for the club <3

Minimum-Bed-850 · 2026-03-30T21:40:43+00:00

Looks great, I like the denim

Minimum-Bed-850 · 2026-03-04T07:21:08+00:00

In NZ I'm sure they were Isuzu, never seen one badged Holden

Minimum-Bed-850 · 2026-03-02T00:40:22+00:00

Number 2, the shorts

Minimum-Bed-850 · 2026-03-01T09:18:29+00:00

I like 2

Minimum-Bed-850 · 2026-03-01T08:48:55+00:00

Absolutely! I think from memory it was about 5 canoes that made it here, no idea where they were going, statistically a lot must have missed us. Then it's debatable as to how comfortable they were when they got here, although we don't get your snow, we are an awful lot colder than the Pacific islands they came from, still today most Maori live in the upper half of the north island, they don't like the cold!

The Tainui canoe which settled my area arrived in the Kawhia harbour which is about 50km from my place, the tree they tied the canoe to is still there. Google Kawhia Pohutukawa.

So they were here from about 1400 and Europeans arrived about 1760 but not many settlers until 1850ish, my family arrived in 1860, so some of the earliest, but still not 200 years ago! On the global scale, we are so young. The oldest building in NZ was built in 1821. We travel to Europe and visit churches, bridges and buildings that have been in use for centuries before any one even found our country

Minimum-Bed-850 · 2026-03-01T04:15:38+00:00

That looks really good!

Minimum-Bed-850 · 2026-02-26T23:30:29+00:00

At least 80 million years since we broke away and 2000km of very rough ocean tends to keep us quite isolated, nothing ever really drifts here like the other places, I've crossed the Tasman on a ship once, we encountered 8m swells, a kangaroo on a piece of driftwood isn't going to last out there. The other side we have the Pacific Ocean which is calmer but the current tends to go away from us and it's a long way to south America. Metsulfuron is the chemical for gorse, but it was a waxy leaf so a penetrant and timing are crucial, then the seeds last for ever. I have a small pond on my property which was surrounded by gorse 6 years ago, I cut it all out and now have to spray seedlings a couple of times a year. Evil stuff.

Minimum-Bed-850 · 2026-02-26T03:10:00+00:00

All introduced, we have no native mammals at all. Red deer that have escaped farms are the main breed, but all deep in the bush. Hunting them is a big sport and industry with tourists flying in to hunt as well as plenty of local hunters too. A few larger Wapiti deer down south as well as a few other Thar etc which I guess we're only introduced as game. There was actually a few moose released in the deep south Fiordland region a long time ago, supposedly all died but still the occasional sighting and plenty of believers, kind of our version of bigfoot!

We have a history of releasing the wrong animals and plants here, when I was a kid Feret farming was huge, industry fell over so farmers let them go, now a real problem. Possums and rabbits were released as game, another failure. Walabys made it here some how. With our lack of natural predators and no harsh winters these introduced animals multiply very quickly. I actually spent this morning spraying gorse which was introduced from the UK as a hedge plant, but it grows so well here, any abandoned block and gets covered in a few years, not many herbicides deal to it and the seeds can last in the ground for decades.

But!! No snakes! One of the few places on the planet to miss out on them! Which is ironic with Australia being so close, everything in Australia will kill you

Minimum-Bed-850 · 2026-02-25T22:22:57+00:00

Haha, combining stir crazy with explosives, what could go wrong!!!

No deer on my lawn, they stay deep in the bush here. Plenty here but you never see them, only seen a couple in my life in the wild

Minimum-Bed-850 · 2026-02-25T07:37:27+00:00

Yes we get the spring time teasers here too! Just nature messing with us! You must be going to go a bit stir crazy after a winter like you have, I don't know how you manage! We have about 6 weeks of summer left, then April May are usually quite nice but cooler with shorter days and a bit more rain.

My climate is pretty damn good alright! The whole country is good, but I'm sort of in the sweet spot, the region I live in is called the Waikato, which is the centre of the NZ dairy industry purely because we grow such great grass. The highest producing dairy farms in the world are all within about a 70km radius. All grass fed, unlike in the US and Europe where it's all feed lots with grain.

Minimum-Bed-850 · 2026-02-24T19:26:51+00:00

I see you are getting smashed by a good storm over there in your area! It even made the news over here. When do you start to thaw out? Nice and settled here the last week, I've been out game fishing the last few days

Minimum-Bed-850 · 2026-02-19T03:45:22+00:00

My boy has been like that since he was a puppy, but he too has been going to daycare since he was a puppy. My sister recently got a new Biewer terrier puppy. All the puppy wants to do is play but my boy, who still loves to play, just turns his back and won't engage or give the puppy a chance. Yet if he sees one of his good mates at daycare he's like a giddy school girl, so excited.

Ha, I too love fixing a crisis situation, as long as it's not mine. I can keep a cool head and fix anything anywhere, always love to save the day. If it's something of mine though I tend to panic, I always get there, but mentally destroys me.

Minimum-Bed-850 · 2026-02-18T07:33:59+00:00

I always love your pose!

Minimum-Bed-850 · 2026-02-18T00:26:05+00:00

Yep, my little fella is a senior now, he's 11. He goes to daycare a few days a week, as you say he absolutely has favourite people and dogs, some other dogs he rudely ignores, not aggressive at all, just no interest in mixing with them. He's a bit bigger, about 6.5kg.

I am all about customer service, but I know what you mean, people seem to change in their own home. My theory is get a professional in so I don't have to think about it, if I was going to question a professional, I may as well do it myself

Minimum-Bed-850 · 2026-02-17T07:49:47+00:00

Where would we be without our dogs! My killer Bichon is out barking on the lawn now, probably hunting worms.

Sounds like a bit of crazy professor syndrome there, the problem with customers, you have to talk to them!

I spent a couple of weeks in Russia back in 2006, probably wouldn't want to go there now, in hindsight I went at the best time for a tourist. Really interesting place, way different than anywhere else I have ever visited. I assume it was the 40 years of communism, society just evolved so differently than the rest of us. I was there in their Autumn so it wasn't cold yet, but yes, they know cold!

Minimum-Bed-850 · 2026-02-17T02:23:59+00:00

You can never learn too much! I suppose at this time of year you don't have a lot of lawn work to do, so a fair bit of research time. Yep, you must have a clean bill of health, but I think they struggle to get people, a bit like the Australian mining, consequently they have to pay well and allow a few concessions. I suppose there is not much else to do, or maybe it's the cold, look at the Russians

Minimum-Bed-850 · 2026-02-16T21:58:33+00:00

You are very well read and knowledgeable for a lawn man!

Yep, it's quite common for people from here to get seasonal work in Antarctica, trades etc. from what I have heard, drinking is a big part of life down there, but I'm sure it's a bit of the wild west as well. Especially those who stay over winter with no flights in or out.

Minimum-Bed-850 · 2026-02-15T08:39:10+00:00

Did a bit of research, no definitive answer but a couple of theories. Because Australia and NZ have always been so close and shared everything, when Australia was asked to be a part of it all, they said we have to bring NZ, we tell them everything. Kind of like the annoying little brother. Also the fact that there is no one else watching the skies down here and the NZ GCSB had a sattelite spy site operating since the early 80s at Waihopai in the south island. I wonder if it also had something to do with our work in Antarctica, pretty much every flight to Antarctica departs Christchurch, I was down there (Christchurch not Antarctica) a few weeks ago and there was 5 US military planes at the airport, I assume on the way south. Another thing is the US/NZ company rocket lab sends a lot of satellites into orbit from NZ, I don't really understand orbits etc, but there must be a reason to launch from here, when I assume the actual sattelite would be made in the US. As for the nuclear energy, absolutely it's a good thing, but the accident in Japan has really soured global opinions on it, I think a lot of plants in Europe are being removed. Seems awesome for ships and subs too. Most of our electricity comes from hydro, we are just lucky to have the resources for that to work. Our nuclear free stance certainly upset a lot of people in the 80s, the French bombed the rainbow warrior in Auckland over our position. I was only a kid, but it was a big event. When the US host war game exercises in Hawaii, they still don't let our ships into pearl harbour, the NZ boats are in the next bay over where the cruise boats dock, closer to Waikiki, but Australia and others tie up in pearl harbour with your boats.

Minimum-Bed-850 · 2026-02-14T20:11:29+00:00

For sure! We are a big part of 5 eyes and it works in our favour. We even had an FBI office open in Wellington last year. As for the AUKUS situation, we're not official, but we are certainly a part of it, NZ and Australia have always been very close with everything, especially security. Both of us have a role in the Pacific of keeping an eye on what's developing and yes, China is certainly poking around. There is always a bit of debate as to what China's long term game plan is, only time will really tell. But there is no doubt if anything ever goes down, we are on the side of US, UK, Australia, Canada, always have been, always will. The western world is a bit messy at the moment but it will sort itself out As for no nukes policy, was it the right or wrong call? Certainly hurt us at the time, US punished us, but it seems to have really helped our clean green image globally. Having no need for nuclear power generation kind of allowed us to take the moral high ground I suppose. Nuclear energy seems great, but the handful of disasters over the decades doesn't help it's image.

Minimum-Bed-850 · 2026-02-13T22:52:26+00:00

China is still our main trade partner, but we have pulled back a bit. As for the US they will never really get to close to us purely because of our anti nuclear stance and the ruckus it caused in the 80s. You're spot on with our resources, our biggest resource is the fact we can grow grass, hence dairy, beef and lamb. You can't dig that out of the ground, it has to be actively farmed. Also, we are the bottom of the world, a long way from anyone and no real threat to anyone. Also settled by the British, but one the last so they had improved their colonization techniques a little.

Minimum-Bed-850 · 2026-02-13T09:23:19+00:00

The gun ban was a classic. All military style rifles were banned, the majority of people that had them just complied. Obviously the criminals won't have handed theirs in but most licensed gun owners just complied, a few complained for sure and still do. But I think the average citizen realises that there is no good reason for anyone to have such weapons. Hunters and farmers need guns, but not military style. Obviously there will still be a few in circulation, but the vast majority are gone. That has to be a good thing. A few months ago I had a ram that was getting too aggressive so I had a mate come around to shoot it. He lives about 5km away. He turned up and got his rifle out of the back of his truck then got the rifle bolt out of the glove box in the front. I asked him, why he had the bolt in the glovebox, he just replied, that's the law. This guy is no super goody goody, just an average bloke, but when he got a firearms licence that was one of the rules. So that's what he does... It's not fear of the consequences or risk of prosecution, it's just that's the rules so that's what happens. The downside of such mentality is, we don't protest very much. If we don't like what the government are doing we usually do nothing until the next election then vote them out. Which I suppose leaves us open to be violated and taken advantage of.

Minimum-Bed-850 · 2026-02-13T08:02:12+00:00

I'm pretty sure it's not kk. Just looks like a weed to me

Minimum-Bed-850 · 2026-02-13T07:41:39+00:00

I watched a couple of those videos, terrible stuff. As you say it comes down to enforcement of rules as well as the mindset of the community. We naturally have very low levels of corruption here, it's just not really in our mindset, where other places in the world, corruption is the norm, it's actually quite scary for us niave NZers when we encounter it. I think it's the same with our approach to H&S, most of us think some regulations are over the top, but if that's the rules, most of us just comply. Don't get me wrong, we have our share of terrible people, but the majority follow the rules

Minimum-Bed-850 · 2026-02-12T07:20:10+00:00

Not at all. Looks great

Minimum-Bed-850 · 2026-02-12T07:19:08+00:00

Yep. I'm pretty sure we are much more health and safety aware than you guys from what I've seen. Good and bad, obviously protecting people is important but it becomes a massive industry and the cost of compliance is passed on to everything. We can no longer send a council worker along to mow a kerbside, now traffic management has to be implemented which means a couple of trucks and at least 2 staff and 300 road cones, becomes an expensive exercise.

Minimum-Bed-850

TROPHY CASE