What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?
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@pakman said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Kirwan said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
I’ve just got back from travelling up and down the north island. Apparently it’s a long wait to get a boat or a campervan as kiwis have been buying them up.
Tourist hotspots like Rotorua, Taupo and earlier Queenstown were less busy than normal.
Great in the short term for locals, but that iceberg of businesses going under is going to hit us sooner rather than later.
Everywhere I went I saw shut down businesses, and to let signs.
I'd imagine that the interest rate driven housing bubble would have ensured there was quite a lot of remortgage spend about.
What types of businesses are particularly struggling (other than overpriced tourism ones obvs)?
Cafes, retail in general, lots of small businesses just gone. Some of the towns by the ski fields looked pretty bleak.
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@Kirwan said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@pakman said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Kirwan said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
I’ve just got back from travelling up and down the north island. Apparently it’s a long wait to get a boat or a campervan as kiwis have been buying them up.
Tourist hotspots like Rotorua, Taupo and earlier Queenstown were less busy than normal.
Great in the short term for locals, but that iceberg of businesses going under is going to hit us sooner rather than later.
Everywhere I went I saw shut down businesses, and to let signs.
I'd imagine that the interest rate driven housing bubble would have ensured there was quite a lot of remortgage spend about.
What types of businesses are particularly struggling (other than overpriced tourism ones obvs)?
Cafes, retail in general, lots of small businesses just gone. Some of the towns by the ski fields looked pretty bleak.
It's bizarre. I live in a tourist dollar town in Matamata and I don't recall anything shutting up shop. Those relying on Hobbiton are still making a buck.
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@Hooroo said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Kirwan said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@pakman said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Kirwan said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
I’ve just got back from travelling up and down the north island. Apparently it’s a long wait to get a boat or a campervan as kiwis have been buying them up.
Tourist hotspots like Rotorua, Taupo and earlier Queenstown were less busy than normal.
Great in the short term for locals, but that iceberg of businesses going under is going to hit us sooner rather than later.
Everywhere I went I saw shut down businesses, and to let signs.
I'd imagine that the interest rate driven housing bubble would have ensured there was quite a lot of remortgage spend about.
What types of businesses are particularly struggling (other than overpriced tourism ones obvs)?
Cafes, retail in general, lots of small businesses just gone. Some of the towns by the ski fields looked pretty bleak.
It's bizarre. I live in a tourist dollar town in Matamata and I don't recall anything shutting up shop. Those relying on Hobbiton are still making a buck.
Matamata a tourism driven town? I'd have picked it for dairying and horse breeding primarily. Understand there's Hobbiton, hot springs and transit route to RotoVegas, but would have picked tourism as a nice extra. But I've been out of the area for years/decades.
Both horses and cows produce good money.
I suppose horsey things may have been affected (but you'd be the expert on racing amongst us)?
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@booboo said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Hooroo said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Kirwan said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@pakman said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Kirwan said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
I’ve just got back from travelling up and down the north island. Apparently it’s a long wait to get a boat or a campervan as kiwis have been buying them up.
Tourist hotspots like Rotorua, Taupo and earlier Queenstown were less busy than normal.
Great in the short term for locals, but that iceberg of businesses going under is going to hit us sooner rather than later.
Everywhere I went I saw shut down businesses, and to let signs.
I'd imagine that the interest rate driven housing bubble would have ensured there was quite a lot of remortgage spend about.
What types of businesses are particularly struggling (other than overpriced tourism ones obvs)?
Cafes, retail in general, lots of small businesses just gone. Some of the towns by the ski fields looked pretty bleak.
It's bizarre. I live in a tourist dollar town in Matamata and I don't recall anything shutting up shop. Those relying on Hobbiton are still making a buck.
Matamata a tourism driven town? I'd have picked it for dairying and horse breeding primarily. Understand there's Hobbiton, hot springs and transit route to RotoVegas, but would have picked tourism as a nice extra. But I've been out of the area for years/decades.
Both horses and cows produce good money.
I suppose horsey things may have been affected (but you'd be the expert on racing amongst us)?
That is the roots of the town but it has exploded because of Hobbiton.
No change to the horse side of things yet. Racing is still going with excellent crowds compared to previous years. Surprisingly the Ready To Run Sale in November was the best in years despite all the overseas buyers and agents being unable to enter the country.
The litmus test is the Yearling sale at end of January. It will be sold under similar conditions and I hope it goes as well as the RTR sale.
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@Hooroo said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@booboo said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Hooroo said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Kirwan said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@pakman said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Kirwan said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
I’ve just got back from travelling up and down the north island. Apparently it’s a long wait to get a boat or a campervan as kiwis have been buying them up.
Tourist hotspots like Rotorua, Taupo and earlier Queenstown were less busy than normal.
Great in the short term for locals, but that iceberg of businesses going under is going to hit us sooner rather than later.
Everywhere I went I saw shut down businesses, and to let signs.
I'd imagine that the interest rate driven housing bubble would have ensured there was quite a lot of remortgage spend about.
What types of businesses are particularly struggling (other than overpriced tourism ones obvs)?
Cafes, retail in general, lots of small businesses just gone. Some of the towns by the ski fields looked pretty bleak.
It's bizarre. I live in a tourist dollar town in Matamata and I don't recall anything shutting up shop. Those relying on Hobbiton are still making a buck.
Matamata a tourism driven town? I'd have picked it for dairying and horse breeding primarily. Understand there's Hobbiton, hot springs and transit route to RotoVegas, but would have picked tourism as a nice extra. But I've been out of the area for years/decades.
Both horses and cows produce good money.
I suppose horsey things may have been affected (but you'd be the expert on racing amongst us)?
That is the roots of the town but it has exploded because of Hobbiton.
No change to the horse side of things yet. Racing is still going with excellent crowds compared to previous years. Surprisingly the Ready To Run Sale in November was the best in years despite all the overseas buyers and agents being unable to enter the country.
The litmus test is the Yearling sale at end of January. It will be sold under similar conditions and I hope it goes as well as the RTR sale.
Two things:
Racing would have stopped through lockdown? Must have had an effect?
Are overseas buyers still in the market through technology and local agents?
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@booboo said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Hooroo said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@booboo said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Hooroo said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Kirwan said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@pakman said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Kirwan said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
I’ve just got back from travelling up and down the north island. Apparently it’s a long wait to get a boat or a campervan as kiwis have been buying them up.
Tourist hotspots like Rotorua, Taupo and earlier Queenstown were less busy than normal.
Great in the short term for locals, but that iceberg of businesses going under is going to hit us sooner rather than later.
Everywhere I went I saw shut down businesses, and to let signs.
I'd imagine that the interest rate driven housing bubble would have ensured there was quite a lot of remortgage spend about.
What types of businesses are particularly struggling (other than overpriced tourism ones obvs)?
Cafes, retail in general, lots of small businesses just gone. Some of the towns by the ski fields looked pretty bleak.
It's bizarre. I live in a tourist dollar town in Matamata and I don't recall anything shutting up shop. Those relying on Hobbiton are still making a buck.
Matamata a tourism driven town? I'd have picked it for dairying and horse breeding primarily. Understand there's Hobbiton, hot springs and transit route to RotoVegas, but would have picked tourism as a nice extra. But I've been out of the area for years/decades.
Both horses and cows produce good money.
I suppose horsey things may have been affected (but you'd be the expert on racing amongst us)?
That is the roots of the town but it has exploded because of Hobbiton.
No change to the horse side of things yet. Racing is still going with excellent crowds compared to previous years. Surprisingly the Ready To Run Sale in November was the best in years despite all the overseas buyers and agents being unable to enter the country.
The litmus test is the Yearling sale at end of January. It will be sold under similar conditions and I hope it goes as well as the RTR sale.
Two things:
Racing would have stopped through lockdown? Must have had an effect?
Are overseas buyers still in the market through technology and local agents?
Yes, I should have elaborated, the surprising thing about the RTR sales was a high number of offshore winning bids despite not being on the ground here. It was done as an online and live at point sale.
And yes, in NZ, racing was temporarily halted halted during levels 3 and 4. Aussie kept going through. The biggest affect was the unorganised start-up of racing where you had so many horses ready at the same time as they had all spelled and freshened during lockdown.
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@Hooroo said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@booboo said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Hooroo said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@booboo said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Hooroo said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Kirwan said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@pakman said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Kirwan said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
I’ve just got back from travelling up and down the north island. Apparently it’s a long wait to get a boat or a campervan as kiwis have been buying them up.
Tourist hotspots like Rotorua, Taupo and earlier Queenstown were less busy than normal.
Great in the short term for locals, but that iceberg of businesses going under is going to hit us sooner rather than later.
Everywhere I went I saw shut down businesses, and to let signs.
I'd imagine that the interest rate driven housing bubble would have ensured there was quite a lot of remortgage spend about.
What types of businesses are particularly struggling (other than overpriced tourism ones obvs)?
Cafes, retail in general, lots of small businesses just gone. Some of the towns by the ski fields looked pretty bleak.
It's bizarre. I live in a tourist dollar town in Matamata and I don't recall anything shutting up shop. Those relying on Hobbiton are still making a buck.
Matamata a tourism driven town? I'd have picked it for dairying and horse breeding primarily. Understand there's Hobbiton, hot springs and transit route to RotoVegas, but would have picked tourism as a nice extra. But I've been out of the area for years/decades.
Both horses and cows produce good money.
I suppose horsey things may have been affected (but you'd be the expert on racing amongst us)?
That is the roots of the town but it has exploded because of Hobbiton.
No change to the horse side of things yet. Racing is still going with excellent crowds compared to previous years. Surprisingly the Ready To Run Sale in November was the best in years despite all the overseas buyers and agents being unable to enter the country.
The litmus test is the Yearling sale at end of January. It will be sold under similar conditions and I hope it goes as well as the RTR sale.
Two things:
Racing would have stopped through lockdown? Must have had an effect?
Are overseas buyers still in the market through technology and local agents?
Yes, I should have elaborated, the surprising thing about the RTR sales was a high number of offshore winning bids despite not being on the ground here. It was done as an online and live at point sale.
And yes, in NZ, racing was temporarily halted halted during levels 3 and 4. Aussie kept going through. The biggest affect was the unorganised start-up of racing where you had so many horses ready at the same time as they had all spelled and freshened during lockdown.
Also, betting turnover has improved, or at the least halted its years-long slide. Good crowds over the summer as per usual too.
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@Smudge said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Hooroo said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@booboo said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Hooroo said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@booboo said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Hooroo said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Kirwan said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@pakman said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Kirwan said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
I’ve just got back from travelling up and down the north island. Apparently it’s a long wait to get a boat or a campervan as kiwis have been buying them up.
Tourist hotspots like Rotorua, Taupo and earlier Queenstown were less busy than normal.
Great in the short term for locals, but that iceberg of businesses going under is going to hit us sooner rather than later.
Everywhere I went I saw shut down businesses, and to let signs.
I'd imagine that the interest rate driven housing bubble would have ensured there was quite a lot of remortgage spend about.
What types of businesses are particularly struggling (other than overpriced tourism ones obvs)?
Cafes, retail in general, lots of small businesses just gone. Some of the towns by the ski fields looked pretty bleak.
It's bizarre. I live in a tourist dollar town in Matamata and I don't recall anything shutting up shop. Those relying on Hobbiton are still making a buck.
Matamata a tourism driven town? I'd have picked it for dairying and horse breeding primarily. Understand there's Hobbiton, hot springs and transit route to RotoVegas, but would have picked tourism as a nice extra. But I've been out of the area for years/decades.
Both horses and cows produce good money.
I suppose horsey things may have been affected (but you'd be the expert on racing amongst us)?
That is the roots of the town but it has exploded because of Hobbiton.
No change to the horse side of things yet. Racing is still going with excellent crowds compared to previous years. Surprisingly the Ready To Run Sale in November was the best in years despite all the overseas buyers and agents being unable to enter the country.
The litmus test is the Yearling sale at end of January. It will be sold under similar conditions and I hope it goes as well as the RTR sale.
Two things:
Racing would have stopped through lockdown? Must have had an effect?
Are overseas buyers still in the market through technology and local agents?
Yes, I should have elaborated, the surprising thing about the RTR sales was a high number of offshore winning bids despite not being on the ground here. It was done as an online and live at point sale.
And yes, in NZ, racing was temporarily halted halted during levels 3 and 4. Aussie kept going through. The biggest affect was the unorganised start-up of racing where you had so many horses ready at the same time as they had all spelled and freshened during lockdown.
Also, betting turnover has improved, or at the least halted its years-long slide. Good crowds over the summer as per usual too.
I would say even bigger crowds? Maybe more up north here. Boxing day sold out and Tauranga and a rain affected (Thank you rain Gods) Te Aroha got superb crowds. Ran out of food and booze
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My brother in England contacted me to say he was gutted about what's going on over there and it envious of what we have here.
I suggested he pack the family up for 6 months and come home and he is seriously thinking about it. I hope he does as I know he misses home, despite living over there for 20+ years.
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Interesting article (paywall) this morning from the Bay of Island hospitality industry. Their problem isn’t a lack of business, but a lack of workers.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/front-page-top-stories/news/article.cfm?c_id=698&objectid=12410022
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@Hooroo said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
My brother in England contacted me to say he was gutted about what's going on over there and it envious of what we have here.
I suggested he pack the family up for 6 months and come home and he is seriously thinking about it. I hope he does as I know he misses home, despite living over there for 20+ years.
I doubt there is a kiwi here who doesn't miss home at the moment. I know a few and we generally pass some disparaging comments over WhatsApp which are all just thinly veiled jealousy.
Reality is that if the current approach works, by the time we can physically get into NZ again, it'll be the summer here and the optimism of rebirth and warmer weather will make it a great place to live once again, so all will change ... maybe.
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@Hooroo said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
I suggested he pack the family up for 6 months and come home and he is seriously thinking about it. I hope he does as I know he misses home, despite living over there for 20+ years.
Would he recognise it?
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@antipodean said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Hooroo said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
I suggested he pack the family up for 6 months and come home and he is seriously thinking about it. I hope he does as I know he misses home, despite living over there for 20+ years.
Would he recognise it?
Yeah he brings them over a bit and has property here. They all get upset apart from the wife when they have to go back.
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@Hooroo said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@antipodean said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Hooroo said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
I suggested he pack the family up for 6 months and come home and he is seriously thinking about it. I hope he does as I know he misses home, despite living over there for 20+ years.
Would he recognise it?
Yeah he brings them over a bit and has property here. They all get upset apart from the wife when they have to go back.
Didn't you put your foot in it with her a wee while ago?
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@MajorRage said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Hooroo said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
My brother in England contacted me to say he was gutted about what's going on over there and it envious of what we have here.
I suggested he pack the family up for 6 months and come home and he is seriously thinking about it. I hope he does as I know he misses home, despite living over there for 20+ years.
I doubt there is a kiwi here who doesn't miss home at the moment. I know a few and we generally pass some disparaging comments over WhatsApp which are all just thinly veiled jealousy.
Reality is that if the current approach works, by the time we can physically get into NZ again, it'll be the summer here and the optimism of rebirth and warmer weather will make it a great place to live once again, so all will change ... maybe.
Isn't the reality that if someone genuinely wanted to go home for 6 months or longer, then they could relatively easily - its just a 2 month waiting list and a 14 day hotel stay bill? Not saying that's insignificant, but if you're moving home permanently or for 6mths or so, its less of an issue than if you're trying to jump back for 2 weeks to see family.
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@voodoo said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@MajorRage said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Hooroo said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
My brother in England contacted me to say he was gutted about what's going on over there and it envious of what we have here.
I suggested he pack the family up for 6 months and come home and he is seriously thinking about it. I hope he does as I know he misses home, despite living over there for 20+ years.
I doubt there is a kiwi here who doesn't miss home at the moment. I know a few and we generally pass some disparaging comments over WhatsApp which are all just thinly veiled jealousy.
Reality is that if the current approach works, by the time we can physically get into NZ again, it'll be the summer here and the optimism of rebirth and warmer weather will make it a great place to live once again, so all will change ... maybe.
Isn't the reality that if someone genuinely wanted to go home for 6 months or longer, then they could relatively easily - its just a 2 month waiting list and a 14 day hotel stay bill? Not saying that's insignificant, but if you're moving home permanently or for 6mths or so, its less of an issue than if you're trying to jump back for 2 weeks to see family.
Thats the same point. Means you can't get into NZ until April at which point the weather is turning in both locations.
Doesn't mean it can't be done of course and if the desire is there absolutely no reason to do it. I know if I didn't have kids, I'd probably be signing up for it.
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@MajorRage said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@voodoo said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@MajorRage said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Hooroo said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
My brother in England contacted me to say he was gutted about what's going on over there and it envious of what we have here.
I suggested he pack the family up for 6 months and come home and he is seriously thinking about it. I hope he does as I know he misses home, despite living over there for 20+ years.
I doubt there is a kiwi here who doesn't miss home at the moment. I know a few and we generally pass some disparaging comments over WhatsApp which are all just thinly veiled jealousy.
Reality is that if the current approach works, by the time we can physically get into NZ again, it'll be the summer here and the optimism of rebirth and warmer weather will make it a great place to live once again, so all will change ... maybe.
Isn't the reality that if someone genuinely wanted to go home for 6 months or longer, then they could relatively easily - its just a 2 month waiting list and a 14 day hotel stay bill? Not saying that's insignificant, but if you're moving home permanently or for 6mths or so, its less of an issue than if you're trying to jump back for 2 weeks to see family.
Thats the same point. Means you can't get into NZ until April at which point the weather is turning in both locations.
Doesn't mean it can't be done of course and if the desire is there absolutely no reason to do it. I know if I didn't have kids, I'd probably be signing up for it.
Yeah, guess I'm just saying that it's not that different from any other time. If you're uprooting your family to shift hemispheres, there is likely to be a 2-3 month lag in making it happen. Stuff takes time to sort, especially with kids.
Covid "just" means an expensive 14 day hotel stay at the front end of your return home.
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@Bones said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Hooroo said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@antipodean said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Hooroo said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
I suggested he pack the family up for 6 months and come home and he is seriously thinking about it. I hope he does as I know he misses home, despite living over there for 20+ years.
Would he recognise it?
Yeah he brings them over a bit and has property here. They all get upset apart from the wife when they have to go back.
Didn't you put your foot in it with her a wee while ago?
You're going to have to give me more than that. I have big trippy feet that constantly end up where they shouldn't!