My visit to Wellington

[far queue]

I was in Wellington for the day today.

On the drive into town from the airport at around 0745 I was surprised at the amount of traffic on the road and thought to myself, no wonder commuting on the bike is so popular here. Then as I got closer in to the city and saw a few bikes and saw how many more cars there were, and how close they all were, I thought, this has got to be pretty bloody dangerous on a bike with all these cars jammed in like this, no wonder the KBers up here really don't like the cages.

As I walked around the central city at lunchtime (I was at the Copthorne Hotel - Plimmer Towers for the day), I was surprised at the volume of traffic on the streets the whole time, and the volume of pedestrians on the footpaths, and the volume of motorbikes parked everywhere. There seemed to be lots of bike parks and they were all full to overflowing, and there were bikes parked on footpaths, downs alleys, just about anywhere there was space. Man that place is crowded, it was a real eye opener for me, the amount of traffic and the number of bike commuters. I'm surprised you guys are allowed to park everywhere like that, I doubt we'd get away with it here, not that we need to as there's always space in the bike parks here.

Made me really pleased I live and work here, way more relaxed. It takes me 30 minutes from stepping out the door at home to sitting down at work, which includes a 15 minute walk from the car, or about 20mins total if I take the bike.

One of the guys I was with was down from Auckland for the day and said he's sold his car and bought a bike due to the Auckland traffic.

Anyway, just thought I'd pass on an outsiders view of a day in the capital. BTW - I enjoyed the beers at The Malthouse

[marty]

i spent the weekend in welly. i must say there are a lot of very attractive women there. everywhere i went i found myself checking out yummy mummies, yummy uni students, just yummy girls in general..

however, as it was a family weekend away, any checking was done in the best possible taste..

[cowpoos]

Made me really pleased I live and work here, way more relaxed. It takes me 30 minutes from stepping out the door at home to sitting down at work, which includes a 15 minute walk from the car, or about 20mins total if I take the bike.

Pifft....I step out side the back door.....swear at my dog...and once I have found me boots....I'm at work

bloody townies....stupid critters really!

[madmal64]

Hell! That traffic is reasonably light. Try coming into Wellington from the Hutt Valley or from up north along the motorway.
I know what you mean though. I get down to ChCh a couple of times a year for a few days and get blown away by how well the traffic gets into and around the city. Takes me a while to get used to the one way system in the city, but when you do its good to get you through the place quickly

[Finn]

Well fuck me far queue. Ever been to New York? You'd have a coronary.

[Swoop]

A good thing Wellytown has a decent public transport system!

If only Auckland did as well...

And yes, there is definately something in the water that affects the ladies in a very positive way!

[Lou Girardin]

Wellington's rush hour?
Hah, Auckland has rush weeks!

[phoenixgtr]

I love driving down south. It's so relaxed. You definately get used to the traffic here though, and the impatient drivers

[RantyDave]

Well fuck me far queue. Ever been to New York? You'd have a coronary.

Or London. In London (before the thingy charge) you'd get this thing where you...

* Stop at traffic lights.
* Lights go green.
* Nobody can move.
* Lights go red again.
* Repeat quite possibly half a dozen times.

Fun, eh? Of course it's fucking chocka so even motorbikes have an interesting time getting around, although the bike ambulances have proven to be a real boon. Fastest way around London is/was on a mountain bike. Next fastest was the tube (faster over long distances). Then bikes. Then everything else tied with glaciers. In some cases it would have been faster to disassemble the car and take it through piece by piece.

Dave

[madboy]

You get used to Wgtn traffic real fast... lanesplitting

Used to flat with a guy in Zone 1, London. He was a motorcycle courier. Every day he came home without serious injury was cause for celebration. Or at least that's what he blamed his coke habit on.

[riffer]

Yeah, its gotten so I don't even slow down when passing the police now.

Rush hour seems to be getting longer and busier every year.

I followed a Blue VTR into work today and he did a great job of clearing the way - horn, hand gestures, revving the bike ... got from Wallaceville to Kent Terrace in 24 minutes - left home 8.01 - at work 8:25!!!

[Jonty]

it is interesting you made the comment about a lot more bikes around. I have noticed that there is a marked increase in Wellers. The latest motorcycle trader made a comment along the lines of new sales up by 50% since 2004. Hell, maybe one day people will come around to the fact the bikes are the way to go.....falls back to sleep and continues dreaming

[far queue]

Well fuck me far queue.

Only if you clean your arse first honey

[Lou Girardin]

Only if you clean your arse first honey

I told you Finn. Word's getting around.

[Finn]

I told you Finn. Word's getting around.

You're onto me. Coming out is quite an experience. Everything is changing in my life. All of a sudden I like Suzuki's, want to become a minister for the Labour Party and perhaps a moderator on KB.