Young Labour

David getting stuck in at Balclutha

ANOTHER LATE NIGHT. Another early morning. The final day of the inaugural Clarion Tour. With the finish line in sight we piled back into our trusty bus for the penultimate leg of the journey to beautiful Balclutha. Pene’s house had been an oasis and as thanks we left her our last precious, undrunken a bottle of “Socialist Chardonnay”. This wine is the brainchild of Brendon Burns and the Labour members in Kaikoura. It’s produced at local winery, labeled irreverantly, and sold as a fundraiser. We thought it would make a perfect match with the “Political Savvy” Pene had stored away from the previous year. Let’s plan to crack them open election night next year eh Pene?! (more…)

Conor & Jordan meals-on-wheelsing

ARRIVING IN SUNNY, tropical Dunedin (it was in comparison to some of the other stops, despite Conor’s comments at the end of yesterday’s entry) gave some of our more fragile Clarions a chance to warm their feet by a log fire and catch up with missed news. The city’s Edinburghesque charm also warmed the hearts of those with even a touch of Scottish blood although the seemingly overly-complex network of one-way streets made for interesting navigation in four-tonne Knoxy. Our lodgings weren’t far from Dunedin’s CBD which helped to make our frequent trips to town even more of a pleasure. (more…)

Rakaia Candidate Tony Milne cleans up

NOW IS THE HOUR when we must say goodbye… Jacinda, also know as Camp-mother, whip-cracker, Clarion-controller, left this morning. We were sad to see her go but what really hurt was the fact that she took the giant marker pens, craft knifes and other assorted stationery with her. [Jacinda, if you'd wanted mementos we would've all happily signed your t-shirt I'm sure – ed.]. After a quick stop at Paper Plus to restock we set off south to Ashburton.

Tony Milne lead us on this leg of our journey. Tony’s labour-red car set the pace as Knoxy roared along behind. Tony is not only a member of Young Labour but also the Labour Candidate for Rakaia where he’s standing for the second time. You can find out more about Tony at his website: tonymilne.org.nz

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Sorting waste at the recycling centre

MORNING IN KAIKOURA greeted us with a crystal blue sky and a Pacific Ocean mirroring the natural features of the rugged, seal-covered east coast. But enough of all that. We’ve all been impressed with what Mother Nature has given New Zealand and have each individually experienced “moments” of sublime land-lust. Our little pacific nation really does rock.

Our community project was to help at an innovative recycling centre. Here we were to help process the unwanted “resources” of the festive season. Everything from long forgotten furniture to day-to-day waste ends up at this community-focused trust. It performs way beyond its relatively modest size by successfully recycling about 65 per cent of all that comes through the gate. Projects like this are fundamental to enhancing our clean and green image and ensuring that a healthy natural environment is preserved for future generations – one of the most important features of living in God-zone. We were proud to be able to help out. (more…)

Handing out nuke free stickers at Tahuna

COMMUNAL SLEEPING is drastically underrated, particularly when member(s) of your group are struck with an affliction that closes their airways resulting in endless snoring. Whatever the others say, I slept well! (more…)

Brendon Burns coordinates beach cleanup

HAPPY NEW YEAR! This morning we awoke from what must have been our shortest sleep so far after celebrating the end of 2006 with cheap Indian food and bad dancing. As usual the majority of us chose to fight reality as we slept through our alarms. Without Jacinda cracking her whip it was surprising we made it to the ferry terminal at all! Awaiting us were our new additions to the tour… Bus driver Gavin and his two dogs, trusty dashboard companions. Gav proved his reversing prowess early on on the Arahura. Things bode well. (more…)