New Zealand travels

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Bob Gleason

New Zealand travels

Post by Bob Gleason » Tue Nov 03, 2009 2:41 pm

My wife and I will be traveling on the South Island for 3-4 weeks in January-Feb. 2010. Just wondering if there are any stringed instrument makers there. We like to visit makers who are open to it when we travel. Any kind of stringed instruments. All luthiers, at any skill level, are interesting to us. I live on an island too, and it's great to see how things are done elsewhere. I've made a number of kinds of stringed instruments over the last nearly 40 years, and repaired almost everything imaginable. We won't stay long and mess up your workday, just a visit. You can e-mail me at pegasusguitars@hawaiiantel.net, or post here.- Thanks, Bob/Pegasus Guitars & Ukuleles/Hawaii

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Post by kiwigeo » Tue Nov 03, 2009 6:14 pm

Nick O and Graham Wardrop are in Christchurch....theyre both ANZLF members.

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Post by Nick » Wed Nov 04, 2009 10:29 am

Hi Bob, I'm afraid my workshop doesn't fit with the usual "luthier's workshop" image as I do all my builds in the woodshop at the University where I work & as such, most of my jigs, molds e.t.c get hidden away so that it resembles a departmental wood shop by day :wink:
As Martin pointed out Graham Wardrop is another Christchurch member here (but I haven't seen him posting for some time) and is an extremely meticulous/excellent builder as well as world class player (he was invited to play at the Chet Atkins festival last year I believe).
http://www.grahamwardrop.com/ is his website, you could try contacting him through it? On it he also makes mention of Peter Stephen who is a professional luthier here in Christchurch, his work is top grade stuff but he can be a little 'prickly' at times so an email enquiry may go unanswered. But if you get the green light from him he is well worth a visit as he likes to build using only native New Zealand timbers where ever he can.
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Bob Gleason

Post by Bob Gleason » Wed Nov 04, 2009 2:35 pm

Thanks for the replies. By the way, there is no "usual luthier's workshop". I've seen evrything from closets in a bedroom to plastic tarps outside in the rain. Everything has it's place. It's always interesting to see how builder's cope. Hopefully I'll get to meet some of you. Thanks for the tips so far. -Bob

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Post by kiwigeo » Wed Nov 04, 2009 8:39 pm

Include Adelaide Australia on your itinerary next trip Bob and youre welcome to visit my humble shop.

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Post by Allen » Wed Nov 04, 2009 9:43 pm

If you are swinging past Cairns, Q;d. your more than welcome to get the shop tour as well.
Allen R. McFarlen
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Bob Gleason

Post by Bob Gleason » Thu Nov 05, 2009 8:39 am

I'm afraid Australia will have to be on another trip. Hopefully we will be able to do that in the future. Thanks for the offers.-Bob

Paul B

Post by Paul B » Thu Nov 05, 2009 11:40 am

My wife and I honeymooned on a driving holiday through NZ. One week on the north island, one week on the south.

Just be aware that our ATM cards did not work through EFTPOS machines at all. They'd work through ATMs but not at point of sale. That got us into all sorts of trouble as there aren't that many ATMs on the west coast of the south island. Thankfully Kiwis are a great bunch and helped us smooth things over. This was ten years ago (our anniversary was last week) so things might have changed since then.

We pulled into a service station at about 8PM, we were hoping to make it to the next town before finding a place to stay. So we tried to refuel the car at a servo that was closed, they had ETPOS swiper thingys at the pump for after hours use, but they didn't work with our cards and we were stranded as there wasn't one ATM for nearly 100 miles. So we find a motel across the road and decide to bunk there for the night. We pointed out to the guy behind the counter that we were having problems accessing our money "that's the day shifts problem, heres you key" says he. So we stayed overnight then went to pay, and of course our cards wouldn't work. They said "just go onto the next town and post us our money", we said "we don't have enough fuel for the car, or any money to pay for it". So the bloke hands us twenty bucks and says "buy some fuel and just send this back with the money for the room".

So we got to the next town and first stop was the bank and then the post office. You can make all the jokes you like about Kiwis, but if we'd tried that shit in oz, the cops would have been called.

So, my point is to carry an emergency fund with you, don't just expect that things will be cool 'cause you got lots of plastic. South island of NZ (west coast anyway) is the boonies, but the people are great and will help you if you get into trouble.

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Post by Nick » Thu Nov 05, 2009 1:05 pm

Paul B wrote: South island of NZ (west coast anyway) is the boonies, but the people are great and will help you if you get into trouble.
That's why I affectionately refer to the West Coast as the land that time forgot Paul (I'm going over next week for a few days to visit ex outlaws). Not only do you expect to see a Dinosaur walk out of the dense bush but the people on the West Coast are a different breed also (getting dressed up to them is a cleaner singlet and hosing the cow shit off their gumboots!) but salt of the earth people, unfortunately too much crime has hardened us East Coasters up and 'de niceefied' us, while we can still be helpful and friendly, a small amount of synicism has crept into the mix. Still alot better than them North Islanders tho! :lol:
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Bob Gleason

Post by Bob Gleason » Thu Nov 05, 2009 2:27 pm

Paul, We had a similar problem with our "plastic" on a trip to Spain a few years ago. Nobody there offered us $ or much help. New Zealand gets very high marks from anyone who has traveled there and that's part of the reason we are choosing it. Looking forward to a New Zealand adventure.-Bob

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Post by kiwigeo » Thu Nov 05, 2009 4:15 pm

Got an strange look from a chick at a cafe today when I handed her an Aussie $5 note.

The $1 and $2 coins here are driving me nuts.....the stupid kiwis have applied some logic and made the $2 coin bigger than the $1 coin.

Overnighted in Auckland on monday...and got reminded why Ive never liked the place. Huge heartless city and the weather sucks.

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Post by kiwigeo » Thu Nov 05, 2009 4:18 pm

Paul B wrote:
Just be aware that our ATM cards did not work through EFTPOS machines at all. They'd work through ATMs but not at point of sale.
Pretty much a standard thing Paul. My ANZ card works in ATMs in most countries I've visited (even Dili, East Timor and Port of Spain Trinidad) but point of sale never works.

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Post by Nick » Thu Nov 05, 2009 6:04 pm

kiwigeo wrote:The $1 and $2 coins here are driving me nuts.....the stupid kiwis have applied some logic and made the $2 coin bigger than the $1 coin.
Whats wrong with logic? :lol: Had the opposite problem when I visited Oz last, kept handing over $1 coins for something that was $1.50 and getting weird looks 'cos to me they were the same size as our $2 so that's what I thought I was presenting the nice lady behind the counter!
kiwigeo wrote:Overnighted in Auckland on monday...and got reminded why Ive never liked the place. Huge heartless city and the weather sucks.

Rains 5 days out of 7, I'd hate to build guitars up there with the humidity an' all. Another disliker of Auckland, takes so damn long to get anywhere in the city. Got a Christchurch friend who's in the NZ Navy band & he avoids going any further south than the Devonport base if he can at all help it.
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Post by Paul B » Thu Nov 05, 2009 6:22 pm

You fellas should come check out Sydney, sounds like Auckland with bells on.

Had a look in a real estate agent's window somewhere on the west coast of the south island when we were there (couple hours north of Greymouth? somewhere...). Cheap houses in one of the most beautiful places on the earth. What a shame there weren't any jobs there, or that's where I'd be living right now.

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Post by Nick » Thu Nov 05, 2009 6:32 pm

Paul B wrote:You fellas should come check out Sydney, sounds like Auckland with bells on.
Been to Sydney, liked it for someplace different but yeah the traffic was a killer... I'm a quiet life kinda guy :wink:
Paul B wrote:Had a look in a real estate agent's window somewhere on the west coast of the south island when we were there (couple hours north of Greymouth? somewhere...). Cheap houses in one of the most beautiful places on the earth. What a shame there weren't any jobs there, or that's where I'd be living right now.
2 hours north of Greymouth would be Westport, my ex outlaws are another half hour north of there, my brother in law bought a 3 bedroomed house (it was on the old side, weatherboards e.t.c but liveable) about the same time you would have been there (10 years ago?) for NZ$ 20,000 but yeah, unless you worked in the opencast coal mines up there, there was and still is hardly any work.
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Post by kiwigeo » Thu Nov 05, 2009 6:33 pm

It's Bldi Guy Fawkes night here in Christchurch. I doubt they celebrate it much back in the UK where it started but here everyone goes crazy for one night trying to keep the fire service as busy as possible. My Hotel is by Sumner beach so Im watching a bunch of idiots letting off fireworks on the beach..... right next to huge garden full of tussock and flax. Shouldnt take long for that lot to go up in flames....

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Post by seeaxe » Thu Nov 05, 2009 6:35 pm

Jeez!!!

Aussie plastic cards dont work, the weather sucks, were all cold and heartless, its too humid to build guitars.......................

Don't listen them Bob, they are all just jealous of us JAFAs.

Have a really good holiday - bring your golf clubs!

Cheers
Richard

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Post by Nick » Thu Nov 05, 2009 6:49 pm

/\ Bloody JAFA :lol: But if you like golf Bob, you're gonna Love NZ but make sure your clubs are spotless! If there's one thing we hate more than Aucklanders :lol: its bugs and diseases piggy backing in with tourists. Oh and Bob, make sure you declare any food stuffs you bring in with you, considered one step worse than murderers by border patrol! :wink:

Martin, at least they'll only set things close to them alight (themselves hopefully)! when they banned skyrockets the fire service's call outs halved :roll: Jeez I can hear the display they're letting off at Brighton Pier from me house! reckon they must of got half of China's gunpowder supplies going off.
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Bob Gleason

Post by Bob Gleason » Fri Nov 06, 2009 10:32 am

No golf for me. I'm a tennis player. One of my friends, who makes clubs and has been playing for 60 years, advised me some years ago to never pick up a club. Says he wasted way too much of his life on the course. He's still doing it, and still gives the same advice. It's an adiction I believe. The weather there sounds great. We like wet places. Had a great time in Ireland and never took our raincoats off. Here, my shop has to be dehumidified 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Just a fact of life in a wet place. Thanks again for all the interesting comments.

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Post by Nick » Fri Nov 06, 2009 1:14 pm

Bob G. wrote: It's an adiction I believe.
Almost as bad as cocaine and building guitars! :wink:
Bob G. wrote:The weather there sounds great. We like wet places. Had a great time in Ireland and never took our raincoats off.
:shock: Image You like rain?? You'll fit right in at Milford sounds then, very humid when it's not raining. Make sure you get hold of some insect repellent if your trip involves this gorgeous part of the country though. Not sure if you have them in Hawaii but Milford Sounds has an small fly called a Sandfly that swarm in large large numbers and love the taste of fresh skin! :evil:. They are spread throughout the south, mostly near beaches (or sand funnily enough) but nowhere near the numbers of Milford, if enough latch onto you I'm sure they could carry you off and once they've bitten you it itches like buggery for days.....Nasty little beasties.
Here's a sneak look at Mitre Peak, just one of the scenes in the Milford Sounds, taken on an unusual day in this part of the island.......hardly any white clouds or black (swarming sandfly) clouds in the sky! :)
Image
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Post by kiwigeo » Fri Nov 06, 2009 4:46 pm

Nick thats the second time youve posted that bldi photo upside down!!!

Bob Gleason

Post by Bob Gleason » Sat Nov 07, 2009 8:45 am

Looks like the replies have dwindled, so I guess there are not many builders on the South island. I expected that. So, on to other important stuff. What kind of beer might we find on tap that's worth trying when we are escaping the rain? We like the darker, thicker, kinds.

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Post by Nick » Sat Nov 07, 2009 2:40 pm

Sorry Martin :oops:

I'm sorry to say Bob that most of the mass produced 'tap' beers are bloody aweful!! However, and thankfully there is a growth of smaller breweries that are brewing rather tasty beers. Epic is an Auckland brewed beer (sold nationally in a few supermarkets not on tap unfortunately) and he makes some very nice brews (a bit expensive but well worth a taste) The Armageddon IPA being my favourite. Monteiths used to do a nice dark beer until one of the big companies bought it and shifted the damn brewery from the West Coast of the South Island up to the North Island! :evil: must be the water or something but it just aint the same. Stay well away from TUI (a draught beer)unless you run out of clean water to wash your hair in...to me it's crap. There are lots of small breweries in Christchurch here, Three Boys do a nice stout.A friend of mine is the brewer at a pub/bar called the Twisted Hop and he does a dark beer called 'Twisted Ankle' which is not to bad, personally I prefer the seasonal brews (usually an IPA or an American style Pale Ale) & he occasionally does a really nice stout called "knockabollockov" supposedly based on a Russian stout! (not sure Russians drink dark beers but that's his excuse and he's sticking too it!) but at 8.5% ABV you wouldn't want too many pints of that! The Dux de Lux is another brew pub who have won a few awards for their beers in years gone by. There's another brewery north of Christchurch at a place called Amberley & it's called the Brew Moon, their dark stout is very nice and is also available,bottled, from local Supermarkets. Another company based in Nelson called Renaissance do a number of fine ales (quite a few dark beers), not sure if they have a brew pub in Nelson but again their beers are all in the supermarkets in bottles. Another Nelson brewery is Mac's and is a tap beer plus available in bottles, they aren't too bad.
There are also a number of small breweries down south (Dunedin and Invercargill) who's names I can't recall at the moment but who brew award winning beers. Speights do a dark beer called 'old dark' that I'm not a fan of as it's mass produced but you may wish to try it although I wouldn't say it fits into the "thicker" category in your question.
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Post by kiwigeo » Sat Nov 07, 2009 3:16 pm

Drinking a Monteiths Radler right now. Been out melting the credit card shopping for the boss all morning....

I did manage to score some scalpels and blades at an art supply place in the city though...will be perfect for doing the rosette on the lute.

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Post by Nick » Sat Nov 07, 2009 3:18 pm

Just don't take them back as carry on luggage!

The Radler is a nice tasty beer...good choice! :wink:
"Jesus Loves You."
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