Rimutakas Summit Cafe'

[Madness]

why wern't they able to get a wind turbine up there? Its a good location... hate to see it go to waste.

It's a good & windy location for sure. Problem is that there are much better sites for large scale investment in wind generation, such as Makara, on Welly's south coast.

Any turbine atop the hill would be dedicated to supplying the Café (and maybe lights in the loo if they added some?) as it's uneconomical to attatch the summit to the grid. The location demands something built very strongly, yet small enough to comply with resource consent requirements. Kind of a unique (and expensive) situation.

From memory I think that 2 turbines have been trialled up there by the landlord. This guy holds the lease from GWRC and sublets to the Café proprietors. He's yet to get something to work and it's definitely now too late.

The generator ain't too flash either, just like the water supply. If you find the Caf'e closed on a fine day there's every chance that the genny has packed up or the water tank's are empty. The Café can't open if the loo's don't flush too remember.

[Zapf]

It's a good & windy location for sure. Problem is that there are much better sites for large scale investment in wind generation, such as Makara, on Welly's south coast.

Any turbine atop the hill would be dedicated to supplying the Café (and maybe lights in the loo if they added some?) as it's uneconomical to attatch the summit to the grid. The location demands something built very strongly, yet small enough to comply with resource consent requirements. Kind of a unique (and expensive) situation.

From memory I think that 2 turbines have been trialled up there by the landlord. This guy holds the lease from GWRC and sublets to the Café proprietors. He's yet to get something to work and it's definitely now too late.

The generator ain't too flash either, just like the water supply. If you find the Caf'e closed on a fine day there's every chance that the genny has packed up or the water tank's are empty. The Café can't open if the loo's don't flush too remember.

There are some interesting turbines that could help..

http://www.pacwind.net/

Quote:

• Completely silent
• Completely stable
• Useable power in 3+ mph winds
• Safe in winds up to 100+ mph
• Bird friendly
• Environmentally friendly
• Maintenance Free
• Simple to install
• Built to last a lifetime
• Stackable
• Fully scalable

The newly released Delta Series, which includes the Delta I and Delta II, are truly revolutionary in the wind industry. Since the wind has blown, and man has tried to capture it for energy, it has been widely known that the fixed 3-blade VAWT has great potential for very powerful energy production…unfortunately, it has also been widely known to have two major design flaws. It cannot self start in low wind speeds, nor can it self regulate in mid to high wind speeds; thus, causing greatly reduced efficiency (due to starting and stopping mechanisms), maintenance problems, and self destruction from over spinning. These design flaws were thought to be inherent…until now.

PacWind has ingeniously engineered the solutions to these seemingly inherent problems with their revolutionary fixed 3-blade VAWT designs. These designs self start in very low wind speeds, and at the same time, self regulate rotational speed in mid to high winds; thus, leading to incredibly high power output and efficiency, while still being silent, stable, and safe.

The Delta Series are incredibly power packed in moderate to high wind conditions. In moderate winds, both of the Delta Series designs transition from a drag mode to a nearly pure lift mode, equating to a surge in power output of 4-fold. The 2kw Delta I is ideal for homes, commercial and industrial buildings, boats, remote power, emergency power, battery charging, and grid tie power generation. The much large 10kw Delta II is also ideal for many of these same uses…simply on a larger scale. As with the Alpha Series, the Delta Series designs can also be purchased in our revolutionary tower designs.

[Drum]

How many cups of coffee do you have to sell to recoup the cost of the turbine?

It's a real shame the cafe is closing. I always enjoyed a plunger up there, and the occasional venison burger. And what other cafe plays Rammstein videos for their patrons!

[Colapop]

I reckon that it'll reopen at some stage in the future.
As far as power goes there are a couple of options for power up there, wind is only one. Solar is another. cloud is not the obstacle is was. Photovoltaic cells don't need direct sunlight (per se) to produce power.

[Hitcher]

The Summit Cafe is only really a two-day-a-week business, with the cafe only open sporadically during week days. They guy who has the lease doesn't operate the cafe. Servicing the public dunnies is supposed to be part of the quid pro quo for operating the cafe. This arrangement is "intermittent". Maintaining and servicing the dunnies costs GWRC over $20,000 a year. Providing roadside "conveniences" isn't part of GWRC's core business. There is no city water, sewerage or electricity at the summit.

If anybody has a workable solution, I'm sure GWRC would be prepared to listen to it.

[Madness]

I reckon that it'll reopen at some stage in the future.

If it does, the new owners will have a "blank canvas" to start from, I understand the GWRC has plans involving Buldozers.

[Madness]

Just been up the Hill, starting to get a tad breezy.

The Café has been emptied of almost everything of any value & is deserted.

Oh well.............................................. .

[Hitcher]

The Hill wasn't as windy as I'd expected today. Different story in the Wairarapa though, very blustery on the watertower hill road. But despite the snow-clad hills, it wasn't cold.

[Madness]

New Management has taken over the Summit Café. New Espresso machine has been installed already, watch this space......

[Hitcher]

The lease expires on 31 December.

[Madness]

Six months of frothy coffee is better than nought. As far as I know the Landlord has right of renewal and has not yet been given notice to remove the building.

[Hitcher]

Six months of frothy coffee is better than nought. As far as I know the Landlord has right of renewal and has not yet been given notice to remove the building.

The landlord hasn't got right of renewal.

[Lissa]

Six months of frothy coffee is better than nought. As far as I know the Landlord has right of renewal and has not yet been given notice to remove the building.

Will make sure I pop in for some coffee then!

[Fatjim]

i think the old flaming turd tricks the way to go. Lets get the addresses of the councilors that voted to close the loos and leave some deposits on their doorsteps.