kiwi303

firefox here. the only use IE gets is downloading FF.

I'm subscribed! I tend to dive into projects and then get distracted, I still have a partly completed mould for a cast RB rear sump pan sitting on the shelf in the garage where it go put in 2011 prior to my disappearing off to China for 13 months... Kudos on sticking with this head and keeping it rolling! Can't wait to see the vids of the car on the track running this head. I have a lotto ticket in tonights draw... Tell you what... If I win the first division I'll send you $20K NZD from the winnings to finish up the head. If I don't win, Nada, so send me good luck vibes! Mind you, at odds of over 3,500,000:1, it would need to be a LOT of good luck vibes.

well, here most cars don't have V8's, and what do have V8's have no towball. Cars are on the whole, just that much smaller, I towed my 280ZX home from Christchurch to the farm using a 2 litre Hilux, I've towed another car I owned in the past with a 1.8 litre mitsubishi. Just a cultural difference, where you have huge big 6.2L V8 diesels in a F150 et al, we'll do the same job with a 3L 4-banger in a smaller vehicle. It might take longer and it might mean more loads, But when we AREN"T towing, fuel consumption is lower. Not a small consideration when petrol is over $2 a litre, or somthing like $8 a US gallon. So the tax isn't so much axles, as fuel consumption.

The same reason one of your "Pickups" parked next to one of our "Utes" invites a David vs Goliath meme... Never saw this back in March.

Makes for cheap ciggies tho... was smoking 80c packs in Chongqing and Fenghua, exited to HK and saw them at $9 and quit.

Well, with no many people there, what's a few less survivors...

Sounds a brown pants moment. Glad you got out with no more than a few aches from the harness et al doing it's job.

Prune juice is what you need Tony, or maybe a dodgy street vendor dessert. Travellers Trots is almost as effective a laxative as choco-lax tabs in the icing of a planted muffin!

Zorbing in Rotorua... do you know sheep? Agrodome has around 15 different varieties on display, and sheep being stupid, have smart dogs to chase them around

That could be reason for another trip another time

If you have a nice car, do stop at Taupo or Hampton Downs if they have a track day running

XR6 > S-Sport. SS > Boss. If you want V8, go the Holden, if you want 6, go the Ford.

48 hours, 200 beers, 2 guys... thats only 50 beers per man per day! easy to drink if you're drinking all day, it would just keep a buzz on.

mystery part with no pictures is mysterious... or is it just my browser not loading it?

for 2 weeks, sticking to one island is probably best. And if you're going Auck to Auck rather than Auck to Chch you have more choice in rentals without relocation fees. I believe there is a place in Aucks that rents 350Z's I know there is one with BMW 3 series convertibles, so you don't have to use a boring econobox Hertz and AVIS have XR6 falcons I believe, 4 litre turbo sedans, with handling which while not a great as M5 beemers, is a big improvement on a Crown Victoria or similar sized US car, so you can have fun AND carry a tent or camping gear in the boot.

Just so long as you book early! the tracks are deliberately limited in the numbers of people permitted to stay at the huts and camping is discouraged to keep the place unspoilt. that means the tracks get booked up quickly as they are well known. If the track is booked out on the days you want, drive in and take the sounds cruise instead. If you have drysuits, they SCUBA the sound too, see black coral

If you want suggestions about stuff that comes up on google or online guide books, I'll be happy to lend a locals perspective I've been over most of NZ myself, it's small enough to do that, unlike the US which is so big you can't really see all of it.

Outdoorsy, HOW outdoorsy? do you want a day trip along a nice graded and gravelled path or a 3 day scrabble through swamps? There are several farm walks where you take the scenic route with a day pack around the bays and coves while the farmers wife runs your packs and a hamper of food to the overnight cottage, and the next morning after you leave for the second days scenic stroll will collect the packs and remains and take them back to your car at the farm house. A good middle between a multi-day hike and a pampered days stroll. Banks Peninsula is good for that, plus you'd have a nice drive over the port hills to the farm. Cars, google Horopito Motors... a pick a part cum car horde solely for the 60's and earlier! SCUBA, I loved the BoI trips, Poor Knights Islands are a must see, and the HMNZS Waikato or the SS Rainbow Warrier are worth a day. One suggestion for the first 3 days of the north island if you are flying into Auckland would be from the airport, drive to Tutukaka for the night, day one take the boat to the Poor Knights or the Waikato/Tui, day two drive up and see Northland and Cape Reinga, tour around and spend the night in kerikeri, day 3 out to see the HMNZS Canturbury or the Rainbow warrior if you went to the Poor Knights or Cathedral Cove if you went to the Canterbury/Tui and head back down to Auckland after landing. In Auckland is the War Memorial Museum, you can get an idea of how NZ as a country was shaped by joining the motherland in the wars and how the Gallipoli campaign and the experiences with the Japanese overrunning Asia while England was busy in Europe caused our independence. South of Auckland, Don't miss Hells Gate in Rotorua or the Waitomo Caves. Driving down SH1 you will pass the closest thing NZ has to a desert, and anyone who has seen the Sahara or the Nevada will laugh! South Island, with the ferry done, I would head to nelson via the SH6 Marlborough route, don't take SH63 and head direct fr Westport, it' Boring with capital B. Nelson is a hippy, arty sort of region full of wineries and orchards. Plenty to see and do but ic changes seasonally and yearly as places run by the seasons and artsy types move and open and close small galleries and shops. Followed by west coast and down through Haast pass, over to Wanaka/queenstown. Great roads around there, check out a small sports car from a local exotic rentals fleet and daytrip around the hill roads! then head up to Christchurch via SH8 and Timaru. Nice architecture in Timaru if that's your thing. You can fly out of Chch. The only reason to take SH1 from Picton to Chch is to go whale watching out of Kaikoura, and personally I'd rather do the west coast.

Once your kids are grown and gone, you'll be that grey old guy hiding in the shed with a grandkid handing him spanners as he tries to explain carbs to a 3D-VR raised computer nerd used to electrics and fuel cells!

Sounds like Austraila, nice place for a holiday, but unfortunatly rather full of bloody Aussies As to Europe, wasn't it a frenchie who basicly de-did about 80% of his car after rust ate it?

One would Hope your wife loves you... Why the hell else would she want to marry you?

tip the stripped block upside down and flush it all out the deck to head passages.

If you want 4wd, find a 4wd Serena van with SR20.

Truckies in the mine running the big CAT and Komatsu 300 ton dumpies get upwards of $70 an hour. I'd need 4 years truck experience and a MOXY ticket for that first tho... something to work towards however.

Wish I was a mechanical engineer, I'd enjoy Tony D's lifestyle. As it is, I'm back at school, over a year of no job in th ebusiness world, so re-training in a low-labour-supply, High-employer-demand career... Truck driving.