numbering about 12 in total the other day.
Athrawes, I like the Kakapo too. Sirocco, their spokesbird, is not interested in the breeding programme (something to do with being hand-reared) and is taken around the country fund-raising for the rest of them. I met him in Wellington once.
I think the organisers of the competition try to have different birds each time so people get to know (and support breeding programmes for) a wide range of birds).
As for Scottish football teams (as read out on the BBC) I rather liked "Hearts of Midlothian" , though I had no idea where they came from (presumably somewhere called midlothian?) .
Total panic today. Most of my recipes have disappeared off my computer including the easiest rum and raisin Christmas cake one. A Bing search of the internet failed to find it, but Google discovered it in a Southland Times article from 2007. YaY for the Southland Times.
So I emailed her, but, understandably, no reply. I mean nostalgic Sad Old Exes [insert roll eyes emoji]. But googling her email address did bring up a hit on the sale of luxury items from a mansion in a wealthy Pacific Island community.
That seemed to be the end of the trail.
But as luck would have it, it was almost that very moment that XGF's business took a colourful turn and XGF was probably not so keen to hear from me or anyone else.
As I discovered a couple of years later. Frustrated by my earlier lack of success Sad Old man Me found an article that mentioned that the couple who were selling the goods had been victims of a heist from their wine cellar, conducted by their gardener while they were "on an extended absence" from their home. The gardener was charged and found guilty. His heist though was unimportant: the extended absence of the house-owners is more significant. This extended absence, the writer noted, was as a result of their "having been subjected to real and significant threats to their lives because of other business dealings.” The plot thickened.
The "business dealings," presumably in part what the sister described as "very successful" (though the ramifications were unknown when she spoke to me), involved a well-publicized bounty hunting sting that removed some $60million (US) from the pockets of a consortium of Japanese bankers. Apparently the businessmen were a wee bit upset, and some rather pointed threats were made about the players longevity prospects: “I don't think that the Japanese will sleep until they get their money back. They are very thorough, very patient. One day, somehow and somewhere, they will get it.” Threats were recorded in the Australian and Pacific media suggesting that the perpetrators' life-expectancy was limited: a well-known Australian underworld figure was quoted as saying, referring to a third conspirator, "I'll cut his f*ing head off." It was in fact his threats that created the first wave of repercussions, as he had just been found to be in possession of rather a lot of contraband and was facing a stint the local authorities' pleasure. He had been captured when on his way to visit the sting-perpetrators.
The bounty had involved not only a whole heap of sunken treasure (apparently this sort of thing still goes on) that may or may not have existed (though the sunken ships involved are well-gazetted), but was connected, vertently or inadvertently, with an operation smuggling a large cache of guns and ammunition. The head-hunting gentleman (well known to Australian and other police), certainly existed. The jewelry-retrieval operation was entwined with the gun- and personnel-running operation (apparently this too still happens); the alleged perpetrator of the weapon-running was allegedly he who was suggesting a degree of surgical removal of quite useful body parts. It was beginning to appear as if the movement of stock and cash around the Pacific was becoming an unsuccessful investment for most of those concerned.
Reading between the lines it is probable that the gun- and personnel-running was not a part of the operation XGF and Husband were planning, but the very close association with someone who was running both scams was a cause for some concern. XGF and Husband had already left the country somewhat hastily when the surgical threat was made, having learned that the issuer of the threat had arrived in their 'hood. Media reports added laconically, naming XGF's husband, that he "could not be reached for comment."
Understandably my trail went cold again … though funnily enough XGF and Husband did somewhat riskily pop their heads up briefly when a horse they owned won a Significant Race™ a few years later. Certainly XGF was unlikely to be answering emails from snooping former boyfriends.
To the best of my knowledge XGF and Husband still have their heads. A variation on the story that emerged in the media suggests they were the victims of the scam - that they were conned into financing the bullion hunt. Either way the gentleman who made the threats to kill (and who seems to have different identities depending which account you read) spent some time languishing in a Pacific Island gaol, while XGF and Husband have spent their lives since pretty much on the run, even contacting family only through intermediaries. "I'm just exhausted, physically and emotionally, right now," XGF said in the one further media coverage I've found. "It's all-consuming … it's all we deal with, this problem."
My apologies. Of course I accept your statement, but did you persuade others of the rightness (?) of you opinion? I shan't ask how, if your answer's yes.
We waz robbed. I demand a recount with scrutineers. I'm sure some dead people voted.
---
However I'm not really surprised. Kakapo have a lot going for them, that videoclip of Sirocco is so funny, I suspect they may be quite intelligent too, as many parrots are. It's a pity they haven't evolved to the stage where they can attack predators. Their best defence is to sit still on the ground and pretend to be vegetation.
Kea, the mountain parrots are one of the most intelligent animals it to world. ( I always thought the kea at Arthur's Pass were more intelligent than the idiots feeding them injurious human food on the ground of the carpark with buses, trucks and cars coming and going). One of the greatest dangers for kea seems to be the poison dropped to kill possums. I read of a researcher who thinks it may be possible to teach them not to eat it, I do hope so.
Love that area … a jewel in the crown of southern NSW
I also read that NZ rugby now ranks third in the world. Oh the Shame of it! I will rend my garments - but not too much in case I'm charged with indecency.
Today I'm off to buy plants and seeds for my newly cleared raised garden. I think I'll buy parsley plants as my last year's plants did re-seed but the resulting plants are only 2 cm high and have stopped growing. I'm also going to grow mizuma which, once established will grow all year round, and has the advantage of being able to be harvested leaf by leaf. With a bit of luck I will get them in the ground in time for the rain forecast for this afternoon.
I love that area too. My Gt grandfather came out from China to the goldfields in the 1850's, he was government interpreter and ran a store
How are the wedding plans coming along?
All coming together nicely, thank you. Met with the organist and soloist last week and will meet with minister again for more paperwork on Thursday. We had a trial walk/march down the aisle and got a fit of the giggles coming down the three steps from the sanctuary. K doesn't know left foot from right! I guess I had too much practice when I was a funeral director!! Yesterday we organised our favourite cafe to cater for the kneesup afterwards for our family and a few friends. Roll on 7th Dec
GG - an electric car would be just what you need to get you to shops, visits and church. I bought a diesel car nearly 10 years ago to be a car for the retirement I was looking towards. It's had a few decent runs, but these days most of the journeys are pretty short. At the present rate, it will be good for another 10 years at least. Madame's in much the same position and if things go in that direction we'll be over 80 before we're looking for a final car. Friends bought a Honda Jazz a decade or so ago, and now that H is on her own, she's very pleased to have the extra height both from the ground and then in the body. She says it's just so easy to get in and out of. Mind you, she's more than 20 years older than we are.
If we have any South Australians on the thread, thinking of you all in hard lock down and sorry to hear people are panic buying again. I'm not sure why people still seem to think supermarkets will not be open during lock downs. Hopefully 6 days will be enough for things to get under control.
Also what do people think of the plans of the new New Zealand tourism minister, Stuart Nash? https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/news/300161375/tourism-minister-to-ban-tourists-from-hiring-vans-that-are-not-selfcontained Have there really been a whole lot of backpackers who can't wait until the next town or public toilets to go? What about all the non-rich tourists that stay in accommodation or use public toilets? Although I can sympathise with the goal of making sure tourism is environmentally sustainable, will more money really be made by only focusing on rich tourists and making them pay a lot more for the experience? Day tours are already more expensive than in Australia and even rich tourists might choose somewhere cheaper if prices are too high. If infrastructure is a problem, campers and those in caravans could pay higher camping fees or a fee to visit a national park that is not charged to locals. I still plan to go next year, hopefully, and will be staying in hostels. Hostels that would go out of business if there were no economy tourists. Cheaper hotels and restaurants and shops that cater for tourists on a budget would also not benefit from rich tourists. The environment would be better protected, but I am not convinced that NZ would make more tourist dollars with these plans. I wonder if locals will also be discouraged or banned from camping or using a van or caravan without a self-contained toilet.
If we keep our existing cars another 10 years - and the way they're going there's no reason to doubt that they'll last that long* - we'd be looking at replacing with one electric car, and with easy height and ground clearance. We'll have sold DBeach by then, and really be limiting ourselves to local driving. Instead of driving to my cousin's, we'd catch the train, taking something like War and Peace to read on the journey.
Talking about trips to my cousin, has anyone heard from Vulpior?
*But will we?
Mili - I hate the idea of only rich tourists, which would also have an impact on domestic tourism, but the problem of people pooing in inappropriate places really is a valid one ( and not just tourists from overseas - New Zealanders too). Some people (Freedom Campers) don't stay in camping grounds or backpacker accommodation but park up overnight or for days on end off the road in beauty spots or near beaches and befoul the area. Some will freedom camp close to camping grounds and sneak in to use their showers and toilets, which is better for the environment, but rips off the owners of the camping grounds.
I am aware of some of the problems - just not sure of what the answers are.
DtM:
Was your ancestor the famous Quong Tart? He married a "white girl" (scandalous in those days!) , moved on from Araluen to become a respected businessman in Sydney around the turn of the last century. An Araluen local once wrote recorded a song about him, of which I have since lost the record.
The family story is that Quong Tart was a cousin of my gt grandfathers. My grandfather also married a white girl in 1912