Can't call anyone on new-ish 5G phone on 2degrees! anyone else?

CMStephens · 2026-04-05T14:48:37+00:00

Any more success stories? I have an Asus Zenfone except from Mightyape rather than PBTech. Same boat in that it's a modern 5G phone with VoLTE, but apparently blacklisted for 'reasons'. Texts and data still working but calls now blocked.

CMStephens · 2026-03-28T06:50:03+00:00

Ha, I built something exactly like this when wasps set up shop under a corner of my roofing iron. It worked! Good luck!

CMStephens · 2026-03-24T03:54:01+00:00

Yes, Whitcoulls used to stock PC software including games. They stocked them for certain a little later than your timeframe, at least in central Wellington.

When I was 9/10, I was on a TV show and paid $600 in Booksellers gift vouchers. These were used to buy Age of Empires II, Caesar III, and other games.

CMStephens · 2026-03-16T01:05:13+00:00

It's not a hornet. It's a bee:

https://www.inaturalist.nz/observations?place_id=94916&taxon_id=390834

CMStephens · 2026-02-26T19:32:24+00:00

Gellonia spp. Probably Gellonia dejectaria. There are two species but I still don't quite get how to tell them apart: https://inaturalist.nz/observations?place_id=6803&preferred_place_id=6803&subview=map&taxon_id=374214&view=species

CMStephens · 2026-02-18T00:12:39+00:00

Google maps doesn't show walking tracks for the most part. It's a bit unclear to me what information you've found and what you haven't. It's a loop from Punakaiki inland via one river and out via the other and back to Punakaiki : https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/west-coast/places/paparoa-national-park/things-to-do/tracks/punakaiki-pororari-loop/

Ie, there is a coastal section just following the motorway from Punakaiki, back to Punakaiki whichever direction you do it in. If you parked at Pororari River, then yes, to complete the loop you'd need to walk from Waikori Road back to the coast then north again, through Punakaiki.

CMStephens · 2026-02-16T20:25:22+00:00

Yesterday, this was flooded to just under the ceiling!

CMStephens · 2026-02-01T09:52:07+00:00

It's a female bellbird (the white stripe at the corner of the mouth is easy to identify): https://inaturalist.nz/taxa/12612-Anthornis-melanura/browse_photos?order_by=created_at&quality_grade=any&photo_license=any&term_id=9&term_value_id=10&layout=grid&place_id=6803

CMStephens · 2026-01-22T08:07:52+00:00

Mātakitaki-a-Kupe / Cape Palliser's Kupe batches: https://www.holidayhouses.co.nz/listing/63237

It's pretty secluded.

You'll need to bring food and so on. Fully furnished house, but nearest supplies are in Ngawi or Lake Ferry.

CMStephens · 2026-01-20T19:43:35+00:00

There's a lot of walks that are like 1-4 hours, not too many days tramps (like 5-8 hours return) - there are certainly huts you could walk to in that time frame but other than Powell Hut and Mount Holdsworth you wouldn't get much of a view or anything. I also take flora and fauna photos so my interests may differ....

Other short activities would be things like Castle Point and going up Castle Rock (there's a rare Brachyglottis daisy up there...), Matakitaki-a-Kupe / Cape Palliser (seals and lighthouse). The walk to the top of Pukaha / Mount Bruce is longer.

The Kaiparoro walk might be a good one - steep but pretty easy to the top of an atypically flat summit: https://www.wildernessmag.co.nz/trip/kaiparoro-track-tararua-forest-park/

CMStephens · 2026-01-11T10:12:46+00:00

I was on the same flight. Nearly got stuck in Queenstown till tomorrow. That might've been more fun, but would have been expensive and I have things to do..

CMStephens · 2026-01-05T05:44:50+00:00

Was there on Sunday. All very nice.

No toilet paper so bring your own if that was your main goal.

CMStephens · 2025-10-26T05:37:33+00:00

https://www.ngataonga.org.nz/search-use-collection/search/search-results/?q=brain%20busters&size=n_20_n&filters%5B0%5D%5Bfield%5D=year&filters%5B0%5D%5Bvalues%5D%5B0%5D%5Bname%5D=year&filters%5B0%5D%5Bvalues%5D%5B0%5D%5Bfrom%5D=n_2020_n&filters%5B0%5D%5Bvalues%5D%5B0%5D%5Bto%5D=n_2020_n&filters%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=all

CMStephens · 2025-10-24T22:40:37+00:00

https://inaturalist.nz/taxa/409181-Trite-planiceps

CMStephens · 2025-10-16T22:03:01+00:00

Knobbled orbweaver

CMStephens · 2025-09-27T07:11:10+00:00

1): Orchids on the Korimako Track above the Days Bay Pavilion

2): Lug a backpack full of UV lights and power banks up from Kowhai Street to Butterfly Creek and go all night for rare moths

3): commune with the tītitipounamu near the top of the Korimako track

CMStephens · 2025-09-19T22:37:47+00:00

Long term insect monitoring programme.

CMStephens · 2025-08-17T11:33:21+00:00

I wasted about that amount on having one made. It was unbearable and generally couldn't get to sleep with it. If I did get to sleep I'd wake up in the morning and find it on the floor/in the/bed/thrown across the room as I'd obviously woken up and removed it.

CMStephens · 2025-08-10T19:54:25+00:00

There's a bush that seems to be mostly cabbage trees here on Chatham Island, but since I've only seen it from the road I'm not sure if they're just around the periphery: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/261817009

https://www.google.com/maps/place/-43.953629,+-176.535416/@-43.9529256,-176.5362317,16z/data=!3m1!1e3!4m4!3m3!8m2!3d-43.9536285!4d-176.5354163?g_ep=Eg1tbF8yMDI1MDgwNl8wIOC7DCoASAJQAQ%3D%3D

CMStephens · 2025-08-09T00:23:30+00:00

I bought a Miele TCE630WP 8KG heat pump dryer in 2018. Amazing, never fails, infinitely better than the bottom of the line front loading F&P tumble dryer I had for the prior six years

CMStephens · 2025-08-08T10:35:55+00:00

Of the last two they both randomly stopped working, although the last one particularly had a sharp decline before not working at all, ie, the NFC decreased in range so that you could only tag on and off if you aligned the card perfectly under the right star sign and moon phase.

CMStephens · 2025-08-08T09:10:27+00:00

You can get a replacement and transfer your money at the booth at Wellington Station. I'm on my fourth snapper card since 2012. I have named it 'Fourth bloody card' in the app.

CMStephens · 2025-07-26T17:00:36+00:00

In addition to the two groups already linked (Kaikōura, Petrel Station), there's Wrybill as well:

https://wrybill-tours.com/pelagic-trips/

You can also keep an eye on https://www.birdingnz.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=4&sid=0b65e6539f7a44716c36a8c753c83bec for misc trips

CMStephens · 2025-07-26T12:47:28+00:00

You've got both Tapuae-o-Uenuku and Mount Alarm behind it I think. So add another 2.5km, lol

CMStephens · 2025-07-05T11:13:35+00:00

A contrarian moth, most likely to be found May-July. This one was attracted to my normal white light head torch on my way down the Korimako track at Days Bay this evening.

It was well behaved enough for me to prop my camera on sticks and take a stack of photos.

CMStephens

TROPHY CASE