wow really two different bodys of land here…
would love to see them both…guess i didnt realize the
north country was so harsh…
well i guess i could start in the north in the car and peddle the south
interesting facts … do you kiwi’s have a female president? good or bad?
i guess that could be real bad if things wernt just right…
thanks again for the insite
im not trying to discourage anyone from travelling here
nz is nice
kiwis are as about as green as a toxic waste plant
tourism NZ are the biggest liars in the universe
i take these two statements back
they are rather harsh and are my opinion
what i meant to say was the green image that tourism New zealand like to promote
isnt really up to other countries standards
and that if you come here and do a tiki tour you will see some beautiful scenery.
But if you care about the environment and are observant of such things
you will also notice things that arent as glossy as in the brochures
the more time you spend here the more ugliness you uncover
everything else i wrote in the the previous post
i believe, from research and experience, to be fact.
whos a looser ?
a person that wants to project a superficial picture to the world
or a person who tells it from a more unbiased appoach
so guys
which version would you like
the sugar coated version?
or the truth.
http://www.greens.org.nz/campaigns/contaminated-sites/
not to mention the logging trucks!
wow really two different bodys of land here…
would love to see them both…guess i didnt realize the
north country was so harsh…
well i guess i could start in the north in the car and peddle the south
interesting facts … do you kiwi’s have a female president? good or bad?
i guess that could be real bad if things wernt just right…
thanks again for the insite
The North country is not harsh at all, just a busier & more cosmopolitan place. We do have a female leader & a gently left-leaning government at the moment…when we get bored with them we vote national - a gently right leaning political party. Nothing exciting happens here politically. Our female prime minister is abit motherly in her attitudes sometimes - but that’s labour for you. I do recommend a female leader however- they’re very sensible & don’t get involved in pissing contests in Iraq.
Howzit silly, So the no rust rule is just a way for auto body repair shops to make money,seems like the government is in their pocket so to say or possibly they geta commision from the car dealerships. Or is there a real reason for the no rust rule, let’s face it rust is a fact of life and mother natures way of decomposing metal. Aloha,Kokua
gday kokua
i dont know really i cant figure it out.
just imagine a rust hole the size of a coin on your door sill.
that is a big fail.
i think its just a really easy traffic offence to bust('easy bust)
i call “easy bust” a job for the cops which involves collecting revenue for the government in the form of fines
As opposed to a “hard bust” (like catching a thief)
so you have all these “easy busts”
like speed cameras in commuting traffic is one (noone is actually going more than 2miles over and its in city traffic so the speeds arent dangerous)
but anyway
this is my thoery
the testing station guys watch rugby at the same pubs as the panel guys
you often see advertizements for panel guys plastered over the walls of testing stations
also if people werent dumping cars because of rust.
the second hand import car martket would suffer
goverment would collect less gst and duty
they use the old “cars not safe” routine
but we all know rust doesnt cause accidents right
unless the car is asolutley riddled through structural suports
oops sorry tjd
im a hijacker
Howzit silly, Boy the rust police would make so much money here on Kauai. We used to have a contest for the rustiest car that could still get a safety sticker ( rust not a factor in getting one). The police also give us a 10 MPH over the speed limit lienency so as long as you only do 10 miles over you won’t get a ticket. 11 MPH over and you are busted.Aloha,Kokua
Sorry tjd I bet you didn’t expect to open such a can of worms when you asked an innocent question about a bike trip.
Silly,you’re in a cynical mood this weekend aren’t you ?
My understanding of the rust thing is that ,in modern cars,corrosion at a structural point eg pillars,compromises the structural strength of the body(same reason they’re tough on cracked windscreens).In a crash more impact would then be transferred to the passengers.FWIW.
Brent- you said it all,man.Along with parts of Oz’s EC,NZ is paradise on earth.
So,tjd,come here for an adventure holiday,by all means.You might even get lucky with the surf.
Just be sensible in your risk-taking.
Haere Ra.
mwwhaa ha ha ha ha
cynic?
no
sceptic?
you bet
get to kaikoura i think its one of the niceest places in NZ, good surf, south island is a lot more picturesque than the north. Taranaki has the best range of waves and a lot of options for wind and is my favourite place to surf. Go to raglan if you wanna tick that off your list, but just down the track theres taradise down every road theres a qaulity wave, wannasurf can show you that. Id say biking isnt realistic but i dont notice too many trucks or angry drivers. If your goin in our summer down south(otago, catlins) would be a good bet, or the north swells hitting the bay of plenty.
cheers
NZ is awesome…
But I gotta back up a lot of what Silly is saying.
Especially the bit about how much damage such a small population has done.
Heres my perspective -
New Zealand has only been colonised by us environment raping white folk for under 200 years.
Theres only 4 million of us, in a land mass the size of California, or the UK.
So, that said, the state of the country comes into focus. The place shouldn’t look the way it does after such a short time, and with such a low population density.
This place is beautiful, no question about that.
But to think that we should be PROUD of our performance, or promote ourselves as being “top of the world environmentally”, is just blind.
We just havn’t got enough people to really screw the place… but we’re on our way.
Per head of population, i’d argue we are as dirty as anywhere.
But our cars are “safe”.
They’re pretty harsh on that.
But California made me laugh, you can have a car riddled with rust, no brakes… but it’s fine as long as as it doesn’t blow smoke!
Emissions testing is just one small part of the safety regime here.
Your car fails if the sun visor doesn’t fold down properly.
Yet New Zealand has huge road fatality statistics… not a car safety issue obviously. It can’t get any more strict.
Theres something like 3 cars for every person here.
I think gas is expensive compared to everywhere! Even the UK, you guys earn more.
At the moment it’s about US$4 a gallon. costs $2 in California.
I love this place, but I don’t hide from our failings…
Kit
things ive failed on
sun visor not folding down properly
small chip in windscreen
small crack in rear view mirror
plenty of times for spots of rust
torn seat ( i shit you not. he said i might get a spring in the ass.the seat wasnt even sprung .can you believe it)
sliding door on van sticky
small chip in plastic cover over rear tail light (been bitten on this one a few times)
sun roof not closing properly ( 1 cm)
shit
maybe i should do more cycling 
I buy into a lot of what Silly is saying too.I buy into alot of what everyone’s said,because there’s some truth in all of it.
But ,terms like paradise and beautiful are relative,and compared to most of the world,for the time being,NZ is a great place to live/visit.
Though I don’t see how we can take the high ground as Greenies when we waste electricity,think nothing of tearing up hill& down dale in our big 4x4’s chasing surf,and use clothes and other goods made by rapacious industrial giants like China.
Which brings us back to that environmentally friendly mode of transport, cycling…
Nuke, dont forget the resin and the foam all probally petroleum based… the rubber legropes, the neoprene wetsuits… We are deep into the oil age now. Bring on peak. (even though I work in oil n gas)
Tjd If you are keen on a bike/surf trip you should do Taranaki… more surfbreaks per km than almost anywhere else in the world… the surfhighway wasnt too busy when we where there and there are heaps of places to free camp next to the breaks. Just go and give it a go if you dont like the traffic and the hills on your bike, buy a cheap (non rusty) van and carry on. Surf trips are great.
Might see you there next year, I will be over in the naki working for a few months from may onwards.
taradise (nice)…
agreed
New zealand is choice
we can all do our bit though
one thing i dont subscribe to is label clothing from china(most of my stuff is second hand)
Blundstone boots made in aus (ive worn everyday for almost three years)
keep car maintained rather then replace(government makes this one hard)
recycle plastic and papers
compost vegetable matter
try and buy NZ made (stay away from the wherehouse>its getting harder and harder)
(im a manufacturer btw)
car pool on surf trips (we usualy have three or four in a van)
eps epoxy/boards(compsands will last indefinately)
try and stay away from factory farmed produce (such as pork )
try to use as little as possisble chemicals around the house (insecticides and cleaning products/detergents)
walk and cycle (im guilty of not doing this enough)
penalties for land mis management would be a great start!
in other words if people poison the ground or rivers
they have larger penalties
Tj,we kind of left you standing in the corner at your own party.
Sheesh,I thought americans had a monopoly on nationalism and patriotism.
Is there anything else you’d like to know mate ?
Now we’ve let off all that steam about our beloved “Godzone” we promise we’ll settle down.
Hey all.
Just notcied this thread. havnt been on in a while.
NZ is a f k ing sick place. Auckland well. at the moment its kicking me in the face. There was surf in the weekend but it was small. i didnt catch it though.
Havnt surfed in AGES. Prevailing westerlies = Huge onshore west coast, dead flat offshore eastcoast.
Coromandel, taranaki, far north, deep south, east cost nrth island are just some of the AMAZING places in nz.
You could go to any of these places and score the best surf you’ve ever had (unless you’ve been to places like indo and shit :S )
Nz is pretty dam hilley though and i wudnt be caught dead trying to battle coro’s hills on a bike for surf.
The people, some of the friendlyist people in the world. in saying that there are always the dick head who no one nor anything could please.
Sabs… where ya been. i wanna see some more sick wooden boards next time im over west 
NZ NOT BEAUTIFUL??? what nz are you in? NZ is amazing. maybe you should look harder. i mean check someof the photos i attached (im a photo whore)
The sunrise photo is the waveless beach called my local. Located in nz’s biggest city :?
The wave is about 40mins from that same city.
I have plenty. But as you say, NZ could be MORE green like our image suggests but hey its not that bad.
Just have to keep the government for letting dam property developers f it up.
NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
Go NZ. yea bro
looks alot like oregon…thanks cheater for the insite …
—fishin----all good i was getting a kick out of ya all
yea the developers? building crappy homes as fast as they can
but they keep me the carpenter busy…although i would rather do custom work and be there for years,instead of days but somtimes you just have to pay the bills… my other question was do you guys have surf dorys over there?
for fishing?..like this one
Hi Cheater
allways find me at mud bay
surfed last night
nice pic of daniels
boulders is better just round the corner
ya just gota bite the bullet and surf even whenits onshore or huge
there is a time in the tides to suit most conditions
Mike
hey
Good to hear that the locals have it wired 
The pic is actually omaha on a really good day.
Still havnt been to boulders yet though. i thought you had to cross maori land :S
Chris
Heres a photo of Daniels’ for ya all to froth over…
Gotta get down here and check NZ out tjd!
The other photo is a little “secret spot”, you probably never heard of it 
Nice photo of Waiake bro, just up the road from me too, i’m in Castor Bay.
I probably just spelt the name wrong though.
Man, I patrolled at Karekare over the weekend, had to sit on the beach and watch those knee high waves all day…
Gotta clarify the rant I had before…
Don’t get me wrong - NZ is the cleanest place I’ve seen in the world! So beautiful!
Just gotta make sure that everyone realises that it’s not beautiful because we are “so good at preserving it”, but simply because we havn’t had time to really damage it yet…
I’ve seen places in the states, like Yosemite, that get unbelievable amounts of tourism, yet they handle it, keep it clean.
Theres around 40 million people in Cali - 4 mil in New Zealand.
If you multiplied our population by 10, things would be looking pretty bad…
Imagine 10 times more people in Auckland.
Enough on that subject!
If you wanna bike around here, it would be a great trip, I understand what kind of thing you like to do.
Just allow way more time to get anywhere than you would in any other country.
Theres no shops near most of these beaches, you’d have to take it all with ya.
Everything is at the end of a gravel road, 20 miles from the highway.
Then to get to the next beach, you have to go back to the highway, go along it for 10 miles, then 30 back to the coast again!
Taranaki would be a good call. For a peek at the scenery, watch Last Samurai (Tom Cruise) cos thats where it was filmed.
Perfect cone volcano, rising out of dense sub-tropical rainforest. sweet.
So come on down, just remember to bring some beer, makes life easy.
Kit
