National Mountain Bike Championships

Nelson is hosting the NZ National Mountain Bike Championships this weekend. There are two classifications, downhill and cross country with age groups within each. They take place in multiple runs over 3 and 2 days respectively. The surrounding hills of Nelson provide a perfect backdrop for such an event. I attended one of the races on Saturday. The temps were hovering around 23C/72F and the winds were very, very gusty. The course was about 2 miles from our place and, appropriately, I rode my bike. They actually allowed spectators on the course and I rode up part of it. However, I do know my limits.

solar dryer

As I've noted before, Kiwis are very eco-conscious. They have seen their unique and pristine environment change before their eyes as predators have been introduced, both by design and accident, and have wreaked havoc with the native species. They understand the risks of not wearing sun protection and they do not mess around. They have no nuclear power plants. In fact, the entire south island is powered by renewable energy sources. So, it should come as no surprise that most households do not have a clothes dryer. Most laundry is dryed on the line, like it was done in the USA in the 60's and before. Granted, the climate is conducive to hanging out the wash whether it is July or January. Nevertheless, it is enlightening to see that these old traditions are not yet dead.

Photos of wash on the line, Brenda crocheting, Scott by the ocean.

g'day, or not?

New Zealanders, like the rest of the world, are becoming more and more dependent on their electronic devices. There are more wireless internet locations, smart phone users, i-pod listeners, etc. One thing they've done right is to outlaw cell phone use or texting while driving. This seems so obvious to me, but at home, I am apparently in the minority. Can you imagine outlawing cell phone use while driving in the good ol' USA? I think there could be a revolt if that came to pass. Even though it makes so much sense, logic sometimes does not prevail.

I've noticed an increasing use of listening devices (i-pods, mp3 players, etc.) here. In the past I would get a "g'day", or "how're ya going" to those I crossed paths with while out and about. Now, more and more frequently, I get no acknowledgement as people are focused, head down, no eye contact, as they listen intently to whatever it is they have on their device. It's no different than at home, but equally disappointing.

I hope you have a "g'day!".

Photo of ANZAC park and video of dredging of the creek to open up a culvert under a ford due to debris build-up after all the heavy rains in the past few weeks.

Bill and Ted's excellent adventure

So, the car story continues. You see, Bill and I thought that Ted would just be renting this car to me. As I mentioned in earlier posts, because of Ted's business and the insurance problem, I actually needed to own the car so I could get coverage. After I had the registration changed and I had taken the car, Ted wanted me to pay him a purchase price of about $3500 NZ or $2800 US and then he would somehow pay me back at the end of our stay less some rental amount. The problem was that Ted could not process a credit card transaction. Then I got to thinking, how is he going to pay me back when the time comes? A check would do me no good, $2500 of NZ dollars cash would do me no good at the time I'm ready to leave the country. The only way I could see it working was if he could process a Visa credit card transaction and a credit. Since that did not seem possible, I returned the car to Ted. Funny, it's still in my name and Ted doesn't really seem to care about having it changed back. It's a crazy system. I think it's best for both of us that the deal is over.

We're now renting a car the old fashioned way. I found the place I've rented from before and am using them. It's a little more pricey, but I don't have to buy the car.

Pictures are of Brenda with her bike looking down our street, and Brenda and our bicycles taking a break in Nelson city.

on any given day

We were riding into town on Saturday to check out the local arts/farmers market. On the way in we happenned upon a group that I can only describe as percussion dance. They were fantastic.










We then made our way to the market. This gathering is a weekly event and is very well attended with many arts and crafts people as well as clothing, produce, massage services, etc. It is very popular.

Finally on our way back to our place, we happened upon an art fair where local painters were displaying and selling their products. It was a beautiful day and a typical one in the town of Nelson.

diggin' our digs

We have an apartment/flat rented just a couple kilometers from the city center of Nelson. Nelson is a city surrounded by hills and looking out to the Tasman Sea. Our place is small but lovely and has everything we need (except a phone). In any event, it is half way up one of the hills with a beautiful vista over the town and out to sea. The recent rainfalls have caused horrendous damage to many of the hillside homes. Landslides, or slips as the kiwis call them, have made many, many homes uninhabitable. As I mentioned in a previous post, they received nearly triple their previous December rainfall record and nearly half their normal annual rainfall total during December. This absoulutely wreaked havoc with the hills that surround this area. Many roads were closed with dirt and debris spilling across them. Many homes were ruined. Fortunately our location is okay for now. More rain is predicted for tomorrow so I think everyone has their collective fingers crossed. New Zealand seems to have had more than their share of natural disasters with the Christchurch earthquakes and now the slips and flooding. There is discussion that the country won't be able to afford to rebuild everything. This is really a small country and they cannot possibly have the resources that a larger nation might have.

I've attached a few photos of our place. I tried to upload a video but it simply takes too long.

more car stuff

We try to do most of our getting around via bicycle. It's just less complicated. Nelson city center is not that big nor is it all that busy, however there is traffic and there are parking issues and sometimes you can go places with a bike that you can't with a car.

Having said that, there are still times when a car comes in handy. Take grocery shopping for instance. It's just easier to haul a carton of milk or a dozen eggs if you're not on a bike. However, one great deterrent is the price of gas. It currently is going for $2.11 NZD per liter. That works out to $6.31 USD per gallon. It makes you think twice before jumping in the car. Amazingly, we have not seen one Toyota Prius here! You'd think there would be hybrid cars everywhere. I'm not sure what the answer is but I'm on the case.

You've already seen our car so here's a picture of us on the deck.

car saga sequel

Well, the car story got a bit more interesting. My friend Bill told me his acquaintance with the car, Ted, suggested I just "buy" the car from him and he would buy it back from me when we are ready to come home. That way, I could simply get my own insurance and he would pay me the amount I paid him less a reasonable rental fee. That seemed like a pretty good idea so we went to see Ted and complete the transaction. Ted does these kinds of things for his business. He imports trucks, modifies them, then sells them. Consequently, he is familiar with vehicle transactions. He tried to complete our transaction via his normal methods but found he hit a roadblock since I did not have a NZ driver's license. At that point, we were instructed to go to a licensing agent and they could handle it. So, Bill and I jumped in his car and drove over to the licensing agent. You see, in NZ, there are no vehicle titles. All you need to do to be the registered owner of a vehicle is to know the license plate number, the make, and the model. With that info, you can have any vehicle registered in your name for a small fee ($7 US). The trick of course would be getting the real owner to give you the keys. But in this case, for my $7 I became the owner of a 1993 Nissan March. We then went back to Ted's place to figure out the details and get the car, but Ted was not there! Come on! Fortunately for us, the keys were in the car and off we went. (We'll settle up with Ted later). However, at this point I still have no insurance. Well, Bill had been in contact with his insurance broker and they told him any insurance agency could write the policy I need. Bill apparently forgot to indicate that I was a foreigner staying only temporarily. We stopped at an insurance agency and explained the scenario and they said they did not write that kind of business. Are you kidding me? They gave us another agent to try. We went there and they told us there office was too small to handle it but a different one in Nelson probably would or we could call their 800 number and try that way. You guys are killing me!! You can't make this stuff up! At this point I am a little nervous. We got back to Bill's house and I phoned the 800 number. Thankfully, at long last, someone was willing to work with me. After about 20 minutes of answering questions I was able to secure insurance. So, I am the proud owner of a car with the steering wheel on the right hand side.

Photo of the car and of the Queen's Gardens in Nelson.

transportation

We have managed to secure a couple second hand bicycles and are mobile. However, it has not come without issues. The front tire on Brenda's bike began to bulge out the sidewall and we needed to replace it. Mind you, the bike appears to be quite old, I'd say from the 80's and I imagine the tire was original. So, that was not too surprising. However, I've already repaired 3 punctures, one on Brenda's and 2 on mine. I found a piece of glass embedded in my tire causing my problem. Thankfully, I brought the proper supplies to deal with such situations.

As you might imagine, renting a car for 2 months can start to add up to a pretty tidy sum. One of my kiwi friends, Bill, thought he had a car lined up for me from someone he knew. On Saturday, Bill and his wife Judy picked us up and we went to pick up the car from his acquaintance. It turns out I would not be covered by insurance on the vehicle. In NZ, insurance is not mandatory. This particular vehicle was a work car that he and his employees used. However, the insurance he had would not cover me. Imagining the worst, I decided it was not worth the risk to drive it. In true kiwi fashion, Bill was nice enough to lend us one of his cars until we were able to place a phone call to some insurance people on Monday. So, we are trying to sort that out.

Photos of Bill and Judy's car, our bikes, and a view of the ocean from our deck.

peace and quiet

It's amazing the amount of noise that permeates our daily lives. The typical traffic noise, airplanes overhead, the occasional train whistle, and more and more the passive inclusion in other people's phone conversations. One thing I notice here is how quiet it is. New Zealand is a small country, only 4 million inhabitants. Three million of those are on the north island. The airport in Nelson has a few domestic prop jet flights daily, and that's it. There is hardly any airplane noise at all. You may not think we have much at home either, but take a listen. I'll bet you hear a plane within a few minutes. So, when you combine the lack of airplane noise with the small city life, life is much more peaceful and the bird songs are much more prevalent.

Nelson Jazz Fest

One of the things I love about Nelson, NZ is the vibrancy of the community. It seems like there is always something going on. For example, this week is the annual Jazz Fest. There are over 50 events throughout the community over the course of the week, most of them outdoors, and most of them free. They get bands from throughout the country to come to Nelson and perform at multiple venues at varying times. You can see one band performing at one location, walk a block or two and find another band performing, and so on. It is really a lot of fun. Sadly, it only lasts one week. Nevertheless, we have taken in a number of performances already and hope to enjoy a few more before the week is out. I've attempted to attach a video to this post. Hopefully you'll be able to view it.

slip, slidin' away

We arrived in Nelson on 29 December. My friend John picked us up at the airport and proceeded to tell us of the huge amounts of rain they had received. After dropping us off at our place, the rain began again and basically continued off and on until Sunday the 1st of January. It turns out he wasn't kidding. I didn't really appreciate what he was saying. I was looking at the weather summary in the local paper from Friday the 30th of December. It indicated they had received 435 milliliters of rain for December. The previous maximum for December was 180 milliliters. The annual average is 941 milliliters. So, by the end of December they had received nearly 3 times the previous maximum rainfall for December. Further, the December total was half the annual average. In terms of inches, 435 milliliters equates to about 27 inches of rain.

The city of Nelson is in a valley surrouded by hills. Many of the homes are built up on these hills creating spectacular views of the town and the ocean. With the rain, many have had their home's integrity compromised and have been forced to evacuate. Some of the roads have been closed due to landslides.

The weather has taken a turn for the better today as it was gloriously sunny and in the low 70's (23C). While the rain is better than the earthquakes Christchurch has dealt with, it has been a troubling problem for Nelsonians.

a new year

Well, we have finally settled into our long term rental here in Nelson. We had a reasonably uneventful trip, but it is a grueling one. We arrived in Nelson about 29 hours after we left our house on Tuesday 12/27. In the process we had crossed the date-line and lost a day. I'm happy to say our internal clocks seem to have adjusted and sleeping through the night is part of our lives again.

We arrived on the 29th of December but couldn't get into our rental until January 1. This wasn't a surprise and we had accomodations booked. We stayed in what they call a "backpackers hostel" for 3 nights. No, we didn't have a dorm room style experience. We had our own room but it was quite small. We are happy to now be into our apartment, which is a very lovely and modern flat with all the modern conveniences. In addition, we have a fabulous view of the Tasman Bay.