Alexandra the Great

Day 2

Got up this morning and while acquainting myself with the breakfast area I happened to look out from the back balcony of the lodge. It was such a nice view I had to grab my camera and get a few shots.

After breakfast we made our way down into Queenstown and found our bus to Clyde and after a quick coffee, boarded it.

The ride through to Clyde was uneventful but the scenery in the Gibbston Valley and coming down Lake Dunstan into Clyde is beautiful. If only we could have stopped for some wine!

Once we had arrived at the rail head we quickly got kitted out and assigned bikes. They were very light and mine appeared to be an Avanti Spirit 1.0. The set up of the bikes seemed really comfortable so I adventurously chose to try a day without the gel seat cover I had brought with me.

Then came the start of the days cycling that, although 8k on the trail map ended up being over 30k! So much for my plans to ease into the riding.

First off we headed into Clyde for some lunch, excellent idea. We had planned to take the riverside trail to Alexandra which although a little longer, looked to be more scenic and better shaded.

Interestingly the Bank Cafe where we had lunch was the old BNZ building. This started a trend I noticed on the rest of the holiday, banks that had been converted to cafes. I must say that the main street of Clyde feels really fairytale-meets-pioneer-town. It really appealed to me.

However, at lunch a certain star jumping traveller extolled the virtues of the Muttontown Viaduct that lay back the way we had come. After a majority vote, back we headed past the rail head and checked out the viaduct. It was very nice and in hindsight I think was worth the back tracking.

Next we wanted to checkout the Clyde Dam. Hard to miss as it seems to loom over the town like it's looking for houses to flood should it ever give way.

One thing with the dam was the road that climbed up to the top. Too much for me on the first day but after a short walk I finally made it.

The plus side of the climb up was a rapid cycle back down. I don't think the bike's speedos were that accurate but mine clocked me at 60.2kph which if true is impressive.

Now started the riverside trail proper. An undulating path in the trees that was enjoyable to just meander along. At some point we stopped to have a break on the river bank and just soak up the sights and sounds. Not too much later we found ourselves in Alexandra and after one last detour to see the Shaky Bridge, we hunted out the Alexandra Heights Motel (but only after trying to check in at another motel first).

That evening included hot showers, wine, cheese, crackers, blue cod at the Monteith's Brewery Bar, comfy sofas, 80s music, hot chocolates and followed by a good nights sleep.

All in all a good day but I think it was about this time that I decided to use the gel seat the next day. It's hard to describe the feeling, not chaffing exactly, but when you find a soft seat in a pub at the end of a days riding and sit down in it. Well it's like the most comfortable thing in the world. Likewise the food you eat tastes like the best food you've ever had in your life.

Wait of Expectation

I know, the title is not correct but in my case it is more apt. So recently I was wanting to replace my bathroom scales with a more accurate set. This was due to a number of reasons...

• My current set is a no-name brand that seems to weigh differently even on successive instances.
• My current set is analog and digital scales seem to measure more accurately.
• A new set of scales from a well known maker should be more likely to be correctly calibrated.
• Digital scales are easier to read.

So where to start? After looking at Amazon.com I saw that their bestselling brand were unavailable in New Zealand. It seems that we source more from European companies since when I checked out Amazon.co.uk I could see recognizable brands like Salter. After a little bit of searching I settled on the Salter 9032 which seemed ok, had some good write ups, was reasonable cheap, available in New Zealand and comes with a 15 year warranty.

After searching New Zealand internet sites I found 2 retailers, one in Mt Eden and one on the North Shore. The Mt Eden retailer had it listed at $145 and the North Shore retailer at $119. Looking at Amazon.co.uk this scale was selling new for about £21 which is today exchange rate is $46.

Now I'm not unreasonable when it comes to a retailer making a profit. They have to pay for sourcing, shipping, customs and then they have a profit margin they need to make as well. At $145 though they were looking for a profit margin of about 200% which seems to be... well let's just call it aggressive. I mentioned this to them to allow them to reconsider their price point but there was apparently no room to move. With this I moved on to the North Shore shop. Unfortuneately the North Shore shop ended up being a residential address (i.e. it was merely an Internet based venture, no bricks and mortar shop). Frustrated I returned home and did some more searching on TradeMe and managed to dig up a set for $60. Looking at the UK sales price this seemed far more reasonable and for the first time I clicked the "Buy Now" button. I wonder how long the bricks and mortar stores will survive if they insist on such ridiculous mark ups in the face of compelling evidence for them to drop their prices.

Project Green Bin

So an avid reader of my blog says I should blog about stuff I haven't already talked about. This loosely means Day 2 of my Otago Rail Trail blog will be slightly delayed. Instead I will cover of a few of the other happenings of recent.

Project Green Bin continues. I have conscientiously been putting out a full green bin of waste every week. Not a small green bin mind you but a big ass 240L Waste Management wheelie bin. This is good in that it means I am either tidying the garden or reducing the clutter in my flat. Either way this is a move in the right direction towards selling the flat.

Todays morning effort was to trim the garden hedge. I have come to appreciate that gardens are the ultimate tortoise and hare example. No matter how much effort you sink into a garden, as soon as you finish the plants continue to grow in some sort of slow, zombie-like assault on your property. I think the next house I buy should have mature trees and lots of lawn.

Also while I was in the garden the neighbour from across the road came up and gave me an invitation to his daughters wedding. This is strange and unexpected given that we have never been introduced. Although the thoughts of endless lovely Indian cuisine is tempting, I will have to politely decline on the grounds of protecting my diet and not knowing either the bride or the groom.

Lastly I cannot wait for my full broadband speed to be replenished. Having stupidly used it up downloading World of Warcraft for a 7 day free trial I can't begin to express how irritating it is not to have good, high speed access to the internet.

All Aboard!

Yes, yes, this is somewhat belated but none-the-less I have finally sat down to document my Otago excursion from a fortnight ago.

Day 1

You can ride the Otago Rail Trail from either direction but apparently Clyde to Middlemarch is the most popular due to an easier climb and the fact that the Nor'westers don't blow into your face. So it was that we flew into Queenstown for the first day.

After a lovely flight down we dumped out gear at the Earnslaw Lodge and it was at this point that I did the haka, slapping my thighs, as I realised that I had just left my iPhone aboard the plane. Bugger. Nevermind, undetered I dropped Air New Zealand a line and then undaunted we headed into Queentown for breakfast.

Thanks to insider knowledge we breakfasted at Halo, a great cafe that seemed to be associated with a beautiful little old church, close to the centre of Queenstown. From here we split up, the more adventurous of the party heading for the peak of Ben Lomond. Not being prepared to risk a twisted ankle (and generally being way to unfit for such endeavours) I chose to spend the morning soaking up the Queenstown vibe and window shopping with the remaining member of our group.

After finding appropriate cycling glove, hats, etc. We set out for the Skyline Gondolas and after a short but uncomfortable ride up what felt like a sheer cliff, we headed outside to appreciate the scenery. I've got to say that Queenstown is beautiful in the summer but not content with the view from outside the cafe we hiked 10 mins up the mountain to a field used by the paraponting operation.

It's fun to watch nervous people run off the side of a perfectly stable mountain. Some as so frightened they scream, some are so frightened they can't and some, having a moment of clarity, try to stop running just before the edge but by that stage it is too late, the seasoned and determined operators just run their clients off the edge regardless. It's breathtaking, especially for the customers.

While we were watching the brave, a cellphone ring alerted us to the fact that the intrepid trampers had reached the summit and we even then looking down on the world like some sort of Olympian gods. With the help of a telephoto lens I snapped off a couple of shots and was pleased to be able to make out the silouettes of a few individuals celebrating the conquering of Ben Lomond.

The rest of the day passed quietly, lunch, reuniting with the returned trampers and after a good meal, a good night.

The Best Offense

So in the spirit of improving and extending my blog I should cover off some other events of the summer to date.

On Jan 29th the NZDF, or more specifically the RNZN opened HMNZS Wellington to the public as part of Auckland Anniversary Day.

Looking through the ship was really interesting. Although the ship feels large it is actually classified as an Offshore Patrol Vessel and is relatively small by Navy standards having a displacement of only 1900 tonnes (Te Kaha is almost double that at 3600 tonnes, a Nimitz class aircraft carrier is over 110000 tones). Having said that, Wellington has a range of 6000 nautical miles which means it could travel from Auckland to Vancouver theoretically (excluding effects of currents and winds).

The crew had a good sense of humor as can be seen by the Top Gear parody scrawled on the bridge window.

The day was a beautifully sunny, as it should be in January, and the crew were really polite, informative and approachable.

Also I had to laugh at the 25mm Bushmaster Naval gun which is mounted just in front of the bridge. It can be targeted and fired from inside the bridge. There is a camera attached to the gun platform (complete with little windscreen wiper) so that you need not go outside (and get wet) to sink floating objects that have offended you.

All in all an excellent day. Highly recommended for those of us that like to see where our taxpayer dollars are going. I find myself agreeing with the saying "If you're not a liberal when you're 25, you have no heart. If you're not a conservative by the time you're 35, you have no brain" as I would far rather see my taxes spent on RNZN ships than hip-hop.

Connect Four...

My intent of daily (or at least weekly) blogging is not quite reaching its potential. Let me see if I can cover some of the highlights of the last four weeks....

For the New Years, I committed to offering a lift from Whangamomona to Ohakune for a tramping quartet. The drive down was interesting as the Navman wanted to stick to sealed roads. I adventurously deviated from its plans and took the shortcut from Ahititi past Mt Damper Falls to the Forgotten World Highway. Apart from the near head on with a local farmer in a ute it was a real drivers road (rally driver perhaps). 

I got to the Whangamomona pub only to fine the tramping crew had made good time and beaten me to it. They had already hit the bar and were grateful when I arrived (or should I say their clean change of clothes arrived).

After some lambshanks and stories of Fawlty service we did a tour of the township.

In the morning, we bid farewell and embarked on the Forgotten World Highway. And interesting drive through twisting and turning roads, some sealed, some not. Almost everything that left Whangamomona made it to Taumarunui, the one thing left behind was the stomach contents of a poor, motion-sick, traveller. Lunch was a pleasant affair (thanks to some local knowledge) at The Station Cafe in National Park.

Onwards to Ohakune, a nice dinner, walk to see the train station and then asleep before bad renditions of Auld Lang Syne.

Hmmm, this post is getting long. More highlights to follow. :-)

Think Globally, Act Locally...

So I've just been for a 5k walk around the block (well, a number of blocks really) and was listening to a Bernard Hickey interview on The Discourse Weekly Show. It was really interesting talking about how we should re-evaluate the need to just consume without constraints and shift to a more modest lifestyle as a nation. Not exactly Green but definitely in that direction. This mirrors a conversation I was having with my friend Norm this morning about the companies like BIL that made a lot of money from stripping assets from companies they acquired. "Greed is good" as Gordon Gecko would say. They also covered the wealth disparity gap and how high taxes aren't necessarily bad. Lots of good thoughts to mull over. Must also consider what strategic assets a country should protect.

In other news, Project Green Bin is going gang-busters.