Danseys Pass Road

To avoid doing house/garden work we went for a drive down Danseys Pass Road which runs between SH83 (just before Duntroon) and SH85 (Naseby) in North Otago, about a 700km round trip from Christchurch. We did take the tent as there are two campgrounds on the road - one about 15km from S83 and the other at Naseby. Both are reported to be quite nice however the Danseys Pass campsite lead to one of the "was that it", "whoops, must have blinked" moments when going past. I think it would be easier to sight coming from the Naseby end. We were irritated by Naseby (stupid small town NZ shops being closed despite claiming to be open etc, no wonder they go out of business) so we didn't even drive past the Naseby camp although it is reported to be quite a nice option. Of the two, I'd probably pick Naseby or simply keep driving!

The road? Sealed for about 14km from Duntroon then a well-graded gravel road. During the warmer months, the road would be easily manageable in 2WD although some of the climbs were rutted and with snow/ice could be problematic without 4WD. Most of the ruts were on the Naseby side, oddly enough after the Danseys Pass summit! The road peaks at about 900m.

The scenery is a pleasant mix of North Otago tussock and rock with an "on top of the world" feeling due to the rolling hills within view. The road did leave us a bit cold which I think was due to there being no snow and the path generally feeling a bit functional. Still, a nice drive. Lots of people stop at the Danseys Pass pub for a drink which is about 15km out of Naseby.

Overall, a pleasant drive although I think it would be more fun in late autumn. Some of the climbs/winding areas are quite blind and could be a little more challenging with some good ol' fashioned Otago snow! A pretty easy starting drive for new 4wd'ers.

Some piccies...


Danseys Pass Road


Maerewhenua River


Mind the edge!


Kyeburn Cemetery




Tell better stories...



Naseby side

The Rose

WTF ?

Everyone else is blogging about it so here we go....
Seriously, what the fuck happened here. Three deluded idiots take a set of bolt cutters, break into a property they have no reasonable excuse to be on (armed with sickles I might add) and proceeded to do $800K worth of damage to a taxpayer funded facility. Now I will admit that I wasn’t in the courtroom or anywhere near the trio when the event took place but that sounds like a fairly cut and dried example of burglary and wilful damage to me. I cannot believe that they have been found not guilty. Even if they do think they are acting in the greater good I am sure you could find one person who didn’t get bombed on their way to work for each one that has been killed because of the info gleaned off the satellites. All the fools did was expose to people in the know exactly which satellite the damned thing was tracking at the time. I am just itching to see the cases roll in with other complete retards using the same drivel in the defence of their smoking/drinking session that went bad. If it actually works I think I will start killing the irrecoverably stupid members of society (they are fairly easy to spot) because it is for the greater good. I can already think who the first 15 on the list should be....
The Dragon

Nappy brain rant

I have resisted bitching about this for so long however today is the day. WTF is with nappy brains?

Honestly, parents of young children are the most obnoxious people on the planet. I can understand the "instinct" to care and nurture your child - fine. Does this mean that you have to completely ignore the world around you and cease to be a functioning member of society?

I am sick to death of parents of young children making life completely impossible for those of us smart enough to use birth control. Honestly, forgetting to use a condom and thinking that it was smart to knock up your partner is ridiculous.

Here's some examples:
1) Nappy brain mother in a car. They have no interest in paying attention to the road as their child is the pinnacle of existence. Road rules? They are for other people. Can't you see I've shoved a pumpkin out of my fanny? I choose to cut you off whilst staring lovingly at my child in the back when I'm supposed to be driving.
2) Nappy brain parents in the mall - We choose to walk in front of moving traffic because we have a pram. This means you will stop for me as I have spawned. We will walk in front of you with this pram. We will get in the way. We will cut you off. We will be a pain in the arse. We will snarl at you if you comment.
3) Nappy brain parents and screaming child - we will coo adoring at our screaming brat who is ruining life for all others. Never mind that we're in a public place/restaurant/library. It's cute for our spawn to scream, everyone loves it.
4) Nappy brain parental beliefs - everyone wants to see/hear/talk to our child. They are the best thing since sliced bread. Hell, sliced bread was invented to make my child happy. We will put our child on the phone, we will encourage our child to answer the phone, we will smile adoringly when the child irritates the hell out of the other person on the phone.
5) Nappy brain parents and conversation - why can parents only speak about their children? I don't care that their brat has just had a poo/shat the alphabet/urinated their name into the carpet. I wanted to talk to the parent about their life. Whoops, how could I forget? They're a parent. They no longer have a life.
6) Nappy brain on parental leave - so you had a child. Your choice. Your mistake. Don't come bitching to me to agree that your 12 months off work means that your pay should be the same as mine. Don't tell me you should get tax "credits" for breeding. Try to contribute rather than rip off those who are paying for your sperm mistakes.

Seriously, try to remember that you were a person before you were a parent. FFS, grow a pair.

The Rose

Movies

Sat down last night to watch some cheap trash picked up in the bargain bins.

No real surprises then - I, Robot (Will Smith). Simply, I wouldn't. Lame dialogue, slow action, Will Smith swaggering around trying to look mean. CGI was OK. Seemed like a mismash of Johnny Mnemonic, Matrix, Minority Report and Sixth Day. Which isn't a good thing.

If you're desperate, rainy Saturday/Sunday movie if you have nothing better to do e.g. mowing the lawn, watching paint dry. At best, 5/10.

The Rose

Keeping the girls safe

Time to break the radio silence. I'm making a plug for the Sports Support website - as the title says, those bad boys are going nowhere in an Enell bra. Actually worth the money!

Love without the jiggly bits
The Rose