When I met Bhav all those years ago (OK, it was only 2007) she was studying for her Masters in Entrepreneurship. After missing a few graduation deadlines for previous ceremonies Bhav finally graduated on Saturday with distinction and I’m so proud of her. I felt really lucky to be there to see her graduate and it brought back memories of my own graduation last year. I know she’d probably rather I stopped going on about it but I think she’s amazing.
Bhav and me in front of the Clock Tower, University of Otago, Dunedin
I must be a very lucky man to have my girlfriend not only put up with me but find out exactly what I’d always like to try and then book it for my birthday present. So on Friday morning, without any idea where we were going or what we were to do when we arrived, we drove along the water up to a beautiful place near Port Chalmers. Arriving at Hare Hill it was obvious why we were there, the horses gave that away. Oliver, the owner, is a really lucky man to live where he does and be able to go riding on the beach like we did. Definitely as good as I thought, even with the saddle sores and cold weather.
With the level of UK unemployment to reach 3.2 million next year (or slightly more than 10% of the workforce), I’ve been waiting to see what happens when the more than 300,000 students due to graduate this year hit the job market and what ideas the British Government have to help them out.
Before I left for sunnier climes graduate (or any form of entry-level jobs) were a bit like hens teeth and it was a situation that everyone knew was going to get much worse before it got any better. A survey by High Fliers Research of 100 firms found recruitment targets had been cut by 17% for this year. The economic downturn had rather predictably hit financial sector recruitment, with 47% fewer graduate entry-level jobs.
3 month long internships were suggested as a way to improve the skill sets of recent graduates and make them more employable. Governments don’t have the best track records with job creation however, “fancy a job comrade?” You can’t magic something out of thin air.
Saturday (25th April) was Anzac day, the main remembrance day for Australia and New Zealand. Whilst they still remember the sacrifices of members of the armed forces and of civilians on the 11th November in common with the UK, Anzac day has a special meaning. On that day in 1915 Australian and New Zealand troops formed the majority of the Allied offensive to capture the Gallipoli Peninsula in modern day Turkey. The operation, planed by one Winston Churchill resulted in an 8 month stale mate with appalling losses. Over 8,000 Australian and 2,700 New Zealand soldiers died. News of the landing at Gallipoli made a profound impact on Australians and New Zealanders at home and 25 April quickly became the day on which they remembered the sacrifice of those who had died in war.
Bhav and I joined the remembrance event in Dunedin. After a parade (which we missed) an estimated 9000 people gathered at the memorial in Queens Gardens at 6:30 am for a dawn service.
When I think about New Zealand I don’t think about cities, I think about spectacular mountains and wide open countryside. Last weekend we visited Te Anau and Milford Sound (both in the Fiordland National Park) and there was certainly no shortage of vistas. Milford Sound is the classic postcard image of New Zealand with its dramatic fjords, but due to the weather everything was covered in mist (it is in a rainforest after all). We had driven all the way from Te Anau intending to do one of the cruises but it wouldn’t have been worth it. The drive in itself was still worth it.
Yesterday Bhav, Pierre-Em and Idrove to Christchurch and back (722km/449 miles or Perth to London!) so that they could go to a couple of meetings. Not being involved in their business, I used the opportunity to see more of the countryside and visit Christchurch. It was a long day with us leaving at 6 and getting back around 8 but was well worth it.
While they were off doing important things I saw the sights of Christchurch including; the Cathedral, the trams, botanical gardens, river Avon, old university college and museum. If Dunedin is Scotland, Christchurch is England. It’s difficult to say why but you can’t help but feel it. It seems that a lot of people hate Christchurch but I quite like it. Unfortunetely it does seem to be where a lot of IT happens, so it might have been better to move there but I’m happy in Dunedin.
We might have only had a short visit but I can now tick Christchurch off my list of places to see.
I recently checked the progress on Ecommo, a business set up by an ex-colleague and friend Alex Barton. The idea behind Ecommo is to allow people to sell online but without the usual hassle, problems and expense this can cause.
Many people, myself included, might look for an open source (free) content management system (i.e. osCommerce), but that’s not exactly the easiest system to use and I’d probably find setting it up a bit of a pain. I’ve seen a few sites using osCommerce and it’s a reasonable solution but it doesn’t eliminate the need for some geeks to install and set it up.
Ecommo aims to make selling online a lot easier. You don’t have to download and install it, you don’t have to pay a designer to build a template for it to look good, you don’t need to worry about servers going offline and taking your shop with it and it doesn’t take weeks to get it online. What it does do is provide is an easy to use solution which allows the owner to get on with the actual selling.
I’m really impressed with the progress Ecommo has made and it’s good to see they’re already attracting customers. If you’re after a professional online shop solution, Ecommo is definitely worth a look.
Update: Since writing this, Ecommo has shifted focus towards holiday accommodation providers. Good luck in your new direction guys!
The weekend of the 28th/29th March was really nice and sunny so we spent some much needed time away from Dunedin City and jumped into the car. On saturday we went to Long Beach near Port Chalmers to drop off some students going climbing. We had a look at the beautiful beach, the cave then went back to Port Chalmers for lunch. That evening we were back out that way for a party in the cave.
On Sunday we went for a drive on the Penninsula, stopping of at Sandfly Bay. We didn’t see any penguins but we saw a few seals.
It turns out that someone I met whilst in Malawi last year has been short-listed for “The Best Job in the World“, which is also billed as Caretaker of the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef. In what has been an enormously successful marketing campaign come job advert for Tourism Queensland, Ben Southall has made it to the final 50.
Last Saturday we went to Baldwin Street which according to Guinness World Records is the steepest street in the world. Quite a few of the streets in Dunedin are built at crazy angles but since it was a nice day we thought we’d go see the steepest.
