Our eldest who is 2nd yr at Otago has just signed a lease with her flatmates for the house next door for next yr. Better windows & nicer all around. Their current house is actually not bad for Dunedin student flats, but we feel a sense of relief for the upgrade. Let’s hope it’s easier to keep warm.

It's locals week at the Ōamaru penguin colony so we're spending the evening watching little blue penguins coming in to their nesting boxes ♥️🐧

Aaaaaaaaand breathe. Do yourself a favour and watch @tairawhitidoc.bsky.social ‘s morning videos each day. They’re a balm for *waves hands* all the terribleness out there.

Tairāwhiti Doc@tairawhitidoc.bsky.social · yesterday

Morning, Wednesday, 5 August, from Wainui Beach, Aotearoa / New Zealand. Panorama of another cloudy and windy and cold morning. Ata mārie / Good Morning ☀️

BIG FLUFFY SNOWFLAKES IN ŌTAUTAHI ❄️

In times like these, it’s important to pay attention to the grand unifying narratives ideas are hooking on to. Like that children are there to be controlled by adults, like babies and birth are commodities to be controlled by the state, like citizenship is a state more valuable than non-citizenship.

The twins are working hard on uni scholarship & residence applications. There are overlaps but each uni asks slightly different Qs, and it all takes a lot of time, organisation & thought. What’s missing in the scholarship app’n is a section for parents to plead “PLEASE give my kid/s some $$$.” 🫠

Hey remember when a Labour leader had the instinct to give someone being a shit a bit of a fucken serve on live television? Yeah, I remember how it was an important marker and enthused people who wanted less boorish male bullshit.

Mōrena! We're Ngaire and Lefty, a pair of pūtangitangi running an unofficial campaign for Bird of the Year 2026 🦆. Lefty has an injured leg, and some nice humans have been feeding us every day to help his recovery ♥️.

Sunrise, Saturday, 1 August, from Okitu Beach, Aotearoa / New Zealand. Happy August! Ata mārie / Good Morning ☀️

Anyone Can complain to the Speaker about Winston Peters racist remarks in Parliament to the Speaker at: speakers.office@parliament.govt.nz Or by phone at 04 817 9321

“People will say ‘I’ve lived here for 75 years, don’t take away my free parking.’ Well I’m going to live here for the NEXT 75 years and I want to get around my neighborhood safely”

Gravel Influencer@gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 2mo ago

This is my favorite bike advocacy video in a long time. I love how direct the kids are about saying they deserve to move about their neighborhood safely. Well done Piers Park Sailing! They have more videos on Instagram: www.instagram.com/piersparksai...

Ōtautahi please keep an eye out for this e-trike that has been stolen! And for the dirty thieves who have stolen it. More than just being an awesome bike, it is the owner’s mobility aid. Behind a paywall but you can see the bike in a photo from the link.

The Press@thepress.co.nz · 7d ago

Police are appealing for help to identify two people after an electric trike used by a man with cerebral palsy was stolen outside a Christchurch supermarket.

ICYMI, our July Patreon bonus episode is here. We depend on listener support so please sign up and help us welcome more people to The War on Cars. www.patreon.com/thewaroncars...

The War on Cars@thewaroncars.bsky.social · last wk.

New bonus! "Bike is Best with Adam Tranter." The communications pro and the former cycling and walking commissioner of the West Midlands in the UK talks about how to beat bikelash. Plus, what is "pluralistic ignorance" and how do we fight it? Subscribe for access: www.patreon.com/thewaroncars...

This does NOT show "Air filters don't stop you catching infectious respiratory diseases". It shows 👉even half-assed implementation of HEPA filters by people who don't understand fundamentals like the size of a pathogen👈 yields results consistent with benefit, but without statistical significance.

I hit 2000km on my cargo trike while riding to the pool this morning. It seems appropriate, since most journeys with the trike have been short (5km or less) ones like this. An electric cargo bike/trike is such a fun and efficient way to get around the city!

Lawrence Xu-Nan, voted top-performing MP by the press gallery in 2025, catching strays from Winston - I'm trying to balance the despair at how far NZF has been allowed to pushed racism in the House, with the jealousy being actually very funny.

I have just watched the disgusting video of Winston Peters making a racist, xenophobic, slurring tirade against Green MP Lawrence Xu-Nan in the House and I am fucking ropable. #nzpol

So the Dunedin Hospital replacement was paused, costing money, then restarted but scaled down so the new hospital will have fewer beds than the old too-small hospital, so the Government could save money to build roads in the North Island they're not going to build any more. Anyone going to say that?

Arrived home from walking the dog while listening to the latest @thewaroncars.bsky.social Patreon bonus episode, to an envelope in the letterbox from TWOC full of awesome stickers and a book plate for my copy of Life After Cars. Thanks so much S & D! And now my sticker placement anxiety begins!

Seen some tutorials lately on the best place for a person on a bicycle at a multilane intersection like this, and friends, the actual best place to be is at city hall every day asking WTF we're still telling people on bikes to "just act like cars" rather than building safe infrastructure

The FSU are explicitly anti Māori and explicitly anti women and explicitly anti trans So putting them on the medical council is an ideological act that WILL harm New Zealanders Minister Brown is not fit for office

Further to our conversation pushing back against the ideal that good design is a “nice to have” and that somehow having beautiful public transport infrastructure is a wasteful indulgence: check this out. This is utterly stunning, and as Aucklanders we should be so so proud: youtu.be/RZlclRhB3vo?...

Inside Auckland’s City Rail Link | A First Look at the Architecture of the Three New Stations

YouTube video by Home of Architecture

youtu.be

This is an incredibly interesting research project! (Hats off to William Radcliffe for this impressive level of petty in his will-making, lol.)

Dr Laura Sangha@lsangha.bsky.social · 2w ago

Across these centuries most will-makers took the trouble to describe in detail some items they bequeathed to particular relatives and friends. For instance in 1603 William Radcliffe of London left his sister ‘a gold ring with a picture of death’s head, for all her unkindness’. 4/

Never forget, you can double the number of people in a pedestrian street or people-place in two different ways — by doubling the number of people who come (which is harder), or by doubling the length of time that people stay (easier, but we too often get this wrong). Make streets magnetic places.

Downtown Van@downtownvan.bsky.social · last wk.

What makes a good Pedestrian Street? We spoke with @brenttoderian.bsky.social, city expert and former Chief Planner of Vancouver to get some insight 🤔 www.instagram.com/p/DbMWaSCBwbq/

Oh, to be a young polar bear in a cold plunge pool on a warm summer day, playing with my enrichment items. This is Kallik at the Oregon Zoo, a 3 yr old sub-adult male. The name means "lightning bolt" in Iñupiaq. (📷: Oregon Zoo via YT)

This is about as cold as it gets in Ōtautahi Christchurch. It is rare that we get frost right down to the bottom of our backyard. Makes me homesick for Christmas lol.