Certainly looks like the act of moving from one location to another could be just a tad easier this way though, certainly when compared with what goes for “the norm” in a typical terrestrial based abode relocation?
But alas, like all good things….there is another tale to tell about these photos. It seems this “floating home” was part of an exhibition, albeit a river based one stretching many many kms.
This photographer bloke, Christophe Dedieu, has previously taken photos of some interesting things. And me, being a photography passionate person, his efforts didn’t escape me.
The NZ Property Report covering March 2012 was interesting reading last week. One thing it did highlight was that Queenstown / Central Otago Lakes still has NZ’s highest seasonally adjusted asking price for a residential property.
They were closely followed by…..no guesses here….. Auckland.
However sitting back, in so called bronze place was another town in NZ, with way less than even 10% of the population of Auckland, and that part of NZ was, my home.
Yes, the Nelson region it was.
March 2012 - NZ Asking Prices (CREDIT - www.realestate.co.nz)
As the chart above depicts, it sure does re-enforce the popularity of the region, and yet again confirms why this issue of Nelson region property pricing dominates local “headlines”, as depicted here in the media earlier this year?
There is no better place to see and experience that for yourself than down at our “world famous in NZ” beach, Tahunanui. one of New Zealands favourite family beaches,
and not far away from NZ’s and the Southern Hemispheres largest motor camp, the Tahuna Beach holiday camp. Whether it was kids building sandcastles,
or young girlfriends getting some snaps for their future modelling portfolios, everyone was smiling.
Yesterday afternoon, my lovely wife & I decide to go for a stroll.
However whence one noted no parking for 100′s of metres, it turned out I wasn’t the only one that was thinking this way on a glorious, typically sunny Nelson afternoon.
No, it turned out to be us, and about 5 ~ 600 others had exactly the same idea, Good Fridays version of an “Indian Summer” ……
….had everyone out enjoying it. With such a low tide, I just had to see how far you could walk out….
and if you check my Panoramio page here, you’ll see exactly what I mean, a fair distance to put it midly.
So don’t forget, today around 4pm and tomorrow Sunday about 4:45pm, there are very low tides late each afternoon, head on down and experience it for yourself. Even saw some folk swimming, must be from Invercargill I reckon?
No one doubts that there are some real necessities to life, four at last count I think.
1. Air
2. Shelter
3. Water
4. Food
And the usual computations of such…..reproduction (so the species wont die off), heat, love, clothing, companionship, but it would seem the top 4 classify themselves crucially as necessities overall. These are a humans basic needs. Everything else is a luxury.
And as far as number 4 goes, time to supplement this article, & roll out a couple of my “usual” factoids.
( you’ll see the definite “real estate perspective” of this post in its conclusion)
So first up….just spend 60 seconds to watch this…and see if you’re not moved?
Part 1: The Background
Obviously past readers already know, but for the benefit of new readers, I’ll share with you tonight that Nelson just happens to be, not just NZeds, but also the whole of Australasia’s largest fishing port.
New Zealand has one of the largest marine areas in the world, covering more than 1% of the Earth’s surface.
True. That’s not of the oceans land (or should that be sea?) mass, that’s of the whole of Planet Earths surface!
Read more here - http://blog.forestandbird.org.nz/good-fish-bad-fish/
Scientists estimate that more than 80% of New Zealand’s biodiversity is found in our oceans, and much more is still yet to be discovered. About 15,000 marine species are known, while it is estimated that another 50,000 species are yet to be discovered – new species are being found all the time. Say What?
From a Kiwis perspective, our marine environment not only provides for our $1.5 billion fishing industry but it also almost “does everything else” to highlight / assist and mitigate our $20 billion tourism industry too. (Just try to imagine a NZ without marine life!)
Very importantly, it’s central to our day to day way of life, what Fish & Bird term our “national identity”, most New Zealanders live near the ocean(just in case you are curious, Nelsonians live the closest in all of NZ, to the sea!) and have a close relationship with the marine environment.
We collect kaimoana (“kai”) or seafood, swim, dive, snorkel and sail, and are truly appreciative of the bounty & variety of our marine life.
Really there doesn’t have to be any other parts because Part One is so fundamentally important, and dare I say, crucial to the survival of a place like Nelson that if you get the “gist of” Part 1, then you’ve either “got with the program” or not………and frankly nothing at all further needs to be said. Forest & Bird have definitely got with the campaign…going so far in NZ to establish a completely separate website called http://www.bestfishguide.org.nz/, you really should check it out.
....."all aboard"....
Interestingly enough, it turns out that even in the “old dart”, Hugh & co have managed to enlist some impressive “ears listeners to their cause.”
I really do suggest you sign up at #FISHFIGHT (and on Twitter) , I have, and can see absolutely no reason why this petition of followers is sitting on the pity figure of under 1m supporting followers!
There’s just no justifiable reason on the planet why any Justin “whats his name” singer, some Ms Gaga, or some Kim “hey, let’s get married this week” personalities ….. should have more followers.
NOTE: did you notice what no. 3 was on my list at the top…interesting huh?
Nelson, and in general Nelsonians, ….courtesy of having both no.3 & no. 4 of that top list in abundance, are justifiably acutely aware of the incredible importance these items factor in the local economy.
Most everyone in the town has like 1 or for a few 2, at a maximum, degrees of separation between them and someone locally who has something to do with / an industry benefiting from / a service that relies on / ….you get the picture….
…fishing is just a fundamental part of of life here.
The real estate perspective that I promised when I started this post, yes its about lifestyle…but actually its even a bit more than that…its also about our livelihood / substance.
When so many incomes relate to actual “on the water” fishing,
…the dockside / spawning / research transfer/transport operations, the factory processing/storage, the sales/marketing, the many associated land based support industries / suppliers….let alone many who move here because their partner found a very fruitful income “from the sea” in one of these industries, we are talking hundreds, if not thousands of incomes related to our region, and from all of that, well it leads me on to one big thing……
And that is…..they all need NUMBER 2 on that above list………..shelter….and yes that is where it relates 100% to real estate! Be it either a rental situation because there’s just not enough in the bank yet for a deposit on a home, or be it a full blown outright property purchase…the bounty of the sea does not stop at the shoreline.
Although the above bestfishguide had stated in last weekends papers that their smartphone app would be out two days ago on Wednesday, time has transpired since then and we are non the wiser, however it will be any day now I’m sure, and I will heartily recommend you download it to see if you as an individual, just through a few changes to your diet….could make a big difference to the sustainability of our fisheries……..again….if not for Nelsons sake, then for the sake of humanity.
Just a tad of relevance here consider where this campaign originated. That relevance, well I’ll let Wikipedia explain….”Nelson has…..the highest proportion of residents from the United Kingdom and Ireland in New Zealand”…so they probably know who Hugh & Jamie are even more than us!
Final Footnote & Graph - just for a perspective take on the whole issue from a Nelsonians perspective
Hmmm...now I see what you mean.....
Here’s thechart that Statistics NZ put out showing who, or rather what percentage of your town / cities residency live within 5km of the sea.
But is it important in the future…well again I think I will let Statistics NZ tell you what they found…..
Sixty-five percent of New Zealanders lived within five kilometres of the coast in 2006, compared with 61 percent in 1981. The proportion living within 10 kilometres of the coast also increased, from 72 percent to 75 percent.
Boeings’ Paine Field is counting down the days until Air New Zealands absolute latest -300 ER airframe departs one of their extra long runways, and breaks yet another world record.
I hear on the TV News (which I tend to watch about once or twice a fortnight due to its incredibly positive effect on me) thatAir NZ’s most recent delivery will take place next week.
That world record is for the biggest aircraft in the world that’s been painted “black”…..and why is that so cool you ask? Let’s just say ……an almost completely black 777, it definitely qualifies as up there as a real “big thing.”
Flightline Uk report;
By far the largest paint job being undertaken will be for a new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft due to be delivered in January 2012. The Boeing is the longest plane in the Air NZ fleet and it is believed the All Blacks-branded version will be the largest all-black painted aircraft in the world.
CREDIT - www.airlinereporter.com
…see here…. “hail” those “All-Blacks” because that’s exactly the no. 1 reason why this 777 is painted so. If that photo above isn’t clear enough for you - please click here for the full version. (tell me if you’re honest with yourself, isn’t that just great!) More Airline Reporter photos here.
I thought it was initialed scheduled for a Feb 2012 delivery….but hey am happy to be corrected.
Hopefully someone from Air NZ will read this and update me…..because it was only “perchance” that I happened to spot the last “black A320” pre RWC2011 arrive, via a timely online feed.
But…….the down side to my tale tonight……
Here I was today…..for a break at lunch deciding to pop down to the wharf to see if I could somehow / somewhere get a pic of the Russian ship that pulled in a few days ago for repairs.
...happy to be in Nelson I'm sure.....
You’d have to have been sleeping under a rock in the last 2~3 wks if you weren’t aware of its plight (at that time) of the mariners on this ship as she was totally trapped in the Ross Sea with a gash in her hull….something to do with meeting an iceberg in a less than “dinner party” type of way.
Accountability uppermost in the authorities mindset, we set forth to rescue these poor folk. With some NZAF drops on the ice-flow adjacent their location for good measure.
The “mass” that is the Great Southern Ocean below NZ & Australia, she’s a big, cold, windy, wet, ….very inhospitable place to be.
Discovery Channels “Deadliest Catch” folks in Alaska can be 300 - 400kms away from a Port? These guys…2500 -3000+ km away.
A thing called the “timeframe” has just a bit more importance when this distance is taken into account.
Unfortunately again – today it’s been brought home yet again with the Jung Woo 2, but when you’re, as the Washington Post reports tonight, 370 miles (595 kilometers) north of the U.S. McMurdo Station Antarctic base….well….you’re a long way away. My thoughts go to those brave mariners & their families who are really only there to help me and you enjoy the oceans bounty.
Quoting a source…..
Their ship continued to burn Wednesday and appeared to be sinking, said Mike Roberts, the senior search and rescue officer with the Rescue Coordination Centre of New Zealand.
On this occasion, it really was one where “time” really was of an incredibly crucial importance….& that importance I am talking about is of mariners succumbing to “burns.”
Sadly with 3 missing already out of 40 crew in this “survival suit required” environment…….this working Korean fishing trawler is experiencing all that they “don’t want too.”
The folks that go to the aid of mariners needing aid down here….and many Kiwis & Aussies do so….many times they themselves risk their own safety too.
So about now, I hear you’re asking the relevance of this to Real Estate?
Ok………here’s a brief “synopsis” of it.
Nelson is the biggest fishing port in Australasia, and you really don’t have to go far to bump into someone, as a local just walking down the main street anytime of the day, to find an associated or effected person, be it school friends of mine from 30 yrs ago who find themselves months apart from their partners bringing up a family……to others that have simply moved here from other parts of the world to “make some money”….fishing is not far from the mind of 90 percent of the minds of males in Nelson.
UPDATE 12-01-2012
And here she is arriving home…..
to Auckland International Airport on Thursday NZ time.
