Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Wellington, you win

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  • Robyn Gallagher,

    The one thing that annoys me about my home town, and this is very picky, the distinct lack of iced coffee.

    This serious issue was recently addressed by the coffee-lovin' folk at the Wellingtonista here, with a follow-up here.

    Conclusion: it's possible to get a great iced coffee in Wellington, but sometimes you have to be quite specific when you order it.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg,

    I guess Auckland is ok if you grew up there and have a network, probably mostly within your suburb. Coz Auckland isn't really a city, it's a collection of suburbs - including one in the middle with offices and clubs - I don't think people interact much outside their 'burb - at least not without making arrangements way in advance.

    I guess its my turn to be defensive but I've always found myself ranging wide across my city of birth, but I stand by Ben's post above...Auckland, by definition is both region and a city, each quite distinct. And within the Auckland region, any native born indistinctly knows the difference. So I've ranged across Auckland City and on occasion I spend time in neighbouring cities in Auckland region, but an Aucklander always knows when he/she moves from one to another. And each city in Ak region rotates around it's own axis with a unique centre.

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • Sue,

    mr scott

    the lovely mojo folks are rather good with the 'proper' iced coffe

    also evil starf*cks

    somewhere at the wellingtonista is even a post by hadyn documenting his testing most cafe's in town for a proper iced beverage. He had a good success rate

    but i am hungover and doing a search will make my eye break :D

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 527 posts Report Reply

  • InternationalObserver,

    Screw the wine-sipping gits at the Zoo gigs.

    It's the Zoo ferchrissakes! What would you have us do? Sip water bottles while dancing freneticly on the spot at the front of the stage? Sculling lager while standing stock still with our arms folded (but nodding our head slightly if some fuckenchoicechoon comes on) and a six pack at our feet, standing in the middle but six rows back (behind the water sippers)?

    Sorry to post such spammy info. This is not myspace afterall.

    I haven't even seen your Mspace page (and am unlikely too) so here is a good place to post.

    I guess Auckland is ok if you grew up there and have a network, probably mostly within your suburb. Coz Auckland isn't really a city

    And yet Auckland City ratepayers continue to pay for things for the rest of the city to enjoy (Eden Park, Domain Concerts, Queens Wharf, etc).

    In Wellington, lots of my network live and work within working distance of each other - so we can easily catch up on an ad-hoc basis.

    How nice for you. And do you discuss buying your sausages from the local butcher, and carrots from the local farmlet, and how when you rode your bicycle to Jono's house and got a puncture you found that it wasn't that far to walk at all?

    Since Jun 2007 • 909 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    So aside from wind and an excess of espresso snobbery Wellington is perfect. We have three bowling alleys after all.

    No ice rink though. They've tried to get one up and running, but its struck resource consent problems I understand. Can't call yourself a real city without 60 x 30 m of frozen water.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    Screw the wine-sipping gits at the Zoo gigs.

    It's the Zoo ferchrissakes!

    YES , and drinking with the animals at the zoo can make for better company. ; )
    I love the cosmopolitan " Beast" that Auckland is.

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Charles Mabbett,

    That was a wonderful concert at Frank Kitts Park! The Phoenix Foundation are a Wellington treasure! And they're just one part of the picture - Age Pryor, Hollie Smith, Fat Freddy's Drop, Flight of the Conchords and others complete the set. Clearly there's a generation of creativity that has emerged here that is original and remarkable. Rock on. I detest 'us vs them' contests and Auckland has its advantages but right now it feels great to be a Wellingtonian with talent like this around.

    Since Nov 2006 • 236 posts Report Reply

  • InternationalObserver,

    I detest 'us vs them' contests

    Don't we all. But that's not to say that Auckland isn't preparing a come back, something so big it could be considered kiwi entertainment's equivalent of Shock & Awe -- yes New Zealand, stand well clear ... for the onslaught of ... DJ Peter Urlich on a tour of hotel ballrooms

    Since Jun 2007 • 909 posts Report Reply

  • Rob Hosking,

    No ice rink though. They've tried to get one up and running, but its struck resource consent problems I understand. Can't call yourself a real city without 60 x 30 m of frozen water.

    Actually, the trouble was getting the ice to set flat. Every time they tried it kept getting wobbly because either the wind or earthquakes.

    South Roseneath • Since Nov 2006 • 830 posts Report Reply

  • Jackie Clark,

    DJ Peter Urlich on a tour of hotel ballrooms

    I don't know why he just couldn't have stayed the lead singer of th' Dudes, and be done with that.

    Auckland has its advantages

    Well yes it does - we have great cultural events around this time of year, especially. Like the wonderful Philharmonic concert that's on at the Villa Maria Estate today. But then there's the rain, and how difficult it is to organise these things when we have a very high rate of precipitation. It's doing it at the moment........

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    Auckland is a beast. A great big beautiful one. The automobile perfectly solves the issue of it being far flung for all those who can accept that it was not much of city when trains were invented, even less of one when the pushbike vied with the horse, and didn't even have humans in it when walking was invented.

    It is a grave mistake in thinking to believe that because it is a city that maximises convenience for automobile users, that this is somehow a bad thing, and convenience for automobiles should therefore be reduced. Of course it would be better if there were a lot more viable alternatives, but that particular alternative is incredibly convenient and should continue to be so for as long as automobiles are viable. Which is probably forever. Can't wait for Wrightspeeds to hit my price range :-)

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • daleaway,

    Wellington had an ice skating rink for years - roughly about where the library is now in Kilbirnie. I've skated there myself. It wasn't a financial goer then, so it folded, and I doubt one would be now either, though I'm always willing to be proved wrong.

    The Kilbirnie library is a roaring success though. Wellingtonians do like to give the mind a workout.

    Since Jul 2007 • 198 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    But then there's the rain, and how difficult it is to organise these things when we have a very high rate of precipitation. It's doing it at the moment........

    Well,some people walk in the rain and others just get wet.Also, our plants really appreciate it.
    I know it can be frustrating (like Summer series last week)but I guess thats why we have "postponed" and not "cancelled.

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes,

    Well, having read all the posts about "My City is better than your City" I have just one thing to say.
    Wellington Sux

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg,

    Wellington Sux

    No it doesn't but I'm always bemused by the need to redefine a city as a bunch of people who can get together easily and walk everywhere.

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    No it doesn't but I'm always bemused by the need to redefine a city as a bunch of people who can get together easily and walk everywhere.

    Ditto to both points....Wellington does not Sux, but just because it's the University Tramping Club of NZ, doesn't mean it's the only good club. Gimme car club when it's raining any day.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes,

    Well maybe it doesn't sux but it's got enormous bumps and suffers from wind. Hardly the place to ride a bycicle with a styrofoam starbucks in your hand looking for an ice rink. Still, having said that I have a freind from Welly and she also has large bumps and wind.

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    I guess Auckland's functional enough - I lived there for four years. But basically, Wellington's infinitely better - part of the reason for that is all the people who live in Auckland :-)

    Pretending that Auckland is five cities, not a city centre surrounded by urban sprawl, is just silly though. My view on a city is that it's a large urban area, usually surrounded by suburbs, and then countryside.

    Another point on Auckland - why do so few people self-identify as Aucklanders? I went to see the Auckland rugby side play Waikato at Eden Park. "Visiting" supporters were in the majority - and for a lot of them their connection was that they went to uni in Hammy, or stopped for a pie there, and had spent all the subsequent years in Auckland.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Jackie Clark,

    I'm a self identifying Aucklander. Fifth generation, very proud of it. There are lots of us around you know. I don't think that Auckland is better than any where else, it's just my home. Always has been, even when I wasn't living here, and always will be. But my love for it is more about the region than the city, the land more than the people, the places more than the buildings. If I'm being really honest, and it's an ugly thing to say but it's how I feel in the darkest part of me, I sometimes wish that all the people who've come here from elsewhere would bugger off somewhere else, just for five minutes, and leave the place to the REAL Aucklanders. I guess a lot more people feel like that about where they come from than would be honest about it.......or am I alone in my need for solitude and space, and my reluctance to move from my turangawaewae to find it?

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    I sometimes wish that all the people who've come here from elsewhere would bugger off somewhere else, just for five minutes, and leave the place to the REAL Aucklanders

    we noticed that they do bugger off at Xmas, and the peace that reigns over the week to new years week is quite lovely.Dominion rd (and Mt Eden rd) without cars was worthy of a photo.

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Jackie Clark,

    Oh yes, Sofie. My very favourite time of year. I live on a little cul-de-sac off Marsden Ave, a road that runs between Mt Eden and Dominion Rds. Turning right into Mt Eden Rd is a special joy at that time of year.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg,

    I'm a self identifying Aucklander. Fifth generation, very proud of it. There are lots of us around you know. I don't think that Auckland is better than any where else, it's just my home.

    Agreed, even though, right now I don't live there. But also have never been able to get my head around non-Aucklander's obsession with Auckland, especially as it's not reciprocated. We tend not to notice or really care. I guess its the classic small town obsession with the big smoke..like NZ with Australia and Australia with the USA. In global terms Auckland is probably the only region in NZ that could really be called a city in 2008. Here in Indo, I live on the outskirts of Denpasar, with a population approaching a million, but Indonesians rarely refer to it as a city..its the biggest town on the island.

    part of the reason for that is all the people who live in Auckland :-)

    which people in particular, or is that just everybody? Can you be more precise?

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    Pretending that Auckland is five cities, not a city centre surrounded by urban sprawl, is just silly though. My view on a city is that it's a large urban area, usually surrounded by suburbs, and then countryside.

    Surely you got that I was being silly on purpose. Yeah, it's a sprawly city with a fuzzy boundary. The people who live in it make it work for them, having given up on molding it to fit the expectations others have of a planned city. They're quietly confident that it's a good place without needing to knock the likes of Wellington which is definitely doing it's damnedest to be a city too.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    Wellington is depraved of good hardware shops.

    Typo of the week. Never checked out the depraved hardware shops of either Wellington or Auckland so I'll have to take your word for it.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Rob Hosking,

    also have never been able to get my head around non-Aucklander's obsession with Auckland, especially as it's not reciprocated. We tend not to notice or really care.

    Very true. Some years back when I was living in Auckland: a bunch of us went on a tramping trip down the South Island. Drove form Picton to Queenstown. We'd often get asked, at stops, where we were from - when we said 'Auckland' the response was usually 'well, won't hold that against you'. Almost word-for-word, almost every time. Delivered as if it was both the funniest line ever and also a deep sociological truth. The first time it was slightly amusing, at a stretch, but by the 20th you start having to forcibly stop yourself from rolling your eyes.

    I'm a farm boy originally, lived in Auckland for 10 years but never really felt part of the place, and I'm a Wellingtonian now, by choice. I love it here. [deep down, though, I still feel like I'm a farm boy]. Auckland's got a lot of memories, not all of them terrible, and a lot of friends and family. I like visiting. Just don't want to live there.

    But, again, there's that chippiness some Wellingtonians have about Auckland, although its nowhere near as bad as you get further south.

    Around the time I moved here some figures had come out which showed Auckland got more rain than Wellington. Got reminded of this rather a lot. Again, found myself clenching teeth and muttering must not raise eyes to ceiling.

    South Roseneath • Since Nov 2006 • 830 posts Report Reply

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