Oooops, DOC sign Joker!

The sign in a Department of Conservation hut says: "Warning! Children conceived in this hut are the property of the Minister of Conservation."

But the department says it really doesn't want your babies and will not try to claim ownership of the child.

The assurance comes after a number of joke signs have appeared at department huts in national parks this summer.

Another, that could cause consternation to those taking more than a short walk in the bush says: "Please do not defecate in our National Parks".

Department spokesman Herb Christophers said the signs, which have been made to look like official notices, were obviously a "light-hearted joke" but were also "a slight annoyance".

"We obviously have a number of things we have to deal with, but really, they are silly and we do have to take the signs down because they aren't official," he said.

"We take them down as we come across them, but we do have more important things to be doing."

The conception sign was spotted by Dunedin lawyer Antony Hamel who was tramping near the Bullendale Hut in Mount Aurum Recreation Reserve in Queenstown.

"As a lawyer I'm really interested in the ownership of humans and of course the obvious use of the logo, but mostly the sign was pretty hilarious," Hamel said.

Posted on Stuff 10.1.13

A summery summary!!

We hope this finds you well and preparing to wave goodbye to 2012!

Twenty twelve in all her glory was a leap year in which NZ got more Talent and we crowned our second ‘Hottest Home Baker’. We beat the Aussi’s in the medal table at the Summer Olympics, but they claimed them as theirs anyway. They tried to nick award-winning singer Kimbra, so we stole their TV show The Block!

Kim Dot Com got as much coverage as Gangnam Style. Barack was reelected US President whilst the East Coast of America recovered from the enormous hurricane ‘Frankenstorm Sandy’. Felix the Austrian skydiver broke the sound barrier (with his body) with a 39km skydive from space. Etta James died and The Hobbit was born.

There was much ado about sugar being bad for us but we were consoled by the launch of the ipad Mini. Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion and Kate Middleton got pregnant in the year of the Queens Jubilee.

Ironically the ‘end of the world’ Myan prediction shares the month of December with the Kyoto protocol’s conclusion date, a policy designed to save the world?

This was the year that was….roll on 2013.

**Thanks Lake Wanaka Tourism for the photo...pretty!

Trev the Lotto Winner!

Don't ya just love this photo of "NZ most eligible bachelor". This is Trev the 34 year old from Waikato who just scooped Lotto on the weekend to take home $34 million!!

He reckons nothing will change, he will keep his job at the supermarket and maybe take a trip and buy a nice car.

Trev and his family celebrated on Sunday, with a roast....love it!

It does always make you think, what would you do?

Thanks Stuff.co.nz for the image, you can read more here.

What on Earth?

A member of the Findco family was lucky enough to get to see Miss Taylor Swift in concert this weekend....not Scott or Wayne! Here is Taylor rocking an All Black jersey during her encore. Lots of little girls screaming!

A Local Gem

We stumbled across this delightful little article about our home sweet home grown vodka Broken Shed in the Denizen online mag published January 17 this year, enjoy!

OUR RESIDENT BON VIVANT INTRODUCES US TO A LUXURIOUS BOUTIQUE VODKA HAILING FROM OUR VERY OWN SHORES

Story by Matthew Bray Heather

Spirit producers are forever gasconading that they’ve created the next big thing. Gin made with pomegranate, Rum with gunpowder. More often than not these self-proclaimed wonder products tend to be nothing more than a flash in the pan, and to the devil with them anyway. If there really is something worth knowing about, it is often the case that you either stumble across it or are introduced to it by someone that is already well in the know.

In my humble opinion one of the real hidden gems on the market right know is actually being produced here in Aotearoa. Broken Shed Vodka is a superfluous spirit and the type that I speak of with vehement fervour by the reckoning of two cardinal points. One: it is luxurious boutique vodka that simply cares about quality as opposed to quantity. Two: the people behind it are admirable and palpably ardent about the first point. Most boutique brands are happy to share some half cocked old wives tale about how they filter their vodka through diamonds and add the tear of a first-born unicorn to every bottle. Here however we discover something rather extraordinary within the world of the drinks industry: A product that brings sincerity back to booze.

Mark O’ Brien and Steve Turner hail from Connecticut in the United States. They both moved over to New Zealand with their families, for a fresh start and that classically Kiwi laid back lifestyle. To begin with they were initially nothing more than fans of vodka that had found themselves in a small Otago township trying to work out a way of making a living. They then moved to Marks Shed in Wanaka for booze-fuelled discussions on future prospects. The resulting epiphany was the idea to take one of their favourite tipples and spin it around for the luxury market back in the States. Though one thing was clear from the offset; they were not prepared to cut corners. It would be expensive, time consuming, and labour intensive, but its purity would remain utterly incontestable.

They were introduced through mutual friends to Kiwi drinks, alchemist Mark Simmonds, who had spent the last twenty years producing, cider, fruit juices, mineral water and wine throughout Central Otago. Two became three and after months of deliberation they figured out the best possible blending techniques and base product to generate what we now know as Broken Shed.

Making vodka itself is a reasonably simple process, but to make a smooth one that is completely free from any additives or preservatives is an exceptionally problematical assignment. Many primarily iniquitous, yet eminent brands of vodka, add small amounts of sugars, chemical softeners, and additives such as Glycerin and Glycerol alongside various ageing syrups to artificially enhance the mouth feel and reduce the burn of the alcohol. Certainly a pretty disgraceful carry on and lamentably, one that legally they do not have to declare, no matter where in the world it is sold. Our three protagonists considered that cheating. Thus they devised a unique fresh water blending and charcoal filtration process that makes it one of the cleanest, purist and completely additive and preservative free vodkas available on the market today.

After multiple product experimentation and meticulous blind tasting they finally settled upon whey as the base source of starch. An immense misconception by philistines with very limited knowledge is that if it’s not made from grain it’s rubbish. I can tell you first hand that this is absolute propaganda and is rather like saying if it isn’t Miles Davis it isn’t Jazz. Grain vodkas, which seem to give off a dry and slightly oily mouth feel and potato vodkas, which are considered more creamy and often much smoother, both call for acres and acres of arable farmland to grow in. These crops are then annually treated with pesticides that go straight back into the soil. Whey is readily available in New Zealand due to the countries booming dairy industry and requires neither the ploughing up of countless fields nor dangerous chemical pesticides to cultivate it.

Whey is an extremely clean starch source, which in turn means a clean fermentation. This is as vital as, if not sometimes more so, than the distillation process. The latter is usually the one which people pay most attention to. Thus here it should be mentioned that the amount of times that a product is distilled is in no way an indication to the purity of that product. Broken Shed is triple distilled through a continuous still and comes off at 96%. This is then blended down to 40% with Cromwell alpine water from 65 metres below ground level on the bed of the original Kawarau River. This water source is rich in calcium and perfect for demineralising and fusing with the whey based distillate.

The bottle itself is another important factor, and here the guys sensibly decided to use a baked on artwork method as opposed to the more commonly practised acid wash technique. The latter produces the classically sexy frosted glass effect used by myriad renowned brands. The trouble with acid washing is that it yields a scary amount of highly toxic waste product, which causes indelible damage to the environment. Careful attention to details like these is another reason why this vodka is well ahead of the game. New Zealand promotes clean living and ecologically friendly concepts, thus its products should naturally reflect this. Here we see a perfect example of how a little eruditeness can have a positive effect on both the environment and the future train of thoughts of other producers.

Broken Shed has a very distinctive toasty cream soda like scent and a wonderfully smooth mouth feel and finish. This is a vodka drinkers’ vodka and one for those who appreciate the finer things in life. I’ve seen it turning up at some of this country’s most exclusive parties and it has seemingly been greeted with open arms by the leading bellwethers of New Zealands’ fashion, art and music worlds. As a result of this the guys have been constantly plagued by mixology muppets to do cocktail competitions and the suchlike, but they remain indefatigable about the purity of their product and although it’s a fantastically mixable one, they feel it to be luxurious, yet approachable vodka that should be enjoyed as they intended it to be, i.e. without any unnecessary grandiosity.

Back in Wanaka we find no chicanery. This is uber-cool vodka without all the bravado; an accessible prerogative that is remarkably not simply reserved for the esoteric. Am I a mixologist? Hell no! I’m a drinks guy. It’s time we all cut the bullshit. Broken Shed are doing something special here...they’re bringing the honesty back to vodka. Maybe we could all learn a little something from that.

www.brokenshed.com

www.thebespokebar.com

We are filming!

Here at Findlay and Co we have a bunch of mega cool clients we want to tell you about. They come from all walks of life, all sorts of industries and backgrounds and they all use a mixture of the tools and systems on offer here at Findlay and Co. Over the coming weeks we will be showing you who they are and what they do!

More soon, watch this space!

We did it!

After 24 long year wait and a nail biting 80 minutes, the cup is ours! On Sunday night the nation watched on the edge, of the edge of their seats the most nerve wracking game of the tournament (quite possibly that we have ever watched).

The match started with a scintillating haka that was challenged by the French team with a hand- holding walk-up type arrangement (not that scary really).

Fifteen minutes in Woodcock scored with a well executed line-out move which I imagine had the nation in pubs, lounges and the Cloud on their feet....Weepu missed the conversion.

The crowd got quieter and quieter as Weepu missed a penalty and Aaron Cruden wass hauled off and on comes Stephen Donald, ahem...our fourth choice first five eight. A comedy tank top jersey eased the tension of the spectators and the poor fella tugged and pulled on what we later find out to be last years size. FYI -Donald was plucked from the throws of a whitebaiting trip with the boys in Hamilton to come and play, not an intensive training regime of an All Black camp.

Just inside the second half the French are caught with their hands in a ruck and Donald nails a penalty....phew.

In the second half the French score and convert a try and put New Zealand into cardiac arrest and begin what was to become a very uncomfortable nauseous last 25 minutes.

The last 15 minutes were excruciating to watch and an overwhelming sense of relief showed on the faces of the team as the final whistle blew leaving the final score at 8-7 to NZ.

So exciting and NZ will been bask in the glory of this win for 4 years. The All Blacks played their heart out and were backed by 4 million kiwis who loved every minute of it.

The aftermath begins.....

A cool Bank in Paris....

Created by Paris-based architects, Zoevox, for BNP Paribas, this space has been designed in ten zones that dispel the traditional banking set-up where the client and teller are separated by deep counters and screens.

With a honeycomb ceiling, 25 square-metre living wall, coffee bar and exhibition area dedicated to kids, you'd happily cop a long queue from a bank like this!

February 18, 2011 - New & Cool Architecture by Clare Hillier

Behind the scenes....

It’s here…another teaser for the highly anticipated film, The Hobbit. Kiwi director, Peter Jackson has posted a third behind the scenes video on the making of The Hobbit. Fans will get a taste of what the dwarves have been up to on and off camera.

Like the Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Hobbit is filmed in New Zealand under the expert eye of director Peter Jackson. The Hobbit is released in December, 2012. Exciting news!

The 13-minute clip largely focuses on the dwarves, while the last video, which was posted earlier this month, followed the crew on their hunt for suitable locations.

The hobbits are seen both in and out of costume. They're depicted fighting and eating and being directed by Jackson, while out of costume they answer questions about what their favourite moments have been so far and which hobbit they would invite to dinner.

Take a moment to check out a Kiwi project and support the New Zealand film industry. Cheers!

Beer Buzz in QT

Q-town wants you to know what all the beer buzz is about…and turns out it’s about beer. Lots of it. The annual Queenstown Beer Festival and a homebrew competition will kick off later this month.

The festival is linked with the Winter Games, which will put more than 60 of New Zealand’s finest brews on display (and sample!) including Wanaka’s own Beerworks. Brewskies anyone?

The beer festival will mirror the likes of Germany’s Oktober Fest, with long tables and plenty of livey music; however, don’t expect Oktober Fest madness, the festival will be very family friendly and fun. The Depending on the turnout and popularity of event, there is talk to introduce more breweries, increase the duration of the festival and even move the event to October…hmmm.

All the deets can be found here: www.beerfestival.co.nz

What’s up with the puppet?

When we saw the latest series of Air AN’s promo videos which feature US Celebs which we recognized, but we were wondering who is that puppet? Well, the puppet is Rico, Air New Zealand’s promo mascot.

The latest video features The Hoff (David Hasselhoff) and puppet Rico, are chatting it up by the pool. They are reclined on the fancy new Skycouch seats, which give passengers the in-air luxury of converting three normal airplane seats into one recliner couch. We like this idea.

This latest string of marketing promo videos from Air NZ has been released to Youtube. The company has continued to be a leader in connecting with the public through online marketing techniques. Some videos can only be viewed online and hopes to find success through these innovative videos.

Be on the look out for Snoop Dogg, Lindsay Lohan and Giuliana Rancic to be in video shorts with Rico on their YouTube channel

Treble Cone Opening day video, finally!

If you missed it, you missed out! This video edit will leave you totally gutted if you couldn’t make it up for the freshies. For those of you powder hounds that did make it up, take a peak and you might see yourself ripping some lines down the untouched awesomeness! This video will leave you frothing, literally.

Opening Day 2011! from Treble Cone on Vimeo.

People waited in lines to charge the white stuff on TC this week. Opening Day conditions were PRISTINE with bluebird skys and an excess of smiles all around. Locals of Wanaka were claiming this was the best day they have EVER had. Looks like all that waiting was worth it!

O for Olympics!

It’s official! The 2014 Olympics in Sochi will be hosting two new events, men and women’s slopestyle events for BOTH skiing and snowboarding. AHH!! This is big news for New Zealand skiers, boarders and snow industry as a whole.

The International Olympic Committee met in South Africa and approved snowboard slopestyle and free-style skiing for the big games. This move has been in the cards since 1998 when the halfpipe made it’s Olympic debut.

This is BIG news for New Zealanders. Why? Because we’ve got the talent to fill the podium. New Zealand ladies Rebecca Torr, Shelly Gottlieb and Stefi Luxton are top internationally competing women on the snow. Wanaka’s hometown hero, freeskier and 2010 Overall World Champion Jossi Wells has plans to go for the gold in both halfpipe and slopestyle.

No doubt all this talent will bring eyes to New Zealand skiing and snowboarding. Good things for tourism and possibly put NZ on map for future winter Olympics???

Challenge Wanaka

There is a very exciting vibe in the air as Wanaka is on Challenge count down!!

There are crowds of people involved in the event - competitors, support crew, volunteers and friends and family. Wanaka is packed to the gunnels with sporty folk and their entourage!

The weather is looking great so get out on the side walk and support the racers and support the town.

Good luck tomorrow, we wish you all the best!

BNZ Money Map-Santas Little Helper

We love tools that help things to run smoothly!! Have you seen the BNZ Money Map?? This sharp little tool is designed to help you to manage your money - savings and spending!

Ahem, does it look a little familiar...yeah our Xero friends have teamed up with our BNZ friends to roll out this little number.

Got questions? Click here to read some things that are commonly asked. All in all great minds think alike and any inexpensive little helper is perfect for watching your pennies over Christmas. Cool!

My Tour- iphone Application

Next time you are in a strange city or even your own town consider your creating your own personal tour! You can turn your city walks, museum visits and audio tours into an iphone application. Upload to sell on itunes or give it away for free. Fun!

Check out My Tours for details...and in the meantime if you are looking for a Wanaka Happy Hour in grab this app for about a dollar from Berzerk. Good to know....

Blogging and loving it!

After 9 months of dedicated blogging and tweeting we are seeing some cool results and we are stoked! Our trusty social media coach Jamie Roy has held our hand throughout the initial stages and helped us get things underway.

Social media sites Facebook, Twitter and this super duper blogging platform Blogger have proven to be fun communication tools. We follow Xero, Ben Kepes (a blogger on trends in innovation, technology and business strategies) and of course the trusty Wanaka and Queenstown business community.

If you havent already we suggest you get amongst it. Let us know if you need a hand and we can get you Mr Roys number!

Follow us on Facebook here or Twitter here, or call us on Skype today!

Use Paper Less!

At Findlay and Co we are paperless!

Our staff all work on two monitors to save printing, we scan and save all documents instead of copying and we think before we print!

You may have noticed we now email all invoices and statements out, which should make this easier for you to file.

This has meant we don't have oodles of filing cabinets, shelves or storage. It is all stored digitally and is double backed up. Clever and simple...

Its a Long Way to the Shop if you Wanna a Sauage Roll

This Friday we are teaming up with BNZ to put on a free sausage sizzle down at Glenda Drive.

Around lunchtime we will put another sanga on the barby for ya mate!

Come join us, bring your business cards and go in the draw to win a box of beers....simple as that!

When : Lunchtime Friday the First of October
Where: Glenda Drive Queenstown, look for the flags
What: Sausage Sizzle
Win: Box of beers
Who: You, Findlay & Co, BNZ

See you there!

Rob Fyfe for President!!

Such a great way to promote our town!