A great Central Otago day

A couple of weeks ago I visited Central Otago with a plan to ride the Dunstan Trail from Clyde to Cromwell and back. This is a gravel path that runs alongside Lake Dunstan for about 40km with no vehicle access for about half of it. 

I had just gone over Hugo Bridge (named after Hugh Green, construction link there) and was climbing a big hill. I shifted down into the small ring, and bang, my rear derailleur went into the wheel and flew apart. Just passed halfway. Not much else to do but start walking.

Being a QS, I calculated in my head, 20km, 10min per km, I was in for a 3 to 4-hour walk. I didn’t panic. It was nice and sunny. I had all day. My shoes were feeling good. Walking uphill and rolling down I’d done about 3km and was walking along the part that is a cantilever walkway bolted to the shear rock face (some cool engineering) when a jet boat came in close and waved hello.

I waved back and then thought, what the heck and stuck out my thumb. I’d just walked past the only place you can easily get down to the lake for miles, so I walked back to that and they picked me up.

They were mates with their wives out for a tootle on the lake. Holding my bike on the back, they took me for a bit of a cruise and dropped me off by Old Cromwell. One said, “I bet you weren’t expecting to be taking that selfie when you left home”.

Walking the 4.5km to the bike shop, a local asked how my day was going. I told them my story, and they offered to drop me there.

My bike is a bit special; it is Colnago made in Italy in the mid 1980’s with Campagnolo gears. The shop took one look and said, “we’ll need to order parts for that”.

“Well, that won’t work,” I said. They offered to try parts from an old road bike that might work.

My bike exploded at 11.45am and by 1.00pm I was tucking into a Salt and Pepper Calamari salad. The shop called and said it had worked. I’d be missing a few gears, but it would get me home. I could even drop the derailleur back no charge. $30 later I was on my way back to Clyde.

Big shout out for southern hospitality.

Life happens

It is how you react that can turn a disaster into a grand adventure.

For those of us involved in the residential building sector, life is happening. Earlier this year I wrote about having a moderately positive view on 2026 after a few tough years. Was I tempting fate? Maybe.

Then Trump exploded the world’s “derailleur”. While the underlying economy is still strong, confidence is a fickle thing. The short duration projects of residential construction mean it is very responsive to market changes. It has suddenly turned into as tough a couple of months as I’ve experienced.

We have a vision

In times like this is it easy to start second guessing your strategy. We have a vision of connecting designer’s 3D models to our costing system so that they can see the cost impact of their decisions as they design.

We’ve been working on this for years and will be releasing the first parts of this in the next few months. Our heavy R&D spend does mean slowdowns hits us hard.

But now is the time for concrete pills (as we cyclists say).

Dealing with uncertain times

Stay on top of your debtors. Watch your cash-flow like a hawk.

Recheck your strategy to make sure you are heading in the right direction. Then commit to it.

Don’t back off your marketing — now is a great time to gain presence as others shy away.

Love your customers.

Look at any cost levers that you can pull that don’t compromise your strategy or marketing.

Watch out for jet boats — there are always opportunities in adversity.

Stay brave!