What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?
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Just struck me the other day. No tourists. That’s like a throw back to the 60s or even 70s.
Are Ferners missing them?
Is the vibe improved?
Are businesses altering for the better?
Keen to get vaccinated and see more myself, but realistically that will take months.
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@pakman said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
Just struck me the other day. No tourists. That’s like a throw back to the 60s or even 70s.
Are Ferners missing them?
Is the vibe improved?
Are businesses altering for the better?
Keen to get vaccinated and see more myself, but realistically that will take months.
I miss the hot swedish backpacker types but not so much the Asian, shit driver types
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@pakman I've seen plenty say it is great without them, but I suspect places like Queenstown, Rotorua etc are missing them as they apparently spend more $$$ per visitor than Kiwis visiting.
Some provincial areas, like Northland are less reliant on International tourists, so are actually thriving from extra Kiwi visitors
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@MN5 said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
I miss the hot swedish backpacker types but not so much the Asian, shit driver types
Surely we can put that into law...
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I'm philosophically opposed to shutting our borders - for clarity, keep great prortection there, but allow people through.
That said, if we severed ties with the rest of teh world, we'd trade flat screen TVs to drown in Sauvignon Blanc, eat export quality meat every day, and smash some of the best goddamn cheeses in the world. It may not last long, but we'd die fat and happy.
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@Snowy said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@MN5 said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
I miss the hot swedish backpacker types but not so much the Asian, shit driver types
Surely we can put that into law...
How many could you put in self isolation in your cellar?
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@nzzp said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
drown in Sauvignon Blanc, eat export quality meat every day, and smash some of the best goddamn cheeses in the world.
Surely we can put that into law...
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I see the road toll is only about 30 fewer than for 2019... despite seven weeks in level 4 and 3 (plus round two in Auckland), and all of those accident causing foreign drivers that used to be hyperventilated about on social media being MIA since March...
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@canefan said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Snowy said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@MN5 said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
I miss the hot swedish backpacker types but not so much the Asian, shit driver types
Surely we can put that into law...
How many could you put in self isolation in your cellar?
A dozen or so usually. I don't like to remove the chianti in summer though.
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@MN5 Asians? It definitely depends on the person but I would suggest Japanese are, on average, better drivers than Kiwis due to the seriously tough driving schools they are forced to go through to get their licenses.
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@Old-Samurai-Jack said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@MN5 Asians? It definitely depends on the person but I would suggest Japanese are, on average, better drivers than Kiwis due to the seriously tough driving schools they are forced to go through to get their licenses.
Not on our roads in my experience. I managed a rental car company for about 4 years (30 years ago) and we couldn't get insurance for them. The actuaries didn't like the numbers.
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@Snowy Really? That surprises me and I doubt the "insurance number crunchers" wouldn't pass making a dollar without reason!
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@Old-Samurai-Jack Yes, really. You know more than they did?
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I've mostly enjoyed it personally.
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@Snowy said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Old-Samurai-Jack said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@MN5 Asians? It definitely depends on the person but I would suggest Japanese are, on average, better drivers than Kiwis due to the seriously tough driving schools they are forced to go through to get their licenses.
Not on our roads in my experience. I managed a rental car company for about 4 years (30 years ago) and we couldn't get insurance for them. The actuaries didn't like the numbers.
Old school racism and stereotyping at its best
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Previous company i worked for offered Third Party Only cover for 3, 6, 9 or 12 month cover, aimed at tourists, we didn't have a lot of claims, although most did want windscreen cover which wasn't offered on TPO policies.
I think Kiwis generally think they are better drivers than they are, while they also think tourists are much worse, truth is in the middle IMO.
That said, there are plenty of people out there, kiwis and tourists who simply should not be in control of a motor vehicle, at all.
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@MN5 said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Snowy said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Old-Samurai-Jack said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@MN5 Asians? It definitely depends on the person but I would suggest Japanese are, on average, better drivers than Kiwis due to the seriously tough driving schools they are forced to go through to get their licenses.
Not on our roads in my experience. I managed a rental car company for about 4 years (30 years ago) and we couldn't get insurance for them. The actuaries didn't like the numbers.
Old school racism and stereotyping at its best
Which came from your post, but the numbers were what they were. The insurers decided not me.
Peripheral vision effects driving skills too. It was certainly an issue in aeroplanes. It's not racism. Some people are genetically better at some things. Live with it.
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@MN5 said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Snowy said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Old-Samurai-Jack said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@MN5 Asians? It definitely depends on the person but I would suggest Japanese are, on average, better drivers than Kiwis due to the seriously tough driving schools they are forced to go through to get their licenses.
Not on our roads in my experience. I managed a rental car company for about 4 years (30 years ago) and we couldn't get insurance for them. The actuaries didn't like the numbers.
Old school racism and stereotyping at its best
I'm wondering how what @Snowy described is "racial" stereotyping?
Surely it is "people with Japanese passports who rent cars crash them at a higher rate based on actual data" stereotyping.
It's not like he's casually labelling Asians as shit drivers.
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@Snowy said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@MN5 said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Snowy said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Old-Samurai-Jack said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@MN5 Asians? It definitely depends on the person but I would suggest Japanese are, on average, better drivers than Kiwis due to the seriously tough driving schools they are forced to go through to get their licenses.
Not on our roads in my experience. I managed a rental car company for about 4 years (30 years ago) and we couldn't get insurance for them. The actuaries didn't like the numbers.
Old school racism and stereotyping at its best
Which came from your post, but the numbers were what they were. The insurers decided not me.
Peripheral vision effects driving skills too. It was certainly an issue in aeroplanes. It's not racism. Some people are genetically better at some things. Live with it.
I didn’t say it was a bad thing
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Beautiful! Just spent the last 6 days in the Marlborough Sounds, based out of Lochmara Bay enjoying everything that part of the country has to offer. From Queen Charlotte track to the Sounds in all it’s beauty, highly recommend to anyone that hasn’t been down there. Was nice not seeing a car for 6 days aswell.
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@Snowy said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@MN5 said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Snowy said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Old-Samurai-Jack said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@MN5 Asians? It definitely depends on the person but I would suggest Japanese are, on average, better drivers than Kiwis due to the seriously tough driving schools they are forced to go through to get their licenses.
Not on our roads in my experience. I managed a rental car company for about 4 years (30 years ago) and we couldn't get insurance for them. The actuaries didn't like the numbers.
Old school racism and stereotyping at its best
Which came from your post, but the numbers were what they were. The insurers decided not me.
Peripheral vision effects driving skills too. It was certainly an issue in aeroplanes. It's not racism. Some people are genetically better at some things. Live with it.
Shittings! I was bowing down to your superior knowledge (Japanese drivers in the NZ context) until you wrote this! WTF! Have I misunderstood?
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@Old-Samurai-Jack said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Snowy said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@MN5 said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Snowy said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Old-Samurai-Jack said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@MN5 Asians? It definitely depends on the person but I would suggest Japanese are, on average, better drivers than Kiwis due to the seriously tough driving schools they are forced to go through to get their licenses.
Not on our roads in my experience. I managed a rental car company for about 4 years (30 years ago) and we couldn't get insurance for them. The actuaries didn't like the numbers.
Old school racism and stereotyping at its best
Which came from your post, but the numbers were what they were. The insurers decided not me.
Peripheral vision effects driving skills too. It was certainly an issue in aeroplanes. It's not racism. Some people are genetically better at some things. Live with it.
Shittings! I was bowing down to your superior knowledge (Japanese drivers in the NZ context) until you wrote this! WTF! Have I misunderstood?
Maybe. I remember reading an article years ago basically about genetic evolution. It's not racism as pretty much everybody has their strengths, from Kenyan and Ethiopian long distance runners to Caribbean sprinters. Slow twitch and fast twitch, etc. That is not to say that other people can't / won't develop over the years as well, it is just evolution of certain attributes because those attributes are used more than others.
If Japanese drivers spent years and years on our roads they would be fine too. Peripheral vision can be overcome by turning your head, being aware of blind spots and these days technology (much of which has been conveniently invented by the Japanese).
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I love how an off the cuff comment about stereotypes has completely changed the topic of the thread at hand.
Such classic ferning
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@MN5 said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
I love how an off the cuff comment about stereotypes has completely changed the topic of the thread at hand.
Such classic ferning
Yes, and you started it!
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@Snowy said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@MN5 said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
I love how an off the cuff comment about stereotypes has completely changed the topic of the thread at hand.
Such classic ferning
Yes, and you started it!
( drops mic and walks away to make popcorn )
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Can we get this back on topic please?
I am genuinely interested in what it’s like and your thoughts. Not interested in your thoughts on my wife’s driving.
If the general feeling is that it’s much better because there are less Asians on the roads then I guess that certainly tells me something.
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@MajorRage said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
Can we get this back on topic please?
I am genuinely interested in what it’s like and your thoughts. Not interested in your thoughts on my wife’s driving.
If the general feeling is that it’s much better because there are less Asians on the roads then I guess that certainly tells me something.
If it’s any consolation I’ve seen some fucken diabolical driving around Wairoa/Mahia.....loads of unnecessary overtaking just to end up behind a big truck a few hundred metres ahead.
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@MN5 said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@MajorRage said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
Can we get this back on topic please?
I am genuinely interested in what it’s like and your thoughts. Not interested in your thoughts on my wife’s driving.
If the general feeling is that it’s much better because there are less Asians on the roads then I guess that certainly tells me something.
If it’s any consolation I’ve seen some fucken diabolical driving around Wairoa/Mahia.....loadsa of unnecessary overtaking just to end up behind a big truck a few hundred metres ahead.
Ummm .... no. What’s NZ really like now? Or is driving quality all that matters?
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@MajorRage said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
Can we get this back on topic please?
I am genuinely interested in what it’s like and your thoughts.It's actually really good.
Without getting into driving too much, there are far far fewer campervans blocking up the roads. The holiday season has been much better than in the past even though we probably have more people here (returned Kiwis).
I have yet to have any product supply issues, business wise and personally (I suspect that might come, but so far so good).
I have managed to get bookings for some places that I always wanted to visit (or return to) that was impossible for the last few years. The special prices are great too. Our top resorts may be mostly American owned but they are far more accessible to Kiwis now and they are seriously good. I'm making the best of it.
So yeah it's fantastic. I'm supporting all of our local businesses as much as possible and thoroughly enjoying our country.
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@Snowy I think most people are the same. Embrace travelling in our own country and spend cash in the places we visit to help the money go round
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@MajorRage said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
your thoughts on my wife’s driving
I'm sure she is very good, some gross generalisations above, but having some basis in fact. I am intrigued as to whether she drove the Caterham?
My wife will not drive the TVR in spite of the fact that I bought it for her.
It is interesting how supportive our community have been of our business and us in general. As @canefan says people seem to have bought into the money go round. I like it.
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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.
Roads still crazily busy in places and saw some absolutely awful driving, so that hasn’t changed.
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I'm feeling happy enopugh that I've booked a long weekend up at Taupo at the end of February. Intend to do totally tourist things rather than treat it as a weekend getaway - so lake cruise, a couple of decent restaurants and a spa afternoon. Original idea was Siem Reap and Laos for two weeks but that went bye bye so made do with 3 days in Taupo for about the same cost
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Does anyone know how many overseas tourists are in NZ at any given time? ie., how many fewer peeps are in the country?
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@booboo Monthly Arrival numbers:
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@SynicBast said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
I'm feeling happy enopugh that I've booked a long weekend up at Taupo at the end of February. Intend to do totally tourist things rather than treat it as a weekend getaway - so lake cruise, a couple of decent restaurants and a spa afternoon. Original idea was Siem Reap and Laos for two weeks but that went bye bye so made do with 3 days in Taupo for about the same cost
Ouchee
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@taniwharugby What's the second column?
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@canefan That's why I don't have a lot of sympathy for Tourism operators crying poor. They lived very very well by ignoring the local market and in many cases actively discouraging the locals through their pricing and wonder why people think twice before even considering spending what discretionary funds they have now on domestic tourism.
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@Snowy said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Old-Samurai-Jack said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Snowy said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@MN5 said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Snowy said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@Old-Samurai-Jack said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@MN5 Asians? It definitely depends on the person but I would suggest Japanese are, on average, better drivers than Kiwis due to the seriously tough driving schools they are forced to go through to get their licenses.
Not on our roads in my experience. I managed a rental car company for about 4 years (30 years ago) and we couldn't get insurance for them. The actuaries didn't like the numbers.
Old school racism and stereotyping at its best
Which came from your post, but the numbers were what they were. The insurers decided not me.
Peripheral vision effects driving skills too. It was certainly an issue in aeroplanes. It's not racism. Some people are genetically better at some things. Live with it.
Shittings! I was bowing down to your superior knowledge (Japanese drivers in the NZ context) until you wrote this! WTF! Have I misunderstood?
Maybe. I remember reading an article years ago basically about genetic evolution. It's not racism as pretty much everybody has their strengths, from Kenyan and Ethiopian long distance runners to Caribbean sprinters. Slow twitch and fast twitch, etc. That is not to say that other people can't / won't develop over the years as well, it is just evolution of certain attributes because those attributes are used more than others.
If Japanese drivers spent years and years on our roads they would be fine too. Peripheral vision can be overcome by turning your head, being aware of blind spots and these days technology (much of which has been conveniently invented by the Japanese).
Sorry but that is confirmation bias at its best. Here are some statistics, there are 100,000 Japanese visitors to NZ a year (pre-covid obviously), 43% use rental cars, and they are not even mentioned in the top 20 nationalities for accidents. NZ almost doubles the Japanese in road fatalities per 100,000 and more importantly :face_savouring_delicious_food: , I have driven extensively in both countries. I feel much safer driving/riding a motorbike In Japan (less aggressive) and without doubt, Japanese park soooo much better than the average Kiwi (although I' concede this probably reflects certain cultural traits than driving abilities....). They also have exactly the same road rules.
Having said that NZ has unique driving conditions and that makes driving there difficult for someone not used to it and the stats say the top three nationalities for accidents are Chinese, UK, and Australia (2019 I think). -
@JC said in What’s it like having Godzone all to yourself?:
@taniwharugby What's the second column?
"Seasonally Adjusted" whatever that means.
Tourism | Stats NZ
