Dominion Post - Inter Island Ferry Strategy

Posted 9th February 2014 to the Dominion Post Wellington NZ

The Problems with the cook Straight Ferry Aratere could have been overcome if Our Government thought sideways about our Defence force...
What our Navy needs most in this day and age is a Roll on Roll off Supply Ship, For the Defence Force, for Disaster Relief but most important for Back up to keep the Sea link open between Our two Main Islands in case of  Commercial Maritime failure, not to mention a Quick Response Vessel in case of Failure of any of the Hundreds of Visiting Ships to our waters in the course of a Year. Such a ship would be a Great insurance Policy for a country such as ours .

Christchurch Press - Kingston Flyer 2014

Posted 8th February 2013 to the Christchurch Press Canterbury NZ

It’s a darn shame New Zealand’s premier Vintage Steam Train is parked up for yet another Season in the town of Kingston
If Pegasus / Monorail Developer Bob Robertson had only dedicated himself to a Venture Recycling the 1870s and 1930s Flyers instead of knocking up a
Rebooted 1960s Monorail to make a new attraction between Queenstown and Te Anau it would be a great use of Heritage and Scenery.
Sadly Kingston is no longer the best place for such Classic Train and The Wilds of Western Otago are no place for a Urban Monorail System.
The Minister of Tourism knows this and should step in and fix the matter or we will all look silly and there will be angry Voters for no reason.
Our Heritage has taken a Huge Beating with Earthquakes, the State should be more pro-active with preserving it ESPECIALY for Tourism.

Mountain Scene - Edwardian Tourism Reboot ?

Posted 8th February 2014 to the Mountain Scene Newspaper Queenstown

Back in the days of the Clark Government Queenstown and Glenorchy and Queenstown where visited by agents from the Swiss Tourism industry
They looked at what could be done to resurrect the amazing Pre Edwardian era Tourism infrastructure in the Glenorchy Paradise Region, It must have been a mirror of Switzerland When one could take a Paddle steamer up the Lake to a Grand Style Hotel and get guided tours of the then Jura Glacier on Mt Earnslaw.
Whether any business idea where formed about rebooting this era is not known to me but it poses some interesting questions,
Local Politics being one and the “Auckland-ization” of the Wakatipu Area is another, then there is creeping malignant contempt of the past that would no doubt be alien to the Swiss.

All of which is a shame as we lost our South Pacific Switzerland at the top of the Lake half a century ago first with the fire at the Mt Earnslaw Hotel The Scrapping for the PS Mountaineer and eventually the Road Link, which last nail in the proverbial Coffin. What makes it worse is that the New Chinese visitors come here to see how we are and how we use to be, and it’s all burnt out, scrapped and buried. Seems only the Swiss have a working business model for sustained Edwardian era Tourism.

Dominion Post - attn Jane Campion

Posted 3rd of February 2014 to the Domminion Post

I have to say I was fascinated as to why Film Makers where as attracted to the Top of Lake Wakatipu and decided to research the History of the Kinloch Glenorchy Area in the farthest Corner of Otago. I have to say it seems somewhat odd that so much Film and TV footage has been shot there but nobody has bothered telling the colourful lost real stories of this remarkable area long before the first Movie Cameras arrived. It was amazing Jane Campion made her TV series based on a somewhat dark and Twisted version of this settlement, which is also the home of Mainland Cheese adverts, Water Horses, Wolverines, Himalayas Dwarves and Hobbits, but Wellywood never tapped the Horse & steam powered World of Drama and Tragedy as people struggled in abject isolation for a hundred years before the road was pushed threw in 1962 particularly the Community of Kinloch who where the Hosts of the Routeburn Track until 1971 when the Dart River was bridged and the Modern World consigned them to the History books, It is Ironic too how it’s Homesteads inspired Names like Arcadia and Paradise because the area seemed to embody the very heartland of the New Zealand Landscape. Wouldn’t it be nice if a Jane Campion could capture what that essence of Paradise was now that we have kissed it goodbye.

Mount Titiroa - Spiritual Tourism

Posted 3rd February 2014

Though largely unnoticed by he media and the conventional tourist operators
Mount Titiroa near the Township of Manapouri has quietly been gaining a reputation as a
the ultimate Spritual Meditation area in New Zealand.

Every Year devoted Titiroa Pilgrims charter Helicopters to encounter the strange Quartz Landscape
that dominates the Summit region of Fiordland's Lonely Mountain.

In search of rare Earth Energy? You could visit Manapouri the Sedona of the South Pacific!


or contact Solantra King who knows it's secrets.

ODT - Top of the Lake - Kinloch

Posted 1st February 2014 to the Otago Daily Times

I have to say I just read Doreen McKenzie's History of the Kinloch Glenorchy Area in the farthest Corner of Otago. That it seems somewhat odd that
so much Film and TV footage has been shot there but nobody has bothered telling the colourful story of the century before the first Movie Cameras arrived
It was Nice of Jane Campion to make a TV series based on a somewhat dark and Twisted remote settlement which is also the home of Mainland Cheese adverts, Water Horses, Wolverines, Himalayas and Hobbits but there was world of drama and tragedy as people struggled in real Isolation for a hundred years before the road was pushed threw in 1962 particularly the Bryant Family of Kinloch who where the Hosts of the Routeburn Track until 1971 when the Dart River was bridged and the Modern World consigned them to the History books with the help of the Aspiring National Parks Board. Reduced to a Brass plaque where their “Glacier Hotel” Still Stands today as a B&B.

Southland Times - Sugar aint so sweet

Posted 27th January 2014 to the Southland Times

Thank your team for printing the “Sugar Grinch” article from the UK warning us about eating too much refined Sugar.
Unfortunately If you go shopping in New Zealand don’t expect Sugar Free Grocery Items to be available on shelves on a regular basis,
and don’t expect them to be cheap or with useful information on them.

If you get into it, you discover that there are different kinds of sugars and
Every Human body deals with them differently, it seems basic sugars are in everything we eat! Yes that can be a worry and Complicated to deal with
But a good rule of thumb for Healthy People would be to stick to Natural Sugars in Natural proportions, if only the Supermarkets Could supply,
we could have a bit of choice in the matter. This of course is a good argument For Government Cooperative food outlets as part of our National Health Strategy.

So anybody in Politics want to take-on one of the most powerful Industries in the Country? Probably not David Cunliffe by the sounds of it.
Oh yes... Leave the Greens to do all the work, as usual.

PUBLISHED