Last night, I’d mapped out my next 15 days to plan how I’m getting home to Lower Hutt. There’s no way I’m going to make the entire country in 30 days.My best alternative was to cycle the North Island and save face.BOLDLY GOAnd today started off with so much promise….
The wonders I’ve seen…
My name is John Crichton… I’m lost…An astronaut… shot through a wormhole…In some distant part of the universe… trying to stay alive…Aboard this ship… this living ship…Of escaped prisoners… my friendsIf you can hear me… bewareIf I make it back… will they follow?If I open the door… are you ready?Earth is unprepared… helplessFor the nightmares I’ve seenOr should I…
Lessons Learned
So, I’ve made some rookie mistakes on this tour. I thought I’d write these done for the next rookie who comes along. Don’t do this alone Probably my biggest mistake. I’ve got lots of people rooting for me, but out on the road its a lonely hurtful place. You (I)…
Crossing Auckland
I’m starting to really like Auckland as a city. Yesterday’s cycling effort started at Parakai at 7:30 in the morning, after my brother Greg dropped me off. Greg lives in Massey, and the TA course runs straight past his house. Cruising from Helensville to his place was fantastic – such…
No Stop to Brooklyn!
The journey from Dargeville to Pouto Point started off well. Avi and John had dropped me 12kms out of Dargeville, where they found me, and I did the easy ride into the town itself early morning.In fact, given how my previous day went, that’s how I was planning on treating…
Big Day – 135km to catch up
Wow! What a day! The whole thing kicked off with my really bad sleep and worry that I’d be the ugly duckling and left behind. The insightful reader might have detected a trace of worry in my words.Gulzar (the Broadwood General Store GM) picked me up on the side of…
The mental pressure is real
I had a horrible sleep last night, worrying about getting back on track for the Tour. I kept looking at my satellite location relative to everyone else’s and panicking about how far behind I am. I might have gotten 3 hours sleep, max. All of the yoga breathing techniques in…
Lazying on a Sunny Afternoon…
Yesterday I was pretty upset. Everything had gone to shit on me. I was in the middle of the whop-whops, my bike had bust, there’s was no way I was going to make it to Opononi.…there might have been tears…But, thanks to the VERY kind of assistance from both Broadwood…
A horse with no name…
So… now I’ve got some time on my hands, lets fill in the first day details – the Cape Reinga to Ahipara leg.Of course, things didn’t go to plan… 3kms after the Tour started, my chain broke. There I was – riding with the Pack. Me and the other wheeled…
EQUIPMENT FAILURE!
Bad luck beeches me!I’m in Broadwood, and my right pedal had come out. The thread the pedal guys into is destroyed.Through luck and kindness of strangers, Mr Singe, Monty and Danny have made a “fix” for my pedal. It’s thread is well and truly rooted, by Danny has drilled through…
Getting to the start!
Things didn’t improve for me.We stayed at a department of conservation camp last night at the bottom of Cape Reinga. The road to the camp is a very steep and dusty with lots of ridges across the road caused by water damage. And it’s 5km from the cape Reinga carpark.The…
Getting to the Tour
Its not the destination, its the journey… Well the journey started with me yesterday at 5:25 when I missed my flight to Auckland because of Aviation Security regulations, and is continuing today, as I’m sitting in the back of a shuttle making ‘journey” up to Cape Reinga.After boxing up my…
James Bernard Hogan: 26 July 1941 – 8 December 2020
Jim Hogan, publican / carmudgeon / sage of wisdom and beloved father shuffled off this mortal coil yesterday.Born in Invercargill to Frank and Mae, Jim married Judith Going and together raised four boys, including me.Gifted with an entrepreneurial streak, Jim was a tax office clerk, a TAB clerk, a publican,…
If young people can’t buy houses
House price affordability is a perennial topic.Neither main political party really wants to burst the housing bubble. The median voter theory predicts political parties will choose the policies that best reflect the interests of “the median” voter: the interests, tastes and prejudices of “most” voters.And while “most” voters (as opposed…
Permanent Income Hypothesis: a very gentle primer
Revisionist historians and chardonnay socialists find their happy place throwing poo at Milton Friedman’s ideas. Friedman encompasses everything they think is wrong with economics, especially those economic ideas that have changed the world: “The Origin Of ‘The World’s Dumbest Idea’: Milton Friedman”, Steve Denning, Forbes “Milton Friedman: a study in…
.. It’s just a matter of transforming location into goods and services that people are willing to pay for…
I love this quote from New Zealand First’s Shane Jones here: https://www.newsroom.co.nz/tourism-nears-summer-of-uncertainty. This “can-do” optimistic attitude breaks down because of the the concept of public and private tourism goods and services. About Goods… and Bads“Goods” are things which people want. “Private” goods are things people want and can be made to…
When markets operate perfectly
Love this article: https://i.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/business/residential-property/122735434/new-block-of-townhouses-snapped-up-hours-as-prices-soar-in-the-hutt-valleyAt the moment the government is pumping as much money into the economy as it can. They’re pumping the paper stuff – not the legally binding contracts to deliver work stuff (which is called “fiscal policy”) – into the economy.They’re hoping that, with negative interest rates, banks…
… wise words
Never french kiss a lamprey.
Institutional Racism
There is so much wrong with the recently published Health and Disability System Review. Before addressing it’s technical issues, check out the depth of character it pigeon-holes the majority of New Zealanders into.The following description of New Zealand’s population groups is cut and pasted straight from the report. Diverse populationsAotearoa…
The Default Position
There’s been a lot written about how much the economy has been negatively affected by the government’s Covid response. Lots of commentators make their careers talking “about the problem” – especially obvious ones.Hey everyone, there’s a fire burning!! Everyone!! FIRE!!!! FIRE BURNING EVERYONE. FIRE!!!But when someone gets a glass or…