A Makeover for The City of Sails

The forefathers of Auckland City should be hung out to dry in my opinion as no thought has been given to town planning, transport and future growth. Any tourist visiting the city is disappointed with the lack of waterfront parks and facilities, instead they are faced with concrete tanks, container terminals and private apartment blocks (some of the leaky kind).

What we need, without delay, is another harbour crossing in the form of a tunnel. The expense is always going to be great but it will always be cheaper today than tomorrow. The only problem is we have four mayors who can never decide and when given to the public to vote on, a stalemate occurs.

We have to face facts, Auckland is not a train city and never will be. We drive cars!!! We will not give up our comfort and why shoud we? Most people who drive do not work in the CBD but way beyond and taking a bus or ferry beyond the CBD is not an option if you want to get to work that day. So I wish the greenies would get off their bikes and accept the fact - more roads, another harbour crossing, bus lanes (if you absolutely must) .

Auckland is very much a harbour city and more ferries (not old leaky clangers that are in service at the moment) that are comfortable and passenger friendly should be put in service covering more of the city's coastline.

Hopefully Auckland will vote a little more wisely at the next mayoral/council elections. We need a forward thinker who will take risks but has the future of Auckland as a beautiful go-ahead harbour city in its sights.

Dressing by Numbers

Here is an online alternative to Trinny and Susannah. Truly is the creation of New Zealander, Sharlene Camp, a former model and fashionista. All that is required is a few profiling questions which are done in a fun and upbeat way and you will be given options of what designs, shape and colour suit you best. The list of designers is small at present but no doubt will grow in time. This could take some of the guesswork out for those who don't have time to shop (God forbid) or are unsure of what suits them - saves the cost of a stylist - YAY!! You have to be honest in how you answer the questions though otherwise you are only cheating yourself - but for a bit of fun you could try something wild and see what you come up with.

Going Fishin...

Time to head out of the city for a few days - this time to one of the most beautiful lakes in the world (and not just in my opinion). This lake has the most spectacular sunrises and sunsets, bush and mountain views. Best of all there is hardly anyone around - the lake feels crowded when there are 10 boats fishing and it's huge. So my criteria was simple:

1. Cosy, comfortable house (on the water's edge);


2. Log fire (chopped wood by cute woodcutter essential);


3. Private jetty - the water is cold but you never know...;


4. Lots of water toys - to go to No. 5 with;


5. Great coffee and fab food within 10 minutes of full throttle.

If You've Got IT Flaunt It

I have been observing over the last few weeks how it is that those who are good looking really do get the job. Assuming all candidates have been put forward with similar experience/qualifications, male employees will nearly always choose the tall, blonde over the plain jane. It's human nature really and no PC human rights legislation can do anything about it. An acquaintance of mine was complaining about just this issue the other day when she was interviewed - unfortunately lacking in the looks department, she wasn't snapped up immediately and even more unfortunate for her, the employer was a male. She didn't really get what was happening as she was well qualified for the position but I wasn't going to be the one to tell her the reality.

But it's not all bad news for the non-lookers - absolutely not!!! In NZ our public sector is the fastest growing area and they gravitate there - especially to the Councils where looks are not favoured and bad hair, no dress sense and grungy looks are what matters. If these non-lookers play their cards right, they will move up through the ranks and the sky's the limit - look at our PM - perfect example.

Attractive people will always have an edge to their counter-parts - it's a reality that has and always will remain with us and no amount of evolution can change that.

The JailBird

Paris is astute enough to make prison work to her advantage - just watch!! Don't you love the stripes, even a zebra can't wear them as well.

Bubbles on Board

I generally dislike public transport - sharing everyone's hacking cough and sniffles - grrrrrr!!! So I really have to bite my tongue severely on the early morning rides as all the workers silently line up to get on board - kind of like loading up a cattle/sheep truck for the freezing works.

Anyway, to make travel a little more fun, my good buddy who shares the same sense of humour and admiration for good taste and style has come back - YAY!!! But I need to find her a man - not any man but one who:

1. Doesn't have too much baggage (or at least can lock it up in a trunk and throw away the key);
2. Is tall (i.e. over 5ft 6 - a big ask I know);
3. Is not a lawyer - this is self explanatory;
4. Has a fantastic sense of humour;
5. FF (firm and financial) definitely not Fat and Flabby!!

So - here's to Friday evening's crossing - we're taking a couple of miniature Lindauer bottles to celebrate, well anything really - do you need an excuse?

Let Them Eat Cake!!

Once again the Government is interfering in our lives and has banned popular "unhealthy" canteen food from school tuck shops. Their reasoning - our kids are getting fatter!!! This is completely the wrong way of going about it - they are taking away even more social responsibility from parents. Once again, they are getting schools to educate children (albeit by force) on something which should be done by parents at home.

Does Sue Kedgley et al really think that banning unhealthy food from school canteens will make kids eat better - NO WAY - you have to board up the fast food chains, the bakeries and the dairies to stop them!!! Besides - I haven't seen that many fat kids - their parents on the other hand are a different matter. That says it all really.

New Zealand should stop being such a nanny state and encourage social responsibility - which I know goes against the grain of the Socialist, lefty brigade because they are growing their future voters. But it will be interesting to see which schools tell the government to naff off and leave them to educating children which is their primary responsibility NOT parenting!!!