Welcome to my blog about my history making promotional journey up the middle of New Zealand and back on a road that little more than 150 years ago was just a bullock track. Today we call it SH1 (State Highway One) and on my trip I will be calling on every business and photographing every town and settlement along SH1 as I promote tourism on the SH1 Business Directories websites or in our NZ Travellers Guide Book. Follow me here…..read more
Hi Readers
October 16th, 2009Warning – Ashburton River Bridge May Collapse
May 17th, 2010In the 1960’s I lived in Tinwald on the South side of the Ashburton river and I would often walk into Ashburton along the foot path and cross over the river by using the walkway that they built on the side of that Ashburton Bridge. I have been working in Ashburton recently and learnt that one of my former neighbours in Tinwald was up in arms that the Ashburton District Council had decided to build a new bridge further downstream and direct the traffic along Chalmers Avenue across the new bridge and onto Grove Street. I was interested in what was proposed because my family and I lived on Grove Street in the 60’s and 70’s so I wrote an article on the subject and posted on the SH1 Business Directory website
Tinwald Ratepayers Dig their Toes in Over a Bridge
Ashburton’s River Bridge is dangerous
I walked across the bridge the other day and I thought I was on a swing bridge. Every time a large vehicle crossed the bridge it shook. I said to a lady walking by can you feel this bridge shaking yes said I have been walking over her for 2 years and it has always shook. It’s only the moss that is holding it together she said. I asked another man and he told me the same thing that the bridge has been shaking for some time and he told me they have been replacing new wooden boards on the footbridge since the others rotted. This this shaky swing bridge is it situated on State Highway One SH1 linking Picton to Bluff. I counted the traffic going over it and in 2 minutes 100 vehicles passed over it that is about 3000 motor vehicles an hour and next year it will have its 80th birthday. The bridge was built in 1930 long before they had articulated vehicles and road trains. The model A motor car was not very heavy and push bikes never had motors. I’m told that the weight of large vehicles are permitted to carry on the road has recently increased.
District Councils Plans
The Ashburton District Council plans to spend approximately $56 million on the following luxuries, new aquatic and indoor stadium, funding for lake hood, new art gallery and museum, property development for industry. May I suggest to the Ashburton district Councillors that before the Ashburton collapses and people get killed and it costs the country billions in lost production they do something about it now. May I also suggest that all the mayors in the South Island, the minister of local government the minister of transport, the prime minister of New Zealand all walk across the bridge in a line and feel for themselves what it feels like to be on an 80 year old swing bridge without a bungy cord.
Where to Build a New Bridge
If the politicians then declare that the bridge is unsafe then I suggest it would be a wise idea to start work building a new bridge the very next day not in 10 years time and the obvious place to build it is alongside the old one. If the hierarchy then get in their ministerial cars and drive down Melcombe street in Tinwald and keep going they will come to another bridge called Arundel which will link them back onto SH1 at Winchester. If they head South past the Phar Lap bronze statue they will come to a village called Washdyke. They could then build a toll bridge from Washdyke across Caroline Bay that will take all the heavy traffic off the main highway into the Prime Port in Timaru.
Message to all local body Politicians
Your job is to take care of our roads and our bridges if you want to save lives then start building a bridge over the Ashburton river today. If you want another Tangiwai disaster costing people their lives and the country millions of dollars then do nothing. The choice is yours
My Journey is on Hold
February 23rd, 2010I started my journey from Bluff to Cape Reinga and back on the 1st November 2009. My goal is to become the first person in the world to travel the journey by calling on every business along SH1 and picking up their business cards and loading them on to the internet. Each card is loaded onto an online phone directory in each of the main cities or towns. So far we have 6 online phone books Invercargill, Dunedin, Oamaru, Timaru, Ashburton and Christchurch. Each main business directory services the smaller towns and by the time I reach Cape Reinga I should have built one of the biggest New Zealand online business directories in the country.
The email address of each card is is filed into my address book looks like this
Bluff, Invercargill, Edendale, Matarua, Gore, Balclutha, Clinton, Real Estate Agents, Mosgiel, Waihola, Waikouiti, Crawford St Dn, Cumberland St Dn, Consltancy House Dn, Radio House Dn, Central City Mall Dn, Waitati,Queens Gardens Dn, Vogel St Dn, Castle St Dn, University Otago. If you receive an email from me and you want to unsubscribe then you will need to send me your address so I can find you
In order for me to find your address I need to know where your business is located so I can delete you
I have no idea how long it will take me to reach Cape Reinga but I not worried if it takes me 10 or 20years I am only 69 years of age so I have plenty of time. I am doing every thing myself because I refuse to employ people any more. The reason I wont employ people anymore is explained on my other blog. Here is the link http://www.timarudirectory.co.nz/news/
This also is the reason why I have had to put my journey on hold. Our family home is underthreat of being taken off us by a former employee. Most of my time these days is being spent defending ourselves from the jaws of the employment relations act. I am confident that I can save our home but it is going to take time for us to get our appointment with an employment court judge.
Once we get it sorted then I will back on the road again. In the meantime if you would like to help my wife and I with some grocery money you could register your business with us online here is the link http://www.timarudirectory.co.nz/business-listing.htm
Frequently asked Questions along State Highway One
December 21st, 2009As I travel along SH1 on my journey from Bluff to Cape Reinga and back calling on every business and asking them for their business cards I get asked a lot of questions and here are some of them.
Why are you travelling the journey?
When Edmund Hillary climbed the highest mountain in the world they asked him the same question My journey is somewhat different to Hillarys but my reason for doing it is the same
Because it is there and no one has ever done it before.
Many people have travelled the length of New Zealand and back on SH1 but no one has ever called at every business along the way and picked up business cards and placed them on a website in an online phone book.
No one has ever travelled the length of New Zealand and back on SH1 taking photographs of all the icons in every town and putting them on a webpage to promote all the towns and businesses in New Zealand along SH1
How do you keep fit?
To keep fit I go for a swim at 6 am most mornings for an hour. I eat a good breakfast and my days work involves calling on about 50 businesses every day. I walk up and down the streets and the roads collecting business cards and photographing anything that I think will be of interest to people surfing the internet.
When do you go home?
My adopted home town is Timaru. I spend one week on the road and one week at home loading all the cards and photos onto my computer. I build web pages for each town and send them off to my webmaster who puts them online. Timaru is in the centre of the South Island which it makes it easier shorter to come home each week.
How are you going to come each week when you get to the North Island
Wherever there is a will there is a way. They have invented aeroplanes and all I have to do is find a company that will sponsor me some air tickets. I will work on that nearer the time and in the meantime my goal is to make it to Picton
What distance have you travelled so far?
At the time of writing it has been 50 days since I commenced my journeyand in that time I have travelled 3625 ks in my car and walked in and out of over 600 businesses, I have also walked the roads and the streets and haven taken over 1000 photographs.
How much are your expenses
My expenses consist of meals, accommodation, car expenses, webmaster, web hosting, computer maintenance and wages. If I was to pay myself a modest wage of just $100 day I would need to earn $20 from every business I visit.
How do you fund your journey?
I sell advertising on my 6 Business Directories. I also give away $100 worth of advertising per night in return for a bed. In some towns I ask for donations and most businesses will give you something. I stopped asking for donations in Dunedin because many of the businesses are corporate companies and chain stores and the staff don’t like giving from their own pocket
How do you sell your advertising?
I tried selling it on my journey but I found it too time consuming. It is not possible to collect business cards and sell advertising at the same time. Calling on every business and picking up their business cards is a job on its own.
In the new year I intend to telephone all of the 600 plus businesses that I have business cards for and attempt to sell them advertising space on one of the SH1 Business Directories. If I don’t get enough to cover my costs so far then I will return to Bluff and personally visit everyone of them again I get enough sales so that I can move on to the next leg of my journey.
How much does the advertising cost?
Each Business is listed in our online phone book with their name and address only. If they want to have their phone, fax number and other contact details listed with links to email or website highlighted in bold bright yellow their is a minimum fee of $100 plus Gst PA
Other positions on the website include business categories of your choice, business cards revolving on the top of every page and a business or personal profile with a story and photos telling people why they should deal with you. Each position is $100 with a maximum of $400. An investment in the 4 positions qualifies your business to become a Gold Subscriber where your logo will be appear with other Gold Subscribers on a special page
Do you raise money for any Charity
I would love to raise money for charity but it is something that takes time and I cannot do it on my own. I would need an assistant to help me do that. I would also like to give discounts to groups who advertise together so what I have decided to do is not to give group discounts but instead pay the discounted amount to a charity of the groups choice.
e.g. If the tenants of a group such as a street, building or shopping mall advertised together in a SH1 Business Directory with their own home page we would give 10% of the total revenue received from the group to a charity of their choice and this would happen annually.
Are there any other reasons why you are making this Journey?
Yes, Ever since Queenstown learnt to promote itself most of the tourist traffic now either fly direct to Queenstown or travel by car inland from Christchurch via Geraldine through the lakes and they by pass SH1.
My goal is to change that and I believe that with the help of all the businesses on SH1 we can promote all the good things that there is to see and do along SH1. With 6 Business directories online and more to come we are already well exposed worldwide with over 100,000 hits a month and climbing
What is a Motivational Business Coach
I have been a motivational speaker for many years and I’ve done many motivational seminars and one to one self development coaching. One of the things that I teach is how to be role model for others. My philosphy is don’t try and teach anyone something you have not done yourself. One of the things that motivates me is that I like to do things that have neve been done before in order to uplift and inspire others.
World Records
At age 64 I became the first man in the world to row 100,000 metres in 9 hours on indoor rowing machine. Now I am looking for my next challenge in life which is to travel from one end of New Zealand to the other calling on every business on SH1 collecting business cards taking photos of icons and building the first online phone books for every town along SH1. If I make then I will be the first person in the world to do it
In January I will 69 years of age and if I can make it to Cape Reinga by the time I reach 70 then I’m hoping my acheivements will motivate, uplift and inspire others .
I then want to travel New Zealand and the world giving motivational seminars to businesses and the public demonstrating that you can do anything if you have the right mental attitude
Merry Christmas Everybody
December 21st, 2009Thank God I lived to see another Christmas. It took me 48 days to get from Bluff to Palmerston calling on over 600 businesses taking over 1000 photograhs and several hours of video footage. I’m looking forward to spending some quality time with my family during Christmas. In the new year I wil be back on the road again.
On my journey I don’t have time to explain to people what I am trying to acheive so I have put together some questions and answers and I hope you will learn from them
A QUICK LOOK AT THE PRICE TO PAY
December 10th, 2009With every new challenge in life there is allways a price to pay. Whenever I tell people that I’m travelling from Bluff to Cape Reinga and back calling on every business and collecting their business cards they are amazed. People say to me how long will it take you and why do you want to do it. I’m doing it because it has never been done before and I love the challenge doing things no one else has ever done before but of course there is always a price to pay. In my case its a 4 letter word called work. The easy part of this journey is calling on all the busineses and picking up their cards the hard part is sitting in my office all day loading all the cards and photos on to my computer. It is not uncommon for me to get up at 3 am in the morning and work on my computer until 6 am and then go for a swim for an hour. After breakfast I’m back on the computer again. If you browse through the SH1 Directories you will see pages and pages of stuff and I have designed over many thousands of hours. I am already working 7 days a week with very little sleep. One day I worked it out that after paying all those who are currently making an income from SH1 Business Directories and if paid myself just $15 hour I would need to get $20 for every business I visit and load onto the internet.
Sorry folks no more Photos
The answer of course is to employ somone to do the computer work but I cant do that until I increase my income. What I have decided to do is stop putting photos online for each town until I get sponsors for each town. If people want me to promote their town then they will have to buy advertising on the SH1 Business directories or make a voluntary donation it is as simple as that. If you want me to continue writing travellers guide stories and put photos on this blog then you will have to advertise with me or send me a donation to pay for the cost. I have one more week on the road before Christmas and I will not be going on the road again until I find some people that believe enough in what I am doing to support me.
Donations
If you woud like to see me make it to Cape Reinga and back and promote each town along the way and write a book about it all then please make a donation ito my bank account with the National Bank 060 889 0257897 00
or post it to Ron & Margaret Bishop 132 Gleniti Road Timaru
Merry Christmas to you all and a very Prosperous new year
Ron E Bishop
Motivational Business Coach
