Dear Editor,

Myself and a friend were hitch hiking one day, we’re standing there in the sweltering heat with broad smiles and our thumbs out (in what is universally acknowledged worldwide as the hitch hiking symbol), seventeen cars pass and no one stops.

Dear Editor,

As a driver who uses the roads everyday from Queenstown to Wanaka, both the Crown Range and the Kawarau Gorge, I see drivers several times a week endangering the lives of others with their reckless behaviour. Today while driving to work a car pulled out in front of me forcing me to break heavily, this was not 2kms from where two people recently lost their lives. Then on my way home a car overtook me and then the truck and trailer in front of me, pulling back in, on not only a blind corner but a dip in the road. There is no possible way that this driver could have seen 10 metres in front of them, let alone the mandatory 100 metres behind them! I’m surprised that I haven’t seen more really bad accidents. The ones that I have seen along with the driving I have witnessed concern me.

Over the New Year period myself, my partner and six friends went to the Earthtonz MESStival! We were all looking forward to spending the weekend in a great environment and awesome atmosphere. Upon arrival at the festival we were told all cars were going to be searched for alcohol (not drugs, Just alcohol!!) because bringing a few stubbies to an event is far more damming than LSD, Ecstasy and even P!! So the car was turned over and we all got through the gate without so much as a pat down or a sniff round the crotch from a sniffer dog. We arrived at our chosen camping spot and instantly noticed the lack of people and the fact there was only one stage? My partner described it as similar to a Tuesday after the Glastonbury Festival (after everyone has left)!

Anyway, we headed off to the beer tent where we had to buy vouchers…Tui was the only Beer available, over priced and in a small can. On the Friday we had no problems buying 12 cans at a time (as there were 7 of us and we were carrying them back to the camping area). But this was not possible on the Saturday. For some reason the lovely bar staff were told completely different rules to the previous day. They had to open every can they sold encouraging us to drink them quicker before they got warm, which seemingly defeated the object of slowing the drinker down! The live music on the small gig bus on the Friday night (which was gone by NYE) was pretty cool and a pretty good atmosphere considering the 100 people that were dancing and seemingly getting stoned from the mass cloud of weed that was brought (and not smuggled) into the event. Saturday morning came round and I was up early to grab a cup of tea before the masses arrived… Nowhere was open till 10am and the Gypsy hot dog van could serve coffee, not tea. Anyway, food was of the order… A ropey bacon sandwich, a raw cheeseburger and an underdone egg sandwich was about it. It was red hot by 10am, everyone there could tell it was going to be a scorcher but there wasn’t anywhere to sit in the shade to watch the music. Anyway after realising the lack of people, instead of the 10,000 we were led to believe would be turning up, everyone decided to have a wee dance to the Freestylers who were actually pretty good. Come 11.30pm it was time for Mr Tommy Lee to start his set. Well, I have to say I’m a seasoned Drum and Bass head and have listened to Dance music for many, many years and I have never heard so much garbage in my whole life. It was similar to someone smashing pots and pans (off-beat). His stage presence I have to say was good and the highlight was when he started counting down the New Year’s celebrations a minute too early to the actual countdown!

The toilets themselves weren’t too bad considering, although I’m wondering the state they would have been in if 10,000 people had turned up. The coffee dudes from Dunedin and the Security staff I have to say were really friendly and even the cops walking round chatting to most were of good nature…

Next year we are considering having a festival in our back garden, I’m sure we will be able to provide better music and pull in more of a crowd!

Not a whinge more of a thank you. Witnessed first hand on New Years Eve the amount of planning and hardwork from locals and non-locals alike, who made NYE 2012 a hugely successful event, if it wasnt for all these people then Queenstown and similar events wouldn’t be so popular. So thank you to all the Emergency services, the street cleaners, the firework man, the security, the guys n girls serving behind the bars, the door staff, the people behind the food counters, the front of house staff, the cleaners, the people who run the bar crawls, the countless volunteers who spare their time to pull these events off! THANK YOU, you’re all part of what makes Queenstown so great and memorable, here’s to 2012!

Dear Editor,
Over the past few years I have been a regular visitor to your wonderful area. I am an avid mountain biker and the ever expanding network of trails throughout the district have been a major draw card for myself and numerous friends. Lately one of my favourite rides has been out to the 7 mile reserve from Queenstown. The Queenstown Mountain Bike Club has done some amazing work (all volunteer might I add), over the past Winter on the Queenstown end of the trail, to make it more “biker friendly” without turning it into a boring highway.

So it was with complete surprise last week while riding this amazing trail to find that the wooden bridge the QMTBC built over a wet, difficult (and dangerous), rocky section had been removed.
After completing my ride I called into one of the local bike shops to see what they knew of the bridge situation. They told me apparently DOC had

demanded it be removed (after previously approving it), because it was not “up to standard”. The bridge had been in place for over 4 months, was very sturdy, well-built with treated timber and even had chicken wire stapled to it for grip (safety). So why on earth did DOC demand it be removed? This was no “Cave Creek” platform, just a simple little bridge less than a metre off the ground at its highest point.
It seem the “bureaucratic preciousness” of DOC management is alive and well here in Queenstown. They should be thankful to community organisations like QMTBC for voluntarily making their trails better, safer, and more accessible for all users, not just bikers.

Please DOC. Use a bit more common sense next time and everyone will be better off for it.

Dear Editor,
After returning from a day trip from Wanaka, I thought I just had to share my road rage experience. I was helping my 84 year old, partially blind Grandmother cross the lake front main road. There are speed bumps on the road and I checked for oncoming traffic and crossed. A lady in her Mercedes came along faster than anticipated and drove right up to us. I looked at her and mouthed settle down! She then stopped her car in the middle of the road and got out to yell at me that where I was crossing was not a ‘pedestrian crossing’. My argument to all of us is, these tourists that may sometimes cause us an increased heart rate and psychotic thoughts are also our bread and butter. We choose to live in tourist towns and quite frankly come Xmas / New Year, the crowds arrive and yes it can be frustrating with people walking about in a “willy nilly” fashion and cars stopping to take in our outstanding surroundings. We as residents can take for that for granted some times. My advice to everyone is to ‘suck it up’ over the crowed weeks and just take a deep breath.

Dear Editor,
Back to work on the 9th January, so after two awesome weeks I thought I would have a right old whinge. 1. Blokes over 21: Stop wearing Lynx, it makes you smell like an old handbag... 2. Women who don’t acknowledge you when you open a door for them: Some acknowledgement of some sort would be nice. I know you Kiwi’s aint used to it, but it’s 2nd nature to us Poms...3. Tourists who don’t take their shopping trolleys back to the bay - come on! You made it halfway across the world, but you can’t make it back across the car-park...4. People who don’t indicate: We’ve enough dickheads walking out in front of cars without having to guess what your gonna do...5. Leading supermarkets, sort your bananas out: By tea-time they’re all soft and only good enough for fritters and penicillin...Feel better for that, HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL...

Dear Editor,
I drive beetween Kingston and Queenstown daily, now the sun is shining bright and the cyclists are out in force, which is great... but not so great however when driving towards Devils Staircase. It’s a bit of a windy road and with a speed limit of 100km’s it can be quite dangerous. As I turned a bend there were three cyclists abreast on the road with a car coming in the opposite direction.. luckily I was only doing 60km’s, not 100km’s otherwise I would have driven straight into them! Cyclists please ride with care, I don’t want to run you over!

Dear Editor,
I was a little disheartened to see the photo on the Photo Page last week of the three people in an inflatable boat without their lifejackets on! I know it can be a little silly and unnecessary sometimes, but isn’t it also law that they must be wearing one when in the lake?

Dear Editor,
I was a little disheartened to see the photo on the Photo Page last week of the three people in an inflatable boat without their lifejackets on! I know it can be a little silly and unnecessary sometimes, but isn’t it also law that they must be wearing one when in the lake?