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18thth Jan July - 24 July 2014 2017 27 3rdthFeb
FIRST ON THE STREET
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No No 434 609
LAKES WEEKLY BULLETIN
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When you think about the economic impact of a winter season on Queenstown businesses, my first thought is of the money made by the hospitality and accommodation industries, ski shops and rental and of course the ski field owners. However after my drive into town past numerous dinged cars on the side of the road, I’ve been reminded that the financial benefits of the ski industry go far and wide. The collision repair industry must make a killing out of winter in Queenstown. It’s a little bit embarrassing how quickly it all turns to custard on our roads. We were expecting the mother of all snow storms last week. We got a light dusting but the combination of wet roads and freezing temperatures caused far too many whupsy daisy slippy slidy moments. A lot of work goes into winter road maintenance from both QLDC contractors and NZTA , however that work does not make driving conditions as good as a dry day in February. Yet many of us fail to make very basic adjustments to our daily driving habits. Queenstown facebook groups are full of dangerous driving stories. Surely we aren’t blaming it all on tourists. I’ve had my fair share of embarrassing underestimations of road conditions. In the space of 3 years when living on the hill in Arthurs Point I managed to slide off the road twice, once landing on top of my neighbour’s parked car, and a few years later landing in a tree. Once was supposed to be lesson learnt but the truth is I was a very slow learner. The warning signs were there. I could see the road glistening but still I took off down the hill. The second time was driving home. Snow was falling but by this time I had a 4WD. No problem I thought as I passed my more intelligent neighbours parking up at the bottom of the hill by the old Arthurs Point Tavern and walking home. In my new 4WD I was invincible right? More like imbecile. So the smartest move I made after these particularly stupid moves was to learn how to drive to the conditions and know how my car reacts when slipping and sliding. How to avoid trouble on the roads if possible and how to correct it if you can’t. In my case it was ice driving training at the Southern Proving Ground on the Pisa Ranges. If I am local enough to call the Southern Lakes home then I should know how to drive in this environment. A simple enough theory that makes perfect sense. Just a shame it took me so long to see the sense and such a shame others are even slower to realise where they live and how to drive accordingly. Scott Stevens scott@lwb.co.nz
Photo Supplied
The Queenstown Darts final wrapped up this Saturday at Morrison’s Irish Pub with Rich Shipley (Right) getting runner up, and after three year’s battling in the final John Yates finally took the win.
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