Blog

Earlier this year on our staff trip down South we ventured through Twizel to the fish canals, an area where Sam used to work on a Salmon farm. We were heading up towards Kaikoura the following night so had our boards all ready to go. While we waited for Sam to catch a couple fish we got out the tie downs and began dragging each other along the canals. It was pretty cold and pretty funny.

Our workshop is a big shed filled with dust with a little office which we try to keep dust out of. 

Keeping the door closed is a good start, so we made this little pulley system.

We would love to refine it and launch it as a product, let us know via email if you think you could find a use for one!

The idea for this South Island trip started with a good bit of peer pressure. We were in need of a new work vehicle and John and I (George) decided this was a good one, albiet highly impractical due to its location and the fact that it wasn't starting. However a few days of peer pressuring later and we were all on our way to Balclutha to pick up a Toyota Landcruiser. Kitted out with an array of outdoor gear we arrived in Queenstown a very happy bunch. The first day was spent offroad; the next day was spent in the Mechanics. Then we were on our way!

Our first stop was a couple of nights up the Dobson Valley. It was a 1.5 hour drive in from the road end and we were all in high spirits, being dark we were unsure what we were going to wake up to, however in the morning we were blown away by the beauty of the Southern Alps which never cease to amaze me.

Station Hut - Our base for the first couple of days. From here we explored up the valley and up to the tops. Sam managed to shoot a Thar for us which is now in sausages in the work freezer. We spent the days exploring up the valley, building big camp fires and just generally mucking around. Being out of reception is always a blessing in disguise.Then it was onto camping in Kaikoura was one of the most amazing clear nights spent under the stars, the fire was lit, marshmallows were cooked and stories were told as we all dozed off in our sleeping bags looking forward to a morning surf. This was until about 2am when we were woken up to a howling southerly whipping up the beach blowing the surfboards a couple of hundred metres down the beach and whipping our faces with sand. The photos may look idyllic but it was far from it. I don't think there was much sleep had that night and the surf in the morning was so blown out by the gale that we didn't have much to surf so headed on up the coast.Sam used to work on a Salmon Farm in Twizel and knows the ropes of fishing the canals like the back of his hand. We pulled up at the canal unaware of what we were in for. I will have to admit I did have high confidence in Sam's fishing ability and before we knew it we were on the road with a couple of Salmon.

Now it is back to the workshop after one of the funnest weeks we have all had this year with good vibes, a lot of laughs, screw ups and games of paper scissors rock. A lot of time has been spent on Trademe since, looking for other vehicles we could drive up the country. 

I never turn down the chance to explore the workplace of someone in an imaginative or artistic field. It is exciting and inspiring to see today's creatives mysterious hideouts.

Paul Barbera agrees. That's why he started 'Where They Create', a photographic insight into where the magic actually happens. 

He navigates cluttered painting lofts in Berlin, Monster Children's keyboard bashing arena in Sydney, the cutting tables at Stokholm's Acne Studios, model boat builder sheds in Africa, among many others.

He also printed and bound this project which is available here.

I met an old chap in upstate New York who makes forestry fire lookout towers. He scanned the plans he has been using his whole life and emailed them to us.

A fire lookout tower, fire tower or lookout tower, provides housing and protection for a person known as a "fire look-out" whose duty it is to search for wildfires in the wilderness. The fire lookout tower is a small building, usually located on the summit of a mountain or other high vantage point, in order to maximize the viewing distance and range, known as view shed. From this vantage point the fire lookout can see smoke that may develop, determine the location by using a device known as an Osbourne fire finder, and call fire suppression personnel to the fire.

Would be an epic summer project.

Cheers Phil!

For more detailed plans you can follow this link:

https://www.fs.usda.gov/eng/facilities/documents/1938_USDA-FS_StdLookoutPlans.pdf 

PHOTO CREDIT: http://www.kjphotos.com/

PHOTO CREDIT: http://www.kjphotos.com/

PHOTO CREDIT: http://www.kjphotos.com/

George & Willy makes a great hanging drying rack for drying clothes in cabins and it could also be used in a forestry fire lookout tower. Although I would hope that you were not looking out for forestry fires while it was raining, this is a nice addition to any cabin.