Roast Grumpy Old Thread- 10k posts of whinging

[KiwiRoo]

the days in NZ are hazy because of the smoke too

so can only imagine what its like in Aussie

hope you get some full on rain soon !

 

[ferball]

My sister lives over there. She said its smokey in Auckland.

 

[KiwiRoo]

My sister lives over there. She said its smokey in Auckland.

im further down the island from Auckland, but smokey here too. Had a very hot November too which they reckon is because of the fires in Oz

 

[Gasometer]

im further down the island from Auckland, but smokey here too. Had a very hot November too which they reckon is because of the fires in Oz

That Volcano Disaster is dreadful-horrific. Those poor people stuck out there in the dark...if they survived. Horrific.

 

[KiwiRoo]

That Volcano Disaster is dreadful-horrific. Those poor people stuck out there in the dark...if they survived. Horrific.

Very little chance they survived Gaso. They've flown numerous helicopter flights over the island and no sign of life
I guess the question now will be, why did they take scenic tours to the Island, just after they raised the alert level.

White island has killed people before too

 

[Gasometer]

Very little chance they survived Gaso. They've flown numerous helicopter flights over the island and no sign of life
I guess the question now will be, why did they take scenic tours to the Island, just after they raised the alert level.

White island has killed people before too

I think you will find the answer is the $300 pp tour fee

 

[Ron The Bear]

I think you will find the answer is the $300 pp tour fee

Air New Zealand used to do sightseeing flights over Mt Erebus, an Antarctic volcano. Forty years ago nearly to the day, the plane crashed into the mountain and killed everyone, and that was the end of the tourist flights. Guessing the same will happen here.

 

[KiwiRoo]

I think you will find the answer is the $300 pp tour fee

if it wasnt for some incredibily brave helicoptor pilots who landed in the crater and got out of their helicoptors to carry the survivors back to their machines it would have been even more disasterous

 

[ferball]

if it wasnt for some incredibily brave helicoptor pilots who landed in the crater and got out of their helicoptors to carry the survivors back to their machines it would have been even more disasterous

Hats off to those people.

 

[ferball]

Competitions - "Dead Set Legend" of the day.

Tarrant(tino) would have a field day with it, actually does have some parallels with the Inglorious Basterds. I don't think Barney had too many political motivations.

www.bigfooty.com

 

[Gasometer]

if it wasnt for some incredibily brave helicoptor pilots who landed in the crater and got out of their helicoptors to carry the survivors back to their machines it would have been even more disasterous

Nah not knocking the responders...more the motivation to run Tours as a money making excercise

 

[ferball]

Nah not knocking the responders...more the motivation to run Tours as a money making excercise

People want to go to places like this tho Gaso. Geological tourism has always been a part of NZ.

And elsewhere.

I know someone who took his family there - White Islanders. His mum was a geologist in the 70s and used to take lava samples from erupting volcanoes. So that's kind of understandable given she has hundreds of photos, vids and stories about it.

But even without that it's a drawcard. Volcanoes are primal. People are drawn to that s**t. Like the atomic test picnics they used to have in Vegas.

 

[SonofSamsquanch]

Nah not knocking the responders...more the motivation to run Tours as a money making excercise

Ferbs is right ∆

There is an attraction to the primal nature of volcanoes. My wife had an urge a few years back to visit a few volcanoes in Indonesia. She had already seen a few around the pacific and Bali.

We visited Mt Merapi but had to move on at it was erupting and local villages were being evacuated. We attempted to visit Krakatoa (actually, Anak Krakatoa or son of...) but the boat operator refunded our money as that was also erupting and none of the boat captains were prepared to take foreign tourists at the time. Strangely, some integrity amongst tour operators in Jakarta!!!



We did spend a few nights at the crater rim of Mt Bromo in East Java. That was spitting chunks of sulphur and rock but didn't explode. If you are ever at a loose end when you are in Bali, skip over to Surabaya and make the trip to Mt Bromo. It's worth it.

In Indonesia they build nuclear power plants on the side of volcanoes.

Having said that, I recognise the tragedy of the White Island eruption and how torn apart the family and friends of the victims must feel.

A friend of mine operated a business in NZ hauling cables over mountains which were inaccessible by other means. The company employed chopper pilots to haul the cable, which he said was immensely dangerous. He often talked about the pilots being fearless. This was true of those who flew rescue missions and also true of the boat operators yesterday as well. Respect.

 

[Hazey1977]

Not there.

Its either my brigade or the one next door and neither of us have been active nearby or needed water that badly. Its not the only report of water going missing either. This guy found a spring at the back still flowing and rigged up a drip fill system in the last 3 weeks. He's recently moved into this place to renovate it for the owners. They were small tanks at the house so its obviously drinking and cleaning water.

You're out working hard for over 12 hours, hot, dry and thirsty, filthy and exhausted - you come home and there's no water. Whoever it is wouldn't want to get caught.

Hey Ferb,

You're in QLD right? I've moved here to be close to the Mrs H's family, based north of Brissie.

I've been considering joining the Volunteer Brigade since we got up here. Any advice/tips/recommendations?

Cheers, H

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[Hazey1977]

TISM nailed it, in Hell it's always schoolies week.


It's my wife's 40th and we booked a place outside of Byron for a few nights to celebrate with family. Us and another very bemused looking couple were literally the only non-schoolies on the flight up, although in all fairness our one and two year olds were probably the worst behaved on the plane.

Just got back from a shopping run to Woolies in Byron and all I can say is, the horror, the horror. I've never seen so many shopping trolleys overflowing with soft drinks and chips. And they all follow each other around like sheep with absolutely no concept of personal space.

I weep for the future.

What happened to "Eatin's Cheatin'?"

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[Hazey1977]

I like quiet. Don't want to hear about peoples dull, boring existence as servile consumers.
I also travel on night trains and don't want to be woken by phones constantly ringing.

Just catching up on all this, quite exciting!

At first I thought you must be a super hero, but the night train has me 99% sure you're actually a Bond villain?

On SM-G965F using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[ferball]

Hey Ferb,

You're in QLD right? I've moved here to be close to the Mrs H's family, based north of Brissie.

I've been considering joining the Volunteer Brigade since we got up here. Any advice/tips/recommendations?

Cheers, H

On SM-G965F using BigFooty.com mobile app

Good one.

I'm in NSW but very close to the Qld border, less than 40km from it as the crow flies. Dunno how it works up there but find your local brigade and go talk to them.

And once you've joined stay involved. Its easy to join, have several wet years and forget about fires in this part of the world. There's so much you can do. In NSW there is obviously front line firefighting but you can get involved in logistics, catering, air support, doing comms - ie running the communications networks we use at fires. I used to be involved in the training team before we got swamped with kids.

I often go to fires and meet people who remember me from their training courses. Thats usually a good buzz.

Its one of those things where the more you put in the more you get out. It can be challenging and dangerous and sometimes boring as *. The boring stuff is often the most important. Mopping up - ie blacking out and patrolling to make sure the fire stays contained. That's one of those things you can never know the value of. All of those fires that are going on and on in NSW have continually broken containment lines. Some lines I've seen would be 50 to 100m of bare earth followed by 10 - 25 m of *ant. Even then we weren't sure they'd hold. (But they did.)

But in saner conditions that mopping up work alone keeps fires contained. Its a PITA but not a thankless one.

Its a great idea tho. Its a good way to meet people and get to know a bit about the place you live.

And one or two tips I'd recommend - if you're on the end of the hose get to know how to be frugal with water (you can do things like wet fuel to drop the intensity of a fire as it hits and then need less water to knock the fire down if you're protecting a house or working along a fire front or flank (edge) that isn't too intense and hose along fire lines where you can not directly at a point along them) and know how to use the fog nozzle.

And always have escape routes and look for safe places you can shelter in, ie ride out an over run by fire. Always be on the lookout for something that can * you up and where you can hide or bail from the fire if it suddenly gets life threatening. And stay hydrated and manage your body heat.

That's probably enough for now.

The more experience you get the more your ability to deal with all sorts of out of control situations will improve. Its a lot like playing footy in terms of teamwork, commitment and training.

And the rewards that go with those things.

 

[hilly]

I'm sure one you learned posters will be able to tell me why people cram into a section of a revolving door. I mean I'm sure there's a point to doing so in favour of getting into the next section of such a door.

 

[KiwiRoo]

People want to go to places like this tho Gaso. Geological tourism has always been a part of NZ.

And elsewhere.

I know someone who took his family there - White Islanders. His mum was a geologist in the 70s and used to take lava samples from erupting volcanoes. So that's kind of understandable given she has hundreds of photos, vids and stories about it.

But even without that it's a drawcard. Volcanoes are primal. People are drawn to that s**t. Like the atomic test picnics they used to have in Vegas.

Auckland is built on volcanoes. The Tongariro crossing (which is one of the most popular tourist things here) goes past 3 active volcanoes.
Lake Taupo was formed by one of the biggest eruptions ever and got documented by the Romans when it blew. if that went again I'll be joining you lot without paying for an airfare !

I think Ive seen about 5 eruptions in my lifetime.I even drove past Mount Ruapehu while it was going up, and it was like driving in the middle of the night at 3pm !
So if you come to NZ or live here, you just have to accept sh&t like this

 

[Hazey1977]

Good one.

I'm in NSW but very close to the Qld border, less than 40km from it as the crow flies. Dunno how it works up there but find your local brigade and go talk to them.

And once you've joined stay involved. Its easy to join, have several wet years and forget about fires in this part of the world. There's so much you can do. In NSW there is obviously front line firefighting but you can get involved in logistics, catering, air support, doing comms - ie running the communications networks we use at fires. I used to be involved in the training team before we got swamped with kids.

I often go to fires and meet people who remember me from their training courses. Thats usually a good buzz.

Its one of those things where the more you put in the more you get out. It can be challenging and dangerous and sometimes boring as fu**. The boring stuff is often the most important. Mopping up - ie blacking out and patrolling to make sure the fire stays contained. That's one of those things you can never know the value of. All of those fires that are going on and on in NSW have continually broken containment lines. Some lines I've seen would be 50 to 100m of bare earth followed by 10 - 25 m of ******ant. Even then we weren't sure they'd hold. (But they did.)

But in saner conditions that mopping up work alone keeps fires contained. Its a PITA but not a thankless one.

Its a great idea tho. Its a good way to meet people and get to know a bit about the place you live.

And one or two tips I'd recommend - if you're on the end of the hose get to know how to be frugal with water (you can do things like wet fuel to drop the intensity of a fire as it hits and then need less water to knock the fire down if you're protecting a house or working along a fire front or flank (edge) that isn't too intense and hose along fire lines where you can not directly at a point along them) and know how to use the fog nozzle.

And always have escape routes and look for safe places you can shelter in, ie ride out an over run by fire. Always be on the lookout for something that can fu** you up and where you can hide or bail from the fire if it suddenly gets life threatening. And stay hydrated and manage your body heat.

That's probably enough for now.

The more experience you get the more your ability to deal with all sorts of out of control situations will improve. Its a lot like playing footy in terms of teamwork, commitment and training.

And the rewards that go with those things.

Thanks for taking the time to reply in detail mate.

We had a watch and wait alert the other day, unzipped uncontrolled fire about 1km away. The thing that concerns me or suburb (Narangba) has green (well know brown) corridors all through it, with houses backing on to these, including ours.

If a fire came through, you'd have to be well prepared to defend your house successfully.

Do you mind if I PM with some pics of our house and surrounds and get some advice on how to prep properly. A lot of the stuff I've read is poetry generic.

Cheers, H

On SM-G965F using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[ferball]

No worries Hazey.

 

[andana]

Just catching up on all this, quite exciting!

At first I thought you must be a super hero, but the night train has me 99% sure you're actually a Bond villain?

On SM-G965F using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[SpiderBurton22]

Auckland is built on volcanoes. The Tongariro crossing (which is one of the most popular tourist things here) goes past 3 active volcanoes.
Lake Taupo was formed by one of the biggest eruptions ever and got documented by the Romans when it blew. if that went again I'll be joining you lot without paying for an airfare !

I think Ive seen about 5 eruptions in my lifetime.I even drove past Mount Ruapehu while it was going up, and it was like driving in the middle of the night at 3pm !
So if you come to NZ or live here, you just have to accept sh&t like this

Does the current volcanic eruption mean that there will be a higher likelihood of earthquake activity?

 

[tazaa]

Auckland is built on volcanoes. The Tongariro crossing (which is one of the most popular tourist things here) goes past 3 active volcanoes.
Lake Taupo was formed by one of the biggest eruptions ever and got documented by the Romans when it blew. if that went again I'll be joining you lot without paying for an airfare !

I think Ive seen about 5 eruptions in my lifetime.I even drove past Mount Ruapehu while it was going up, and it was like driving in the middle of the night at 3pm !
So if you come to NZ or live here, you just have to accept sh&t like this

Your post prompted me to research live volcanoes in NZ

I was in Auckland last October and did the drive up the Coramandel peninsular to hot water beach and then down to Rotorua and the glow worm cafe

The terrain is really tough not one stretch of flat land

Driving in NZ easily most difficult I’ve experienced

 

[KiwiRoo]

Does the current volcanic eruption mean that there will be a higher likelihood of earthquake activity?

Im no expert Spider, but we got a 5.3 earthquake in Gisborne the day of the eruption at White island, but i don't know if it was related.
However that volcano at White island has been active for the last 450,000 years and erupts pretty regularly. To be honest, I've always been a bit surprised that people were allowed out to the Island.
having said that, the 3 mountains in the centre of the North Island also erupt reasonably regularly, and they have ski fields up there