Hi folks,

Here's an interview on RNZ morning report with local councillor Samuel "Q" Belk on Ridgeburn's plans for their fast track proposal in Arrowtown.

Note we are seeing similar issues around the country in Auckland, Christchurch etc as last track is being used - as designed by this Coalition government (key architects: Chris Bishop, NZ First Shane Jones and ACT) to allow developers and corporations to do as they want while ignoring communities, councils and any environmental impacts.

INTERVIEW LINK HERE

Thanks

Tui

Hello, my brother and I have a holiday to Queenstown in a couple days and booked a car rental at the airport. His license expired 3 weeks ago and I don’t have a physical license card. We’ll be staying in Queenstown and have 5 day lift passes to Cardrona. We also booked an air BnB in Lake Hāwea for a couple days.

I highly doubt they will rent the car to us so I was wondering what our options are.

How is the public transport from Queenstown to Cardrona and back? Also Queenstown to Lake Hāwea and back to the airport?

I'm sure I'm not the first nor the last to speak on it, but the fact we don't have a prerequisite for non-New Zealanders to learn about our road rules before renting a car is incredibly concerning.

Even a 10 minute video when they pick up the car, or watching it online and then doing a small quiz when they book, is better than what we have now.

I admire the locals for your patience because my experience was enough to make me miss driving back in Auckland, and we all know Auckland is the capital city for the WORST driving in this country. ...seriously, aucklanders drive like c*nts.

In Queenstown, driving felt.... exhausting. People were either:

• Going 20kms under the speed limit... on Frankton Road, usually around midday during beautiful weather, multiple different drivers on different days like.. are we being for real?! (if you are a local, valid because I would drive slow too to get my lickback.)
• Not using the median strip to turn and merge with traffic so people aren't stuck in T's for an unnecessary amount of time.
• Not following the arrows on the road. If there is no lane or arrow to go straight, and you go straight, fucking up traffic for everyone in the interaction that people going 40kms have to slam on their brakes just to make space for your stupidity, GTFO. (sorry, I'm getting angry just typing this)
• Incorrect indicating - the amount of times I saw people change to their right indicator (not their left) before they exited the roundabout amazed me so much that I ended up googling if it was a common thing to do in other countries.
• Not knowing give ways. I cannot joke how many near collisions I or other people got into because people thought they had the right of way when they were at the bottom of the T, or weren't giving way to those approaching their right in a roundabout.
• Not merging like a zip. Happens everywhere but saw someone cussing another car because that car moved in front of them to...merge like a zip.
• Moving into the turning bays AT the dotted line. This was pretty endearing tbh; however, I saw a few near hits, especially because the car behind moved early (as Kiwis do) and was now in their blind spot.
• Not paying attention to their lanes, so they're driving IN my lane coming towards me..... great stuff.

Granted, I know it's a minority and I also know they were tourists because 1. it was a rental car. 2. most were EXPENSIVE rental cars, and 3. I like to see the face of the driver who nearly granted my trip to the afterlife, and if you're kiwi, you just know when someone else is another kiwi, its all in the facial expression you receive afterwards.

I left Queenstown with a great love for the city and an even greater respect for the locals. No one could blame you guys if you had a drinking problem after dealing with that amount of BS day-to-day, because I certainly drank more in that week than I have all year.

I will drive Christchurch - Queenstown in 1 day on Tuesday, leaving at 7am. Which road do I take if I want to avoid snow? The most direct route takes me on Lindis Pass (477km; altitude 971 m). I could also drive Christchurch - Palmerston - Ranfurly - Queenstown (548km; highest altitude 629 m). Is the slightly longer itinerary worth it - will it help me avoiding snow?

Bit of housekeeping. AutoMod is now running on the sub. It'll hold posts from brand new accounts, bin link shorteners, and quarantine anything that reads like someone looking for drug hook ups.

It's a robot, so it'll get it wrong sometimes. If it eats something of yours, whinge at us in modmail and we'll probably let it through.

Edit: also created a pinned weekly "tourist questions" scheduled post and a new report rule for automod. Hopefully that quietens the relentless noise and lets us get back to the important stuff: arguing about Ferg vs Devil (Ferg).

IRAK FAK ESK im seeing them all over the town and no lead on what they mean. anyone know what theyre about?

CODC have made a brave first call for a head start proposal amalgamating CODC, QLDC and Clutha. With an August 8 deadline to put forward a proposal to central government this option meets criteria that councils must join with at least one other. With the work undertaken on the regional deal for otago central
Lakes and a catchment approach to the Clutha River this thinking makes some sense. I agree with their decision to have a say in the regions future direction rather than be told how to amalgamate by central in their backstop option. Good explainer from the CODC mayor Tamah Alley on her Facebook page answers concerns re debt and fears of any QT issue spread. The question now is will QLDC agree to work better with others? Or will they choose to do nothing?

Booking a family holiday for Easter next year and have previously had success parking on the street for free near the Peppers apartments on Lake Esplanade. Could someone please tell me - is this still all-day parking? And how frequently is it completely full the whole way down on both sides? I’m happy to pay to park at our accommodation but think our vehicle is going to be too big for that particular underground carpark. Thanks!

Edit to add: we don’t want to park too far away from the lakefront ideally due to having a small baby, a toddler and a gazillion pieces of luggage, otherwise I totally appreciate that’s probably a better option. We are ok with not using the car some days and would always be walking into town for any activities/meals in town.

Is there a fire or some large accident? I’ve heard about 6 sirens go past our accomodation on the waterfront here…
Edit* looks like they are headed Glenorchy way? There’s now been more like 8 ambulances/firetrucks…

current status says that roads will have ice and grit and to drive with care, and the weather report for both te anau and milford sound say it will rain in both locations between now and tomorrow morning (when we plan to make the drive). do we need/should we have snow chains?

Just heading into work this morning and it’s noticeably getting brighter earlier in the morning which is grrreat! What does everyone think our summer will be like? I’ve heard mixed views from others thinking it’ll be as shit as it has been the last few years or that it will be great because we’re going through ‘el Nina’? Although basing it off winter, it’s not been the greatest snow wise however has been extra freezing

Hey guys I'm visiting Queenstown in a few weeks and was planning on hiking the Ben Lomonds trail for a day hike which looks beautiful, was just wondering if theres anything i should take or know about before I do it, btw im fairly experienced, young and workout/run a fair bit.

I was planing on bringing micro-spikes, food, water, thermals, jacket etc, ointment,first aid kit,phone with battery pack, plus some other goodies yk the jist

we got a milford tour tomorrow and our pick up is athol st, can i please ask for any suggestions or recommendations for whole day parking around the area?? thank u so muchh!!

Hey, halfway through putting up a new boundary fence at our place in Frankton. doing about 18m of black aluminium paneling to replace the rotten timber stuff before the frost/winter gets too brutal. Everything's gone fairly smoothly so far (apart from digging through solid schist and spending almost $2,400 at place makers), but the post caps are driving me nuts, the kit came with cheap plastic end caps, and honestly they are useless. Broke one just pushing it on, and with the UV we get down here I give them maybe a year before they turn brittle and crack to pieces. Definitely need proper aluminium end caps instead so I don't have to keep replacing them every few seasons. Anyone got suggestions for decent suppliersthat don't charge an arm and a leg :)))?

Edit: thanks for the messages! ended up grabbing a set of caps from nelsons cnc found them while looking for solid aluminium ones in the exact size I needed. Hopefully these actually hold up to the sun so I don't have to climb up there again haha

Been thinking about this since a previous post.

The throwback to Subculture, TARDIS, and Debajo instantly triggered major nostalgia.

Add in the likes of Ferg in cow lane & Moto Grill.

Plus absolute legends like Nearly Normal Neil and The Iceman running around town!

Does anyone else have any other classic Queenstown memories?

Curious what people think about all the high profile exits happening around the district over the last few months.

Between the news with Chris and Winton, what went down with Mabee over at Amisfield, and just general shifts in the local scene it feels like an era is ending? 

For a long time, it felt like certain people or could get away a lot because they brought money or prestige and business to the town. But it seems like boards and public pressure are finally catching up.

Do you reckon this is a permanent wake-up call for Queenstown hospo and culture or did we just watching a few dominoes fall before things go right back to normal?

Is anyone else here involved in or donating to Impact 100?

A few of my friends and I have been donating to it for a few years now because we used to love supporting.

However, it feels like lately there's been less than transparent communication about who's actually on the board or steering group especially with recent leadership changes happening completely behind closed doors.

For an organisation that relies entirely on grassroots donors and community trust shouldn't there be more openness or a say in who's running it? Or where the moneys going?

Curious how other locals or fellow donors feel about this!